Emelie Hollow:
She is being recognized on the streets and is about to embark on her first big festival summer. Now Emelie Hollow is aiming for the stars and is happy to have TONO on her team.
/ 27/05/2024 / Audun Fegran Kopperud– It has been all experiences at once and an experience of a lifetime, but also very scary. Sitting around the table with the old guys who have been doing it for 40 years, and me who has only written a few songs, says Emelie Hollow.
As one of seven big artist names, the 26-year-old from Vinterbro was recently featured in season 14 of the TV2 hit "Hver gang vi møtes". It's easy to be in awe of talents like Ole Ivars-nestor William Kristoffersen and Mari Boine, who have both been awarded the Spellemann Award and appointed Knight of the 1st Class of the Order of St. Olav. But Hollow is by no means a lightweight herself. At the time of writing, the song "Lily", made together with Alan Walker, has been played almost 400 million times on Spotify. She is also behind the English lyrics to TIX's MGP winning song "Fallen Angel". In addition, she has released two solo albums and has been nominated for the Spellemann Award.
– Something has happened after "Every Time We Meet". I'm being recognized on the street, and for the first time I'm going on a big tour with many concerts one after another. Everything is happening on a much larger scale now, says Emelie.
Ramón was also in the last season of "Every Time We Meet" Read our portrait of him here.
She describes her career as a journey from a Uthula semi-trailer at her village house in Vinterbro to the Oslo Concert Hall, where she will play in the fall of 2024.
Music wasn't an obvious path, even though the New Zealand surname she received from her father gave her a natural stage name. He is a lift fitter, her mother is a social worker, and the rest of the family works in the health sector. Emelie envisioned a future as a doctor or nurse herself. Yet the path to music was always lurking in the background. There were songbooks, a mother who taught her the piano, a father who knew a lot about music, and a grandfather who played the guitar. No occasion was too small for the family to sing and play together.
– Eventually I found that it was more fun to put away the songbooks and write myself. It became an outlet for emotions for me, she says.
Music was with her, whether it was cello at the arts school, singing lessons or music classes in high school.
At the age of 12, she won a songwriting competition on P4, and was allowed to release her song "I Love You" on the popular compilation album "Hits for Kids". Five years later, she participated in "The Stream" on TV2, which was the start of her adult musical career.
– But I don't have a breakthrough moment. "Lily" is huge internationally, but not in Norway. I feel like I've gradually worked my way up to where I am today, Emelie points out.
Her music has evolved over time. As she has gotten older, Emelie notices that the lyrics she writes can almost be seen as a kind of diary. From the heartbreak and great emotions of her youth, to finding herself.
– Right now I'm in a bit of a strange place, where I feel neither like a teenager nor an adult.
Even though she is constantly evolving, she sticks to her own way of creating lyrics and melodies.
– As a child, I was drawn to The Beatles a lot, without realizing it was them. It's simple, but at the same time nuanced. I'm still drawn to it, both in the chord progressions and in the lyrics.
The songs don't necessarily come to her when she's in the studio. They often appear at inconvenient times, like when she's driving and has to sing the line she came up with over and over again until there's a suitable place where she can stop and write it down.
– I have rented a small cabin in Rondane where many of the songs were created during ski trips in idyllic surroundings. I also get a lot of inspiration at the library. I love reading and other people's stories are a great source of inspiration.
For Emelie, TONO has been important to her ever since she was 12. Even then, she had written an arsenal of songs and performed them at so many local events that her mother thought it was time to register Emelie as a TONO member.
– Having TONO behind me means a lot to me and the entire Norwegian music industry. It's nice to have a stable organization that is always on the side of the songwriters, Emelie points out.
She believes that everyday life as a songwriter would have been stressful if TONO didn't exist. They free up time to be creative, which would otherwise be spent on administrative tasks.
– When I work, I am completely dependent on being in the creative sphere. Then I would rather not have to think about finances and rights, she says.
Much of Emelie's network is in the music industry and everyone there knows about TONO. She doesn't think the same applies to the woman on the street. She thinks that's stupid. More people should know that songwriters get paid for the music that is played in stores and restaurants, Emelie believes.
– I hope businesses continue to use the right music and not generic music. Coming into a place and hearing something recognizable creates a unique atmosphere.
Emelie takes a sip of coffee and listens to the music playing in the café. She gives it an appreciative nod and a smile as she recognizes the song.
“I could have done this myself,” she admits.
After long days in the service of music, Emelie is not a big music consumer herself. She finds it sad to admit, but when the days are filled with tones it can be good to unwind with a podcast, she thinks. The days are especially full now, with band rehearsals leading up to the festival summer at the same time as she is making new music. Eventually, people can probably expect a new album, Emelie reveals.
And that's probably how things will go for the years to come. But she also has bigger plans for the longer term.
– In the next five years, I want to establish myself properly in Norway, but I also have a big dream of being able to go out into the world on tour. I want to travel around and play all my life, at least as long as I can, she concludes.
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