Nortas
Don’t fight the current.
That’s the underpinning of Lithuanian producer Nortas’ newest album, Jūra. Inspired by the sweeping tides of the ocean, and the oncoming chill of fall, Jūra slips seamlessly next to the work of Gas and Deepchord, other ambient techno artists who realized that their beats could replicate entire environments, both natural and man-made. For Nortas, he wanted to dive into the bracing biome of sandy shores and cooling waters, and did so with aplomb on this hypnotic, welcoming album. We talked to him below.
Can you describe the Ocean near you that influenced this album?
I live in Vilnius, Lithuania, so the closest sea is the Baltic Sea. Although it's far from the shore, I try to go there at least once a year when I'm off on vacation. In my memories, the Baltic Sea is cold and windy, but visually it creates a really nice balance with the surrounding elements in the sky or the dunes. Both visual aspects and the memories are some of the core forces that give me ideas, and for this album I chose waves as a key concept.
Outside of the motion of waves, were their other natural sounds you wanted to replicate on the album? If so, how did you accomplish that?
As far as I can remember, not really. I always try to achieve a healthy balance between organic and synthetic elements in my music, and natural recordings usually have a lot of weight for the organic side. Although I always thought it would be fun to use synthesizers to replicate sounds such as bird calls or cricket sounds, perhaps I'll do it some time in future projects.
Were there other ambient and techno records you were influenced by?
I was influenced a lot by various songs from artists like Kiasmos, Christian Löffler, pølaroit, Janus Rasmussen, Parra for Cuva and many more. The Jon Hopkins album "Singularity" was the one I kept coming back to listen to over the last year. Probably it was the one that influenced "Jūra" the most. Also, one particular album from neither of the mentioned categories was M83's latest album, "Fantasy". I listened to it a lot as well. Although I didn't try to replicate the style or anything, it influenced some of the tracks on my album. Such examples can be tracks "Jeigu Tik", "Arčiau", and also the starting track "Krantai". I even got some remarks from people that "Krantai" reminds them of M83.
What season does this album best reflect?
I think the autumn is the season of "Jūra", although half of the tracks were written in winter. I believe it's because this is the most nostalgic season for me. I always have a lot of memories flowing around this time of the year.
Can you talk about collaborating with Dalia Mikonytė?
I discovered her work in 2020 when visiting her exhibition "Bust". I really liked her photography and scenography work, so in the beginning of 2023 I reached out to her and asked if she would like to do a cover for my upcoming release. She accepted the request, and I expressed what kind of ideas the music will be flowing around. About a year later, I sent the album to Dalia, and she made a collection of picked works from her archive that she thought could fit the music and resonate with it. The first entry of the list caught my attention the most, and after some talking, we picked it out as the main cover for the album. The image is really organic and reminds me of a warm painting of the shoreline. Appearently, the picture was taken in Nida, which is located in a beautiful Curonian spit region by the Baltic Sea. The image consists of three shots—the sea, sand, and vegetation of the dunes. So it was a really nice touch of not actually seeing the sea in the picture, only the hints of it. We both were really happy with the result and how the visual aspect matched the core idea of the album.
How do you perform these songs live and how do they change from recording to the live setting?
Usually I perform in a club-like or festival venues, so I always try to do a unique set focused on consistency and the rhythm to dance to. I make extended versions of my songs and split them into separate pieces grouped by different instruments or drum tracks, so I can control them separately in a live set. My older songs have a big lack of quality and stand out from the recent music, so I like to make new versions of them, switching the samples and rearranging them but trying to make them sound similar. This gives the set a bit more consistency. The homework I have to do is to arrange the set and do the smooth transitions between songs before playing. This gives me more headroom to focus on other things when on stage, such as playing some additional melodies with the guitar or the keyboard instrument. I also have the freedom to experiment with individual instrument tracks by controlling their overall sound or giving another touch by applying some effects that aren't present in the original track. This is probably the best aspect of playing live—the ability to transform the tracks in a way that would reflect my current state without messing up the core of the music too much.
What would be an ideal live setting to play these songs?
Playing it outdoors on a bright day with the sun setting. It might sound like a cliche, but it's my favorite time of the day, and I really love the overall feeling of the transition itself between the day and the night. The sky can show a lot of nice colors, and I believe that the music I play is very colorful.
Can you talk about the Lithuania scene? Are there bands and artists that folks should know about?
