Interview: Dan Aura on his career so far in music

Rising British newcomer Dan Aura dropped his debut EP ‘Plastic’ last year, so what’s he been up to?

21-year-old Dan Aura’s songs are rooted in his love for self-expression and unshackled authenticity. The vulnerability within his lyrics showcases the young artist’s innate ability to evoke emotion in his listeners through sharing his own experiences of heartbreak and adversity.

Dan Aura is already crafting an eclectic sound that’s finessed by his soothing vocal, which feels mature beyond his years.

After growing up in a small village in the south of England, Dan Aura soon escaped to the musically populous town of Brighton at the age of 16.

Musically similar to the fluid gloss-pop of Troye Sivan, Conan Gray or even Harry Styles, Aura incorporates his own queer identity and experiences into sentimental songwriting. Full of bright, ’80s-inflected synths and catchy hooks, Aura’s EP explores everything from stereotypes to relationships, authenticity and the LGBTQ+ community. “I don’t really care ’bout what these straight boys think,” he sings on Plastic opener, “Straight Boys,” before declaring, “I’m glittered in pink.”

How did you first get started in music? Was there one moment you knew this was something you wanted to pursue?
I’ve been studying music properly ever since my GCSE’s, and that’s where I really found my love and passion for music in general. Part of my coursework was to compose two-song completely from scratch, and I guess you could call those my ‘introduction to songwriting’ (they were both terrible by the way). My parents were always very musical, with my Mum and Dad both playing the Saxophone when I was a kid, paired with the constant sound of ABBA, Kylie, Prince (to name just a few) moulded my musical ear.

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Tell us about your single ‘Plastic? What was the inspiration behind it?
When we first started writing the tracks for the EP, I had a lot on my mind. ‘Plastic’ for me is about how culture has changed drastically in the past ten years, the people we look up to, social media, trends, all of it really. I wanted to encapsulate my feelings towards a lot of those topics, and hopefully open up a conversation about what we’re actually consuming online, and the harm that it causes on young minds.

What’s your songwriting process like? Do you do anything to get in the zone?

It really does depend, most of the time I go into the studio, make a green tea and play around with sounds and chords until we find something that gets us excited. After that we loop what we have, and start to piece together melodies and hooks, then we think about lyrics and ideas.

I have about a thousand voice memos of random ideas that have either come to me whilst I’m sleeping (weird I know) or just in the middle of the day, so often I’ll bring one of those into a writing session and we work the song around the idea.

Describe your sound in three words?
Powerful, Electric, Heartfelt

Who would be your dream collaboration and why?
I think SG Lewis would probably be a dream collaboration, something about the way his music moves is just incredible, and hopefully one day It’ll happen. I have a VERY long list of dream collaborations but SG Lewis is definitely right up there.

What’s one thing you want fans to take away from your music?
That loving yourself is probably the most important thing you’ll ever learn to do, I’m still not there yet, but It’s such an important step to make if you want to be completely content. Love your body, love your personality, love how your face looks in the morning, we’re all completely different in the most beautiful way, and that is more than okay.

What has been the most important thing you have learnt about yourself this year?
I’ve learnt that not every day will be a good day. There’s a very bad standard set by social media, where it seems like everyone’s life is peachy and perfect when in reality this is far from the truth. Everyone has bad days, and on those days I’ve learnt to take to disconnect and focus on myself.

What would be the theme tune of your life?
Probably ‘I’m Still Standing’ by Elton John, it’s just the perfect bad bitch song for me.

What’s next for you?
I really need to get back into writing, so I think I’ll probably get to work on some new music! I can’t wait to release even more music out into the world for everyone to hear.