Tora
Words–
Aarna Hudson
@aarnakristina
Photo–
Grant Tyrrell
@grant_tyrrell
Muse–
@toramusic
Styling–
Lumini Collections
@luminicollections
Tora is a four piece electronic band with an ever-evolving sound. Born in Byron Bay, these multi-instrumentalists travel the world making music, and have a new album out in August, titled Can’t Buy the Mood. Tora chat with Paradiso about their creative collaboration and what to expect from their upcoming tour of Australia.
The Byron Shire has produced a number of successful bands, who have been friends since childhood. Tell us about working together and how that lasting bond shapes your music.
Our entire lives and careers have been shaped around these relationships, we are a family, we spend more time together than we do with anyone else in our lives so it’s important for us that we have each other to bounce off. It’s become such a big part of the creative process, being in the same house together for months on end. We don’t take ourselves very seriously, so we mostly spend our days cracking jokes, cooking up meals and tunes together.
It’s safe to say that if we weren’t such close mates Tora wouldn’t look or sound the way it does.
Tora means now in Greek. As your band is touring quite prolifically, do the destinations you find yourself in have a big influence over your creative process.
Indeed, this is a big reason why our music has quite a diverse sound to it, because we draw influence from many different parts of the world. We’re constantly exposed to different cultures and environments, we feel that does rub off creatively.
Tell us about your music. How has your sound evolved?
Our music has been in a constant state of change since day one, we’re always searching for new sounds and ways to take the music in new directions. We love using a diverse range of instruments and experimenting with new production techniques to make the songs more exciting for us.
I guess what has changed is the level of expertise we each have to contribute to a song, over time we have learned more and more and as a result our music has become more polished, less cluttered and in a weird way almost more simple.
You have a new album coming out in August – Can’t Buy the Mood – (out on 9 August) what inspiration do you hope people will take from your latest offering?
We are really excited to share this one with the world, it’s got a pretty important underlying message, which is basically a reminder for people to focus on their passion, their friends, their families, cause no matter how much money or fame one might have, you still Can’t Buy The Mood.
We love the aesthetic, fashion and design of your new video clip Paramount. Jai, your guitarist, is becoming a successful model in his own right. Has this influenced the look of Tora, or are you all natural style meisters?
Haha thanks for the compliment! We all have our own style which has just always been a part of who we are, but having a high fashion model in the band does set the bar for the rest of us I guess. A few of our girlfriends work in fashion also, so that definitely impacts on the way we present ourselves too.
What can we expect from the upcoming tour of Australia and a live Tora show?
People can expect a lot more energy than what they hear on our records. Expect to be taken through various sonic planes and soaked in sound. There are lots of surprises in our set and moments where we go in unexpected directions, I guess this is the most dancy set we’ve ever had so people should come ready to dance.
Originally published in Paradiso Issue 10