Noa Bar's new song "Random Lips" is so insanely catchy, she immediately hooks you with that groove, it's unstoppable. The song talks about the feeling of wanting a fleeting romance, and Noa makes it so relatable. She's a master at hiding a vulnerable moment behind a catchy chorus, and it's one of our favorite things about her music. We talked to her about the song, what keeps her motivated, and what inspires her.
Tell me your music origin story.
Noa: Well, I started when I was four. I started drumming when I was four. I had a teacher at kindergarten that noticed that I was getting pissed when the other kids were not on beat. He was telling that to my dad and got me a drum kit, and that's how I started. Then I learned guitar when I was seven. I started singing when I was 11 and kind of built my first studio when I was 14 on the top floor of our house. And yeah, I've been doing that ever since.
What was the kind of a moment for you that you were like, "This is my career."
Noa: Oh, I remember that for sure. So that was the moment when I was seven that my dad got me this one of those DVD players that looked like a laptop. My dad got me one of those, and we didn't have any movies in it. So we had this Eric Clapton live show at the Live Aid, and it was just a huge crowd, and the energy was insane. I was just looking at him. I remember watching it for days, watching it like five times every time I come back to school. I was like, "Oh my God, I have to do this." Yeah, that was the moment. Thank you, Eric.
Tell me about your song, "Random Lips."
Noa: It was December 31st last year. It was right before I went to this New Year's party. And I'm just not the kind of person who is really into a relationship. I'm dating sometimes, but I'm just not looking for a commitment or a relationship. But it's always like New Year's Eve that makes me want to have someone to kiss at midnight. Everybody's kind of doing that. So it's like a recurring thing where every New Year's, I would find random lips to kiss at midnight because I don't want someone to be committed to, but I want a temporary love for that night. So it's like me saying I found some random lips to kiss because I don't really believe in true love. But I do want to kiss someone.
I love that. I'm a big believer that if you don't kiss someone on New Year's, it's bad luck. Can you tell me about the production style and the influences on how you want your songs to sound?
Noa: I'm influenced by many different people, producers, and songwriters. I would say my biggest influence on vocals would be Amy Winehouse because she got me into singing. I love the raspiness in her voice. I'm very influenced by her. And with disco, disco is actually a funny story. I think we actually talked about it. I was coming back from LA after that producer bailed on me, and I didn't know how to tell anyone about it. So I lied to everyone that I met him and everything was okay. And I was just lying to myself and getting depressed and going to old people's disco clubs, and that's what got me into disco. That is really what influenced me when writing lyrics that talk about heavy subjects and put a disco beat behind it because it's kind of making you dance to your own problem.
I love the sad lyrics with danceable music. That's one of my favorite genres.
Noa: I just feel like it makes people more open to talking about their problems and be okay with the fact that they're not perfect. And they do have problems like anybody else, like me, like you. We can just take it lightly and just dance with it, enjoy it, and have fun with it. It doesn't have to be a big deal.
What would you say would be one of the biggest challenges for you in your career so far?
Noa: Well, I mean, I am living 9,000 miles away from my family and my friends. I kind of left everyone that I knew and the life that I knew for 21 years to go and try something else, which is incredible. It's like starting from scratch, but it's starting from scratch. And it's learning everything. And it's creating your own opportunities from scratch in a place where nobody knows you. Honestly, it was funny because when I moved here, I had to know people. So, I would just say yes to going anywhere. I would go to birthday parties with people that I don't know and just sing Happy Birthday from the top of my lungs. That's how I got to know people and get to where I am today. But everything is just a journey and it's challenging and it's fun. They say that Geminis love problems because then they learn how to solve them so they can solve these problems to know how to solve them.
I mean, everything's about networking. And if you're good at putting yourself into situations where you don't know people and you can thrive in that environment, that's a huge skill.
Noa: It's actually fun. I think I enjoy it. I genuinely enjoy it.
