We like our music to have this vacuum type of feeling that just sucks you right in.

– Corinne Nora

DIVAAS are a duo consisting of Corinne Nora (vocals, guitars, bass) and Dave Eleanor (synths, vox) who live between London and Zurich. Their music combines elements of UK Bass, Jazz Improv and movie soundtrack tropes. The result is an emotionally scathing brand of Art Pop.

Tell us about your musical journey guys?

Dave: We met a year ago at a gig. Corinne asked me to produce a track for her, and we liked it that much that we decided to write and produce together. That’s how the project was born. We got a lot of good feedback and worked intensively on the EP, brought in a drummer (Nicolas Stocker) and started working with two labels. We got some very cool concert requests, but they were all canceled due to Covid-19.

Greatest inspirations or influences?

Corinne: This list could take up the whole interview. But here we go. I grew up with lots of piano jazz  due to my father being a pianist and having this extensive record collection from the 60s and 70s, like Weather Report with Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Mc Coy Tiner, Chick Corea, Keith Jarret etc. Once I could choose music for myself, I emerged into the field of Trip Hop with Portishead, Beth Gibbons, Tricky, Lamb, Massive Attack etc. Somewhere along the way, I discovered the universe of Björk, but Jazz and Soul always stayed with me. I love the big ones like Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Nina Simone and newer ones like Gretchen Parlato, Gerald Clayton, Kit Downs. For me, trumpet player Ambrose Akinmusire is one of the greatest musicians of our time, he just released an album a few weeks ago. I’m also totally in love with Nick Hakim, Moses Sumney, King Krule, Julia Jacklin, Vagabond, Soap&Skin, Sampha, JIL, Kali Malone, FKA Twigs,, Thundercat, Nai Palm, Luke Temple, Lucinda Chua, Tony Njoku etc. etc.

Dave: I like experimental music.  At the moment, I’m mostly into lo-fi pop or some production maniacs. To drop a few names: Dean Blunt, Arca, Laurel Halo and all the big legends such as Burial, Flying Lotus etc. 

Tell us about your creative process? 

Dave: We spent time together in London and Zurich to write these songs. We were in a tunnel, and very focused! We talked a lot about the lyrics and worked on the sounds. Then a lot happened over the internet, until we met again at the studio to mix and started working on the artwork etc.

The work on site is certainly rather special because we do not live in the same city, and there is always a kind of holiday camp atmosphere during this time. 

Anything you have to say about these times we are living through?

Corinne: It’s a time of waking up, it feels like this to us. Like a lot of people who haven’t been aware of many of the social injustices now finally started to realize that these things are actually happening around us every day. Let’s say, for us, like white Swiss people, it’s easy to look away and live in our comfort zone without paying much attention to the struggles that black people encounter on a daily basis. This wake up call is more important than ever, and long overdue! These problems didn’t start when we started paying attention to them, they have been here all along. We really hope that this isn’t just a short hype and that people will go back to there usual day to day life. Because going back to such an easy life is a privilege you can only execute when you’re not affected by structural racism.

Dave: The current times show us once again how capitalism fucks the world up. Under the slogan of solidarity, you try to save your own population, while in the Mediterranean the same shit happens as well. It's just frustrating! I hope that people are getting angry.

*Challenger Deep* –  is the deepest known point in the Earth's seabed hydrosphere