Nora Norman is manifesting her dreams
Nora Norman was studying fashion design in college when she was approached by a record label who found her on Youtube. It was the first video of herself singing she had posted, at the behest of a friend: a cover of Robyn's 'Dancing on My Own'.
Norman, whose real name is Nora Alier Sala, moved from her native Sabadell in Catalonia to Madrid to pursue music full time, immersing herself in the small but vibrant soul, blues, and funk music scene there and becoming a regular at jam sessions. She writes and sings in English and worships artists such as Amy Winehouse - she even got the 'Blake' pocket tattoo in the same spot on her chest as the late singer had.
Just like the friend who insisted she the video that got her noticed, a childhood friend years ago had urged Norman to pick an artist name. "If you ever do something with music, you'll need an artistic name," she re her friend telling her, to which she replied: "'nah, that's not necessary...' and he said 'It will be Nora Norman.'" And that's the story behind her name; it was bestowed on her when she was 13 years old. "It's a bit of ing when you're a child and you were dreaming about your future, of doing what you really love," she says.
I spoke to Norman in New York City, where she performed for the first time outside Spain at the Latin Alternative Music Conference in July. Her first EP, self-titled, was released last year and she is currently recording her first album. A music career she once thought was unattainable for a queer kid from Spain who liked soul music is now becoming a reality through hard work and, especially, a lot of ion.
"People say that I never sing a song in the same way as I did the last time. The thing is, I really don't care if I'm improvising or not, I just feel the music. It’s a disconnection of my mind," says Norman. "I can't what I did two seconds ago when I'm singing because I’m just focused on feeling it."
