Name: Mari Boine
Nationality: Norwegian Sámi
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Mari Boine's Amame, a collaboration with Bugge Wesseltoft, is out via By Norse.

[Read our Bugge Wesseltoft interview]
[Read our Bugge Wesseltoft interview about improvisation]

If you enjoyed this Mari Boine interview and would like to stay up to date with her music and tour dates, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.
 


Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

Everything in life - nature, encounters with other artists, other people, poetry, books, and movies - inspires me.

I‘m very curious, I like to learn new things, to discover things I didn‘t know. I am very open-minded, and I like to see things from different perspectives.

And the magic in nature and human beings never stops to amaze me.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

I very much follow my intuition, and human intuition is always way ahead of the rational mind. That always astonishes me.

So that is the beauty of working with art and music; you never know where it takes you. You might have a plan and a vision, and after a while, you find yourself and what you are creating in a totally different place than you first thought you would be.

I love the close co-work with my musicians in the band,and now with Bugge Wesseltoft, we inspire and constantly challenge each other. I love that.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way? For example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

Sometimes, I go back to early versions, other times I listen to other musicians and let their songs open new doors in me.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

One cup of coffee with oatmilk in the morning gets me going.

I love to get up early. I love to go for walks. To listen to audiobooks, to read poetry, to catch the lyrics of songs I love. And lately, listening to piano music has a really good, calming effect on me.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

Lately, I always started with the melodies, a few times with a poem that strikes a chord in me.

When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

The process of writing is really interesting. Especially when you have a melody, and you just play and try out different lines, it is like hunting for treasures. I really love this part.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

When the lyrics go really well with the melody and simultaneously touch something deep inside yourself. This is the ultimate.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

This is very interesting; with certain melodies, when they are born, it feels like coming home or like meeting an old friend again.

From your experience, are there things you're doing differently than most or many other artists when it comes to writing music?

This is really difficult for me to answer. I have to say I don ́t know.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

In my early years, I tried to control everything until I learned that the best songs are born when you stop controlling and you just let the music take you to where you are meant to go. I love this part of the creative process.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

I take care of the ideas that come up, store them, and sometimes they have turned out to be the most wonderful songs after many years.

And also you learn after being a creative person for decades that there are many ways you can go with a song, not only one, and it‘s always a matter of choosing.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

There is definitely an element of spirituality in the creative state.

That’s one of the things I love about it. Knowing there are helpers that whisper secrets in your ear and you are never lonely.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practice?

This differs from song to song. Some songs need a lot of refinement, and others find their shape very early.

And what you learn after many years is that you will never be totally satisfied, but that is the beauty of the whole thing. This is what inspires you to go on creating. And in rare moments, you have the ultimate music piece or song.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?

I like to be very much involved in all steps of the production of my albums. But, a few times it has happened that I got totally upset with the results of a presented mastering after delivering a beautiful mixing.

Like everywhere else, it is important to work with people who have the same taste as you and not follow trends and fancy ideas.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

The best medicine for this is to go on the road and play live, to meet your audience and fly with them.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Oh, to create and perform music is different from everything else.

It is magic, it is heavenly. It can‘t even be expressed in words. It is the best. And it is challenging and hard hard work.

The closest I can compare it with is to give birth. That has the same magic in it.