Latest / Ghost Cult Magazine Podcast / PODCAST: Episode 819 - Niklas Karlsson of Orbit Culture Talks New Album "Death Above Life "

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PODCAST: Episode 819 - Niklas Karlsson of Orbit Culture Talks New Album "Death Above Life " · Ghost Cult Magazine Podcast

• 0:00
  Many of these new songs, they needed more of a like a vocal
• 0:03
  presence. I would say writing it was
• 0:06
  pretty, you know, it went smooth, I would say, but
• 0:10
  recording the actual vocals, I mean, it was a period of a lot
• 0:14
  of self hate and doubt. I would say that.
• 0:16
  But once we got to takes down, it just felt right.
• 0:20
  You know, it's, it felt natural to bring in more like different
• 0:24
  tones of the voice and stuff. You know, we have growl, scream,
• 0:28
  rasty vocals, you have soft vocals.
• 0:30
  You know, the whole package really.
• 0:32
  That was just a thing that we have to pull off live too.
• 0:34
  So that's where you're going to get to work after it's released.
• 0:45
  What's up everybody? It's Kifi of ghostcultmag.com.
• 0:49
  I'm super excited to be joined today by Nicholas from Orbit
• 0:52
  Culture. How are you doing today?
• 0:54
  Hello Emma, I'm doing great. Oh yeah, man, you should be
• 0:57
  doing great. You have a brand new album
• 0:59
  coming out soon, Death Above Life, your first for Century
• 1:02
  Media. That's a full length.
• 1:04
  And I'm super excited to talk to you about this is probably our
• 1:08
  staff internally like one of our most anticipated records of the
• 1:12
  year. And you know, first and
• 1:15
  foremost, before we talk about the record, let's dial it back.
• 1:18
  And let me ask you for a second about, you know, I feel like you
• 1:22
  could have signed anywhere. And Century Media is one of the
• 1:27
  you might even be wearing the shirt.
• 1:28
  It's a legacy. It's a legacy medal record
• 1:32
  label, right? They've had so many countless
• 1:33
  great albums, but you know, was there, you know, aside from
• 1:38
  financial because when you know, I I tell people like signing to
• 1:42
  a new record label is like the only way to get a raise, like
• 1:44
  getting a new job basically. And but aside from money, what
• 1:49
  was the thing that attracted you to Century Media in the 1st
• 1:52
  place before you, you know, signed I.
• 1:54
  Think, I mean, they, they changed us for a long time, you
• 1:59
  know, as some other labels also did.
• 2:01
  But what central media did differently was that, you know,
• 2:04
  when you're out there meeting people, they usually want to
• 2:08
  talk business right away, right? And we have never been that bad.
• 2:11
  I mean, the key to orbiculture is to get to know what's first,
• 2:16
  like actual humans. And that's what central media
• 2:20
  did. I mean, they, they were coming
• 2:23
  into our dressing rooms here and there all over the world.
• 2:26
  And we were like, the fuck are they doing here?
• 2:28
  But the more we started to talk with them as human beings, it,
• 2:32
  it just made sense to get into the business side of it too.
• 2:35
  And yeah, get this deal going. And I think we did the right
• 2:40
  choice for sure. No, you know, that's awesome.
• 2:42
  I love to hear that. You know, the personal touch is
• 2:45
  the way to go. We recommend that to everybody.
• 2:47
  You know, I, I often am, I'm proud to say, you know, it's
• 2:51
  like the music business. It's not the music friendship,
• 2:54
  but you want to be able to, you know, trust and respect who you
• 2:57
  come to work with. So I think this is, you know, a
• 3:01
  great next step for the band. And you know, what I love about
• 3:06
  this new record, Death Above Life that's coming soon is I
• 3:09
  really feel like it captures the band.
• 3:12
  You know, a lot of times you go see a band and they're not the
• 3:15
  same band on record as live. And I think that, you know,
• 3:19
  performing is very important to you.
• 3:20
  So I think having a a live sounding record, even if it
• 3:23
  wasn't recorded live, to have a like a an album that is recorded
• 3:27
  and produced and mixed, that sounds full of life like a live
• 3:31
  band should, I think is a really good quality this year with the
• 3:36
  releases. Some of them that sound very
• 3:37
  like, you know, overproduced and mechanical.
• 3:40
  Yeah, thank you so much, man. I mean, we, this is the first
• 3:44
  time we brought in like a like an actual mixing engineer for
• 3:48
  it. But Buster Odell, who does, he
• 3:51
  met his last breath, Vilty Arta throne and all that stuff.
