Purveyor of dark, introspective and otherworldly sounds, Nora Lilith has recently released her debut EP ‘Daysof8’. Overflowing with curiosity and intrigue, Nora’s first Ep project is utterly spellbinding and represents an ongoing inner journey of self-exploration and discovery for the artist.
We caught up with Nora Lilith to unpick and unravel her artistic journey so far, the creative process behind the ‘Daysof8’ EP and what comes next for this exciting, genre-defying artist.
Hi Nora Lilith, welcome to Right Chord Music. Thank you for joining us today, we really appreciate your time.
Thank you for having me!
To give our readers a heads up, please give us a brief introduction of you and your music.
I’m an autodidactic singer/songwriter/producer working with DIY sounds somewhere along the lines of lo-fi experimental bedroom pop, with an interest for trip-hop, jazz, house, and generally unconventional sounds.
You’ve recently revealed your debut EP ‘Daysof8’, what was this process like for you? The highs, the lows?
It’s been quite a learning curve, especially in the ways it illuminated things about my relationship to my music, and to releasing. Initially, I gave myself about a month or two to write most of the tracks. It was exhilarating to find a process that would condense my creative work like that. But was also a dissociative experience in some ways as I’ve generally, since then, been growing in awareness of how I’ve never truly learned how to be in rhythm with myself creatively.
That my anchor into music sort of got lost at sea, and I’d been instead outsourcing my creative drive and intentions. So I think at different stages of the creative process as well as during the release itself I was plagued with anxiety and self-criticism. In a weird way though, I think these lows made way for some of the highs, as all growth comes from discomfort.
I’ve also never had a publicist or worked with a label before so that was definitely an exciting change; it felt great to have support and not feel like I carried the weight of a project all alone.
What would you say your favourite track is on the EP?
Hmm, I’d say either Daysof8 or Yolk probably. I still feel tethered to my juvenile excitement that came from using Alterboy for the first time, so these tracks felt vocally expressive to me in a different way; in their tonality.
What’s the most rewarding part of making music for you?
The moments I’m singing and able to tap into the deepest parts of myself through tonal and lyrical expression. I feel transported, blissful, a sort of out-of-body experience where I instead wholly embody the sounds that wrap around me.
What would you say you love most about being a music maker?
I think expanding on that last response, I love the opportunity music gives me to connect with and develop a deep sense of intimacy with my soul. It sort of feels like a bridge between two worlds, an access point where I can meet with myself away from the rest of the world.
You used to be a part of electronic duo NÄM, how would you say this differs from your current project?
NÄM had a very different sound, it was more overtly pop I’d say. I also wasn’t producing in NÄM, I actually didn’t know how yet, so this solo project is very special to me as it gives me the opportunity for more creative control. My voice was also so different back then! Haha, it always blows my mind a little when I listen back to those older tracks, and how much my voice has evolved in that time.
What did you learn from your time as one half of NÄM?
For one, coming out of the project I learned that I am capable of pursuing my creative vision on my own, which is something I had doubted during. Throughout NÄM I definitely learned a lot of technicalities about the music world, performing, and the industry. I was also introduced to Ableton which is the software I now use to produce.
Any plans for any live shows/tours in the not too distant future?
Honestly, no! I haven’t made any live show plans, I don’t even have a live set figured out right now. It’ll come though, at some point haha.
What’s next for Nora Lilith?
