From composing songs about her cat to establishing herself as an emerging artist! In this interview, we talk with Lora Mouna about her musical influences, her music career, and what her process is when making music.
Lora Mouna: A turning tree in autumn against the sky at dusk.
👵🏻 What has been the most memorable moment in your musical career so far?
My most memorable moment so far has been performing my first music festival, the NC Folk Festival! I’ll never forget how gratifying it was to see my music resonate and connect with so many people outside of a digital space. I also got to meet so many local and young musicians, and they continue to inspire me deeply.
1️⃣ Can you recall the first song you ever wrote or performed?
The very first song I ever remember writing was with my sister. I was 7 years old, she was 9, and we decided to write about our cat Deedee. She was an indoor/outdoor cat and had the most adventurous life. We wrote about all the things we thought she did while she was outside (napping under trees, playing with squirrels, being friends with our neighbor’s horses). We even performed it at my mom’s college while she was still in school, bringing our favorite stuffed animal cats on stage to “perform” with us.
🎼 How do you find inspiration for your lyrics and melodies?
I’m inspired by embracing silence and improvising, which helps me breathe life into ideas and inspiration I’ve been carrying for years. I love being curious about the melodies that surface when I just listen, whether I’m alone or improvising with others. Improvising feels like a dance with another person’s musical landscape, and it’s one of my favorite things to do!
I also love to free write, which I think of as “subconscious poetry,” writing strings of words that come to mind without hesitating or judging. It helps me be unfiltered in my art, and I gather a lot of my inspiration for my lyrics by doing that.
🎶How do you choose the singles from your albums?
I choose the singles from my albums by finding the one that encapsulates that tone and the message of the rest of the project – a sneak peek of what else is to come.
What’s your favorite book?
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran! Khalil Gibran is one of my all-time favorite poets & philosophers. I grew up reading his works.
If you were a fantasy creature, you’d be…
The tooth fairy
First celebrity crush
When I was a kid, my first celebrity crush was Lava Girl from Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Duh!
What song is 10/10, yet hardly anyone has heard of it?
Oh man, I have SO MANY of these. A 10/10 song that hasn’t been widely heard is “all at once” by Anna Vtipil, from her debut album “anyone to you” (that whole album is a 10/10). Immersive and heartfelt, her music makes emotion feel incredibly tangible in a way I hadn’t experienced before. On top of that, she arranges all the instrumentation herself. Finding her music has been such a treasure to me.
Thank you for this interview, Lora! Go on and give this awesome artist a chance!
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