Interview by Kris Peters
When members of Soilwork, Arch Enemy and Mean Streak ventured outside of their comfort zone ten years ago and created The Night Flight Orchestra the seeds of something special were instantly sewn.
By defying the "supergroup" handbook at the time, Björn Strid, David Andersson, Sharlee D'Angelo and Jonas Källsbäckbroke broke away completely from the sounds of their original bands and ushered in a new (albeit harking back to days of old) era of music that bears little if no resemblance to the style of music for which the respective members were known.
Instead they created an 80s party band with the sole objective of making people dance.
Despite the tongue in cheek nature of their music, The Night Flight Orchestra went about their business with a serious and level head, paying homage to a decade of musical fads and trends without actually mocking it.
Which was a fine line to tread, but one which was carefully navigated with due caution and respect.
Spawning hits like Domino, Lovers In The Rain, West Ruth Ave, Divinyls and This Time, TNFO have pushed the proverbial envelope in as many directions as it would turn, pumping out everything from hard rock to pop to disco infused ditties and love drenched ballads and everything in between.
Despite the global success afforded each of their five albums, TNFO have somehow managed to steer clear of Australian shores for the duration of their existence, a blight on their social calendar that is soon to be rectified when the unruly gang of cavalirs touches down for three exclusive shows starting in Brisbane on August 3.
Frontman Bjorn Strid cleared his schedule to explain the bands absence and what they plan to do to make it up to us.
"It's gonna be a hell of a dance party," he promised. "So go get your tickets now!"
With the first show under one week away, we ask Strid if he has finished packing in preperation yet.
"I guess so, yeah," he laughed. "It feels like it was only a matter of weeks ago that we hit Australia with Soilwork but it was in November last year. Regardless, it's gonna be something completely different. I'm really grateful that we're able to come to Australia with The Night Flight Orchestra. We feel like the fan base has grown a lot in Australia so I had to poke Doug from Hardline Media to get us over there. We're definitely ready. We have a beautiful set list coming up for these three shows. It's going to be special."
Not ones to take these things lying down, HEAVY presses Strip on why TNFO have neglected Australian fans for so long.
"Good question," he laughed. "We wanted to come in all those years so many times but it's... it had to grow a little bit but we've definitely felt that the last couple of years that a lot of people come up to you when you're in Australia with Soilwork and say 'hey when is Night Flight coming to Australia and bringing vinyls to the signing sessions so we noticed it's been growing a lot and now is definitely the time. I wish we did it five years ago, but at the same time it was worth waiting for I think."
In the full interview Bjorn tells us what to expect from the shows, explains what Death To False A.O.R Australian Tour means, supporting KISS on their last ever Swedish shows, takes us back to the start of the band and where they fit in, his love affair with 80s music and where it comes from, continuing the saga laid out in Aeromantic and Aeromantic 2 and more.