I’m planning on moving back to Berlin come summer 2022. I’m curious to see how that re/directs my music journey. My priority right now creatively is giving myself the time and patience to build a healthier relationship with my music, tapping back into my authentic expression. What may or may not come of that in terms of releases I just don’t know yet! I do have tracks for days though so you’ll be seeing more eventually Wordsmith explores countering perspectives of longing in animated video Lyrical gunslinger Bruce Pandolfo, who records and performs under the moniker AllOne, has premiered the animated music video for his mesmerizing tale of two cities “Don’t We? (feat. Brian Kjellgren of Sargasm).” WATCH DON’T WE ON YOUTUBE AllOne conjures two characters’ dreamscapes with his unique blend of rapid fire delivery and knack for scene setting storytelling. Bri Martinsen, whose animation illustrates these two worlds, transports a man to a sunny countryside, complete with a vividly detailed general store. AllOne’s lyrics awaken all the scenes as the clerk “gently growls orders at ransacking grandkids,” his hair visibly “less pepper than salt” atop a mind saturated with “sepia-toned tales” of years gone by. With musty air and candy jars dusty to the touch, the scene is one of pure beauty in the enticed yet wandering mind of a city cabbie, slouching behind the wheel day after day in the noisy city traffic. After a chorus graciously sung by Sargasm’s Brian Kjellgren, the cabby’s backroad fantasy is another man’s reality. Switching perspective, the underground star raps poetic about bustling taxis and tourists clogging the sidewalks, bumping shoulders with stars of page and screen. Street artists, novelists, jazz musicians, comedians all under “a billion blinding Iron Giant eyes” pouring through “modern monoliths that model Metropolis.” The man confined to the rural dreamscape of an urbanite longs to live among the racoon-eyed “sardonic sardined populace” of his counterpart’s city. “‘Don’t We?’ is a grass is always greener tale,” Pandolfo said. “The power of daydreaming and how there’s always someone out there craving the thing you’re bored with or longing to escape. The writing was an opportunity to capture place in painting settings and images, almost a series of sketches. I loved the idea of the music representing the bucolic imagery as well as the metropolitan landscape. Conscious Robot did an incredible job, this was one of few songs on the album where the direction started with me and having a song written and structured already and giving them the direction to compose around it. The chorus is sung by my friend Brian Kjellgren of the Long Island metal band Sargasm.” Emotionauts is AllOne’s eighth album overall, quenching fans’ thirst after a five-year wait for a full-length follow-up to 2016’s I’ve Been Thinking… But for the artist and his fans alike, the album is worth the wait. AllOne tackles the struggles of codependence, unrequited love, suicidal depression and ADHD. He expresses the pain of feeling like an outsider, leans into the cripilling uncertainty of youth that lingers into adulthood, and steps back to explore the vastness of the universe. The Long Island-based rapper, slam poet and songwriter Bruce Pandolfo spent countless hours studying the craft of MCing, and the time had come to leap, whether the rip cord works or not. But this was no project born of carelessness. Pandolfo is nothing if not meticulous about the placement of every syllable in his dense, rapid-fire rhymes. He understands that there comes a time when, creatively speaking, you just have to risk falling on your face. “I still feel like I can fall on my face with it,” he chuckled. “But at this point I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable without that level of uncertainty. There’s such a great spark of creativity in all that tension that comes with it.” His career was born out of such a leap into uncertainty. A sophomore in high school, Pandolfo took his notebook down to a coffeehouse, and surrounded by seasoned poets who were all in their sixties, he took his place at the mic and gave it a go. He’s never looked back since. An avid reader since childhood whose father was a rock guitarist, Pandolfo has nevertheless continued to step into unfamiliar arenas: hip hop, slam poetry, jamming with other musicians and (most recently) production and arrangement were all somewhat foreign territory for him when he discovered them, but he’s jumped in with both feet at every stage. He has also, over a span of 8 albums and 4 EPs broadened the DIY concept so that it no longer stops with the artist. Part of the AllOne mision is for the listener to feel encouraged to go out there and do it themselves. Pandolfo’s musical journey begins as a teenager