Heather Nova – interview

Efter en aften af de helt sjældne, da Heather Nova gæstede Koncerthusets Studio 2 den 12.11., fik diskant mulighed for at veksle ord over mailen med den ellers meget pressesky sangerinde og sangskriver.

Foto: Sanne Fredskov Meedom
Foto: Sanne Fredskov Meedom

Samtale med en Supernova

Efter en aften af de helt sjældne, da Heather Nova gæstede Koncerthusets Studio 2 den 12.11., fik diskant mulighed for at veksle ord over mailen med den ellers meget pressesky sangerinde og sangskriver.

I løbet af den igangværende tour har Heather Nova selv opfordret fans til at byde ind med deres evner på et instrument, hvorefter Nova udvælger en vinder og inviterer den pågældende op på scenen for at deltage i det lokale liveshow. Desværre var der ikke nogen fra Danmark, der havde kvalificeret sig – måske er der slet ikke nogen, der har budt sig til! Det kunne ellers have været en fantastisk oplevelse at være en del af den magi, der opstår på scenen, når Heather Nova lukker op for sin sangskat.

Diskant: How is the tour going? You have an ongoing competition, where people end up in your show. How did you get that idea?
Heather Nova:
The tour is going great, thanks! We set ourselves some technical challenges – using a loop pedal and many instruments, but it’s been great so far! I had the idea of the competition because I know a lot of my fans are also musicians and I have often had letters saying “if you ever need a bass player……” etc. So I thought it would be a fun thing for the fans to compete to play live with me on stage on this tour. There have been a lot of interesting entries so far. None for Denmark yet, though.

Diskant: How are the new songs from your latest album The Jasmine Flower presenting themselves, and how does it feel playing the songs live?
Heather Nova:
These songs are working very well in this show because it is essentially an acoustic show, and it was an acoustic album – so most of the new songs are played with me and cello.

Diskant: You are playing in churches and major concert-halls during this tour. How does the physical room affect you and your songs, when you’re performing?
Heather Nova: It does make a difference to play in a beautiful room – both for the audience and for us. The churches have been inspiring. Although I am not religious I love churches for the architecture, art and atmosphere.

Diskant: The first time I experienced you live, was back in the mid nineties, where you’d just released the album Oyster. We were an intimate crowd of approximately 50 people that night, but next time you came to Denmark, it was to a sold-out show in Vega. How did you experience the step from being a relatively unknown singer-songwriter to a popular and best-selling artist?
Heather Nova: In the beginning it was both exciting and overwhelming. I never set out to be famous – that wasn’t my goal, but I did want recognition as a songwriter. What really matters to me is that my music makes a connection with people. It makes me feel like I have a purpose in this life!

Diskant: How do you feel, when you look back on your career?
Heather Nova: I feel thankful for being able to follow my creative path and to have had such a long career in music. I hope it keeps going because I feel that it is my way of contributing something in life. I don’t really have any regrets. I am glad I always stayed true to myself.

Diskant: When you’re not writing new songs, and when you’re not on tour with your music, how do you channel out your creativity? What would you do, do you think, if you couldn’t compose new songs and present them live for an audience? How important is your audience?
Heather Nova: I will always write songs – it’s just a part of me. Even if I wasn’t releasing records and playing live. But my audience is very important – I love the feeling of connecting to people that I get through my music. Everything in life can be creative. It’s an attitude – from the way you arrange bunch of flowers to the way you raise your children. We can all be creative in everything we do – it’s just a matter of doing things your own individual way and in a way that comes from the heart.

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