Azure Ryder Interview

Mitch: Your latest single, North Star, just came out on April 24. Do you mind sharing a bit about the track and what inspired it?
Azure Ryder: I wrote this song as a way of fully embracing who I am and who I’ve always been. I feel like, throughout my journey, not only in discovering love, but in understanding the essence of who I am, I’ve often been told I’m too much, or to be less of this and more of that. This song is me coming to a place where I’m embracing exactly who I am, how I love and always have, and how I want to continue. It’s kind of a manifestation of me calling in something that matches how I see love, how I hope others receive it as well, and finding people who match our hearts in the same way we give ours.

Mitch: What do you hope people feel while listening?
Azure Ryder: I actually had a beautiful person comment on a post I just made the other day asking whether this song will bring solace or celebration. The thing I hope for North Star, and for any song I create, is that it brings both of those things because I think that’s what music should do. It should present something that sees you, hears you, holds you and takes you forward. That’s really what I hope North Star is and I hope it embraces people the way that I tried to embrace myself.

Mitch: The song comes alongside the announcement of your debut album, Even Flowers Can Bruise. How does it feel to finally be releasing this body of work that you’ve been working on for so long?
Azure Ryder: To be honest, I’m feeling many things all the time. But I’ve been really looking forward to this first step with North Star, because these songs have existed within me for so long, and sharing them with the world feels like a special moment. I’m so proud that I took the time to create something that I feel is the truest to me that anything has ever been and that’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to put out.

A debut album feels like an arrival of sorts. Although I’ve been on this journey for quite a while, I really feel like in this moment, I’m landing as I am and embracing who I am and that’s the space I want to be sharing from always. I’m just so excited!

Mitch: What can fans expect from the album?
Azure Ryder: I have always believed in an album. I like to say that I live in long-form. Our world has become a short, quick-paced, fleeting-connection society, so anything, especially in art, that tries to slow and still us is so important and crucial. So I’m really looking forward to giving people an entire journey, an entire story.

I really feel like music speaks where words can’t, even though I don’t usually have trouble with words haha! But I feel like it’s all in the music, and I couldn’t have captured my journey any better. I hope that in it, people can find themselves in those feelings, because we all feel them.

But expect meeting me in what I feel is the truest version of my voice and my heart that I’ve ever been.

Mitch: If the album was turned into a movie, what would the plot be? What would the movie look and feel like?
Azure Ryder: It’s very much 70’s dreamy, mystical wonderland. Hazy, romantic and full of moonrises and sunsets. I’d say it’s the journey of being lost and found again, and coming home.

Mitch: What’s your favourite memory from making the album?
Azure Ryder: The whole process was so special. I feel like I had the space to really give the project time, and the entire experience, to me, was such a moment in itself. I really felt held and safe and free all at the same time.

I think just being in the studio with Killian, who produced the record. Knowing I was in the room with someone who truly saw me and embraced me exactly as I was, and finally being able to create from that space without any borders or outside voices... that, to me, is what you always hope for when creating any kind of art. So to finally be in that space was really special.

Mitch: Will there be any shows around the album? Why should people come? What can they expect from your live sets?
Azure Ryder: Most definitely! I am very passionate about the live shows, alongside the new music. I’m a very deeply visual person so when I’m recording and writing these songs, I always see myself on stage and I’m excited to get that out of my brain and into real life.

Live music in general is just crucial and needs to be supported. We’ve all felt what it’s like to be in a room together, and how magical that is. No matter how your day’s been or what exists outside of that space, when you’re in that room, all that matters is each other, the music, and that shared collective feeling.

I hope to create a space that feels like home. Something that gently eases people in and out of the world. And you can expect romance and love at a high, always.

Mitch: What is the best way for people to support you?
Azure Ryder: Obviously listening to the music and sharing it with the people you love. Come to the live shows and sign up to the Honey Hearts Club Mailing List. Those are the main things that really matter, especially just taking my music into your life and into the lives of people you love.

Mitch: Who are some emerging AUS/NZ musicians that people should get behind?
Azure Ryder: I went to see a wonderful Australian artist recently who I actually grew up with called Chris Lanzon. He had such a beautiful intimate show in Sydney and he is just such an incredible storyteller.

RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS!!

Mitch: Favourite lyric from North Star?
Azure Ryder: “I’ll find someone who dares to hold a shooting star.”

Mitch: Describe your music using 3 words.
Azure Ryder: Dreamy, romantic and nostalgic!

Mitch: If you could feature any artist on the track, who?
Azure Ryder: Sierra Ferrell.

Mitch: Finish the sentence. Azure Ryder is for fans of...
Azure Ryder: Love. Love. Love.