#INSPO

WORDS Jurga Skeiryte
#ANorthernSoul
You recently released your EP ‘Confusion’. How
do you feel about that?
I’m over the moon satisfied with my EP release! It feels like
everything happened so quickly, even though we’ve worked
so hard on releasing it and organising my official EP release
gig. The Northern Lights gig was just pure magic - I haven’t
seen The Kazimier so crowded in ages. A lot of people
seem to like my music, and nothing makes me happier than
that! I just came back to Liverpool from a successful tour in
Norway, and I can’t help but feel eternally grateful for such
amazing audience and their response to what we do. I truly
love what I do and nothing can stop me from doing it!
Can you give us a short story of how you got to
this stage? How did you start performing?
I started playing piano when I was six years old, and I’ve
been playing ever since. I was mainly focusing on classical
piano and I spent hours playing challenging pieces. Around
this age I also started writing music. It was only four years
later when singing became a part of my life. At thirteen, I’d
participated in a Norwegian singing competition and made
it to the top which boosted my confidence and eventually
made performing my own music much more enjoyable.
At seventeen, I won a scholarship from one of the biggest
banks in Norway that led me to being able to record my
music in a professional studio with professional musicians.
Since then, I’ve been gigging around Norway supporting
well-known acts and performing in great venues.
Were there people who said you would never
make it?
Almost everyone who heard me sing as a child would have
laughed if I told them I would make it to one of the most
famous music schools in the world (Mari is studying music
at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts). I didn’t have
an extraordinary voice as a child. I played piano very well
but I always wanted to play and sing at the same time. I
remember playing Idol with my friends when we were kids,
and I was always voted out first. I guess it’s fair to say that
I’ve proven them wrong by now [smiling].
You seem to have slightly changed your look
for the EP. What led you to change the aesthetic
direction?
To really send a powerful message, an artist’s image should
always reflect his music and vice versa. I believe that this EP
is very strong emotionally so everything else must reflect
that. Making music is also a constant journey requiring
constant change.
How important is fashion for you as a musician?
I’m such a nerd for fashion blogs! Fashion has always been
an important part of my life. It’s almost equally as important
as my music and, as an artist, it’s crucial to link those two
together. There are a few singers that I really appreciate
fashion wise: Alicia Keys, Ellie Goulding, Christina Aguilera
and Taylor Swift. Not only are they great musicians but also
much praised for their fashion sense too!
You are a Norwegian who is now living in
Liverpool. Do you like it as a city? Does the
fashion here majorly differ from where you are
from?
I’m from a farm in a little town in Norway, so moving to a
relatively big city such as Liverpool was absolutely amazing!
I love Liverpool, and it’s not just something I say. It feels
like my home now, and it would be quite emotional to
move away. It’s an amazing place for live music, fashion,
good food, nightlife and history. The trends in Norway
vary on extreme weather conditions like ice-cold winters,
but one can definitely see the North European touch in
both Norwegian and English fashion. Of course, in spite
of it all, girls still follow fashion trends in the same way as
everywhere else in the world.
What do you hope people take away from your
EP?
My biggest hope and dream is that through this EP people
get a real sense of my music and that they find something
personal in my songs.#
You can listen to Mari’s EP on Spotify, purchase it on iTunes and at Mari’s performances.