Nora En Pure Interview: Track Names, Time Management + More

We recently interviewed Swiss/South African artist Nora En Pure. She is known for hits such as ‘Come With Me’, ‘Tears In Your Eyes’ and many other magical productions. Having also played all the biggest festivals in the world, it was a pleasure to interview her. We talked about visiting Australia, her origins and how her relationship with Enormous Tunes was established, her inspiration, a potential album and a lot more!

You tour Australia quite often, what keeps bringing you back?
Well it’s quite a trip, but I like the crowds here and if it were closer I would probably come more! I have (at least in the bigger cities) quite a great fan base so once a year definitely makes sense. 

What differentiates Australia from other regions?
They like to get loose for sure! Europe is very controlled and contained – they listen but they don’t go crazy. So Australia is quite nice in that sense to play for.

You grew up in Switzerland, how is the dance music scene over there?
There are a few clubs that care about the music and support the underground style. But otherwise there’s a lot of clubs where people just go out to dress up. I don’t get to play in Switzerland too often, I play maybe once or twice a year. 

Since the start, you’ve been with Enormous Tunes and have released most of your tracks with them – what is your relationship like with the label?
I started with them in the beginning, when I first got into the studio. They were the guys who had all the equipment. I’ve been working with them pretty much since. Even though the label does a little bit of different music now, in the beginning I was always the odd one with a bit more indie dance and more melodic, at the moment they’re releasing a bit more future house. They always have a good quality of music, the mastering and the mix-down is always super crisp. Obviously their bouncey bassline – which is like a signature of the label. 

What inspires you to produce this melodic house style of music?
For me, melodic is all emotions and it’s a little bit more behind – closer to classical music than just using samples. It’s just timeless and I like that. 

Your track names are always interesting and really fit the music, how do you come up with them?
Some of them, I like to relate to nature, sometimes I Google ‘beautiful spots’. Sometimes when I think of a track, I’m already thinking of scenery and I want to translate that. Sometimes I come up with names but the label says “it sounds too melancholic – let’s look for something more positive”, so we change it. But I mostly have a nature theme around Nora En Pure.

Could there be a Nora En Pure album on the cards?
All the EPs and singles could easily fill several albums! But nowadays albums maybe don’t make as much sense anymore as they used to. As hardcore fans and even as an artist it’s nice to have an album. Maybe sometime soon, I would always appreciate having an album. However, given the current scene with streaming it’s not as practical anymore. 

How do you manage your time with producing, constant touring as well as organising your weekly ‘Purified’ radio show?
I don’t manage always!  I always have people chasing me. I definitely also have some help, like with the radio show – I have a timeline when I need to deliver the tracks/tracklists – someone helps me mixing it down, because otherwise I would always have to be back in Zurich to mix it, and with Logic I take too long. It’s quite a lot, producing sometimes I’m only able to do some drafts/ideas and then I have a studio partner in the States (Nashville) – so at least when I tour in the States I can go in between the weekend there and work on something or otherwise in Zurich. So those are my two home bases where I can actually work on music. 

Do you have any upcoming projects and/or collaborations you can tease?
There are a few things outstanding but this time it’s me chasing them – nothing I can really say at the moment though. But I’m looking forward to a lot of upcoming projects!  

Listen to Nora En Pure’s latest release ‘Birthright’


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