SOILWORK Frontman Says THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA Has Become 'Metalheads' Guilty Pleasure'

Josh Rundquist of That Drummer Guy recently conducted an interview with vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid of Swedish metallers SOILWORK about his classic/progressive rock supergroup THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the increased exposure of late for THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA:

Björn: “I think it as much of has it become ‘metalheads’ guilty pleasure,’ it has been crossing over to people who sort of are fans of other kinds of music as well. It’s a big mix of everything. But, I think it’s sort of needed out there. At least that’s what we feel. That’s how the whole band sort of started. We wanted to provide something that was missing out there and here we are. I think we have something pretty unique. I think we definitely have a personal take on something. It’s almost like we hijacked an era and made it into our own. The general impression I get from people is ‘Oh, thank you so much for starting this band. I didn’t even know I missed it, but I guess I do, because I love it.’ It’s just like we’re on a mission in a way.”

On the contrast of styles between SOILWORK and THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA:

Björn: “It’s very much a Jekyll-and-Hyde situation. [Laughs] That’s kind of weird, the whole thing, like, ‘That’s the same guy who did the [SOILWORK] ‘Long Live The Misanthrope’ song?’ It’s really weird, but, it really, really represents me in a very good way. I’ve always been very much a musical chameleon ever since I was growing up. I was all over the place. I feel very balanced musically now that I have both SOILWORK and THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA. Two completely different things. Without sounding too pretentious, it’s a little like a ying-yang situation where I don’t have to channel all of my influences through one band. I can’t be Tom Araya [SLAYER] and Lou Gramm [FOREIGNER] at the same time. It doesn’t work like that. [Laughs]”

On how doing both bands prevents him from burn-out:

Björn: “I think I really evolved as a singer as well. I think I brought that with me to SOILWORK as well. It’s sort of feeding off each other in a way, even though it’s completely different things. That’s how it feels.”

On the writing process for THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA‘s forthcoming “Sometimes The World Ain’t Enough” studio album:

Björn: “Well, the thing is we never really left the studio. It’s sort of a constant thing for us when it comes to songwriting. I woke up to this Facebook post a couple of days ago that was posted one year ago by THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA saying, ‘Sorry, we couldn’t keep out of the studio. Our sincere apologies, THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA.’ That was right after ‘Amber Galactic’ was released. It just keeps on going. We have these recording sessions and we have two producers within the band who have their own studio, so we have access to a studio whenever we want to, basically. We just like writing songs and getting together for a week or so, then we sort of cook, drink and record some songs. Sometimes we just drink and don’t record at all, but we always get it together. It’s always sort of hanging out or around the songwriting or the music, producing songs, so, it’s an extremely creative unit and it’s just something we do and I think that also takes off the pressure a little bit. Instead of the usual sort of scenario where it’s, ‘Okay, guys, it’s time to write a new record and let’s book the studio for five weeks.’ It’s more of a constant thing for us. We kept on writing. After last summer, we had about 40 songs. We were, like, ‘Wow, this is nuts.’ We basically built up a vault of songs over the years and sometimes we pick up older songs and rearrange them as well. Then again, it’s not about having a bunch of songs that you just throw out. It really needs to have that nice flow. It’s crucial to us that we release albums and not a bunch of songs. I think that’s what we found with the new one as well. We had all those songs and we managed to pick the songs that would sort of create a nice flow together.”

On the status of SOILWORK‘s next studio album:

Björn: “I have about two, three more songs to do vocals for the new SOILWORK album, then we’re going to mix it. It’s very close to being ready. It’s sounding really, really cool. Super epic and very dark, very melancholic. Yeah, there’s going to be a little bit more keyboards, sort of what we had on ‘Natural Born Chaos’ as well, but sort of in the vein of ‘The Living Infinite’ and ‘The Ride Majestic’, so it has a really nice balance to it.”

“Sometimes The World Ain’t Enough” will be released on June 29 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was again produced by the bandmembers themselves and was recorded at Handsome Hard Music / Larsson Music Studio as well as Nordic Sound Lab in Skara, Sweden. Mixing duties were taken on by the band’s guitarist/percussionist Sebastian Forslund and mastering was done by Thomas “Plec” Johansson at The Panic Room.

SOILWORK‘s upcoming eleventh album was recorded at Nordic Sound Lab studio with Johansson. The follow-up to 2015’s “The Ride Majestic” is tentatively due in late 2018 or early 2019 via Nuclear Blast.

Photo credit: Carlos Del Olmo Holmberg

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