ChitChat - With Nuria (Anna Maynard)
INTERVIEW BY: EMERALD VIOLET
To get the questions started off, Can you tell readers how you came up with the name Nuria, why did you decide to use it as your stage name and what it means to you.
My mum used to tell me that she had wanted to call me Nuria. When I was little I always imagined that this was my name and for me as an adult it still carries a dreamy quality. It felt fitting that this would be the name to represent the artist in me. I also like that slight separation from my day to day identity, it allows me to feel freedom in my expression.
Aside from music, do you have any other passions or hobbies and if so - how do you juggle your time between everything?
There are so many different things I love doing from music, painting, sewing and gardening to surfing, bushwalking and spending time with my family. I’m on maternity leave currently but usually work as a doctor part time. I feel like all my pursuits nurture a different part of me. I don’t always have enough time to do everything as deeply as I might like but I give it a go and that feels good. Life is busy but it is rich and fulfilling!
At what age did you get into music and can you explain how that all started?
I started playing music when I was really little. I remember my feet not yet reaching the pedals when I started playing piano. I learnt ‘Mary had a little lamb’ and then decided I was bored with nursery rhymes so taught myself ‘Fur Elise’ when I was 7 - make no mistake, there was nothing remarkable about my skills, I just always new what I wanted to do and with determination I got there. I continued to play piano, sing and write a few songs, then once I hit high school songwriting took on a different purpose. It became a fundamental way in which I processed my emotions and experiences. Since then it has continued to be a big emotional outlet and something I turn to when I need to express or work through something.
In general, what would you say is your biggest inspiration when it comes to writing music?
Emotional expression for sure. The impetus to write a song never comes from desiring the end product, it is always the writing of the song that is cathartic and pleasurable in itself. The songs that end up developing from that initial emotion tell stories past, present and imagined but the emotion is always the stem from which it grows.
What would you say are some of your strengths that you believe make you a good musician?
Oh golly, am I a good musician? Thats difficult for me to answer. I do know that I am honest in the songwriting and the music comes from a place that is true. I guess there are tools along the way that make it easier such as having had some formal vocal coaching over the years etc. But I think overall the enjoyment I get from songwriting is probably my greatest strength as it keeps me making music and developing as an artist.
So your new album “Silver” is out December 3rd - How exciting!! Can you talk a little about the inspiration behind it and what it means to you?
‘Silver’ is a collection of songs I wrote in 2020 during the pandemic in a period where life was a little slower and I had more creative energy. The songs in the album are set in a production and visual space that is dramatic, grandiose and dripping with emotion. The music video for ‘Red Velvet’ depicts the story of the performer in each of us in our everyday lives and explores the idea of us as characters in our own show. All the songs on the album feature various different human emotions but that slight thread of theatrical richness and orchestral arrangements permeates throughout. The title track ‘Silver’ observes a moment of intense romantic love and the eternal feeling of youth that holds and the soundscapes and drama of this song are representative of the album as a whole.
Out of all the tracks on the album, what one is your favourite and why?
Oh thats like asking which of my kids I love the most! All the songs on the album are special to me in some way or they wouldn’t have made the cut - there are plenty of songs I write that never reach release status!! But I’ll mention a couple.
‘All we dreamed’ is a special one for me because it is tender and current to the stage of love and life I am in right now - chaos and busyness of establishing careers, raising children and family moments interrupted by ‘I need to do a poo’ and dodging thrown banana and realising that what we’re sharing is actually all we dreamed of. ‘Spacejunk’ is a song that sits hidden towards the end of the album and is special to me for its existential questioning and thoughts on the impossibility of life and love on this planet. I am particularly proud of it because it features the lyrics ‘galactic tide’, ‘oort cloud’ and ‘belt of kuiper’ all in one verse ; ). ‘Like that’ is the final song on the album and feels the most vulnerable of them all which is both scary and but also quite empowering.
What did your creative process look like when working on the new album?
I feel like the beginning of this album was when I connected with producer Sam Phay. He’s a Melbourne based artist and producer who is absolutely amazing. After finishing the first song together my songwriting shifted into a slightly new direction and I was writing songs with his production in mind. With a young family, living in a caravan while building our house I found myself in a space (somewhat surprisingly) that was bursting with creative energy and the songs on this album came out easily and quickly. I remember many days watching the kids playing in the sandpit outside the window or up the other end of the caravan while I put down little ideas in my recording space with a baby strapped on my front. It was a memorable time.
With everything you’ve achieved so far, what do you think is the biggest highlight in your career?
There have been so many beautiful moments along the way - idyllic Tasmanian performance settings, heartwarming words from audience members, supporting The Waifs in Alice Springs a few years back. But I think my biggest highlights are actually the moments creating the music - in the privacy of my headphones the excitement of a new song developing, of finding the right beat, the harmonies, the melodic lines. This feels like the magic part, then sending off a demo and listening to my original song lifted by the production into something new and different is a total buzz.
In the next 5 years, what do you hope to accomplish?
I want to continue making music that is honest and expresses powerful emotions. And although those emotions might come from my own story I hope that the themes are relatable and that they can touch people in the quietness of their own lives and resonate with something in their world. To me that feels like the ultimate level of communication.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions!
