An Interview with Soren

There’s a specific line that an artist crosses, where genre is blurred and there’s not one feeling or emotion being evoked, but rather an amalgamation of reactions to a complex abundance of sounds. It’s a particular type of musician that can carry convolution with clarity. Artists like Bjork and Bon Iver do it well, and you hear remnants of these inspirations in Melbourne-based Soren’s impressive catalog so far. 

Our generation has done a pretty good job at destroying genre.

Soren literally grew up around music; his father is a musician and his family home was situated above a blaring music shop. He tells me that the first time he listened to Nirvana, was the time he ‘became a conscious human being, and ever since then, I’ve just been making music’. 

Soren’s affinity to music is obvious when he talks about his craft. He tells me that he doesn’t want his music to be ‘tethered to one thing’, but rather something that ‘means a lot of different things’. You hear this dynamic quality in tunes like ‘The Glare’ and ‘Sirens’, which are both subtly melancholic, yet could easily get a crowd moving at a gig. It’s versatile yet current.

His recent single ‘Open Arms’ dwells on the catastrophes of the pandemic and climate change, as well as a personal story of a close loss. He describes it as ‘an emotional outpouring’, packed with sombre piano and ambient electronica, the contrast of which mirrors the conflict that exists between grief and hope.

‘The song leans into this sensation of a personal and collective grief and just sitting there, thinking about how it all feels… but it’s also about pondering the effects of climate change, which will only continue to bring out that collective grief.’

Apart from his solo work, Soren is a drummer for a few bands and also helps a few of his mates, like artist Stella Farnan, produce their music. Considering himself a more ‘extraverted’ person, Soren adds: ‘It’s kind of painful, at times, making music alone… like, it’s really rewarding, but you feel, sort of, anxious and mixed up.’ Although, he notes that making music on his own has helped him in, ’making an effort in putting as much of whatever I want into a song. I’m not only playing guitars and drums, but making a bunch of decisions on how to record and perform and it’s just my creativity and self.’ 

Soren’s debut EP The Perfect Place to Hide is released this week, a feat a few years in the making. Like all creatives, Soren tells me that ‘anxiety, fear and doubt’ have been the most challenging aspects of creating this EP. With each tune a shed of his own vulnerability, it’s natural that anxiousness can rest in the excitement of creating something that is entirely yours for the world to devour. However, most importantly he says that, ’It’s just fun to try your best to make the best thing you can, and to just make a thing at all.

Because his music so far has such bittersweetness to it, I asked Soren where exactly he wanted this EP to fit into listeners lives. 

‘If there’s anything they find in it, then that’s great. And if it’s some kind of, catharsis, at some point for someone, then that’s awesome.’

The Perfect Place to Hide is available to stream and buy from May 20. You can buy tickets to Soren’s headline show at The Leadbeater here.

Catalyst has been the student publication of RMIT University since 1944. We may be older than your parents but we’re still going strong!

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