Photo by Sarah Maurer
After gracing us with a magical video to her single Unicorn, INGRID LUKAS we thought you’d like to get to know the Estonian-Swiss singer, that has created her own universe where dragons, night-angels, unicorns and all things magical can co-exist – a little better. She’s about to perform at Eurosonic Noorderslag next month and today NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION gives you a bit more insight into her art and music.
How would you describe your music to our readers in one sentence?
Personal and yet inclusive, mixing traditional and modern styles.
Which 5 tracks should start a mixtape to perfectly capture your musical influences?
SIDSEL ENDRESEN and BUGGE WESSELTOFT – ‘Try’
JAMES BLAKE – ‘Give Me MY Month’
RADIOHEAD – ‘Videotape’
SIGUR ROS – ‘Eg Anda’
ARVO PART – ‘Für Alina’
Describe your earliest musical memory.
Being part of the Estonian human chain that made the Singing Revolution. I remember feeling enthusiastic, but not much else, as I was very young. I wrote a song about it on my second album Silver Secrets.
‘Blue, Black, white. The armies are marching
And beating their boots left and right
The choirs keep singing
A song of the sea, earth and light’
Would you rather be a dragon or have a dragon?
I would definitely rather be a dragon, because then it’s socially-acceptable to walk around spitting flames, but if I do it as Ingrid Lukas, somehow it’s not ok! That is why I created my own musical universe Demimonde where I can impersonate whoever I want. Dragons, night-angels, unicorns and manticors, as I sing on the track Unicorn on our third record Demimonde.
If your music would score a movie what sort of movie would that be? What actors can you imagine playing in it?
I’d love to be in the soundtrack to a fairy tale. Maybe the forthcoming live version of The Little Mermaid, by Hans Christian Andersen, which is a story I love. I’d have the sea, lots of fish, floating plants, waves, spray, ships. All of them would become people in my version of the film.
If this whole musician thing won’t workout – what would be your alternative dream job?
Olympic swimmer or a shepherd on an alp.
Tell us a mostly unknown artist we should definitely check out.
EVELINN TROUBLE – check her out on her website.
The music industry is changing quite heavily these days. What’s the best and what’s the worst part of these changes, in your eyes?
The best part is that it’s so much easier for people to access music these days – they can stream music, play it on their smartphones, and so on. But the bad part of this is that people don’t think about the world behind the music so much, because music itself, in general, has become much more commodified.
Unleash your inner Burt Bacharach and complete the following sentence… ‘What the world needs now is…’
What the world needs now is connection.
As I wrote on my first record We need to repeat:
‘We need to repeat…
…cause it takes time
…’till your heart shows
…’till your body knows
…’till you feel the beat’
What role plays ‘hope’ and ‘passion’ in your life?
These are my inner motor, that help me to keep on doing the things I need and love.
‘Joys of sea
Children, children
Dance all over me
Let your feet weave a tapestry
Of earthish pleasures
Joys of sea
Free of self
Unselfish free’
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