Who The F**k Is Nora?

Article by Connor Fuller (@connorfuller__)

We caught up with rising selector, Nora (and her cat Maggie), to chat about securing her first residency, playing Glastonbury, blasting Leftfield from the car with her mum, the importance of supporting your locals, and more!

The Manchester-based DJ has been making a serious name for herself in the scene over the past year. Picking up her first pair of decks back a short while ago in 2021, Ellie has kept up the pace and doesn't look like slowing down anytime soon. An energy clearly reflected in her sets, blending a track selection chiming notes of grime, dub, and Bailie funk all heavy on the bass. If you haven't had the chance to catch any of her sets so far, you can expect to hear this top side of bass music blasting with fast percussion and sweeps of 140 basslines. It's this eclectic genre blending style that has landed her on a growing number of weighty line ups cutting teeth with the likes of Bakey, Luxe, Papa Nugs, and Sully.

"How did your love of electronic music first come about?"

"From my parents, actually. They have really like really good music taste. My dad went to university in Manchester and I'm guessing that's where he got his music taste from. And my mum grew up in Sheffield and Manchester so music has always been pretty rife. My brother and my sister are also both well into their music so it was just playing all the time at home. We had some sort of sound system in every room in the house and a massive record and CD collection. And like, I'm pretty sure my parents still have them... they both had little iPod Nanos with so many tunes and that they obviously like ripped off YouTube or something. And I still listen to them [songs]. Some of the songs that I play in sets have been in those playlists and stuff."

"Are there any records that really stuck with you from your parents collection?"

"Discovery by Daft Punk. That's it. That, that album is the one that sticks the most. And Your Friends EP by Justice, that one as well. Ohh, actually you know. The one album I do think of, and I've got a tattoo of the art of it, it's Leftism, by Leftfield. That's my mum's most favourite album ever. It's so, so cool. And I remember sitting. She had a convertible car, like a really old s**t car, but it was convertible. I remember going on my way to school. I think I was young enough to be in a car seat. Still, I remember just dancing with the roof down at like 7:30 in the morning listening to experimental jungle music."

"You've really been blowing up in Manchester over the last year. How have you found the process of establishing yourself in the city and getting yourself involved in all these line ups?"

"I honestly, I feel like I haven't had that much time to process it because I taught myself how to DJ in like 2020/2021. And the reason I did it is because my ex-boyfriend at the time was like "Don't get into DJing its a really awful scene to get into", so I was obviously like, I'm going to do exactly that. I'd taught myself how to do that and I was a bit of bedroom DJ basically. Then, I was at a party this time last year and I hadn't played in front of anyone besides my housemates at like, pries and afters and stuff. And it was with my now boyfriend but we weren't together at the time. And we went back-to-back all night at that party. Someone there was like ohh, do you want to open up my night next month and I was like, 'Oh my God' crazy. And then ever since it's kind of just all kicked off. I managed to luckily network myself really, really well, because a lot of my friends already were pretty well involved with music scene. So I had these friends that ran radio stations and put nights on and they were like "Ohh Ellie can DJ? Do you wanna play my night?"

"So I was pretty fortunate in that way. And I do have the imposter syndrome because like a lot of my friends are like really, really good DJ's and producers like, way more talented and not to put myself down, but like, way more talented than I am because they've been doing it for so much longer. But I feel like I haven't really processed it. Like I'll get asked to do things and I'm like, no way. Like you want me to play all night? That's crazy. I don't know what I'm doing, but. Yeah, it's taking a lot to get used to. I hope I come across pretty humble about it because I very appreciative of the fact that I get to do it. It's like. In my head, it's still a hobby for me. It's still something I do. Just like, oh, I wanna play some music in my bedroom, but actually, it's not. It's not that anymore. Like, you know, I'm playing like once or twice a weekend at this point"

"Well, talking about playing out, how was your festival debut at Glastonbury of all places?"

