In this episode, Beth Roars chats to Norse music composer Jonas Lorentzen. Jonas is known for being part of the break-through traditional nordic music act Heilung. Jonas has spent a lot of time working on his mental blocks. We chat about the benefits of setting yourself limitations, overcoming the fear of success as well as failure, learning how to throat sing and why Jonas has moved onto other things.
“I think my biggest challenge is really letting go of that fear of succeeding and fear of failure and really just allowing myself to just get immersed in what I want to say”
Podcast Episode Highlights:
1.05 - What was Jonas’ worst ever job?
1.53 - Could he imagine where he is today when he was a teenager?
2.16 - Did Jonas always imagine his musical work being based on norse culture?
3.34 - When did Jonas’ musical journey begin and what were his influences?
5.35 - How did Jonas get into throat singing from pop-rock style?
6.30 - How was it for Jonas joining Heilung?
10.32 - Jonas talks about being thrown in the deep end when it came to throat singing and how he approached learning
13.38 - How much does Jonas think his vocal development, particularly distortion and throat singing, has been mentally letting go vs physical?
15.01 - Technique and letting go
16.40 - Why did Jonas Lorentzen leave Heilung?
20.17 - Quickfire Round
21.34 - Fun Fact
22.54 - Jonas talks about his new work - what is the difference doing music for a film compared to a live project?
25.07 - Jonas speaks about Sebastien (Vessel) who he is collaborating with on his new project
26.26 - What advice would Jonas have for someone entering the industry?
27.27 - What has been Jonas’ greatest challenge?
30.09 - Does Jonas worry about other people’s opinions of him?
34.01 - If Jonas could wake up with one quality or ability, what would it be?
Key Points:
Use your intuition, work with people you have a rapport with
Take risks and allow doors to open as a result
Overcoming the fear of success and failure
Trust your intuition on who you’re working with and whether it feels right
Quotes:
“I think my biggest challenge is really letting go of that fear of succeeding and fear of failure and really just allowing myself to just get immersed in what I want to say”
Jonas Lorentzen
“She (my mother) put me up on a table and made me sing a nursery rhyme and she said that was when it started for me, I’ve just been singing ever since”
Jonas Lorentzen
“So I was sort of thrown into this thing and had to learn to throat sing”
Jonas Lorentzen
“I saw these tibetan monks sitting in a small temple, they were sitting in long robes and just sort of *chanting* and they were doing this for hours. I was sitting there for hours… it totally transported me”
Jonas Lorentzen
“The standard throat singing was ok but where it really challenged me was when I had to scream”
Jonas Lorentzen
“I remember Kai just looking at me and saying ‘Listen, I know you’re a singer but just forget about that. Just be a bear, or be a wolf and channel that inner beast”
Jonas Lorentzen
“You have to let go of all your inhibitions and all your ties and completely let is loose and that was something I’d never done before, I’ve always been so careful with my voice”
Jonas Lorentzen
“I think the best singers are the ones that manage to get the technique right so their voice is free but then after they’ve got the technique then they’re able to let go and they can just express”
Beth Roars
“Learn all the techniques, as many as you like; and once you’ve learnt them, forget about them and just be”
Jonas Lorentzen
“People think (singing) is all about hard work. It is kind of about hard work learning the techniques, but that’s where the hard work goes not in the actual process of singing. Once you’ve got it, you should be as free as possible”
Beth Roars
“The technique is to give you freedom not just to be a technique in itself. I think that’s where people go wrong a little bit”
Beth Roars
“Once you’ve learned them all (the techniques) then you can start feeling comfortable and then you can start letting go”
Jonas Lorentzen
“I said, this has been amazing, this has been completely life-altering for me to be a part of this project and thank you, but I need to move on”
Jonas Lorentzen
“My daughter came up to me and said ‘Papa, are you sure about this? It’s a big risk’ - she’s eight years old”
Jonas Lorentzen
“It was scary to call up a really good friend who I’ve known for more than a decade and say ‘I don’t want to be in your band anymore’ but I needed to do this, there was a fire in me. I just needed to get out and do my own thing”
Jonas Lorentzen
“I think it’s always good for an artist to put restrictions on him or herself. I think if you allow yourself to do anything then I think you very quickly get muddled. So when you put a bit of a dogma on yourself, it sharpens the mind and narrows the focus. I think that’s a positive thing. There needs to be a reason why you’re breaking the rules”
Jonas Lorentzen
“I think really steeling yourself and saying “ok, come on these are massive risks but I need to focus on what I want to do” and having the courage to do that, my experience has been you just see all these other doors and possibilities opening for you”
Jonas Lorentzen
“It’s not just about working with someone who is skilled or talented. It’s really about, do I jive with this person? Does this feel right?”
Jonas Lorentzen
“I would always stop myself… I would scrutinise it and listen to it again and again like a painter just painting a picture all his life”
Jonas Lorentzen
“As scared of failure as I was, I was also scared of making it”
Jonas Lorentzen
“I feel like artists are generally quite emotional and soft people. They have all these emotions they have to express yet also to be an artist, you have to have Rhino skin”
Beth Roars
“When you’re an artist putting yourself out there and it often feels like part of your soul that you’re giving to other people so it can be terrifying to put that out”
Beth Roars
“You have to be crazy enough to think you can have an impact… I think I’ve really developed my crazy”
Jonas Lorentzen
“You have to decide what emotion, what feeling, what thought is the captain of your ship”
Jonas Lorentzen
Resources Mentioned:
