Last week, artist Dua Lipa was No. 1 in England with the song "New Rules", written by Emily Warren, Ian Kirkpatrick - and Caroline Ailin from Bodø. - A very surreal feeling, she says.
/ 08/09/2017 / Willy MartinsenText: Kai Lofthus, Photo: Private
With strong creative abilities, studies at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) and a team consisting of the music publishers Waterfall in Oslo and BMG Music Publishing in Stockholm, as well as the management Advanced Alternative Media (AAM) in London, Caroline Ailin is constantly writing new chapters in Norwegian music export history.
This summer, her efforts since her teens were rewarded with a No. 1 hit in the UK, namely the Tropical house/EDM/electropop song "New Rules" with the artist Dua Lipa. The song, which has so far been streamed 145 million times on Spotify, was written by her with Emily Warren (who has worked with names such as Frenship and The Chainsmokers) and Ian Kirkpatrick (Jason Derulo, Justin Bieber and others). In August, the song became Dua Lipa's first chart topper in the UK, while it was the first by a female solo artist to reach the top in almost two years after Adele's "Hello". The song is currently at No. 67 in the US, with high expectations of further climbing in the coming weeks. Incidentally, this is not the first time she has succeeded with songwriting. Other songs have been released by record labels Island, RCA, Hollywood, Columbia, Sony Italia, Black Butter and South Korean SM Entertainment.
- There are many TONO members who dream of a No. 1 ranking in England…. How does that really feel?
– It was actually a very surreal feeling. My manager called me and told me. I cried a little and called my mom and cried some more. I woke up the next day after dancing all night, and I just felt a little bit of a doozy. I don't think it's really dawned on me yet, says Caroline.
Urban impact
Caroline Ailin grew up in Bodø at a time when the Norwegian industry was more oriented towards foreign countries, when music challenged genre boundaries and took on a completely different meaning for young people's lifestyles than before. At the age of 12, she fell head over heels for New York artist Alicia Keys' "Songs in A minor" (J Records/Sony Music, 2001), who was eight years her senior. By then, she had owned a keyboard for a couple of years and was making some music on her own.
– I remember listening to one of the songs on “repeat” and trying to copy how she sang and played. I don’t think it was a conscious choice to become a songwriter. It was just something I really enjoyed and was very immersed in. But it took many years before I had the confidence to tell people that I wanted to pursue music as a career, she says.
Out of the Norwegian nest
Seven years later, at the age of 19, she moved to England to study at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). Although it was a fast-paced process, her approach to the subject has been effortless, something Paul McCartney highlighted five years ago as one of her greatest strengths.
– She's special here, he said at the time. Caroline was one of five students at LIPA who each got half an hour with the Beatles legend in the studio on May 17, 2012. She performed four songs for him, and he joined in on the chorus on one of them.
– He said he really liked my lyrics, and that he liked how “effortless” my melody choices were.
Making music out of your life
Caroline Ailin describes herself as very emotional, and that she is easily influenced by people. Although the musical flair is present to the highest degree (a reviewer for Avisa Nordland gave her a 6 for a performance during the Park Festival in her hometown in 2011), her great strength is her lyrics. Finding a nice and new way to express things, whether it is a happy, sad or angry feeling:
– I often pick apart the thoughts and feelings I have, and it goes back into the studio when I'm writing. You have to be a bit like that to be able to come up with something new every single day. And to be able to put yourself in someone else's story and situation. But the people I work with often tend to say that I always have something to tell and something to write about. Whether it's a dream, an argument, something I saw on the bus or whatever it is.
An ideal workday
She writes an average of four songs a week, some with artists and some without.
– The perfect workday starts with a walk in Brixton, where I live, preferably on a Friday so I can listen to everything new on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist while I’m walking and “brainstorming”. Then breakfast and a cup of coffee before heading to the studio to work with someone I know well, so there’s not so much pressure. Ideally I like to have a couple of lyrical ideas before I get there, so I have a starting point, but I often end up writing something else anyway. I like to do two ideas in a day, so it feels a bit more relaxed. Some days you’re super inspired. Other days it’s a bit like walking uphill, but I tend to pretty much always write something so I have something to go home with.
– What kind of work tools do you use?
– I write lyrics on my Mac, and use my phone to jot down ideas. In the Voice Memo app, I record little things that pop into my head when I'm out and about. Sometimes I can work a little at home and bring something to the studio, but I like to start something new in the studio so that you use everyone in the room, and end up with something that's different than what you would write alone.
– What do you think about the much-discussed track & hook production method with x number of producers and songwriters involved versus writing alone in a more classic way from start to finish?
– I think both can work. There's no right or wrong. I've written songs I like on guitar with one person, and I've written songs with three producers and two other songwriters that I like. I try not to get stuck in thinking that there's something that's best for me, because then I believe it myself and every time I'm in a new or unfamiliar situation it becomes more of a crutch than something that's helpful.
