A Chat with Marlene Larsen (02.10.23)
Inspired by the human experience, singer-songwriter Marlene Larsen captures our innermost emotions (and sometimes demons) in her moving melodies. With her 90s-tinged rock music, she brings an intimate intensity through her raw music. We speak with Marlene Larsen about her debut EP Galore, superpowers, advice and future plans.
OSR: What made you decide to pursue music as a career?
Larsen: I knew pretty soon. I discovered songwriting in high school and it took over everything in my life so quickly. I knew it from the first song I wrote. I just didn’t know it would be that damn hard!!
OSR: You recently released your EP Galore. Tell us about it.
Larsen: Well it’s my first record. I had high expectations for it, so I made a deal with myself: if it’s not perfectly what you have in mind, you don’t put it out. Never mind the money and time invested. I will get it right or I won’t release it. I’ve felt really grounded and present the whole year, through the entire process. It kept me from losing my path and it helped me stay true to my artistic voice. You don’t have many chances at making a first impression, and I wanted it to be the most authentically me ever.
I’m really, really proud of how it turned out. I wrote and produced it all on my own, with the support of my right-hand woman Helene who’s a much better guitarist than I am. Then we recorded it in an amazing studio called Sample and Hold with my friend Theo Das Neves who did a great mixing job. Then I was so lucky to sign with my favourite record label Unicum Music… and voila, there I am! Promoting it with all my heart!
OSR: If you could change one thing about Galore, what would it be?
Larsen: Nothing. I swear, nothing.
OSR: What do you hope people will take from Galore?
Larsen: Strength to dare to become who they were all meant to be in this life, comfort in feeling like we’re all living the same difficult “being human” experience. And a little fun.
OSR: What does Galore mean to you?
Larsen: As you probably know, it’s an old English word meaning “in abundance”, and it’s one of my favourite words ever. I wanted it to be the title of the record before even writing the song ‘Galore’. It’s a way of manifesting abundance, and allowing myself to go for what I dream of.
OSR: What does music mean to you?
Larsen: It’s the jewel in my crown, and it’s leading me on my way through life.
OSR: If you could speak with Marlene as a child, what advice would you give her?
Larsen: I would tell her to always listen to her intuition, learn to identify it, cherish it and nurture it.
OSR: What advice do you have for emerging musicians?
Larsen: Be curious about everything in the industry, find your people and have FUN.
OSR: If you had superpowers, what superpower would you choose and why that?
Larsen: I’ve thought about this one before! I would choose teleportation, so I could tour but still sleep in my own bed with my cat.
OSR: Do you have any future plans as a musician?
Larsen: I’m on my way to conquer the world with my music (hopefully please), and my absolute goals are: going on world tours and making hundreds of thousands of friends, opening for great artists I admire and having my music in the soundtrack of Netflix romantic comedy shows.
OSR: Do you have any messages for our readers?
Larsen: Hi! My name is Marlene, I’m trying to stop the self-sabotage thing and dare to become the person I was always meant to be. If you listen to my record and relate to it, I think we should be friends.
Many thanks to Marlene Larsen for speaking with us! Find out more about Marlene Larsen on her Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
