On Earth Were Briefly Gorgeous

The land of tomorrows. The beat of life. The rhythm of nature. Alena Murang embraces and conquers all.

- Nikita Nawawi

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What do you remember about growing up in Borneo?

I grew up in Kuching but every other weekend my parents would take me to the waterfalls and mountains. They love nature so much that they took me to the jungle—my father carried me on his back—when I was only three months old. I used to think they were such nerds because we'd be walking in the jungle and my mother especially would stop and tell us all these plant trivia and then quiz us. But now I think they're really cool with all that knowledge.

Sounds like it was an integral part of your upbringing.

Definitely. My mother once had me skip school and took me to Sarawak Biodiversity Centre for a talk by an international photographer who had photographed pitches plants across Borneo. She thought that it was very important so she took me out of school to go to that and you know, back then, it was a big deal to be taken out of school!

Now, how does nature influence your music?

Our music, our songs were created by our ancestors who just two generations ago did not know concrete, cars or money. Literally, their environment was the natural world. As artists, we're always influenced by our immediate environment so I believe that those old songs just came from nature.

Does that influence your creative process?

I tried to embody that process a few years ago. A lot of the original songs from my latest album are actually influenced by elements of the sky. There's a song about a familiar breeze carried on the wind and how birds carry familiar tunes, and another one about the different sounds of thunder that's historically used to express grief and despair about missing somebody.

Did you know what the old songs are about when you were younger?