Emily Norton profile picture

Emily Norton

About Me

Salut friends! I am a young New Zealander who has landed herself in Montreal, Quebec... I chose to be here because of my extreme love of music, art and culture. This city is one of the most astounding places on earth and I am honestly grateful for every day I get to wake up and be here.

I've been a musician for as long as I can remember, I started playing piano at age ten and immediately began making up my own songs. Despite the booming sixties/seventies pop/rock music culture (Beatles, Floyd etc) in our little Blenheim house I grew to also love classical and jazz music and became a very dedicated classical pianist. However, the rocker chick in me won out and at 17 I formed a short-lived but successful pop/rock band for which I sang, played and wrote all the music.

After leaving high school I took up the guitar and went to a remote school for music performance (remote as in - west coast south island NZ.. nothing to do but play music, party and occasionally get lost in the bush....) At University I studied Ethnomusicology (which to put it very simply is the anthropology of music) and poetry/ literature for lyric writing purposes... I am a big believer in lyrics...

In my early twenties I lived in Japan for three years and this profoundly changed everything about who I am and how I write music... In Japan I performed regularly as a pianist, singer and song writer, I worked with many wonderful Japanese artists and even managed to form a small loyal following. Here I also completed my first independent album.

Since coming to Montreal I have also found a passion for painting and writing...

I also recently formed my own band, Eve Eden. We are an original blend of my solo style and indie rock. Check us out! www.myspace.com/eveedenband


My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/03/2006
Band Website: www.amplifier.co.nz/artist/2422/emily_norton
Band Members: Just me for now....
Influences: Tori, Ani, Neil & Tim, Joni, Tool,Smashing Pumpkins, The Beatles, Floyd, The Arcade Fire, Radio Head, Bloc Party, The Cure, The Postal Service, Dave Dobbin, Dave Matthews, The Stills, Keziah Jones, Metric, Powderfinger, Keane, Billy C, Jean Leloup, Debussy, Ravel, Monk, a whole lot of Jazz, Japanese musicians, Kiwi musicians, Montrealers, half the people linked on my myspace... WHO HASN'T influenced me might be a better question!
Sounds Like:

Aotearoa (aka New Zealand) is so beautiful that it cannot be described - ask anyone who has been.

These are some pictures that my Dad took recently.... Try to imagine the sound of pretty bird song, crickets, and running water... imagine air that is so clean it smells like wet grass and softly scented flowers... Imagine a feeling of profound inner peace and serenity.. Friendly, genuine people... And you've almost got it...

Type of Label: Unsigned

My Blog

obsession

I've always been an obsessive type. But usually, I only obsess over one thing. Love. Men. A man.Now my obsession is music. I don't know what triggered it precisely. Perhaps years of pent up procrastin...
Posted by on Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:10:00 GMT

... nobody knows who you are...

I used to date this guy who was kind of dark and mysterious, you know the type..... (usually found with instruments or art materials in hand)I never had any idea where he was or what he was doing. He ...
Posted by on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:17:00 GMT

Screw you winter.

"All the faults of our mind  our selfishness, ignorance, anger, attachment, guilt, and other disturbing thoughts  are temporary, not permanent and everlasting. And since the cause of our suffering ...
Posted by on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 17:38:00 GMT

The coolest guy on earth

Just for the record, I'd like to say...My Dad is the coolest guy on earth. As he often says himself "Em, come home, the only good men left are here in NZ - me and your brother"Anyone who knows me hear...
Posted by on Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:30:00 GMT

Broke

A recent life event, ie, losing my job, has me thinking&Thinking WAY too much probably&. For the past year or so I haven't worried too much about money. I traveled, I paid all my bills and I even had ...
Posted by on Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:00:00 GMT

Bravo Radiohead!

I have long said that music got nothin' to do with money.I'm so delighted to hear that Radiohead are essentially giving away their next album. And here it is! - http://www.inrainbows.com/It's the only...
Posted by on Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:31:00 GMT

Crowded House

Leave it to Neil Finn to pull the finger out of Montreal's butt.As I have often lamented, it would take one hell of a musical bang to shake up a Montreal crowd. Like spoiled little children they have ...
Posted by on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:25:00 GMT

Eyeballs back in sockets please.

Ogling. That is to say, being leered at, and sometimes even approached by creepy guys, etc. etc.I dread the first weeks of Spring. And this is why: I love fashion. I love that when the sun finally com...
Posted by on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:40:00 GMT

Where is the love?

Last week I mentioned to one of my friends that all I wanted to do was fall in love. A born and bred Montréaler, she replied, wow, I haven't heard that expression in a while.People don't tend to use t...
Posted by on Sun, 08 Jul 2007 01:06:00 GMT

Let your yes be yes.

RE-posting this because I've been thinking about it again lately...Something about Montrealers."Monks, we who look at the whole and not just the part, know that we too are systems of interdependence, ...
Posted by on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:54:00 GMT