"Yeah, I didn't know I was gonna play when I turned up. The way they do the bookings is actually kind of mental, people get told the week before, like, oh, we've got these 5 gigs we can offer you, but you need to find your own way into the festival. Like they don't pay people. They don't give people tickets. Don't give plus ones like. Look, and he's my friend. Managed to get in because someone had like a I guest list. But like, they just offer people randomly. It's very badly organised like I was meant to play. I played two sets. I was meant to play three but they. Didn't have the sound system in one of the rooms because they forgot that people were meant to be playing. I didn't get to do it, but that was insane. I mean, going to Glastonbury itself is pretty crazy. I went with my best mate and her family and they've they've been for years. Yeah, they've been going since she was about five years old which is actually pretty good going with well seasoned people. But one of my friends, Alex, had been offered like five sets for the weekend and was like, oh, do you want to do one with me. So we played one together in a bar and then my cousin, Papa Nugs, this bit of nepotism there, and they were playing together and they they asked if I wanted to play with them as well. So you know it it was very much like. I mean, it is really peak in this industry."

"It's kind a lot of who you know rather than what you know, but obviously I'm massively grateful for the experience and it did get me in with a few people I think while I was there. And it's also like when people are trying to sell me to promoters 'ohh she played at Glastonbury'. But yeah that it was actually insane. I remember texting my mum, telling her with my cousin, as it was his first Glasto and we checked our family group and were like guys we are playing Glastonbury together and everyone was like 'OK, that's cool'.

And then they just start talking about something completely different. Definitely keeping us grounded. But yeah, that was crazy."

"Any highlights?"

"I met Mala. That was probably one of the highlights. I'm obsessed with the guy. I think he's. So sick and and. What else? Seeing Elton John that was pretty amazing."

You've recently kicked off your Nora and Friends residency at Stage and Radio. Tell us a bit more about it and your future plans"

"I'm thinking maybe rebranding once I've established a bit more of a backing behind it. I put a post out today talking about this collective in Berlin called Fan Base Mafia, which is a DJ mentoring programme and collective that put parties on and stuff and it's it's very much focused towards like female trans, non binary, LGBTQ and people of colour in the 140 scene because that's what I feel like what I'm most involved in at the minute and is definitely where my sound is heading towards and I feel like it [the scene] does particularly lack female non binary and LGBT people. So I feel like that's what I wanna do with Nora and friends is kind of push that narrative."

"Like curating lineups with that kind of sound going forward. But I also wanna put on exhibitions rather than just club events and stuff. I had a dream the other night that I put on this big exhibition with music on during the day and people had their art and stuff with people doing tattoos and tooth germs and everything. It was just something big and fun like that. I definitely want to try and do more things like that as well, just like creating a bit of a sense of community at the same time."

"What producers have been catching your eye?"

"Alan Johnson. He's part of Sneaker Social Club. I remember I saw him when I was on my way out the club and he played this tune and I stood at the top of the stairs and Shazamed it because, like, I couldn't leave without knowing what it and it turns out it's from his EP that he just released. But the stuff he produces is crazy and he's got like 200 followers on Instagram. But some of this stuff you just sit there and listen to and you're like, what the actual f**k? Like, how does someone come up with this? So I definitely think he deserves a shout out. Also, Zuri, Gina, MBB and 2sb."

"Who would you say have been your biggest influences at the moment?"

"I'd say Mia Koden, Surisinge, Bianca Oblivion. Sicaria and Anz."

"What's your biggest ick about the scene?"

"People not making inclusive lineups, that's my biggest ick. I see. so many lineups people have spent so long creating and it's all f*****g straight white men. I'm like, please come on. There is a lot, a lot more. So I want to see less of that and I know there's so many people that will back me on that."

"Can you give us a release you've got stuck on your USB atm?"

"I actually downloaded this EP the other day and I felt that I I played every single track on the EP in my set. It's the newest White Peach release, Alarm room by Block Lab. Like every single track on that EP, is f*****g crazy."

"Any advice for new DJs in the scene?"

"First one is be unapologetic about the music you play. Don't try and play certain tunes to fit into a certain scene because you won't play them comfortably. You won't get as many bookings as you deserve, so be on a project unapologetic about your sound where your f*****g earplugs! Whenever you go out, these were £12. There's a set of two. Just f*****g wear them. It's not worth it. It's not worth the tinnitus and the hearing damage. Also, network and sell yourself. Put yourself out there. Go to people in the smokers and be like, hey, by the way, I'm a DJ. That's how I got most of my first bookings by some people mentioning their events and me being like oh, by the way guys, I actually can DJ, so yeah, don't be shy. Network yourself."

Check out a few personal selections from Nora when we passed her the aux...