Interview with Emma Johanna Lepasoo – Groove Beyond Limits Podcast Ep.1
In this first episode of the Groove Beyond Limits podcast, Johann sits down with the magnetic Emma Johanna Lepasoo – a powerful Estonian voice, not just musically but spiritually and creatively. Together, they explore the deep links between art, intuition, ancestry, and motherhood. Born and raised in Estonia, Emma draws inspiration from the sacred landscapes of her homeland, its ancient language, and her inner world of mystical experience.
This conversation goes far beyond a standard interview. It’s a co-created space where the boundaries between rhythm and ritual, creativity and care, groove and grace, beautifully dissolve. Johann and Emma have collaborated musically through the project Afro-Baltic Grooves, blending Estonian poetry with deep rhythmic traditions from the Indian Ocean and beyond. This episode is a portal into Emma’s world – one of poetic vision, feminine intuition, and bold emotional honesty.
Whether you’re a musician, artist, or seeker of truth, Emma’s reflections will resonate on a soul level.
Welcome to a journey of groove beyond limits.
Who is Emma Johanna Lepasoo?
Emma Johanna Lepasoo is an Estonian singer, composer, and improviser born in Tallinn in 1994. Her music is poetic, emotional, and deeply rooted in her native Estonian language.
She grew up in a household surrounded by love and creativity, especially inspired by her mother – a model of feminine strength, entrepreneurship, and sensitivity.
Emma began with classical training but moved away from formal constraints to develop a more intuitive, inner-led artistic voice. She often plays the piano and sings her own compositions. Influences include Joni Mitchell, Rick Rubin, and Estonian artist Vaiko Eplik.
In 2020, she released her debut album Armastuse hiis, a collection of songs written over a decade, weaving themes of love, transformation, and spiritual longing.
Tracks like “Sisyphose müüt” and “Valu loits” showcase her lyrical depth and metaphysical exploration.
Art, Ancestry & Audacity: Emma’s Creative Philosophy
Emma’s creative world is shaped by ancestral memory, feminine intuition, and a fearless trust in the unknown. She doesn’t follow a linear process – instead, she creates from emotion, memory, and mystical experiences.
She often speaks of receiving songs rather than writing them – especially through her voice, which she sees as a sacred tool to connect visible and invisible realms. Nature rituals, dance, silence, and solitude are all part of her spiritual-musical practice.
Emma’s artistic philosophy is deeply tied to healing and remembrance. Through music, she reconnects with older layers of self and culture, especially the suppressed feminine energy in Estonian history.
Tallinn’s Artistic Vibe and Emma’s Ecosystem
Living in Tallinn, Emma Johann Lepasoo is immersed in a vibrant and evolving cultural ecosystem. She speaks of the city as a place with strong ancestral energy – a mixture of old stone churches, pagan roots, and new creative waves.
She is part of a wide artistic community, performing regularly in Tallinn’s key venues like Philly Joe’s Jazz Club, and collaborating with musicians across genres.
Her project Afro-Baltic Grooves with Johann Berby reflects her interest in cross-cultural exchange rooted in poetic and spiritual expression.
Emma is also connected to Tallinn Music Week and other initiatives that amplify Estonia’s unique blend of tradition and innovation.
Music, Motherhood & Metaphysics
One of the most powerful parts of the podcast episode is when Emma Johann Lepasoo shares how motherhood changed her relationship with music. Giving birth was a transformational portal for her – a breaking open of the self, and a reconnection to inner truth.
She talks about listening to the body, accessing knowledge through movement and stillness, and the deep link between creation and procreation. Her music since becoming a mother has become more spacious, more grounded, and more trusting of silence.
Emma also touches on metaphysical topics – from dream states and ancestral visions, to the role of ritual in composition. Her work invites the listener into a sacred, feminine space.
Groove Beyond Limits: Emma’s Message to the World
For Emma, to “groove beyond limits” means to live and create from a place of freedom – beyond fear, beyond rules, and beyond inherited constraints. It’s about trusting the intuitive pulse within, and allowing vulnerability to become a strength.
She encourages artists and listeners alike to reconnect with their roots, listen to their bodies, and honour their emotional landscapes. Her groove is not just musical – it’s spiritual, ancestral, and radically honest.
Her message to the world? “Dare to feel. Dare to listen. Dare to return to your truth.”
Watch or Listen to the Full Episode
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Afro-Baltic Grooves live at Philly Joe’s
Interview – Groove Beyond Limits Podcast – Episode 1
Guest: Emma Johanna Lepasoo
Host: Johann Berby
Hello and welcome to the Groove Beyond Limits podcast!
This week, we’re featuring Emma Johanna Lepasoo, a multifaceted artist, composer, creator, and mother from Tallinn, Estonia.
Located in Northern Europe, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are often referred to as the Baltic states, with neighbors including Finland, Latvia, Sweden, and Russia.
Emma shares what motivates her every morning: her piano, centrally located in her living room, next to her kitchen.
She often sits at it and creates music even before her morning tea or coffee, or before taking her child to kindergarten.
She says, “I don’t need radio. I am a radio. So always, always, always in tune and always, always ready to create”.
There’s also a music studio downstairs from her home, and sometimes she wakes up with a “groove” already in mind, feeling the drums and singing in the shower.
As an artist and a mom, Emma has faced and overcome various limitations, both external and internal.
She describes lacking time, finances, and support at different points.
However, a significant inner limitation was her desire for perfection before releasing music or performing.
