Five Fast Facts: Vaarin Reflects on her new Album and the Comfort of 'Heading Home'

Norwegian singer-songwriter Vaarin was destined for creativity from the moment she was born. Her mother, a visual artist, and her father, an "old rock star," led her down the path from strumming guitars to composing her first melody on her Rhodes piano. Joni Mitchell and The Beatles played a huge role in shaping her musical career, and by age 14, she established her own sound. Since then, she has shared stages with artists including AURORA, Bel Canto, Darling West, Valkyrien Allstars, Fay Wildhagen, and Thomas Dybdahl; she also performed at the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin and for the Norwegian Prime Minister at Oslo Spektrum. Now with her latest album, Heading Home, we can experience the sense of childhood, longing, friendship, and, as Vaarin says, "a journey home to roots and childhood, to the past and old memories."

IB: Hi Vaarin, we are so excited to chat with you today!

VI: Hei på deg, as we say in Norway! Excited to be here.

1. IB: Your voice is soft yet powerful. As a child, did you attend vocal lessons, or did you teach yourself?

VA: I did some vocal lessons when I was young, and as a child, I learned “kveding,” which is a traditional Norwegian folk-tone technique. The word "kveding" comes from Old Norse and means "to recite a poem rhythmically and solemnly.” Kveding is distinguished from other forms of singing by its special singing style, which includes embellishments, melodic embellishments, and a tendency to emphasize consonant sounds in the melody. Kveding is often associated with local dialects and can have a more personal and expressive voice. I found my voice very early through both vocal lessons, "kveding," and also the choir at school. 

2. IB: How did sharing stages with artists including AURORA, Bel Canto, Darling West, Valkyrien Allstars, Fay Wildhagen, and Thomas Dybdahl have an impact on your musical career?

VA: It’s given me a lot of knowledge and self-confidence. I have learned so much by doing all these concerts and seeing other artists perform as well. And likewise, my career has been understood as something more professional, and people have taken me seriously. These people are also so great to talk to and share experiences with.

3. IB: On the train ride back to your hometown, what moved you to write Heading Home?

VA: I remember so well. I sat on the train looking out the windows, taking the ride home to my parents for the hundredth time that week. I thought about the comfort of having the opportunity to take the train home to my parents, the luck of having the home I have, and having the parents I have. How much they have given me and how much I have learned from them. How safe I was as a child, and how safe I am now as a grownup. I wanted to make an album about my childhood, my past, and give a hug to my parents.

4. IB:  What were some of the emotions you felt as you were writing "Something?"

VA: Me and Marcus A. Edvardsen wrote this song together one day in his apartment. I remember feeling lost and nostalgic. We wanted to write a song that felt like a hug, and “Something” was born just out of good luck. Just a feeling captured, and we found all the words together while talking about our life and our relationships. Marcus A. Edvardsen played the guitar, and we sang together all day. Some emotions this song captures for me are the warmth and safeness that love can be, but also the pain in the beauty kind of. It’s so beautiful, it hurts. Every type of love is fragile, both in families, in friendships, and in relationships. 

5. IB: What did the recording process for Heading Home look like?

VA: All the songs were written by me and Marcus A. Edvardsen, some on the train home, some together with Marcus in his apartment, and some late at night in my studio in Hokksund. But all of them were chosen to be a part of this record, which is a “take a look at the past” type of record. For me, the songs together are a fellowship of melancholic text and nostalgic sounds, and pictures. The recording was done here and there, over a good amount of time, and at the end of finishing of the production (done by Marcus. A. Edvardsen), we took it to a studio in Oslo to record the final bits. Both drums, pedal steel, harding fiddle, cello, guitars, and upright bass were recorded in this studio as the last touch on the production. Marcus A. Edvardsen did the whole production and is also playing both guitars and bass on some of the songs. Me and Marcus also tried to take a trip out in the woods to record vocals and guitars there, but the birds went wild when we were recording, so we couldn't use any of it. 

IB: What is one song you wish Vaarin wrote?

VA: There are so many good songs in the world. But there is one song that I always come back to. It’s a timeless melody and the lyrics capture life both in a beautiful and in a true existential way. The earnestness and complexity told by simply one song by such few letters. “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell is the best song in the world, in my opinion.

IB: What’s next for Vaarin?

VA:  A new album, a new world is about to be born. I am looking forward to creating whatever is meant for me. First, I will release some remixes (for the dancefloors!) of some of the songs on “Heading Home”, and hopefully, I will play some live gigs around the world very soon.

IB: Thank you so much for chatting with us!

VA: Thank you so much for having me!

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Stream Heading Home below!

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Credits: Vocals: Vaarin

Written and Produced by: Marcus A. Edvardsen and Vaarin