Attila Mora first came to our attention with his glorious reworking of Lorde‘s “Homemade Dynamite” with its cinematic arrangement and the melancholy turned up to 11.
We caught up with the Melbourne-based producer to discuss his songwriting process, his local scene and the launch event for the video for “Alone“.
Cougar Microbes: What time did you wake up today? Was it out of choice or necessity?
Attila Mora: 10.30, I’ve been going to bed 3-4 most nights because all the action happens late at night when its midnight here It’s 9 in the morning in New York.
CM: Describe your sound to the uninitiated?
AM: This question is always so hard to answer, others seem to do a better job at it than me a few people have compared it to James Blake or Rufus. But for me the only reason why I make music is to portray an emotion or feeling, this doesn’t necessarily need be an emotion I’ve felt, I use music to emphasise and connect with others the first song I ever wrote was about my older sister breaking up with her boyfriend, so to me it’s about being an observer and expressing that in a unique way.
CM: What have been the highlights of your year (musically and not) so far?
AM: Highlight has been a private event we ran for close friends and family, screening my debut music video. It was such a communal experience and really brought the music that I’ve been working on in solitude for so long, out in the open, for others to hear and see.
CM: Tell us a little bit about your recent release:
AM: I finished the song 3 years ago now, it was the first song I wrote for this project, I almost didn’t feature it in the EP but then I came back to it and saw that it put context to rest of the songs. As I wrote all them Alone and dark eeriness of it really creates the environment that I was in making this music. So I revamped the song a little with more developed production and decided it would be my debut release
CM: What is the songwriting process like for you?
AM: The process of songwriting has been an interesting experience initially it was one of frustration trying to get my self into this creative frame of mind and putting all this pressure on myself, however now I’ve learnt to turn on and off the creativity, the quality of work that comes out of the process will vary but I’ve learnt not judge myself and just go with it and let what comes out naturally.
CM: What came first, the lyrics or the melody?
AM: I wrote the Lyrics first for this particular song, 3 years ago I was the stock boy in my family business in the storeroom and I hated it, all I wanted to do was write music so, literally as I was packing the selves, I wrote down these lyrics that came to me and as soon I got off work I rushed home to make music.
CM: Do your songs go through many revisions and demos before recordings?
AM: Yes a lot of demo’s and revisions this particular song had probably 8 different versions, but the annoying thing is I usually revert it back to what it was anyway.
CM: What is your favourite track?
AM: It would have to be between “Jasmine” – Jai Paul and “The Ego” – Nicolas Jarr. They both came into my life when I pivoted from my music where I was listening to a lot of indie rock and even pop music. They both opened my eyes to what music could be.
CM: Any other artists/bands from your local scene we really should know about?
AM: Heaps actually, good friend Jamo has some cool stuff coming out, dude called Vincent Sole did a dope remix of Lorde recently, others would be Lanks and Woodes, all from Melbourne.
CM: What was the last show you paid and queued up for?
AM: Sampha with my sister, he’s incredible live, his voice is flawless.
CM: What was the first record/tape/cd you ever bought?
AM: With my own lunch money, I’m pretty sure it was “808’s and Heartbreak“.
CM: What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
AM: I usually hate it when songs get stuck in my head but most recent one would be the hook from Brockhampton‘s track “Gold“, I don’t even know the lyrics just adlibbing “keep it like, gold chain on my neck, better treat me with respect”, awesome tune.
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