oh! AMBIENCE & CIGARETTES by Nori Jet
Nori Jet has been an artist following the Bonnie’s Legends socials for some time before he messaged me telling me the exciting news of his new single release: Ambience & Cigarettes. Read our interview below :)
Bonnie Orbison: What’s your name & birthday?
Nori Jet: Nori Jet is the name, I know this is a completely random name and makes no sense (especially considering my name is James Barnard) but it’s really a funny story. So I got a toy from McDonald’s, which was called Nori and as I was eating it looking out to the river Thames I had noticed a boat with the word ‘Jet’ on it somewhere, this moment actually sparked the initial idea that I maybe wanted to become an artist but I only took this seriously after lockdown had begun and I started then,not quite seriously at this point but more of a way to vent and unleash ideas and thoughts in a creative way. My birthday is 1st of July 2003.
Bonnie: Do you want to introduce yourself a bit? Do you want to talk a bit about your journey?
Nori: So I originally started out solely using YouTube beats of artists that I liked such as Rex orange county,Joji,Frank Ocean etc. but after doing it unseriously I realised to have full creative control I’d need to learn profuction,so I studied music production at college and eventually started learning guitar,which I am still playing more or less everyday. I am now at university studying Commercial Music which covers all essential parts of making music for a living (production,promotion,sync licensing,business,branding etc.)
Bonnie: Describe your new song in three words.
Nori: Ambience & Cigarettes is a brilliant song in my opinion (of course I’d say that lol) in 3 words I’d describe it as: Mellow, Poetic & Fresh.
Bonnie: Tell the story behind “Ambience & Cigarette”. What inspired it?
Nori: The song was inspired by something so silly, I looked at my alarm clock which at the time was flashing between different coloured LED lights and then immediately at a box of cigarettes (I used to smoke but no longer do) and instantly thought okay yeah that’s a cool title,and no other song exists called that yet so I sat and worked on a chord progression and then begun writing,it took me a while but eventually I felt ready enough to sit down and begin producing it and finally got a final version done about a month after I’d begun. It’s exactly how I wanted it to sound too. There was many small tweaks I made along the way which prolonged the release as I had to have a final version to begin on the music video but we finally have everything sorted now and ready to release shortly after the track is released. It was a lot of trial and error as I’m a perfectionist but I gave up getting it completely perfect otherwise it would never be out!
Bonnie: How did the process of writing and making this song look like and how long did it take?
Nori: I produced the track completely but I’d like to thank my friend Tom,who gave me some great feedback that I took on board,I’d like to thank my tutors from university who gave me some amazing feedback too,and most importantly I’d like to thank my friend and collaborator Aaron AKA Schemin Studios who was so helpful in getting my vision alive for the video,with such a little amount of time he has done an incredible job and I look forward to working with him in the future on other releases.
Bonnie: If you could send the songs to any artist/band (dead or alive) knowing they’d listen to it, who’d it be?
Nori: I would without a doubt send the song to Elliott Smith with Alex G as a close second,I recon they are the artists this track is most reminiscent of. I think both artists would either thoroughly enjoy and appreciate it or they would atleast give me some good feedback that would help me out.
Bonnie: Where can people find you?
Nori: My main social media platform is @itsnorijet on instagram. That’s where I’m most updated, but you can find my music on all platforms (with some exceptions but any major platforms for sure). I haven’t got a website yet but I’d love to have one soon, likely not for a while though if I’m being realistic.
Nori’s legend are the Beatles: “My legend is and always have been the Beatles, I get the most comparisons to them but recently I’ve taken a huge liking to Elliott smith. I think his music is incredible and more honest than most other artists. The Beatles always have been and always will be a huge influence due to nostalgia and just the sheer impact they have on music as a whole, which is undeniable.”