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To The Moon And back With BJORN STRID From NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So this new album, Give Us the Moon, It's coming
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: out on January thirty first. It's a real special album.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: It's the first one without David Anderson, who sadly passed
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: away two years ago, and it's been a really special
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: journey putting this album together. We wanted to create something
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: really uplifting and empowering with this album and make it
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: even more cinematic and dreamy than before. But the general
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: sort of guiding star was to make something really really
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: positive but still very multi layered. And what we have
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: here is an explosion of emotions really running through this album,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: and it's very diverse, but it all sits together in
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the end. But yeah, you just need to listen to
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: the album to really get into it and get what
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: we're saying at it's going to be a beautiful ride.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Now, this is just studio album, not wide orchestra.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: And you've had a few with other bands too, bro,
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: So you personally like you still get the same Russian
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: the lead up to an album releases.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: What do you still or does that sort of fade
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: over time?
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: No, I'm still very excited, you know, and get pumped
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: for each and every release.
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: You know, every release is special.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: You know, and it's sort of like a mark of
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: your life, you know. And you know, every time you know,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: release something and you can always go back and sort
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: of figure out how you were actually feeling at that
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: time and who you were, you know. So it's like
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: a matter of growing up.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: I started go work when I was like sixteen years old,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: and then later on I started a Night Fight Orchestra,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: and each and every album stead for something really special
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: in my life. But this new Night Flight Orchestra album
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: is very very special. We had to dig really really
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: deep after what we've gone through and obviously losing such
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: a close friend you know, along the way, and then
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: trying to regroup and try to find the joy in
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: the music again, you know, has been has been a challenge,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: but it got turned into something very beautiful and really
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: positive in the end. And you know, we wanted to
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: make David proud, we wanted to make ourselves proud, and
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: we also wanted to show the doubters out there that
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: we can pull this off. And I think I think
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: we did that, you know, I think I feel that
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: everything is there, nothing is missing. So this this album
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: is real special. And yeah, there's been so many things happening,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: and it's it's definitely be being reflected on this album.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: The word cinematic and soundscapes I mentioned a lot in
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: the press relays, and you've already alluded to sort of
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: yourself now, but can you elaborate on those descriptions when
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: it comes to music, Like some people find it hard
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: to get the correlation between soundscapes and cinematic music, right.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: I mean this, this, this band was founded on creating
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: a soundtrack of being in motion, you know. So I
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: think it's it's it's sort of a planned to be
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: a soundtrack for for for a road trip, and then
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: I feel like it turned into something so so more.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: You know, it's full of escapism, but also we work
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: a lot with real life stories, you know, so I
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: think it becomes really cinematic in the sense where where
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: where when you listen to it, it generates a lot
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: of pictures in your mind and you find yourself being
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: in a sort of in a you know, in a
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna say in a fixed situation now, and that
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: that can also be like a like a movie. I mean,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: I very often get inspired to write music that you
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: could see it in a that you can hear in
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: a movie, you know, And and so I think that
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: that's a constant thing that that that's also a guiding
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: star when when we compose and and uh, and I
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: think the dreamy parts in our music also kind of
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: allows that to sort of you know, take off in
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: your mind, so to speak.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: What I've heard of the album just put on the money,
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: like you sort of you can feel the music as
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: well as here the way you guys do it like
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: there's there seems to be an added depth and dimension
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: just why you bring Is that a difficult thing to
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: do in the creative process.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: I guess it is, But it's at the same time,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: it's nothing that you really think of that much. I
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: think that if they're I don't know if if you're
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: a person that really you know, composed with how can
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: I say your your emotions? You know, it comes out
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: quite quite uh naturally, I was, I was gonna say,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: and and I think we have a lot of talented
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: composers in this band who is you know.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: Quite visionary and and and you.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Know, it's a it comes comes quite naturally in that sense.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: I always like, if I speak for myself, I mean
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: I've always been going.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: For melodies rather than words.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: Even you know, even that as a as a kid,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: I that was my go to sort of tool, you know,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: I wrote a melody to to express my feelings. I
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: know it sounds very pretentious, but but you know that's
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: that really is how it is for me. You know,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: if if I really feel something, if I have a
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: strong emotion, if I have a bad day, or whatever
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: it might be. You know, I usually my go to
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: thing is to write a melody. And that's you know
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: sort of I think that goes for like the Scandinavian
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: melodic language in general. We always get asked the questions
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: like what is it about Sweden? What is it about
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Scandinavia with these melodies? And and you know, you're you know,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: have such big bands in all genres, you know, and
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: have a special expression. And I think it is that
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: because Scandinavian people might not always be the most talkative
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: people or social people, and and maybe they've sort of
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: developed that sense melodies and kind of expressing themselves that
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: way instead. I don't know, that's that's just a theory,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: but yeah, that's usually how it goes for this band.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: I think, you know, there's a lot of sort of
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: visions and you know, and pictures in our head when
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: we compose.