• 3:54
  So I mean, his expertise was, you know, it was meant to be to
• 3:58
  just elevate our shit too. And I'm so happy that he, I
• 4:03
  mean, he makes his mixes are very modern with a modern touch.
• 4:07
  But what he did for us was to keep like the band element in
• 4:11
  there. I mean, you can still hear that
• 4:13
  it's, you know, 4 dudes playing even though there are a lot of
• 4:16
  like cinematic elements and stuff.
• 4:18
  But it's feels also kind of raw in a sense too, even though it
• 4:22
  sounds modern. Right on.
• 4:25
  I love that you 2 things you said.
• 4:27
  First of all, elevate, which is like 100% on.
• 4:30
  And then I like, you know, I know the band has been very
• 4:34
  talked in the press materials for the album about being
• 4:37
  influenced by composers more than any other band or
• 4:41
  specifically any metal band. And I love hearing that.
• 4:44
  And I think that translates to the music.
• 4:46
  We'll talk about that in a second.
• 4:48
  But what I do love, and in terms of the word elevate also, you
• 4:52
  personally have elevated your style, your vocal style.
• 4:55
  I think there's a lot more catchy in a positive way
• 4:59
  elements like a lot of very, you know, things that will translate
• 5:02
  great to be playing live, like sing along choruses, but still
• 5:07
  super heavy. It kind of reminds me of kind of
• 5:09
  that turn of the century, you know, Colony by in flames, you
• 5:13
  know, your countrymen. No, no shade there.
• 5:16
  That's a compliment in the highest way for me.
• 5:18
  We're big fans. We've interviewed the band a ton
• 5:20
  of times over the years and you know, that's great music making.
• 5:25
  I always say a good song works in any genre, but like,
• 5:28
  especially if you can get the crowd into it.
• 5:32
  I remember back to that Machine Head tour and you know, Machine
• 5:35
  Heads a great band to learn from because like they've been doing
• 5:37
  it a long time and they're still super heavy, but they're very
• 5:41
  catchy. Like people love their songs,
• 5:44
  like, you know, they're they're memorable because you can sing
• 5:47
  along to it. So I think that's really cool
• 5:49
  that you guys still super heavy. I don't want anybody to get
• 5:52
  worried. Still very heavy, but like, I
• 5:55
  like that there's you. You've stepped up vocally and I
• 5:57
  think there's a lot of cool things to catch on to.
• 6:00
  Thank you so much, man. Yeah, I, I, you know, many of
• 6:03
  these new songs, they needed more of a like a vocal presence.
• 6:07
  I would say. Writing it was pretty, you know,
• 6:10
  it went snooze, I would say. But recording the actual vocals,
• 6:15
  I mean, it was a period of a lot of self hate and doubt.
• 6:18
  I would say that. But once we got the takes down,
• 6:22
  it just felt right. You know, it's, it felt natural
• 6:24
  to bring in more like different tones of the voice and stuff.
• 6:29
  You know, we have growl, scream, rest vocals, you have soft
• 6:32
  vocals, you know, the whole package really.
• 6:35
  That was just a thing that we have to pull off live too.
• 6:37
  So that's where you're going to get to work after it's released.
• 6:41
  Right on it, helping me with my Segway first thing in the
• 6:44
  morning, my time evening for you.
• 6:46
  Thank you. The coffee has not kicked in
• 6:49
  yet. But yeah, that's the thing,
• 6:51
  right Live. And I didn't know if you did any
• 6:54
  extra vocal work or training or ear training to get ready to do
• 6:58
  this or as you were writing the songs, like, oh, I have to work
• 7:02
  on this extra, you know, You know, you've been doing the
• 7:04
  screamy thing for very long, the brutal screamy thing for a very
• 7:08
  long time. It's it's not easy to then
• 7:10
  switch back and forth. We're seeing a lot of it again,
• 7:12
  like a resurgence. You know, I didn't know if you
• 7:14
  did any extra training to get ready to do it.
• 7:17
  No. I think it's just a matter of
• 7:19
  because this is the first record that we actually recorded in our
• 7:23
  rehearsal slash studio that we built ourselves.
• 7:26
  So we, you know, with better tools, how to say and better
• 7:30
  just space it, it kind of relaxes you.
• 7:33
  And but as yeah, as you said, it's hard to switch between the
• 7:37
  most because I I went into recording of it thinking that I
• 7:41
  could scream for two hours and then sing for two hours after
• 7:45
  that. But that didn't work at all.
