Night Flight Orchestra Kick Off Their First Australian Tour

Ladies and Gentlemen, please ensure your seatbelt is fastened… Cabin Crew, please engage all doors for landing… as Nuclear Blast artists THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA descend Down Under! For their first time in Australia, the band that formed as an idea between friends from several well-known Rock/ Metal bands (Soilwork, Arch Enemy, Mean Streak) almost a decade ago and have been dropping jaws ever since… arrive Down under for three exclusive shows.

With five albums already under their belt, two nominations for the Swedish Grammies, countless live shows and praises from fans and media alike, TNFO have steadily upped their game when it comes to paying tribute to a decade that influences all sorts of people and even industries to this day – the 80s. With hits like Domino, Lovers In The Rain, West Ruth Ave, Divinyls and This Time, the band manages to maintain a variety of vibes and emotions with every album. From hard rocking tunes, poppy digressions to progressive epics, disco-esque songs and deliciously cheesy yet loveable ballads… they will take you on quite the heady journey! Björn Strid talks to Hi Fi Way about the excitement of bringing Night Flight Orchestra to Australia for the first time.

Are you really excited to be able to finally bring Night Flight down to Australia for the first time?
Yes! Finally, it’s happening. Beautiful!

Have you been stoked by the reaction by Australian fans?
Absolutely. I mean, we also felt it on the previous tour that we’ve been doing and it’s gradually building with more and more people coming up to us asking when are we bringing Night Flight to Australia? They bring vinyls for us to sign and stuff like that. So, there’s definitely been something brewing, but we’re really excited that it’s finally happening. We can feel the love already.

What do you love about touring Australia the most that you’ve missed?
I don’t know, it’s one of the hardest things to explain, but I always feel at peace when I’m there. Like, there’s something about it. It’s something about the vibe and the shows are great and just hanging out meeting the people and going to these beautiful places, the nature, everything. I just feel everything is in sync somehow now. I feel I’m in harmony when I’m there. It’s a great thing.

Is it hard work, playing three shows back-to-back and then almost be on a plane heading back home or wherever the next stop is on the tour?
Yeah, I mean, I wish it could have been longer, but hopefully we’re planting a seed here so we can do like a full Australian tour next time. We have had one day off before the tour starts, and then one day after. So, at least there’s something, but it’s a long trip, obviously. That’s always the hardest part to go to Australia. It’s the trip over there and regardless it’s going to be so much fun. It’s nice to go there with Night Flight orchestra. I’ve been to Australia ten times, I think with Soilwork, so this is something a little bit different too. That’s exciting.

With six albums now is there a particular focus on this tour or maybe you could play for four five hours and play everything?
That would be something! I think just about every album is represented in the set list but we are also out there touring Aeromantic and Aeromantic II so it is a bit focused on the later material, but every album is in there and represented. So it’s going to be a beautiful set list.

The new single The Sensation is an awesome single, is that a real emotional moment in the set list honouring and paying tribute to David as well?
It is, I can really feel it when I’m singing it because it’s about our journeys together, David and I, we’ve been in these two bands together and suddenly he’s not here anymore. I mean, what do you do with that? It’s really hard to accept and I wrote a song about it and I definitely feel it when I sing it. I’m sure there’s going to be more tributes along the way, but he is very present in what we’re doing. It also gives us encouragement to face the future and we’ve already recorded some amazing songs. We have a lot of faith and he’s definitely with us. It really is an amazing song, it seems so uplifting and that the band has grown its own set of wings and taken off with this one.

Did you know you that this was a special songs as it started to unfold in the studio?
I think it was one of those songs that took quite a while to write. For some reason, I think it started with the intro and the guitarist, I was sitting down doing that, and then I left it for a while, and started working on a different song. Then I came back to it, and then I think something happened there and I got quite emotional and then that chorus came up, that melody, which almost has a little bit like a Genesis vibe to it, I would say. It kind of fell into place. After I had the chorus I started writing the verse and all the words came out becoming a song right there and then in one day. Before that it was a lot of scattered writing sessions behind it.

Is that a window to what the next album might sound like?
Yeah, it might be a little bit of a pointer. I don’t know, in my mind, I hear more Queen, ABBA and Kiss influences, but there’s so much other stuff that we’ve been influenced by over the years. I also believe that we have created a bit of our own sound. It’s not all about nostalgia or being able to sound exactly like Foreigner in 1978, it’s so much more than that. It’s going to be really interesting. If I can say something about it, I feel that there’s a little bit more dose of Queen in there.

How was it supporting Kiss? That must have been like the bucket list of gig’s for you?
Unbelievable. It was such a crazy experience, and we didn’t know what to expect, but we got to meet them. They were super nice, and the hospitality was fantastic. We got soundcheck, their crew was amazing, and they sounded amazing. Being a part of their very last two shows in Sweden was nothing short of amazing. I will be forever grateful. It was fantastic and what a venue too in Dalhalla, sort of like the Red Rocks in Sweden. It’s quite like a hole in the ground with an amphitheatre and water behind the stage. I don’t know if you’ve seen pictures, but wow, what an experience.

Were you a little bit nervous compared to other shows you have played?
Absolutely. I was, but it was fine and the crowd was really good too. People started dancing and really seemed to enjoy the band. So, I think we got a lot of new fans, it’s hard opening for Kiss. It’s almost like opening for Slayer, maybe not as bad, I think a lot of people can hear the influences as well from Kiss. It’s not that far away from what they’re doing. A lot of new fans I would say and a lot of smiling faces out there, it was a beautiful time.

What’s next for Night Flight Orchestra?
We’re going in to the studio in September and finalise the new album. There will be two more singles leading up to the album. Probably one this fall, and then maybe one in the beginning of next year. Then the full album will probably be released sometime April or May.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Night Flight Orchestra on the following dates, tickets HERE…