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: Hm.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: You released the singles Way to Spend the Night on
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: the title track, Givens the Moon. So are they a
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: good sonic representation or what do you expect from every
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: whole album?
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: Or they just scretch your surface?
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: And I mean that's always the hardest part, like what
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: what singles are we gonna pick? And should they stand
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: on their own feet or do they need to be
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: representation of the whole album? I mean, it's it's quite
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: an impossible task, you know, But yeah, I guess they
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: are in a way. We wanted to have sort of
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: diverse singles coming out that there's a there's another one
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: coming out today as well, Paloma, so which also shows
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: another little dimension, you know, showcases how how diverse the
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: album really is, you know, And do you really get
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: what we're doing with this band? I think it's it's
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: you should really, you know, lend your ear to the
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: whole album, you know, and because it sits together beautifully
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: and and but of course the songs are also able
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: to stand on their own feet, which kind of prove proves.
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: It with the singles that we already released. But you know,
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: we are.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: The flag bearers of the you know, Death to faalse
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: A War, the album Oriented Rocks. So we need to
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: carry that flag, you know, and and prove that we
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: can make you know, real bull length albums, you know.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: And and I really hope people, you know, treasure that
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: in some way, you know, because it's it's meant it's
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: meant to be and it sits together, you know.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: Now you started met Night Flight Orchestra back in two
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: thousand and seven with David made so was it wasn't
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: a musical climate like that gave birth the bandon And
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: where did you fit in initially?
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean the idea was sort of born in
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: two thousand and seven. I met David for the first time.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: You know, he was the session guitar player on a
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Soar War tour in North America, and you know, we
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: quickly bonded over music and everything aesthetics of the seventies
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: and eighties, like everything around it really and quite often
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: ended up in the back lounge of the tour bus
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: listening to music, drinking beer, looking at the window as
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: we were, you know, driving across America. It was a
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: really special feeling and you know, and at the end
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: of that tour, you know, we said, like, we we
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: really need to start a band, and that captures, you know,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: sort of the late seventies, early eighties, and it's like
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: it's like a tradition you know that's been lost somehow,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: like songwriting and performances and producing. So you know, we
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: wanted to do that. At the end of the tour,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: like when we come home, we were going to create
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: a band. And it was it was one of those
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: drunken ideas that actually became reality. I mean, I don't
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: know how many bands I started when I've been out,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: you know, drinking beers, but this became reality.
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: And but I.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Mean it took us some time to find the right
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: people that you know, understood, understood what we were about
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: and what we're doing. And when we got together for
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: the first time, I think that was in like two
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: thousand and nine, So something special was happening there, you know,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: And and I think everybody was really eager to to to,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: you know, put this band together, and they were ready
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: to sort of channel influences that they might not be
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: able to channel in the in the in their other bands,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: you know, So I think there was something special happening there,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: and it was something that people were aking to do,
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: and I think that's why something really magical happened from
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: from the get go. And then it quickly became, you know,
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: a real band and not just a project or you know,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: so it was a good foundation to stand on. And
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: after that we've we've managed to create some some really
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: cool stuff together and managed to develop our sound and
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: made it more personal.