• 7:46
  So I had to like, let's say, take three days to record the
• 7:50
  girls, take a break a day and then come back to try to do the
• 7:55
  raspier thing. So I think I started with the
• 7:58
  harshest vocals first and then came to the end doing the
• 8:01
  softer, you know, calm vocals, which which which yeah, it
• 8:05
  worked quite well. But the thing was that the
• 8:08
  studio now is way bigger. So I can like, move around and,
• 8:13
  you know, you can actually have a like a refrigerator,
• 8:16
  refrigerator there to take like a water.
• 8:20
  That was not the case like a few years ago.
• 8:23
  Right on. Yeah, the tiny rehearsal room.
• 8:25
  My band has tiny, a tiny room, just a small room in a, in a, in
• 8:31
  a my buddy's house. But yeah, tough.
• 8:34
  I'm like, we're gonna leave that water.
• 8:36
  There's not it's just wires everywhere.
• 8:38
  Exactly. You know, that's great to hear.
• 8:41
  And of course, you know, like, like I said again, it translates
• 8:44
  over to the album if you guys are, you know, made, made
• 8:47
  comfortable but not relaxed so much that you rested on your
• 8:51
  laurels, which is nice to know. Yeah.
• 8:53
  Man, what a banger of a record. It's so strong right out of the
• 8:57
  gate. And I love that it's, uh, I'm
• 9:00
  still a person. I grew up listening to just
• 9:02
  albums. You had to listen to one song
• 9:04
  maybe if you're lucky and then buy an album.
• 9:07
  And, you know, I don't know what my young teenage brain thought
• 9:10
  about buying music based on album covers, but nice art,
• 9:14
  great artwork, but I love a record that has no skips.
• 9:17
  And this is a record Death Above Life has no skips.
• 9:21
  It's, it's so strong all the way.
• 9:22
  And I like that it's sort of plotted out.
• 9:25
  Well, it's, I don't think it's a concept record, right?
• 9:27
  But like, I like that it it has like a rhythm.
• 9:30
  The tracks have a rhythm that go together.
• 9:32
  You know, it's not like, oh, that's weird.
• 9:34
  None of that so super cool. There's no power ballad
• 9:37
  everybody. It's not a, you know, winner.
• 9:39
  We're good. I'm.
• 9:41
  Wondering. Thank you man.
• 9:44
  I think that's was that was also kind of the hard thing about
• 9:47
  picking singles for it because as I said, it's not a concept
• 9:50
  album, but it feels like the songs kind of belong together.
• 9:54
  So you have to kind of listen to it from, you know, the first
• 9:58
  song to the last to really get the album.
• 10:01
  You know how it should be listened to right though that it
• 10:05
  was quite tough to actually pick the singles.
• 10:07
  But I think once the album is out, it's going to feel like a
• 10:10
  aha moment for a lot of people. Like, oh, that's now I can like
• 10:15
  see the full picture, if that makes sense.
• 10:18
  Yeah, totally. And I think the first two
• 10:20
  singles, again, good choices. They are now having heard the
• 10:23
  whole album recently, I think you have three out as of now.
• 10:27
  Don't no, you know, there's a lot of time left as we record
• 10:30
  this over the summer. So they might get a couple more
• 10:33
  or at least one more, which I think it can do.
• 10:35
  You know, I think a good record can can have life and legs.
• 10:39
  And of course, you know, again, shout out to the rest of the
• 10:42
  band who also did a tremendous job.
• 10:46
  You know, again, as a fan, I started as a fan of this band,
• 10:50
  you know, when people were starting to be like, yo, you're
• 10:52
  this band. And then I saw you live and we
• 10:55
  covered you guys over overseas with our staff over there and,
• 10:59
  you know, nothing but great reports.
• 11:01
  So I'm really curious to see this, you know, kind of hear
• 11:05
  this new album and some of these songs live.
• 11:08
  Do you think you'd be playing, you know, a good portion of
• 11:11
  album live when you come out? I know people again, are going
• 11:14
  to be like, you know, clamoring for the older songs.
• 11:18
  But like, you know, of course, you have a brand new album.
• 11:20
  You want to, you know, give to the crowd, of course, and
• 11:22
  yourselves so you don't get tired.
• 11:24
  Yeah, yeah. I mean, we're going to go Oh
• 11:27
  well now in October, like 3 weeks after the tour or the
• 11:31
  album comes out. So I mean, the tour is is called
• 11:35
  Death Above Life. So there will be a lot of the
• 11:38
  new stuff on there. But as you said, there's some
• 11:42
  songs that we really can't move around that people kind of
• 11:46
  expect. So we will try to keep it
• 11:49
  balanced. But it is a Death Above Life
• 11:52
  tour and it will be a lot of material from it for sure.