immersed in the cerebral end of the punk pool: “My mother,” he explained, “encouraged reading so strongly that I still do it voraciously now. So my life has always been defined by words. Even the music I was drawn to pre-hip hop was very lyric-heavy bands like Bad Religion. I was always fascinated by how lyrical composition could completely transmogrify a genre. You take a piece of music that you might immediately have all these assumptions about because it’s easy to identify within certain genre parameters, but then you do something more ingenuitive with the words, and then you’ve changed that piece of music almost on an alchemical level. So when I got into rap music, I was naturally magnetized to people who were doing it on such an articulate level that I couldn’t help but be blown away by and fall in love with the genius of it.” It was fortuitous, then — it actually altered Pandolfo’s destiny — that Epitaph Records began featuring cutting-edge hip hop artists like Sage Francis, Atmosphere and Eyedea & Abilities on its annual Punk-O-Rama compilations in the early 2000s. Pandolfo’s path was set. From there, he dove into slam poetry, which then led to the collaborations with Long Island musicians documented on AllOne’s 2010 debut Coal Aberrations. Since then, he has worked with a variety of different producers and instrumentalists, tending to organize each release according to a unifying theme, so that subject matter and musical presentation contrast significantly from release to release. Still, even when he delved into the blood-curdling world of true crime on his 2017 Dusty Dossiers EP, the common thread has always been Pandolfo’s irresistible attraction to being a constructive force. Even when he’s writing from, say, a murderer’s perspective, the goal is to inspire and motivate (no surprise from an artist who has the words “keep pushing” tattooed on one forearm and “pull through” on the other). It’s clear throughout Emotionauts that Pandolfo has upped his lyrical prowess to deliver his most fully-realized work to date. He wastes no time expressing the innermost struggles that pain him on opener “Thought Ballon Aeronaut,” then turns to offer aid to fellow sufferers of anxiety and suicidal depression, urging them to seek community in niche spaces on “Left Field Day.” Whether pondering the ever complicating world of love on “Heart Syncing” or delivering gut-wrenching and striking honesty throughout “Anodyne as Oblivion,” fans can expect Pandolfo to stick to his strengths as a masterful wordsmith as comfortable with a mic as he is his trusty typewriter. Conscious Robot’s spacious and experimental musicality makes numerous listens of Emotionauts necessary. “This is the strongest relationship and interactivity I’ve ever had with a producer,” Pandolfo said. “So it’s really the first time where I feel like I’m not just adding my vocals on top of the music. There’s a musicality and a progressive quality with Conscious Robot that hasn’t always been there in some of the more lo-fi boom-bap stuff that I’ve rapped on. I love that stuff, but it tends to have a uniform feel.” With debut rap guest Kavi, songwriter Laurie Anne Creus, poet and singer Marie Polaris, metal guitarist and vocalist Brian Kjellgren, and Necter singer/songwriter Sam Raia, Emotionautus boasts the most collaborations of any AllOne full-length to date. For More AllOne, Please Visit: Instagram: @allonevoice Twitter: @allonevoice Facebook: @AllOneVoice SoundCloud.com/AllOneVoice YouTube: AllOneVoice Ross Harmon chats with us about his latest single “Starting Again.” Hailed as ‘music that lights you up from the inside out’, Ross Harmon’s music will make you smile, dance or both. A born performer, Ross’s captivating high-energy, party-like show is the culmination of an entire lifetime of practice. This is reflected in his anthemic music: a powerful vocal and an infectious beat. Being influenced by a rich melting pot of genres and artists including Dance Pop icon Lady Gaga, Vocal House legends Livin’ Joy and Barbara Tucker and Trad Folk-Pop group The Corrs means Ross’s melodies are catchy, his lyrics feature whimsical graphic imagery and the production uses a mixture of cutting-edge electronic sounds and traditional acoustic instruments. His specialty gospel-style harmonies are a distinct feature in his music – these are the result of growing up singing harmonies in choirs and being exposed to harmony-driven music such as The Four Seasons and ABBA. Born and raised in Northamptonshire, Ross started writing songs at the age of 13 and self-produced his first EP (‘Enter’) at age 15. Since then, he has honed his skills as a songwriter and performer. He is a professional Musical Theatre actor and has featured in musicals such as Mamma Mia. His vocal skills and performing