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: In the end, I believe.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: We was was by like, how would you say that
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: the band has changed or grown musically from your debut album,
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: Internal Affairs in three thousand and twelve to the latest album.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean the first one, Internal Affairs was very
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: much of an experiment. I mean, it's it's it's it's diverse,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: but in a different way than we are today because
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: I don't know, it was just this first steps where
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: we're trying out, you know, to figure out what we wanted.
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: To to do.
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: Uh.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: That being said, there's some really great songs on that
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: first album and we were actually picking up three of
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: them for this upcoming tour in Europe that starts tomorrow,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: so that's going to be really cool. And so they
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: have stood the test of time. But I feel like
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: we have developed something more personal along the way, and
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: I think especially with Amberg Galacted, that the Ambergalactic, that
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: that's where things really started to to to become more
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: more personal. And I think we have evolved even more
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: ever since, you know. And yeah, it's it's kind of
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: hard to to to describe our sound. I mean, it's
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: it's there's obviously a ar there's there's disco, there's a
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: bit of progressive rock, and uh, at times there's even
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: like you can you can.
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: Hear Swedish schlogger from.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: This seventies and and you know, there's a little bit
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: of nineties indie pop in there even.
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: You know, it's it's it's all over the place.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: But I think out of that we've we managed to
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: create something fairly unique, you know, and it's hard to
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: do in today's music scene.
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: But I also feel like.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: We are providing, uh, you know, we're filling a void
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: in the music scene at least that we see.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: You know, i'd be probably not a new segment called
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: photo bombs.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: Basically before I speak to you, iatroll three you social
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: media and come up with a few photos that I
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: want to ask you a little.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Bit more about. So this one well that was you
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: guys yea with this on their on their.
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: Farewell to a Yeah, I mean how about that. It's yeah,
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: absolutely nuts. I mean, I mean we got to play.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Opening act for Kiss on the very two last shows
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: in Sweden, and what an absolute honor. And we got
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: treated so well both from band and crew into.
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: Our dressing room and started dancing with the ladies and
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: and uh super nice, and Paul Stanley came up to us,
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: you know, chatted for a bit, and even Doc McGee
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: came into our resting room and knocked the door and
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: said he introduced himself, and he said he loves the
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: band and getting to play at this fantastic venue or
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: like outdoor theater.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: It's like, I don't know, it's like the Red Rocks
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: of Sweden sort of speak. I don't know if yeah,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: it's it's it's it's fantastic. So I guess it was
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: not an arena. I was a bit more intimate, but
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: it's yeah, absolutely mind blowing the whole thing. So I
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: will never forget that. And I'm not quite sure where
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: we're gonna go from here. It's it's yeah, yeah, very cool.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Playing with case.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: I've found this one too, made pretty much suns it
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: all up, like writing tunes around the campfire.
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: Like exactly there you go out, that's a while ago.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no, that that's probably on the patio where
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: I'm at right now. I'm at Jonas's house. That's a
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: drummer right there to the right. So yeah, good times,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: and yeah, we like to we like to hang you know.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: We also when we entered the studio, it's you know,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: it's not about just going in there getting the songs
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: done and you know, see you you know, it's it's
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: more of a hangout. We we cook and we drink
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: and record some songs together and we have these small sessions,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: you know, because we you know, we like each other's company.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: And the u to to record music and or hang
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: out around music, you know, it's a great thing.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: So look, but you you actually writing new music in
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: a situation like that, or you're just playing covers and
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: having a good time.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: I mean, it happens that you you you you write
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: music like that, but I mean we we normally you
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: don't really sit around the fire and then come up
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: with stuff.
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: And this picture, I mean, I'm sure something.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Came up a nice right, Thanks very much for your
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: time mate.
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: The album Give Us the Moon is out January to
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: thirty first, and the boys are out for a tour
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: around Europe straight after that. So best of Blackwood, everything
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: made and hope the album goes well for you.
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: Thank you so much, really nice talking to you and
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: thanks for the support.