Altara on Music, Growth, and Embracing Change in His New EP
- neun Magazine
- Mar 5
- 2 min read
© Clement Asa
Altara opens up about the challenges of leaving home at 16, how music remains his constant, and why his latest EP, asp, marks a new chapter in his sound.
I’m Altara, and I grew up in the west of Ireland, in a small town called Westport. My parents aren’t particularly creative, but they’ve always fostered that in myself, and my siblings. I went into music, my sister went into film and TV, and it looks like my brother is going into architecture. I think I sometimes take for granted how lucky I was to have them supporting me because growing up in quite a rural area at the time wasn’t the easiest place to be creative and to be myself.
When I was 16, my parents allowed me to move over to the UK; I don’t think I was ready at the time; I’ve always felt like I had to catch up to people my age because they did so much more ‘growing up’ in their earlier years.
© Clement Asa
Music has always made sense to me, and I find a lot of comfort in writing music - I know I’m really lucky to have something that is so ingrained in me. I’ve tried a couple of times to do something else when I feel a bit overwhelmed or 'not good enough', but I literally can’t stop writing. I’ve tried to capture that feeling in my new EPasp. I was in the middle of releasing my last project, my EP The Lobby, but as soon as each of the tracks came out, I had a 180-degree turn on how I saw myself: I found it harder to relate to myself. It was like holding up a mirror, but not recognise the reflection.
pleasedontleave and subsequently asp were written just after The Lobby dropped; originally I thought it could be something I’d release under a different name & have it out there just for myself as I was a bit worried about the genre being a bit of a surprise. Very quickly though, I realised that I’ve always wanted ‘Altara’ to feel as genuine as possible. If this is the music I’m writing at the moment, this is the music I’ll release. My favourite track from the EP is istillgetthefeelingyoumissme, which is out now. I love how it parallels The Lobby, it feels apt to please both sides of the same coin.
© Clement Asa
Thinking about what comes next is always so exciting for me, but I know I probably shouldn’t talk about that when I’m in the middle of an EP rollout! But at the moment, I feel very at home, very excited and very loved. So mark your calendars, because asp is dropping on 5th March, just in time for the spring sun!
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