Dora Jar Released her debut album, No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire, on September 13, 2024. The album consists of a thirteen-song tracklist. Recently, Dora finished up her Behind The Curtain Tour, which began on September 22, 2024, in Boston and ended on October 17, 2024, in Los Angeles.
Your album is called “No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire,” what does the phrase being on fire represent for you personally?
Dora: Sometimes I feel like I'm on fire and I'm full of action. I just keep going and I can't relax. Sometimes that feels really good and other times it feels very crazy.
What has it been like playing your new tracks in front of an audience on tour? And how has your shows evolved from the start of your career till now?
Dora: It's so fun playing live. I wish I could do it all the time. Even on this tour, we are seven shows in and it's changed so much the more we get to do it. It's all about being in the moment and letting the audience lead us to new exciting places.
How do you want fans to feel when they listen to the album?
Dora: I would like anyone who listens to feel courageous, dancy, open, and that the strange parts of them are the best parts.
When putting together the tracklist what was the process of organizing all of the songs into a cohesive album?
Dora: From the start of making music and building projects, I've enjoyed thinking about it as a fun house. Where I want every room to be radically different but all part of the same house. It helps it feel exciting for me to play live and also gives me challenges filling in the blank spaces when writing. Making the tracklist was more about elimination than ordering. I spent weeks trying to remove songs to make the most cohesive thing.
At what point during the writing process do the visuals and aesthetic start to come together?
Dora: I was allotted the Mary Poppins visuals. The sky seems to come up a lot and I decided to center most of the visualizers on this floaty sky background. I had a lot of help from Haley Appell and our stylist Keyan. Basically, all I told Keyan is that I wanted to wear paper and I wanted to wrap my boots in things like potato sacs and tap into basic textures. It kind of all happened in one day, we had a brainstorm and just went for it.
The title “No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire” feels like an emotion many young may feel when they are going through the self-discovery process. What would your advice be to someone who hears the title and feels like they can relate to it?
Dora: I guess this touches on the first question too, that fire represents anger. I think that underneath anger is a universal sadness that can help our hearts open and ultimately get out of our own heads and connect to each other. When we realize we are all struggling. Let the feeling, the heart go through its natural course and lead you through whatever grief or sadness. Let it show you something beautiful and be patient for that.
How do you choose which sounds to incorporate to enhance the emotional depth to your music? Are there specific instruments and sounds you are particularly drawn to when creating a new track?
Dora: Obviously, I love guitar and that usually leads to every single song. Every song on the album started on guitar. I also love humming and purring and all sorts of things, it's just whatever the moment calls for.
Is there anything you have learned from opening for acts like Billie Eilish or The 1975 that you have incorporated into your own performances or even songwriting?
Dora: That my music is really fun to play in a huge place and I can't wait to sell out giant venues one day.
Listen to No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire HERE