ASTRID NORA's STORY:
The debuting singer, Astrid Nora, was born right into the world of music. The singer's Dutch mom, who's a classical pianist, rehearsed daily for hours on end at the Steinway which was placed at the centre of the living room, and it didn't take long before Astrid, as a little girl, sat at the piano herself, playing and singing whatever came to mind. Preferably on her own, it didn't suit her that her mom should tell her how or what to play.
Astrid Nora sang out her dreams and was chosen at the age of 13 to solo at Odense Symphony Orchestra on her cello. Singing became more and more captivating for her. The fact that there wasn't any restrain or any distance between her and exressing her feelings had strong appeal.
The natural way for her would be to get an education. 'This is something you do, if at all possible' she learned, so she studied both at Carl Nielsen Academy in Odense and after that at the Soloistline of RMC in Copenhagen.
Even though she had chosen her instrument, her voice, there was still a long way to go for the young lady, since she was introduced to all kinds of music and genres during education.
The search for her very own expression in music now started to take off. she went through jazz, which is mandatory for all students; it took her through avant-garde and the free jazz, but an encounter with the famous Danish producer and drummer, Thomas Blachman, changed her perception. Astrid Nora wasn't longer satisfied with the complex universe she found in jazz, she wanted to make music that had more direct access to the heart and human emotion. She wanted to make music everyone could understand and enjoy.
In collaboration with Blachman she composed new music for the project, and this was when pop music was born in Astrid as a new opportunity.
Since this moment it became increasingly frustrating for the young girl to stay in at a department that was centered around avantgarde jazz, so Astrid Nora had to create her own parallel universe with her own songwriting and ended school with a protest-rock-concert, where, among others, the guitarist from the legendary Danish rockband D:A:D was her sideman.
Astrid Nora has also been around a solo rock-project and different jobs as a backing vocalist for Martin Hall and Michael Falch (a.o.) and has arranged strings for Aske Jacoby. For a number of years she also sang backing vocals for the recently deceased star and singer, Etta Cameron.
Since Astrid Nora was a little girl she has had a seeking spirit, and here on the site you'll still find her favorite quote by John Lennon: ''Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans''.
Even if you meet Astrid Nora with a bright smile on her face almost every time you see her, it hasn't all been 'a bed of roses'. She's constantly searching for a deeper meaning and more than a few of her songs have an air of melancholy, she says she still 'feels closer to life' in this frame of mind; closer to the quest. Icons like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, which you can say for both of them are really artist with something on their minds, have inspired her and caught her heart. She also has a yearning for beauty in life though, and with her first record, she has sought to encapsulate both the deeper and the lighter aspects, the edgy and more simple qualities of life.