She dreamed of making her first album when she was 19 or 20 but lacked the confidence to release anything, keeping her music creation private.
This changed after she had her baby boy.
She realized that “life is a process” and perfect moments don’t always align.
This was an awakening, pushing her to take action even if she wasn’t perfect, believing that confidence would grow with each step.
Emma Lepasoo encourages everyone to take action towards their dreams, emphasizing that “no dream is ridiculous” and “every dream is worthy”.
She shares a personal example: a dream she had at 18 to perform live in Estonia’s biggest concert halls, like Alexela Concert Hall, which came true last year when she sang at a graduation ceremony there. This experience reaffirmed her belief that “there is no limit”.
Emma Johanna Lepasoo also discusses a profound personal challenge: the death of her biological father in 2015, when she was in her early twenties.
They had reconnected only months before his passing, after 20 years apart. Her father was a professional and talented musician, part of the legendary Estonian group Mahavok, popular in the 80s.
Emma Johanna Lepasoo had many questions for him and wanted to make music together, and his death left many conversations unfinished.
She’s on a healing journey and plans to gather stories about him and that era of Estonian music history, possibly writing a small booklet. She also holds the rights to his music, leaving open the possibility of working with it in the future.
When asked about breaking common rules or beliefs, Emma points to her prolonged university journey.
She’s been in the third year of her course for the past seven years at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater, taking one subject at a time.
Despite life’s challenges, including personal struggles that prevented her from completing exams, education remains incredibly important to her.
Her family, with many teachers and educators, values education highly, and her great-grand aunt encouraged her to finish, no matter how long it takes.
Emma Johanna Lepasoo believes that knowledge and academic achievements are things no one can take away.
As someone in the music educational sector with students, and with aspirations to be a university lecturer, she recognizes the importance of having a degree, even though she can work, perform, and teach without it.
Beyond material achievements, Emma defines success as being a “good human being”.
She highly values human connection and support, finding it healing. For her, true success comes from human values more than professional achievements.
Being a good mom and making others happy, for example, brings her indescribable joy and fulfillment that surpasses public recognition or media articles.
Spontaneous music-making with friends is another example of true success for her.
Emma views failures as “lessons” and “teachers,” like friends that help her learn.
She shared a significant “failure” during her first big festival as a solo artist, where a key on her newly acquired piano got stuck during soundcheck.
This was particularly stressful as other prominent artists were also using her instrument. Fortunately, her sound engineer had a backup keyboard, and the issue was later fixed.
For advice to aspiring musicians, Emma offers different perspectives for women and men. For women, she suggests pursuing bigger projects before starting a family, as balancing music and family life can be very challenging.
However, she emphasizes that it is possible with a strong support network, as she recorded her first album and continued her career while breastfeeding her child. For both, her advice is to “just start,” “just release,” and “just make music,” without waiting to feel “ready”.
She encourages seeking help from professional musicians and believing in oneself, stating that even if only one person likes your music or it saves one soul, your mission is complete.
She acknowledges that luck plays a role, but hard work and talent are essential.
Regarding influences, Emma mentions Rick Rubin for his advice to musicians.
She’s also inspired by Estonian musicians like Vaiko Eplik, who openly shared his composition and production process. Joni Mitchell has been her biggest musical inspiration, whose songbook she still uses to play and get inspired. Emma deeply admires her mother, who, despite not being a musician, built a successful translation company while raising three children.
This inspired Emma Johanna Lepasoo to believe it’s possible to have children and a career without limits. She encourages adapting children to one’s lifestyle, as family experiences contribute to personal growth.
Music and other creative expressions are crucial for Emma Johanna Lepasoo in connecting with her emotions and navigating difficult times.
She’s written songs specifically for her healing process.
She finds strength in a “vertical side of life,” believing in something bigger than the physical world. Even when facing financial struggles or professional setbacks, she finds solace and new perspectives.
For example, when a desired sound engineer wasn’t available for her new album, she found another equally talented one, leading to a different, more genre-diverse project.
Outside of music, Emma Johanna Lepasoo enjoys going to the cinema alone, finding it a deeply immersive and enjoyable experience.
She also finds inspiration in talking with other creative people and attending live music events, especially spontaneous collaborations that create a powerful “vibe” and “groove”.
When asked for a piece of advice to her younger self regarding emotions or relationships, Emma Johanna Lepasoo reflects on her difficulty in “letting go” of people who have had a significant impact on her life.
She’s observed a pattern of people leaving her life, and while she’s grown apart from many teenage friends, she’s also reconnected in unexpected ways, like with a preschool best friend for a project commemorating Soviet regime victims.
She advises not taking it personally when relationships change, as sometimes “people just grow apart”.
Emma also shares a painful experience where friends she relied on didn’t offer the practical help she needed during a difficult time, while an unexpected friend from high school stepped up with financial support.
These experiences have led her to value current connections even more.
Emma Johanna Lepasoo concludes with a powerful message of vulnerability and kindness. She encourages listeners not to be afraid to show their emotions.
She recounts a recent moment of deep financial stress where, while crying in a public space, a stranger approached her and simply asked, “How are you?”.
This act of simple human connection, where the stranger offered to listen or think of solutions, was incredibly supportive.
This experience inspired Emma to pay it forward, and she recently asked a struggling stranger, “How are you?” and bought her a coffee.
Emma Johanna Lepasoo emphasizes that these “good deeds” and small acts of “unconditional love” make you a better person and create a positive cycle.
Thank you for tuning in to Groove Beyond Limits!
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