Chilled Aussies Tora bring a mix of energetic vocals, rap, guitar riffs and electronic sounds straight from the beautiful Byron Bay. With the recent stream of successful electronic artists coming from Australia, Tora have made a point to stand out as young musicians with clear talent. With their sounds having been compared to the likes of SOHN and Toro Y Moi, Tora’s second EP Eat The Sun received huge praise from across the globe, paving the way to their debut album released June 19th. KALTBLUT caught up with Tora at the start of their European tour. Make sure to see the boys tonight at Berghain Kantine!KALTBLUT: You’re quite a big group! How did you all meet? Tora:
We’ve all been friends for a long time, most of us met in primary school and the rest in high school. We are best friends and some of us are step brothers, so it’s not just the music that bonds us.
KALTBLUT: Tell us about your previous EP Eat The Sun
Tora: Eat the sun was a pleasure to make, the creating spanned over 6 months. We spent of a lot of time experimenting with sounds and new production techniques. We wanted to give the fans something that wasn’t a full length album, but still told a story and had a cohesive album feel to it.
KALTBLUT: What’s your favourite track on the EP?
Tora: Because there are 5 members, there isn’t just 1 favourite, but I think the top three are Jaigantic, Sugar Snap and Eat The Sun.
KALTBLUT: How do visuals play a part in your music?
Tora: We haven’t had a lot of visuals put to our music yet, when we create songs we aim to give the listener a visualisation as they close their eyes and listen. So visuals haven’t yet become a big aspect for Tora.
KALTBLUT: Can we expect any new videos soon?
Tora: Yes, we actually just finished creating our video clip for Jaigantic, we spent a couple of weeks on it with our friend and talented director Vo. We are also working on a clip for our next single which should be out in June or July.
KALTBLUT: What is Australia like for its music production?
Tora: As a whole, Australian music production is quite electronic based and experimental.
KALTBLUT: Many electronic artists are appearing from Australia at the moment, why do you think this is?
Tora: Yes it’s true, and a lot of them are quite young. I think guys like Flume and Chet Faker have had a big impact on the country, inspiring lots of young kids to become producers. It seems like music production in Australia is now as popular as Football is in Germany, almost every kid owns a laptop with music software and they all go home and make music when they finish school.
KALTBLUT: Do you have any favourite artists that you’re listening to at the moment?
Tora: Favourite artists are always changing, but the artists that constantly remain in the playlist are Galimatias, James Blake, Disclosure, Hiatus Kayote and Little Dragon
KALTBLUT: You recently did a cover of Little Dragon, are they a big inspiration to you? Are they someone you’d consider collaborating with?
Tora: Yes, we have loved Little Dragon for years, they are very inventive with their writing and production, everything they release has elements of surprise which is what we crave. It would be a dream come true to create with Little Dragon.
KALTBLUT: Is there anyone else you’d like to work with?
Tora: There are plenty of artists that we’d love to work with: James Blake, Willow Beats and Galimatias on a production level. If we could feature any vocalist on our songs it would be amazing to work with Alina Baraz, Joy, Hannah Reid (London Grammar), Low Leaf and Chance The Rapper.
KALTBLUT: You produced the song Phases with rapper Meals – How was it working with him on this track?
Tora: Meals is always a pleasure to work with, he’s been a close friend of ours for years, he was actually the drummer in our previous band. His rap style is very unique and he has an imagination that blows us away, always a pleasure to have him around.
KALTBLUT: Will you be touring/playing at any festivals this year?
Tora: We are touring for the next few months around Europe/North America, and we are playing lots of festivals such as: Best Kept Secret, Boardmasters, Somersault, The Great Escape, Canadian Music Week, Mayfield Derby, and a bunch more that we aren’t allowed to announce just yet.
KALTBLUT: Where are you most excited to visit?
Tora: I think Berlin, we’ve heard many many great things about the place so we can’t wait to arrive and see it for ourselves.
KALTBLUT: If you could tell our readers the best place to visit in Byron Bay, where would it be?
Tora: Byron Bay is a very small town, but there are a lot of beautiful places nearby. For anyone who ever goes to Byron, take a drive into the hills and visit Minion Falls, Nimbin, Whian Whian Falls. In the town there are some cool venues like The Beach Hotel, The Great Northern, The Buddha Bar and The Rails.
Tora’s debut album High Enough is out June 19th! You can stream the whole album in advance here
Tour
11:05. Berlin – Berghain Kantine
12.05. Haldern – Haldern Pop Bar
19.05. Mainz – Schon Schön
21:05. Cologne – Club Exactly
22:05. Mannheim – Maifeld Derby
23.05. Munich – house concerts
10:07. – 13:07. Bergheider See – Feel Festival
31.07. – 2:08. Marbachstausee -Sound of the Forest Festival
Contact
facebook.com/Toramusic
soundcloud.com/toramusic
twitter.com/toramusicart