In this exclusive interview, VIPER delves into the creative journey of musician Storry, exploring her unique sound, artistic inspirations, and the stories behind her latest album. Get to know her better…

What five words define your sound?

Genre-bending, emotive, intense, cinematic, powerful.

Tell me something unique about your creative process.

I free-write and often those are my best lyrical ideas – it’s like a word vomit diary turned into art, which I think is pretty cool. 

Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?

‘Choose Love!’

What inspired you to make that song?

It’s a song I did in collaboration with Emmanuel Jal for the charity, Choose Love. Learning Jal’s story and seeing the light he gives the world and the purpose behind the song, I couldn’t say no. I’m a very purpose driven artist – it’s what wakes me up every morning.  

What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?

I talk about my own traumas, having been sex-trafficked by the person I thought was my “boyfriend,” in my music and all my art. It’s a way for me to feel that I’m making a difference and that perhaps all that pain didn’t happen for nothing. But every day, I peel back the layers more and more. And just when I think – I’m healed! – another layer reveals itself. Life is a journey and art is one of my therapies. 

What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage?

Best experience so far was opening for Sting for 6,000 people, the crowd roaring, and then having Sting run up to me backstage to tell me how incredible I was. [Laughs]. Surreal. 

What is your favourite song to perform?

My song ‘A Lost Find’ – it’s my favourite performance song because there’s something in the frequencies that make people cry. And I never feel like I’ve done my job on stage if people aren’t opening up and feeling things! Plus there’s a 30+ second note I hold that is magical every time. 

Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?

Celine Dion and Whitney Houston’s voice. Lauryn Hill’s ‘Miseducation’ album. 

What’s the meaning behind your name?

Humans are all storrytellers. Everything we perceive is understood through a perspective and the stories we make about them. What is art but a beautifully crafted STORRY. 

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?

I would be (and am) making a film, a VR project, painting and just creating in all different types of mediums. I love storytelling in all its forms. I also would like to have an animal rescue farm with all types of animals. I’d like to be a monk. And although I’ve only surfed once, I’d love to be a professional surfer. A doctor without borders. A spy…. hmmm… I think I need more lives… 

What’s success to you?

Success for me is impacting others – hopefully positively – and pushing culture forward – while enjoying the journey of being alive. I’ve realised there is never an end goal so I’ve been trying to live more in the moment.  I’d also love to be able to make a full time living off my art and to be able to provide that to my team as well – I suppose those are more measurable metrics. 

What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?

Becoming a stripper twice. Once as a person who was coerced by my trafficker/’boyfriend’ and then again, after leaving my trafficker, reclaiming that space and doing it on my own to get myself out of the debt he put me in, and fund my first (and now JUNO nominated) album. 

Where can people keep in touch with you?

Best way is through my email list www.storrymusic.com and the socials @storrymusic