That sounds like my nightmare, but. But yeah, I feel like people forget that there's a really huge social aspect of music.
Noa: Because a lot of it is about the people that you meet and the people that you know and the genuine connections, the producers of "Random Lips" are people that they're called the fund and they're amazing at producers, I think producers. But I met them at this one late Hollywood bar show. And I just came to them after, and I told them, "Yo, you play fire." And they were like, "Yo, you're awesome too. Let's connect sometimes." It's all about genuine people who just want to work together and grow together and love each other's artwork.
There are so many challenges for musicians right now. What keeps you motivated?
Noa: I just have a vision. I just feel like it'll happen. I feel like it has to happen. I feel like it's just my mission in this world to give people a good way to deal with their problems because I learned the hard way. I just feel like it's a good way to deal with your problems to just dance with them. And I want to give that to people. And I feel like if I have a good mission, it's just going to work. I know it sounds naive.
It's like people talk all the time about manifesting and positive thinking. I don't think that's everything you need to do, but it does help, right?
Noa: It's the moment of hearing from my manager or from the team or from even a friend that the song is good and they like what I'm doing. It keeps me motivated for a long time. I just feel like I came this far from home and from whatever I grew up to make it happen. So I have to make it happen.
Is it hard without that support system?
Noa: I miss them a lot. I talk to them twice a day. One time in the morning before they go to sleep and one time at night before I go to sleep. And I try to stay in touch with them as much as I can. But yeah, I definitely miss them. I miss my best friend, Ashley, too. But yeah, I miss them a lot. I hope to see them soon this year. Yeah. They're very supportive, though. They like the songs. They like what I'm doing. So, a lot of what I'm doing is to make them proud.
I feel like we've talked about this, but I mean, people think everyone moving to LA, they're like, "Oh, everyone's so fake," all this stuff but you found a good community here.
Noa: I don't know how I did it, but it's funny how I hear about all this fakeness in LA. I just don't seem to get it fully. Of course, I see it sometimes, but I mean, I was very blessed with my friends. They're very genuine. They're very honest. And we're having those Shabbat dinners every Friday night, and I get to be surrounded by my beautiful, amazing friends. And I feel very loved and very authentic and genuine around them. I don't know, I feel like genuine people get to have genuine people around them. You know what I'm saying?
What are you looking forward to this year?
Noa: I'm definitely looking forward to putting more music and the album out. I'm very excited about it. Hopefully, go on tour. It's definitely on plan. But yeah, we're just focusing on putting the album out, which is very exciting. It's my debut album, and I have so many songs that I want to share that. The album talks about my fear of commitment, my sense of loneliness on New Year's Eve, my eating disorders like sexual assault, trust issues, and everything, but it's disco, and it's very much me. That contrast is very much like exciting for me. And it's just the first album that I fully wrote. And I'm very much excited to put it out.
What kind of message do you want people to take away from your music?
Noa: I want them to enjoy the journey of their self-acceptance by seeing how imperfect I am and how I'm just dancing with it. So I want people to listen to that album and be like, "Oh, she was dealing with eating disorders and trust issues and all that, too. But she's like dancing with it, so why wouldn't I dance with it?" And I want to make people genuinely just happy while they're hearing my music. I just want to make the world dance because there are problems.
What would be your last piece of advice for young women in music?
Noa: That's a tough one. I would say don't be scared to stand up for your own creative ideas. But know that you want the best for your art, even if that means taking other people's advice. Be open to any advice that you're getting, but also listen to your gut and know how to explain your creative decisions. For example, there's a first verse on "Random Lips." The first line I'm saying is, "I'm a heartbreak specialist." And it's just a line that I wrote, and I loved it, and I was so attached to it. And I mean, everyone around me tried to replace it, but I just explained it and said why I wanted to say it so badly. And we stayed with that line. But other lines in the song were replaced because other people had better ideas, and I'm very happy to say it. It just makes the song better.