On Friday, October 4, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a virtual press conference with Dora Jar about her new album “No Way to Relax When You Are On Fire.” She was in between shows on her “Behind the Curtain” tour, driving across the United States to the next concert venue while she answered questions on songwriting, dreams, visuals, how science and imagination are intermingled fields, and an overarching theme of being guided by her intuition.
Everything from this album is built off of the guitar, which she claims to know nothing about, saying, “I just love the feeling of playing it.”
She equated figuring out the sound of a song to playing a video game, explaining how she loves to challenge herself, and that figuring out a melody can be like beating a new level. “I like finding guitar parts that are interesting to me… so ‘Ragdoll’, I found the melody and I kept playing it and became obsessed with it,” says Jar, “I like the challenge, it’s still not perfect and that’s kind of exciting too.”
It’s clear that this album functioned as a way for Jar to explore new sounds. The first track, “This Is Why,” features a dreamy guitar melody laced with mellotron, and is drastically different in comparison to “Puppet”, Jar’s take on a rock song.“I think about it like a fun house. I want every room to be radically different but a part of the same house.”
One of my favorite aspects of any of Dora Jar’s music is the imagery that goes along with them. Sometimes nonsensical, sometimes a nuanced description of the artist’s inner thoughts and feelings. “A lot of my inspiration comes from walking and just seeing the world pass by…. I like things that make me chuckle and mixing that in with something very sincere.”
During this press conference, Jar discussed how in “Debbie Darling” the lyrics “you look like a witch without a broomstick,” are a derivative of a structure she witnesses on her walks throughNew York. While the lyric seems somewhat meaningless , it was written as an observation. “I feel like a witch sometimes,” she says, combining the sincere in with the nontraditional.
Jar recognizes the absurdity of her lyrics and leans into it, “The best part of music is there’s infinite ways to feel one emotion… I like leaving room for people to make their own connections. I don’t try to make sense.” She left her goals fairly open with the project, however she stated that, “I would like anyone who listens to feel courageous, and open, and dance-y, and like the strange parts of them are the best parts of them.”
Everything from this album is built off of the guitar, which she claims to know nothing about, saying, “I just love the feeling of playing it.”
She equated figuring out the sound of a song to playing a video game, explaining how she loves to challenge herself, and that figuring out a melody can be like beating a new level. “I like finding guitar parts that are interesting to me… so ‘Ragdoll’, I found the melody and I kept playing it and became obsessed with it,” says Jar, “I like the challenge, it’s still not perfect and that’s kind of exciting too.”
It’s clear that this album functioned as a way for Jar to explore new sounds. The first track, “This Is Why,” features a dreamy guitar melody laced with mellotron, and is drastically different in comparison to “Puppet”, Jar’s take on a rock song.“I think about it like a fun house. I want every room to be radically different but a part of the same house.”
One of my favorite aspects of any of Dora Jar’s music is the imagery that goes along with them. Sometimes nonsensical, sometimes a nuanced description of the artist’s inner thoughts and feelings. “A lot of my inspiration comes from walking and just seeing the world pass by…. I like things that make me chuckle and mixing that in with something very sincere.”
During this press conference, Jar discussed how in “Debbie Darling” the lyrics “you look like a witch without a broomstick,” are a derivative of a structure she witnesses on her walks throughNew York. While the lyric seems somewhat meaningless , it was written as an observation. “I feel like a witch sometimes,” she says, combining the sincere in with the nontraditional.
Jar recognizes the absurdity of her lyrics and leans into it, “The best part of music is there’s infinite ways to feel one emotion… I like leaving room for people to make their own connections. I don’t try to make sense.” She left her goals fairly open with the project, however she stated that, “I would like anyone who listens to feel courageous, and open, and dance-y, and like the strange parts of them are the best parts of them.”
Jar’s album confronts imposter syndrome, self discovery, and an observation of change, all through a foundation of experimentation. When confronted with the confusion and contradictions within her lyrics she expressed, “I think there are a lot of contradictions as an artist where you wanna share so much, but you’re afraid to be seen, and you feel like the only thing [you] can do is music. Sometimes I’ll feel very unsure of what it is I’m saying. It’s hard to trust the mystery.”
Jar’s comfort in her art stemmed from not making art for other people, but for the joy it brings her. “I think I’m just getting more comfortable with being in the mystery and sharing from that place and not feeling a need to have it all make sense, and put on a platter for people to easily understand… my nature is a bit confusing and I feel confused a lot of the time, but now I feel brave enough to share from that place.”
As the conversation shifted around, a discussion on the visuals for the album strung itself together, exploring the inspiration drawn from Julie Andrews’s work, abstract images in her imagination, and “Rhapsody in Blue”.
“I love colors,” Jar said, “the cover is directly from a Mary Poppins scene where she pokes the black chimney smoke with her umbrella to create a staircase and they walk up it. That sticks out to me because in the creation of this album I was obsessed with the contradictions in myself and smoke as a staircase is a big contradiction because it lifts but is not grounded… Smoke is from fire and that is connected [to the album title and song]… the visuals are more of a feeling rather than intellectual thought.”
It seemed that there was an appreciation for classics and hypotheticals. She discussed her intrigue in physics and theory whilst expressing vehement confusion. She explained that she lets her imagination “fill in the gaps,” where she stops comprehending the more complex aspects. She then led a short conversation on how, “Science and imagination connect…” claiming she drew inspiration from Julie Andrew’s children’s chapter book,Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.