experience give him a special edge in the studio and on stage, allowing him to let loose and form a special, unique connection with the audience. We chatted with Ross back in April about his debut single “Lonely World,” check it out here. The song starts off with a wavy instrumental accompanied by soft vocals from Ross that make us feel like we’re floating through the clouds. As the song builds, it starts to give us more energy that leads directly to the strong and catchy chorus. At this point, the song had me dancing in my bedroom. I feel like this song would be perfect to hear in a gay club anywhere. The vocal melodies and lyrics are quite addicting, making this such an awesome dance track that’s a must add to all your house music playlists. What is your favorite part about this song? I love the way that the song is a journey of discovery, both in terms of the story and the production. It starts off very light and ethereal, with minimal instrumental and vocal arrangement, in line with the lyrics being about the past struggles. Then as the lyrics become brighter and the feeling of love re-emerges within the relationship, the instrumental production starts to lift too with more drums & synths. This gradually builds throughout the song until we get to the full breakdown at the end with harmonies & ad libs from the vocal and a big wide instrumental production, done masterfully by Roberto Panovski the producer & co-writer. Where did you record this song, and what are the vibes like in the studio with you? I recorded this in South West London with Roberto, and he always pushes me for the most authentic writing & performance, encouraging me to really establish the truest emotion & feeling. He has a great way of getting me to try things vocally which I would never have done by myself, but end up loving! I’m a pretty chilled performer, so there are a lot of laughs in the studio – I think this always makes the delivery more present and authentic. Was this release cathartic for you? Totally – both of the songs on the single, Starting Again and the B-side, Battles, are two of my favourite songs I’ve written. Hearing the positive comments from friends & fans makes it all worth the while. What keeps you inspired and motivated? The way that writing songs encapsulates how you are feeling at a certain moment in time means that every writing session is different. This means writing never gets stale for me – there is always some new emotion to surface, or maybe an event that is playing on my mind – writing is almost like therapy, seeing it all written down in front of you and really finding the words to describe it. What can we expect next from you? My next release, Price You Could Pay, is a departure from my dance-pop inspired sound and a shift towards more of a synthwave/synth-pop vibe – still maintaining the story-telling driven lyrics and big harmony-heavy vocal arrangements. This comes out Friday 12th November and will be my final release of 2021! What other artists are you listening to right now? I love Yebba’s new album – I think she is the most unbelievable vocalist on the planet at the moment. I can literally feel every single note she sings, and I’m a big fan of her songwriting style. Sometimes songwriters can shoehaun a billion metaphors or similes in to their writing and it feels a little pushed or inauthentic – but Yebba somehow manages to use imagery and metaphor in a super visual yet subtle way. Thank you for taking the time to answer those questions for us, Ross! Be sure to stream “Starting Again” by Ross Harmon on all platforms now, and follow him on social media below! Ross Harmon Instagram Twitter Written By: Bryce Quartz Instagram Twitter Website BY NICHOLAS GRASSO ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BY NICHOLAS GRASSO Chris Ruben wants to break free. Like anyone left sane following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Long Island rocker wants to break out of the same old scenery. But his desire is not simply about a change of pace. He aims to share his new music with fresh audiences. “I want to try and get out of the state and into new areas,” Ruben said. “We’re really just stuck here, so we’re starting to play some more shows. Get out of the county, out of the state, that’s kind of the plan.” Ruben’s restlessness is well justified. The Chris Ruben Band released “Madness on Repeat,” their first full-length album, earlier this past April. Anyone who listened to the album, or better yet, was lucky enough to see them live this past year, understands they have the goods and are ready to hit the road. “The album is 11 songs, it took about two-and-a-half years to make,” Ruben said. “I’ve been writing music for a really long time, and that album is kind of the culmination of some of the earlier