• 11:56
  Right on. I don't know if yeah, like I'm,
• 11:59
  I'm interested to see, you know, hear the new stuff live and see
• 12:03
  how you guys do. And again, you know, shout out
• 12:05
  to the whole band because not just you, everybody really put
• 12:09
  the work in, it sounds like. And you know, again, we've been
• 12:13
  talking about this record for like half a year.
• 12:15
  As soon as we, you know, as soon as we like, you know, maybe a
• 12:18
  year like here's one of the records we're looking forward to
• 12:21
  for, for 2025. It's weird to even say that it's
• 12:24
  2025. You know, your band has been
• 12:26
  around for 12 years and you've even celebrated like, you know,
• 12:29
  I last year was like the 10 years of the big, you know, the
• 12:32
  first EP. You know, obviously you've been
• 12:34
  through kind of the the whole hype thing in the business.
• 12:38
  I don't think you personally have been affected by it, but
• 12:40
  like have what have you learned from from this experience of
• 12:44
  going from kind of like an independent band to let now
• 12:46
  being on Century Media like in the business over these years?
• 12:51
  I think that it's a good thing. I mean, I would, we should on
• 12:56
  every band basically, but it's, it comes with some pressure and
• 13:00
  I think, but what we are winning from that is that we are from
• 13:04
  such a small town. So the only pressure that we
• 13:07
  really see is online. So we we do records, we do
• 13:11
  everything kind of the same as we've always done it.
• 13:15
  So it really doesn't change like the whole manufacturing of, of
• 13:19
  orbiculture behind the scenes, if that makes sense.
• 13:22
  But of course there's, you know, things that you have to do that,
• 13:27
  you know, there's more people counting on you and stuff like
• 13:29
  that. But I think the the secret to
• 13:33
  that is just, you know, do what you always done because that's
• 13:36
  the reason why you're there in the first place.
• 13:39
  Sounds like it's helpful to be consistent.
• 13:42
  You know, I tell people, just show.
• 13:43
  Kind of like sports. Just show up every day and do
• 13:46
  what you're supposed to do. If you do that, you'll probably
• 13:49
  be OK. It's it's we're not brain
• 13:53
  surgeons out here, None of us. So, you know, we're doing this
• 13:56
  for a reason. You know, we might be very
• 13:58
  talented, but like, you know, we're not, we're not readers
• 14:01
  mostly. Sometimes.
• 14:02
  Obviously you've been consumed with this run up to this record
• 14:05
  and you recorded it a while ago. You know, What have you been
• 14:08
  doing in the meantime? Is the bands rehearsing for the
• 14:10
  tour? What else do you have going on,
• 14:13
  you know, in the world of Orbit culture leading up to this
• 14:16
  release? Yeah, just like we recorded it
• 14:20
  and like a day after when, you know, we put the last note down,
• 14:24
  we send it off to mixing. And then we ourselves went to on
• 14:28
  tour to support Bullets for My Valentine and Trivia.
• 14:32
  So we kind of heard, you know, went through the mixing process
• 14:35
  of it on on the tour bus, which was a nearest thing to do also.
• 14:40
  But after that we came home, had a small break and then right
• 14:44
  into the summer festivals, you know, the whole of June,
• 14:47
  basically a great, great run during the summer.
• 14:51
  We took July off basically just, you know, spending us a month
• 14:56
  here in Sweden, you know, during the summer, which very nice and
• 14:59
  very, very healthy for us, I think just to, you know, enjoy
• 15:03
  family life and stuff like that. But now in August, everything,
• 15:07
  since we're getting closer to the record, we're hungry, doing
• 15:12
  press here and there and just, yeah, enjoying the ride until
• 15:16
  the big day comes, basically. So we're stopped.
• 15:20
  Right on we us too again, waiting a long time for this
• 15:24
  one. You know, super cool to meet you
• 15:28
  hopefully next time I see you in person.
• 15:30
  We used to do these in person was good.
• 15:32
  Definitely it was a lot better and a little more fun.
• 15:34
  But I appreciate you so much for making the time today.
• 15:37
  And you know, congratulations on Death Above life coming out
• 15:41
  October 3rd on Century Media. Niklas of Orbit Culture, thanks
• 15:45
  for hanging out with us today. I appreciate you man.
• 15:47
  Thank you so much man Anytime.