Another connection Dora Jar has with Julie Andrews is her appreciation for theatre. “I want to write a musical… when I’m 40,” she said, implying that Jar’s ambition will see her to new dimensions of her writing and performances.
One of the things Jar learned while performing as an opening act for artists Billie Eillish and the 1975 was that she loved the arenas. She loves playing to a large audience, but “loves that she can see everyone’s faces in the crowd,” while performing at smaller venues. Jar says, “It’s so fun playing live and I wish I could do it all the time… The shows change so much…it’s all about being in the moment and letting the audience lead us [her band] to new and exciting places.” The energy of a crowd makes it all the more fun for her, and is why she keeps performing.
Jar’s comfort in her art stemmed from not making art for other people, but for the joy it brings her. “I think I’m just getting more comfortable with being in the mystery and sharing from that place and not feeling a need to have it all make sense, and put on a platter for people to easily understand… my nature is a bit confusing and I feel confused a lot of the time, but now I feel brave enough to share from that place.”
As the conversation shifted around, a discussion on the visuals for the album strung itself together, exploring the inspiration drawn from Julie Andrews’s work, abstract images in her imagination, and “Rhapsody in Blue”.
“I love colors,” Jar said, “the cover is directly from a Mary Poppins scene where she pokes the black chimney smoke with her umbrella to create a staircase and they walk up it. That sticks out to me because in the creation of this album I was obsessed with the contradictions in myself and smoke as a staircase is a big contradiction because it lifts but is not grounded… Smoke is from fire and that is connected [to the album title and song]… the visuals are more of a feeling rather than intellectual thought.”
It seemed that there was an appreciation for classics and hypotheticals. She discussed her intrigue in physics and theory whilst expressing vehement confusion. She explained that she lets her imagination “fill in the gaps,” where she stops comprehending the more complex aspects. She then led a short conversation on how, “Science and imagination connect…” claiming she drew inspiration from Julie Andrew’s children’s chapter book,Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.
Another connection Dora Jar has with Julie Andrews is her appreciation for theatre. “I want to write a musical… when I’m 40,” she said, implying that Jar’s ambition will see her to new dimensions of her writing and performances.
One of the things Jar learned while performing as an opening act for artists Billie Eillish and the 1975 was that she loved the arenas. She loves playing to a large audience, but “loves that she can see everyone’s faces in the crowd,” while performing at smaller venues. Jar says, “It’s so fun playing live and I wish I could do it all the time… The shows change so much…it’s all about being in the moment and letting the audience lead us [her band] to new and exciting places.” The energy of a crowd makes it all the more fun for her, and is why she keeps performing.
This album is vulnerable,and introspective, which could be due to how she created her visuals, borrowing inspiration from her dream journal. In a Tik Tok, Jar explained that a picture from a shoot was directly taken from a drawing from her journal. When asked about whether or not this album had anything to do with her dreams, she said, “I pay a lot of attention to my dreams…I don’t think anything came from a dream this time around… I recently had a dream where we were all passing around this strawberry and it was blasting techno music and was kind of exploding.” Still, analyzing her dreams and avid love of meditation shows a dedication to self reflection, which is undeniably prevalent throughout her lyrics..
“No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire,” is a title dripping with imagery. Concerning the meaning behind the choice in title, Jar commented, “Sometimes, I feel like I’m on fire, and I just keep going and I can’t relax. Sometimes that feels really good, and sometimes that feels really crazy.” Fire can be representative of varying things: disaster, fervor, anger, and warmth, to name a few amongst a myriad of other potential descriptive words.
She imparted some advice to young women experiencing the same feeling of “being on fire”. “My advice, I’m trying to think of my younger self, I think… Fire can sometimes represent anger and underneath anger is some kind of universal sadness that can help our hearts open and ultimately get out of our own heads and connect to each other and realize that we’re all struggling… let the feeling- the heart- go through its natural course and lead you through whatever grief or sadness to show you something beautiful and be patient for that.”
By inviting her audience to embrace their own emotions and confusion, Dora Jar’s “No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire” introduces listeners to explore new dimensions of self-expression. Her unique style of writing guides fans through a journey of introspection and contradictions through an experimentation of sound and color. Jar’s reliance on authenticity provides an unmatched experience of confrontation with the strange and unknown.
“No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire,” is a title dripping with imagery. Concerning the meaning behind the choice in title, Jar commented, “Sometimes, I feel like I’m on fire, and I just keep going and I can’t relax. Sometimes that feels really good, and sometimes that feels really crazy.” Fire can be representative of varying things: disaster, fervor, anger, and warmth, to name a few amongst a myriad of other potential descriptive words.
She imparted some advice to young women experiencing the same feeling of “being on fire”. “My advice, I’m trying to think of my younger self, I think… Fire can sometimes represent anger and underneath anger is some kind of universal sadness that can help our hearts open and ultimately get out of our own heads and connect to each other and realize that we’re all struggling… let the feeling- the heart- go through its natural course and lead you through whatever grief or sadness to show you something beautiful and be patient for that.”
By inviting her audience to embrace their own emotions and confusion, Dora Jar’s “No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire” introduces listeners to explore new dimensions of self-expression. Her unique style of writing guides fans through a journey of introspection and contradictions through an experimentation of sound and color. Jar’s reliance on authenticity provides an unmatched experience of confrontation with the strange and unknown.