songs that I was writing and a couple of the songs were fresher at the time of the recording of the record. It was a real jumble of our catalog as far as it wasnt all written at once.” Despite the lively tone of the album’s bright guitars, swirling keyboards and grooving rhythm section, lyrically, “Madness on Repeat” trudges through dark territory. “The older songs, I was definitely in a dark place in my life,” Ruben said. “I was questioning God, I was doing drugs and I really feel like that album being called ‘Madness on Repeat,’ we set it so that it loops. The last song will go right back into the first song and it’s because the story that the record tells, the feelings behind it are so lost and very eager to find a direction. All my life I felt like this is what I was supposed to do, but like nothing at all pointed in that direction. There was almost no way. It was a bit of desperation, a bit of madness, insanity, you know, trying to do the same things over and over again and expecting something different to happen. I was in a really long seven year relationship around the time the band formed and started making the album and then it ended. Some of the feelings in a lot of the songs are just knowing that I was with the wrong person and not really feeling like I could do anything about it but I did it to myself. I’m a mess of a man.” Feelings of a desperate man floating unmoored through life’s icy waters protrude through the funk-powered “Unsure” and upbeat bop “Prayer for Sadness.” Electric leads give way to inner turmoil on “Stomach Coil” while “Starfish” unpacks soured love and explores a depressive low. In an intimate setting like the Loading Dock at the back of the Patchogue Theater, where the Chris Ruben Band played on November 18, the band packs a wallop. Breezy album tracks like “Cold Shoulder” and “Tell Me Why” take on new life when performed across a huddle of fans. Cheers rival the PA system whenever Ruben whips his head around or drops to his knees for a solo. Bassist Brendan Allan drives “Live Meltdown,” and drummer Russ Miller brings off-beat hi-hat flare to “Darling.” All the while, Nick Marino hammers away at his cream-colored Telecaster and Eugene Iovine adds atmosphere with his keyboard, as does his brother Frank Iovine when he’s not wailing on a saxophone. The Chris Ruben Band does not have any more scheduled performances for the rest of this year, but hungry fans may not have to wait too long for new music. “We have a four-track EP that we just finished that will probably come out around March,” Ruben said. “But we have all the music that was written between last year and this year for another full-length album that we probably will start recording sometime next year. We’re not trying to record it and push it and release things too fast.” It can be a challenge to stand out in the crowded sea of pop hooks these days. Yet, “Deja Vu” manages to do just that in its glimmering trade-offs and aching core. A smooth testament to the human element, “Deja Vu” catalogues the emotive movements of a couple, post-breakup, traveling through the world and away from each other. That is, with the caveat, that one another are still the main occupants of the other’s respective mind. Described as a song that “speaks to the internal power struggle between falling back into comfortable memories, and the desire to stop thinking about those and move on,” the song’s structure follows some of the established norms of modern electro-pop. Often reserved for more conventional love songs, “Deja Vu”‘s pulsing production offers a subversion of the norm- illustrating the same feelings of affection and tenderness in retrospect, now doused in the pain of ending. “I don’t want to hang on to making love to Deja Vu” is the aforementioned hook, propelling passion between each verse, and seemingly determined to get stuck in one’s head. It is a crystallization of the song’s overarching triumphs- a glossy, concise, and imaginative illustration of a rather complex feeling. Where, as mentioned above, many pop songs reserve themselves for the conventions of love, “Deja Vu” explores its entanglements without straying from that central premise. After all, better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. “Deja Vu” is out today and streaming everywhere. Don’t forget to check it out.~ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UlLbnGx10Q Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5A1Y5CajuyhLwrd1DqbTM0 Review by Bobby Guard Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realbobbyguard
VIDEO: AllOne “Don’t We?”
Ross Harmon Chats with us About New Release “Starting Again”
Chris Ruben Looks Back on a Year of Limited Shows and a Fiery Full-length Album
Nightshift x KAKI Hook Us In with the Pulsing Pop Ballad “Deja Vu”