This is a bit of a harder topic for me. I listen mostly to foreign artists, so I'm familiar with the Lithuanian scene mostly by its surface. Speaking about electronic music, once I try to dig deeper and get to know the acts from the local electronic scene, I often find some good quality work, but I fail to enjoy it or find the connection to the artists through listening to their music. I also think that electronic music festivals here lack variety in their musical palette, so it's less likely to find something I might enjoy if I'm not too much into techno or indie dance. Luckily, there are some young talents out there, and I hope their work could bring more color into the current scene. Several Lithuanian music artists have a spot on my daily listening playlists. I discovered Rushkeys a few years ago. His music is magical and very close to the sweet spot on my personal taste. I'm very happy he joined me in a gig we did a few months ago. Jumping back from the electronic music, Lithuania has a very rich alternative music scene. From this group, I would pick the band Sraigės Efektas. I enjoy their music and their live concerts very much and love the way they transformed their sound over the last few records.
Did you do any field recording of ambient noise?
Yes! I believe it's one of the little details that brings a lot of to the overall feeling. I'm usually prepared to do field recordings everywhere I go with the pocket recorder (if I have it on me) or the phone. I capture stuff in nature, a bit further from the city to avoid traffic and other human-made noises. Trees, bushes, crickets, birds, water, or anything that produces crackling—these are the targets I aim to record most of the time. Later on, I resample those recordings to play them the same way as they were recorded or transform them into something else, like sweep sounds or using them as an additional layer to the sounds that already exist. Sometimes I like to keep playing a simple, tiny noise coming from a tape or a synthesizer that is not being played. I believe it provides some sort of "glue" for the whole track, and I used it a lot on the album. Most of the samples used on the album tracks were bird recordings. There can be some river crickets heard during the breakdown of "Jeigu Tik" or a smooth rain sound played along the piano in "Srovė".
The final song/title track uses synths to replicate singing. Instead of having a singer, does that change the emotion of the melody for you?
I was always amazed by instrumental music and how much it can tell without a single word. This is something I aim to achieve in my music too, so the emotion really stays the same as intended. The arpeggio melody in the final track is not stopping at any point, and this was intentional. The vocal would probably have to stop at some point, so it wouldn't be the best choice to match that intention.
When you feel homesickness, what are you missing?
Time that has passed, mostly. Visiting my hometown or my family members does not bring the time or the cared ones back, but in some way it feels closer to the time I miss. When I moved out of my hometown, it took a lot of years to realize that whatever I call "home" has changed and could not be brought back. The homesickness I usually feel is mostly tied to my hometown, even if I am happy to call my current place home.
Srove means “current” and has a long build and a strong kick. Was that trying to replicate the feeling of being caught in a current?
That’s a nice and interesting interpretation! Originally, I've got the starting idea for the piano sample that is playing throughout the track while having an evening walk by the Neris river in Kaunas. The river and its stream were the primary visuals that resonated with the idea. The process of writing the rest of the track felt really creative. Almost every new idea or technique was not used before and worked pretty well with the rest of the elements, so this was pretty much similar to being caught in a creative current.
Jeigu Tik - If Only is the only track not named after a natural occurrence. Did that track feel different to make?
Haven't thought about this title in the album context. Every track in the album is different in its own way. "Jeigu Tik" probably had a stronger emotion behind it compared to the other songs. I remember it started with a piano session and keeping the recordings from it. Sometimes when I am traveling by train, I take my computer and work on some of the started projects. I believe this track was the only one from these projects that made it to the album, so that's a unique setting. I believe the guitar part was also written on a train. Originally, it was played and recorded on a laptop keyboard with a digital instrument. When I came home, I tried to do a recording of that melody with a real guitar, but for some reason I liked the digital version better, so I kept it.
Was sequencing important for you?
Yes. The title track "Jūra" was the one that sparkled an idea for the album. Back when I made it, I knew it had to be the one that closed the whole story. Way much later, I had 7 more tracks picked out, and I thought that they could be divided into two small groups. I was thinking about how one group would be focused a bit more on the groove while another group would consist of the tracks that are a bit more dreamy and nostalgic. Those groups were later connected by an ambient track, "Sapnas". After having it all set, I wrote "Krantai" as an introduction track for the whole story. Later I had thoughts on the sequence in those groups that I've mentioned, trying to find out which order would work best and settled for it.