In two short years, Oh Land, otherwise known as Nanna Øland Fabricius, has made quite the name for herself. After being discovered at South by Southwest ’09 by Epic Records, the ballerina turned indie singer has already dropped a stellar debut EP and, most recently, delivered some of the most memorable performances at CMJ. Trust us.

Drawing influence from both classical and experimental arts, Oh Land says her goal is “to sound like [she's] from 2050, but still feel really classic, like an old friend.” She is calling her style “cinematic electropop” and you can see exactly what she means by checking out the above video. The live cut for Oh Land’s song “White Nights” features her homemade “contraption”, a one-woman-band music box that translates the sprawling soundscapes of her studio recordings into a performance setting. It also has video projections on balloons. No joke.

Watch the video above, then scroll down to read our recent interview with Oh Land. We discuss everything from her transition as a professional ballerina to an indie buzz acts to whether she ever get comparisons to ABBA.

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It says here you used to be a ballerina at the royal danish ballet academy until an injury forced you to quit dancing and express yourself through music, so I mean exactly how did that transition take place?

I grew up in a very musical family, I had an opera singer mother and a composer dad and we played a lot at home. I was 18 when I got a back injury and had to stop dancing ballet, and the way I got through that was by writing songs and playing music, something I could do without running around like a crazy person. Like you do in ballet. But then I end up running around like a crazy person anyways. But I feel like I recovered from that injury but by the time I recovered I found out music was the thing I wanted to do, and I didn’t stop.

And the people who don’t know the music of Oh Land, how would you describe your sound?

Oh Land is this little world where something like nature and mountains or beautiful landscapes come together with something like traffic and the city and skyscrapers. It’s very much like a mix of something very electronic but something like pop songs with an organic feel of choirs and strings and stuff. So it’s really a mix.

There’s a lot based on your action and look, people think Oh Land has this Northern European thing going on, does it bother you when people are like, “Oh, she’s kind of like ABBA!”

ABBA! I’ve never got that before! But I take that as a compliment even though it’s not at all what I’m doing! What ABBA did was make beautiful, poppy songs. And I also tend to write strong melodies, the way I approach it with the production is very different from them. It’s much more like pop songs with alternative production. It’s quite electronic and quite experimental.

What’s the scene like in Denmark, you know playing in smaller clubs, is it easier to get noticed there or just as hard?

I don’t think about whether it’s hard or easy. I pretty much do just what I want to do. In Denmark I pretty much just came out of nowhere, I never made music before and I just starting making my album. I’ve been playing in the weirdest places in Copenhagen like theaters, and churches, and… boats. And I just always try to put myself into fun, challenging situations and that’s what I do here as well.

What’s the most fun show you’ve ever played? Or what kind of crowd do you prefer, American or European?

I think… I love all audiences that think of music and get a vibe going and have fun. But there’s something about playing to your native country, it’s kind of intimidating, like playing in front of your parents. I definitely find it fun to come here to America, it’s like making new friends. I find Americans open, and open to new stuff!

What are your plans for the next couple months?

I’m going on tour! And I have a lot of videos coming out, and I’m going to promote my EP! It came out October 19th, and it’s called Oh Land!