The talented, and equally passionate as she is beautiful electropop singer/songwriterOh Land created quite the scene ever since her US debut at South by Southwest in 2009. Between blogger buzz, DJ Remixes, sexy videos, and a remarkable signing to Epic records, this Danish sensation has captured Indie-loving America’s heart. With her poppy indietronica beats, unique lyrics, and a stunning voice, Nanna Øland Fabricius has made us keep wanting more and more. While she only has a few songs that are available off of her self-titled EP, there’s more coming. Her US debut is following shortly after you put down the party hats and cheap champagne, sometime in early 2011.
Land
We recently had the amazing experience to shoot a few questions over to her, so we could get a little insight into how this crazy trip began.
TMN: With an opera singer for a mother, and a organist as a father, did you always have a dream of being a professional musician?
Oh Land: I was quite a rebel when I was a child and definitely didn’t wanna do anything that was expected of me, so when people asked “are you gonna be a musician like your parents?” I would just go “noooo”.
I had to do other things, like dance, to realize that music was what really made me tick. I guess it was in the cards.
TMN: What instruments did you play as a child, and which is your favorite?
Oh Land: I could spend hours at the piano, but I wouldn’t play when there were people around. It was a very emotional and private thing for me and I refused to take lessons. At one point my parents even tried to pay me to take lessons, haha. They thought I was talented and that I would miss out if I didn’t learn it properly. They also tried to make me play the flute and the only way they could do that was to make a “flute street team”. They would invite all the girls from the neighborhood over and my mom would teach. It must have sounded horrific.
TMN: Some people say SXSW was your “coming out party” in America, what was it was like to play in Austin at this legendary festival?
Oh Land: I had planned the trip to America so far in advance and had great expectations, but obviously nobody knew my music so I would play for like 10 people. But it happened to be the exact right 10 people and I got signed to Epic straight after. It was very overwhelming.
TMN: The single “Sun of Gun” has a lot of bloggers “buzzing”. What was your inspiration behind that song?
Oh Land: It’s a song about being in love with someone who is not good for you but you keep coming back. Like how we spin around the sun but have to protect ourselves against it.
TMN: The music video for this track is – well – awesome. Is that actually you “popping” throughout? Can you tell us what it was like to make the video?
Oh Land:
The whole video is based around my performance so I would just be dancing non-stop for like 16 hours. It was heat wave outside and we were in this huge building with no air-conditioning and the projectors and haze machine would just make us all fry. Everyone was soaked.
I was improvising all the moves and was quite inspired by some Chris Cunningham films I had seen. The whole feeling was a bit like a trance. like being possessed. The way you are when you are desperately in love. I would try to interpret that with the moves.
TMN: How do you feel about the music blogging scene? Are there any blogs or sites that you keep up with?
Oh Land: I think it is amazing how much blogs can let music and art live and communicate things out to people so fast. For me it’s such an important part of getting my music out! I have checked lots of blogs out recently but don’t have one particular that I always read.
TMN: What’s coming up next?
Oh Land: My album comes out next year and I’m so excited to get it out of my little bubble! I will be playing a lot of live shows as well.
Right now I am planning a live performance for the Danish Radio awards where I’m nominated.I’m really excited about that.
