Aminata is a rising star in her home country Latvia. She won the preselection Supernova with the song ‘Love Injected’, that she completely wrote herself. In the meantime she also launched her debut album called Inner Voice. She will try to bring Latvia into the final of the Eurovision Song Contest again, after they failed to qualify six years in a row. I talked to Aminata about the pressure this brings and what inspired her to write ‘Love Injected’.

You wrote your song ‘Love Injected’ yourself. Tell me all about it.
Well, I had a lot of inspiration and I just sat down and wrote it. Actually, the whole song was done within an hour. I wrote it at night like I usually do, because I find it more inspiring. I worked with the piano and synthesizers and recorded everything on my laptop and the song was born.

When did you start thinking it could work well for Eurovision?
At the time I wrote it, I wasn’t thinking about that at all. I was writing for my album and I was inspired. A month later I heard about Supernova, the Latvian preselection for Eurovision. I wanted to participate, but ‘Love Injected’ was the only song of the album that was ready. Luckily people liked it!

Your song seems a tough one to sing with all the high notes and big vocals in the chorus. How do you prepare for your performance?
I try to sing and train my voice as much as possible. Usually I work a lot with my vocal teacher, but because I don’t have much time at the moment, I try to train myself.

And are you already nervous, especially because Latvia hasn’t been doing very well in Eurovision recently?
Not really, I am mostly happy about this great experience. Of course I also worry a bit, because I want to do my best. Of course I feel the pressure from the people of my country, because they are hoping I can get them back into the final. It feels like a big responsibility, because if I fail my country will destroy me! Haha, no but seriously, I really want to do my best!

Does it feel like they are supporting your song this year?
Definitely, they seem to have faith in me and that is why I don’t want to fail them. That’s why I feel some pressure to perform well.

You just released your album called Inner Voice. Tell me more about the style of the songs.
Actually, ‘Love Injected’ is one of the slower songs of the album. To me, every song has a different vibe and that is what I wanted for my debut. I had so many ideas and things that I wanted to try. Inner Voice is like a mix of all the genres that I like. There are ethnic and electronic elements, but also soul, R&B and pop.

Who are the artists that inspired you?
There are a lot of artists that I really like and one of them is D’Angelo, but I don’t know if he for example really influenced or inspired my record. I also love FKA Twigs and Sia, but it is not like I try to imitate their style. Still, I absolutely respect them for what they do.

What do you think about the other competing songs? Any favourites?
I really like a lot of them. For example the MakeMakes from Austria are great and of course Guy Sebastian from Australia. But I have to say I think every song in the competition has some qualities.

If you could cover a song from the history of Eurovision, which one would you do?
I once covered ‘Unsubstantial Blues’ by Magdi Rúzsa from Hungary. I love that song!

Read more Eurovision 2015 interviews:
Albania: Elhaida Dani
Azerbaijan: Elnur
Germany: Ann Sophie
Norway: Mørland & Debrah Scarlett
Slovenia: Maraaya
Sweden: Mans Zelmerlöw