Ida Maria
Interview conducted on June 11, 2021
By Dan Locke
Having established herself early in her life as a major label rock n roll artists with hits like 2007’s “Oh My God,” and 2008’s “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” from her debut album Fortress ‘Round My Heart, Ida Maria returned to Norway in 2013 after becoming disillusioned with the music industry and the major label system. An iconoclast by nature, Ida Maria struggled to fit the industry’s perception of her, at one point literally smashing an award she received. “A girl can’t put out music on a major platform without going through some twisted insane beauty ideal that doesn’t correspond with my own ideals of what a woman can be. A woman is a complex creature. There are not enough complex female role voices out there,” she states. Despite the struggle to work within the system, Maria managed to release her third album, Accidental Happiness. Her fourth album Scandalize My Name followed in 2016.
Since then, she has been devoting herself to farming, building a studio, making music on her own terms, and looking inward for self-growth.
You taught yourself to play guitar at young age, and started performing local concerts at 14. What was that first concert like?
My first concert I got the help from my dad and his friends to rehearse some of my own songs. It was actually a talent show for students at the university but i was allowed to participate despite my young age. It was at the local pub, i performed four songs, all of them written by myself, and I ended up winning the whole competition and got 450 bucks from the local mayor and a painting by a local artist, it was quite a big deal for me. I felt like i had “made it” right there and then.
You have been around since 2007. With hits like “Oh My God” and “I Like You so Much Better Where You’re Naked”. How has the music business change over the year?
Oh wow, great question! The music business has been in constant change since I started doing music. When I started, I started out with a MySpace account and promoted my music there. The major label industry was still a big deal back then, and they were pushing CD´s like crazy while the public was discovering free downloading on the internet for the first time. Streaming was under development a few years later, and I was signed to major labels already in 2007. So, I was kind of a self-made indie-artist who got caught in the big fisherman’s net of major labels. I saw my artist friends who stayed indie get their careers up and running and could do albums and tours in a sustainable way, Healthwise and such. But I found myself in a 360 deal where I had to tour constantly and had a hard time getting into the studio to make more music and waaay too many chefs in the kitchen…. Now I’ve freed myself from majors and I´m putting out my music on my own label for the first time ever, and I´m very happy about that. In hindsight, i wish I did that from the start.
How was it to hear your music on TV for the first time and also on Rock Band # music video game?
Wow, it´s a weird and good experience. I got very proud and a bit confused the first time. I´ve had a lot of music in films and TV since and lately I even got invited to Cannes Film Festival to talk about music in film, and especially (which I´m extra proud of) making music for video games.
How was it to play Lollapalooza in 2009?
It was an out-of-body experience, completely. It was one of those levitating above-ground kind of experiences. I really felt like a rockstar…. The crowd was wild.
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You have devoted yourself to farming, building a studio and making music on your own term. How was it to record the EP?
It was an incredibly amazing experience to record the EP. Meeting Ryan Spraker in LA and working with him was a dream come true. We are an absolute musical match. The songs were all written fast, we worked together like best friends like we´ve known each other forever. We recorded as much as we could while I was there, and then I had to go back to Norway and he continued putting it together. Then came covid and we had to finish it remotely: I did vocal recordings in Norway and sent them over to California and he did the masterwork of putting it all together. I am very happy with the result.
Your new EP is coming out soon. With it you have released two songs “Sick of You” and “I’m Busy”. How did you ending up working with Oscar-Winning Anthony Rossomando?
Funny thing was he wasn’t Oscar winning Anthony Rossomando when we worked together, we wrote those songs before he went off and won an Oscar. But we had a solid collaboration, where we allowed ourselves to experiment a lot and we both learned a lot in the process. Incredibly talented guy and also a complete sweetheart.
Tell me about your new TV show “De Neste” which will be airing in Norway?
This is a cool music show, showcasing young musical talents from Norway, but without the elimination process aka competition like Idol etc. This is why I said yes to it. I believe the creative process is something that must be protected, and young talents shouldn´t be put on TV and eliminated for entertainment, like Idol and The Voice etc. Music isn´t a competition in my opinion, it´s not sport. And popularity isn´t the only way of measuring talent. So, this was a good safe place where the talents got to show ALL their sides and create beautiful music for us, without the fear of being eliminated. I loved it.
