She's been crowned as the queen of deep house, but the reonwned producer, Nora En Pure is much more than just a prosperous musician – she's a blossoming inspiration.
Daniela; currently embraced by her fans and community alike as Nora En Pure, is one of today's most beloved artists. Her feel-good, soulful anthems cascade across dance floors from Ibiza to Coachella; and fans just can't seem to get enough. Her decorated background in music since an early age has propelled her to the top of the charts – with indie-infused, deep house singles such as, “Come With Me” which placed her on the map fairly quickly into her DJing career.
She's found widespread success in a short time span, due to her incredible ability to infuse nature-inspired sounds with beautiful, deep synths and progressions – which makes her impossible to not like.
Daniela freely discussed her beginnings, present, and future plans with EDM Sauce, on what makes Nora- Nora!
Does your Swiss and South African background and heritage effect your creative process? How has your environment impacted your music?
When I work on new music, I always try and bring in sounds of nature into my tracks. This definitely stems from my South African upbringing, as it’s just so raw and incredible there, and I miss it a lot.
So much of nature is prevalent within your music, tell us about the connection between the two for you.
I guess you could say I am just a nature-loving person. I’ve always liked to include exotic sounds in my music, and it works super well for the style of music I play.
What specifically led you to migrate to electronic music? Would you ever go back to your classical roots or keep combining the two?
To be honest I never used to be that into electronic music, as I liked to listen to more rock and classical music growing up. It was when I met some friends in Zürich that had their own studios that I started trying it out for myself. They showed me the basics, and I got addicted quickly when I realised how much freedom you have with it. It definitely felt right for me and now I couldn’t live a life without it…
What's the best and worst part of touring as a DJ?
The best thing is the connection that you have to people at your shows through the music. You never get used to the feeling of travelling to a new place (or revisiting a place) and playing for a crowd that has made the effort to come, are excited to be there and gives you this amazing atmosphere. Also, hearing feedback from people about how songs have touched them and made an impact on their lives. That makes all the crazy travelling schedules worthwhile!
Do you have a specific moment in your career, where you knew you had finally “made it”?
I would say playing at Coachella in April was a real… wow moment for me… The energy in the Yuma Tent on both weekends was something else. Also playing at Tomorrowland on the MainStage was insane, and being the only female act to play the 3-hour Daybreak Session alongside legends such as Carl Cox and Joris Voorn. But I never had a real “made it” moment, I am very critical and there's always room to grow and improve, but I believe in my style of music since a long time and think have found my place with my music.
You've been touring all across the globe this summer! Any particular favorite moments?
Of course, the festivals I had mentioned before were very special to me. I also enjoyed a few more shows and festivals in Europe this summer which was a nice time with less travelling. Otherwise, I can't wait to be back in South Africa and Australia soon.
Walk us through your creative process.
When it comes to tracks I sometimes start with a melody I just had in my mind or that I came up with on the piano. I also draw a lot of inspiration from movie soundtracks and try to create something similar. Once I even got inspired by a phone waiting line which played a melody with a strong characteristic sound that was so melancholic. With specific ideas in my mind I often start with the break of a track and build around it and if I'm a little more clueless I start with a drumloop and see what comes up next. For some tracks the basic idea is done in half a day and I'm convinced, and some tracks I feel they are never finished. I get a lot of inputs from my label team for most releases. In the end Nora En Pure music shall take you to another place, make you dream of a place away from stress and daily hassles.
Is there an album in the works, or new EP?
There is the foundations for an album for sure, but with all the touring it’s been very difficult to dedicate the necessary time to an album. There will for sure be an EP coming soon, and I will be releasing my new single ‘Fever’ at the end of this month 🙂
When playing a show, what's something that gets you hyped for the night/day when you've been touring so much?
I usually just need to hear the music and I will get excited especially if I have found just some new amazing tracks I get excited about the set and try them out.
Who are you listening to now? Any albums?
When I'm not touring I often listen to completely different music so I don't get my mind into “working” mode again. So I like to listen to some classic jazz like Nina Simone.
