StreamLINE Artist Feature & Interview: THYRA HILDEN
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Thyra Hilden is an emerging Danish singer and songwriter based in Copenhagen who is cultivating her distinct brand of music stylings into a flourishing catalog of mystical, avant-garde dream pop and indietronica selections. StreamLINE connected with Thyra, and she was gracious to take the time to share tidbits about her path to music, latest projects and other interesting insights. Read on to learn more about the Thyra Hilden story and her unique artistry.
Enjoy!
Hi Thyra, please tell us a bit about your background, where you’re from etc. What were your early music influences?
Warm thanks for all this attention. I graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and I live and work in Copenhagen. I have a long education in philosophy and art, which is reflected in my lyrics. Early in my life I listened to absurdly sad depressing music like e.g. Songs Ohia: Ghost Topic, which is Jason Molina’s best album. But when both my brother and also Jason Molina died from very hard lives, I woke up realizing that I needed to take responsibility for my thoughts and emotions. I chose a more positive focus both privately and in my art. That’s why I’m really proud when Alchemical Records this week reviewed my first album as “both lively and low-key; danceable, but also easy listening, suitable for studying, driving or even for bedtime”. My songs are just like my visual art: deliciously seductive “sweets” that hides something dark and edgy. I want my art at first sight to fascinate and seduce, and then the seriousness first slowly seeps out, from within.
What was the defining moment or time in your life when you decided to pursue music on a professional level?
Corona is the short answer! I have previously traveled the globe with my art project CITY ON FIRE, where I used giant video projectors to set virtual fire on Western cultural monuments, to create debate about Western destruction and the multifaceted forces of fire. I have e.g. set virtual fire to one of the world’s wonders: The Colosseum in Rome, a work of art featured by the BBC, CNN, EURONEWS, AP, REUTERS… stories that reached all over the world. But when Corona arrived, I could no longer travel. My art therefore found new paths. In 2021 I posted 3 song sketches on SoundBetter, and then I was happily contacted by the super talented 26 year old producer Tendo Herbst. He said that my lyrics expressed very difficult things in very few words and that’s why he picked me. We agreed to make 15 tracks in 1 year, which we have now done. It is an incredibly fruitful collaboration full of creative synergy.
How would you characterize your sound and what inspires your creativity? Is it actual life events/experiences or just a vibe that you get into?
The songs are a catalog of people I know. I do not invent anything, in contrast to my hero Billie Eilish, who is way more inventive in the way she writes her lyrics. My lyrics are full of meta layers, irony and some absurdity, but only because that’s how I experience the world. Reality has many synchronous layers. An artist dives down through all these layers. The artistic process is like insanity, but with a return ticket. My story, my upbringing, my experiences have tried to drive me crazy, but it never succeeds 🙂 It just inspires me artistically, to know reality from many sides.
Congratulations on your new “Trapped in Dreams” EP release! What is the concept or inspiration that drove the making of the songs on the EP?
The whole EP TRAPPED IN DREAMS is about living in an illusion. It’s dedicated to my brother who was schizophrenic, and the last track DUST is about his illness and suicide. To me DUST is maybe the darkest track in history. It talks about death as a release. But otherwise, the tone of the whole album is very cheerful. The songs are about the blind madness of infatuation, where the illusion is the magic of the relationship. Magic implies a lie. Understood ambiguity provides a euphoric cohesion. But what happens then when the whole construction crumbles and just turns into misunderstandings? Was the cohesion so genuine, or was it all an illusion? The album dives into such existential paradoxes.
TRAPPED IN DREAMS
Listen to TRAPPED IN DREAMS on Spotify. Thyra Hilden · Single · 2022 · 5 songs.
You also released a tremendous song and composition last year titled “Fearless”. Please tell us about that track and how it came about
The song has a pretty catchy hook ‘She’s my queen’ which has made it popular in Copenhagen’s queer environment. The song is about a fascinating girl I know, who is naturally high. Quoting: “She is born naturally high. When she breathes, she breathes the sky”. Her boyfriend is a renowned musician who creates great art while consuming cocaine, but he does not have her natural, fascinating and somewhat mysterious freedom. She feels at home in the world.
FEARLESS
Listen to FEARLESS on Spotify. Thyra Hilden · Song · 2021.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given; either personally or professionally?
My professor at the Academy of Fine Arts said, “Always work for something bigger than yourself. Then you are carried by all the power that lies in this”. I create art with this vision, and maybe that’s why I’ve been interviewed by the BBC, CNN, RAI, AP, EURONEWS and REUTERS.
Also. I have had a dramatic tendency for strong assumptions in the past. This can almost take your life, if you don’t learn to become nuanced. Therefore, the concept of “Alternative Thoughts” is the best that has surpassed me. In short, it involves asking: “Can this be seen in a different way?”. Generally you can always find an alternative way of looking at things. Even science has a hard time explaining things definitively. E.g. what is the cause of gravity? It fascinates me that there are no definitive answers. I live knowing things are paradoxical, and this has made me more flexible and soft. It is easier to love and feel cohesion when you have a flexible mind.
BBC NEWS – featuring artist Thyra Hilden – COLOSSEO ON FIRE
Thyra is educated at The Royal Danish Academy, where she studied together with Tal R, among others, by professor and painter Claus Carstensen.In the years 20…
What activities do you enjoy outside of your music endeavors?
I’m a blue water sailor. I have planned to sail around the world with my fun, dear family. I want to sail around the world while making and publishing music via Starlink Maritime (Satellite based internet). Elon Musk has with Starlink made it possible to work online in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, or from a solitude coral island. I look forward to sending music files via satellite to my producer, reaching a lot of collaborators via SoundBetter and interacting with the audience via Spotify. This mixture of absolute presence, and reaching the whole world fascinates me.
We love to hear what type of music other recording artists are vibing to. What are a few songs that are personally on repeat for you or at the top of the pack in your personal playlist?
I use Spotify’s algorithms to find new music. Right now I listen to Gracie Abrams and Men I Trust, and tomorrow I will be listening to the artists who are inspired by these, etc .. I like to hear how different producers are inspired by each other in a process that goes extremely fast, e.g. Finneas O’Connell, Benny Blanco, Jack Antonoff, Joel Little, Max Martin, Shellback and many more.
My favorite tracks right now are “Unlearn” by Gracie Abrams and “Show Me How” by Men I Trust, which is very reminiscent of my upcoming album LUCID. I listen to lyrics about longing and insecurity, but my own lyrics seem to be more about existential doubt than just about couples troubles. This is where I really hope to give something unique, that I don’t hear from other artists.
What’s next up musically for you in 2022 and beyond? Any projects, music videos, features or live shows on the horizon? What’s your goal for the THYRA HILDEN artist brand?
I have a lot in my pipeline. As I said, we have finished 15 tracks, and currently I have just published 6. Right now I’m looking for a good label that will release my songs to reach a wider audience. I’ve just been on NEW MUSIC FRIDAY and this is a great one considering I just started in 2021, but I really need help from Spotify and Daniel Ek if I’m going to make it wide. Maybe I will become the example that you can easily reach a wide audience by publishing yourself ? Either way, a lot is going to happen. In particular, I expect a lot from my upcoming album LUCID. It’s dreamy and more acoustically laid out, fitting well with my existential lyrics. All I pt. has sent my demo to have responded that it sounds ‘delicious’.
Connect with Thyra Hilden
- Website: https://thyrahilden.dk/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thyrahilden/
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