Name: Nanna Øland Fabricius aka Oh Land
Nationality: Danish
Occupation: Producer, songwriter, vocalist
Current release: Oh Land's new full-length Loop Soup is scheduled for release September 29th 2023 via Tusk or Tooth.
Recomendations: Hana - by Asa Chung and junray - The most beautiful music I’ve heard in recent time.
I’m also really into this artist Peter Larsen (@petopaj) who really captures my emotions in his paintings. They’re like my dreams painted by a stranger.

If you enjoyed this Oh Land interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, twitter, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I listen with my mouth and eyes open, not a glamorous look.

For good and for bad I’m able to zone out whenever I listen to music.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

I don’t even think an artist is something you are, it’s a way you do things, and that's something you can definitely train.

I’ve been trained at “solving problems” in a creative way since being a child. I wasn’t given too many answers - but my parents taught me to ask a lot of questions and come up with my own solutions.
 
According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

That was a very important age musically for me, since it was the first time I truly discovered my own passion and direction in genre.

At home I had only ever been introduced to classical or jazz and suddenly I discovered trip hop and electronic music which was a whole different world opening for me.
 
What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Problem solving. A meditation in melody over a difficult subject that seems more bearable when I’ve either written a song or concentrated on singing.
 
To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Haha … good question. I actually always have the feeling that no one owns the great idea. That it’s there and you’re on a hunt to find it first, if you even find it.

To me the best idea always wins, even if it’s not mine - it serves the music best. It has to be ego-less.
 
Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

In my own music I listen for the emotion it’s giving me. Both physical and mental.

But to quote Shakira “hips don’t lie” - I really have to feel it in my body ...
 
Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I remember once hearing the sound of cicadas sped down by a lot. It was impressive. Suddenly this buzz of white noise sounded like harmonic arpeggios!

I love that the sound of nature always is in a major key. It’s says something about the built in optimism and will to survive. Major is survival. Only humans sing in minor …
 
From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I’m always attracted to contrast and dynamics in music. Which is why I find meditation music aggravating. It’s like an emotional prison.

I love everything from hyper pop to System of a Down. And I’ll gladly listen back to back. I don’t listen for pleasure mostly. I listen to “meet” music …
 
Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?
 
My creative process varies but usually it’s

Writing - fast
Producing - slooooow
Vocals - fast
Marinade time 1-6 months of not working on it
Correcting
Releasing

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

I wish I was that clever. But whenever I get an idea of something like that - music always takes over and wants to decide anyways.
 
How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I become a better person by making music. It relaxes me, makes me softer toward the world and people around me.

It’s a constant reminder that there are so many other communications more meaningful than words.
 
Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

It’s meditation. The same way you cook when you really hyper focus on your senses and not your knowledge. Is it salty/bitter etc. same with dancing. Or kissing haha

It’s 100% presence in your senses.
 
Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

Haha yes definitely. Many. “Joga” by Bjork is one of them.



How dissonant the baseline is on top of those beautiful strings is so upsetting to me. Like feeling a human captured in sound.
 
If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

Every development. I’m not scared of AI. I welcome it.

We can enjoy something made by a robot and still enjoy Joni Mitchell.