Interview: NIGHT dry their tears on scratchy, distorted bass lines

Fear breeds ignorance and bigotry, and there has never been so much blood pouring through the streets since the civil rights movement. Last summer’s alt-right riot in Charlottesville, which hit the one-year anniversary in August, not only confirmed that racism and white nationalists are alive and well but exposed vast covert racism still sweeping America and its homes. Complacency is complicity. And dark-pop Swedish duo NIGHT ⏤ of Adam Sabani and Gustaf Johansson ⏤ aren’t going silently into that good night. No, they stand firmly on the right side of history, as evidence with their aptly-titled ballad “Charlottesville,” a brooding and rather viscerally-numbing piece with Spanish artist Guillem Duquette’s voice striking with subtle, nuanced outrage.

“Aftermath, a trace of blood in the street / The President sums it up in a tweet…” Duguette sings, framing the nature of our reality in harrowing simplicity. The piano blurs into scratchy whirls of grungy synths and bake into the backbone. “The walk of shame, the blood lines never fade / We’re all to blame, say we’re too afraid / Listen, act, rage.”

It’s a risky move to release such a bold and politically-charged single as their debut, but, as Sabani says, it’s an important moment in history. “The rise of authoritarianism, nationalism and the undermining of liberal democracies is something that is constantly top of mind for us. In Europe, as well as in the US, we see these tendencies everywhere, and we feel that it is deeply disturbing,” he tells B-Sides & Badlands over email.

He then takes a moment to reflect upon the past and how things had appeared to get better. “We both grew up when things were constantly getting better ⏤ the cold war came to an end, billions were lifted out of poverty, there was freedom of expression and no limits to what you could do, artistically. And now we see all of that crumbling. It really is very disturbing and quite saddening. And so getting this song out was important, also as a kind of therapy.”

The moment Duquette’s voice draped over the sharp-cut lyrics, it was immediately evident the song needed to be heard on a much wider scale. “After recording Guillem’s voice singing Adam’s beautiful song and lyric, we realized that we should release this as quick as possible, not waiting for all the rest of the songs to be produced. We just wanted to get this one out,” says Johnansson, whose production style is both slyly sinister and rich.

In the aftermath of the Charlottesville riots, President Trump only offered conciliatory words to both sides, and as a result, his intentions had never been clearer. “The alt-right demonstrations in Charlottesville were, of course, terribly upsetting, but the most disturbing thing was President Trump’s reaction when he, as the leader of the free world, didn’t condemn them strongly enough,” says Sabani.

Long-time childhood friends, NIGHT aims to supply “peace through culture,” in the same vein as Rain Tree Crow. “We are currently recording a couple of different tracks, and we are in the process of deciding where we should take these songs,” Johansson says. “For me as a producer, it’s brilliant material that we can take in so many different directions.”

NIGHT are currently working on more music, coming soon.

Below, the duo discuss reclaiming humanity, their journey together into adulthood and art changing the world.

What was the emotional energy in the room when you wrote this song?

Sabani: I was sad, angry and frustrated. I still am. I guess I have to practice on seeing the good things in Donald Trump.

Johnansson: The production was quiet easy – the recording of the vocals was just a few takes. I think that Guillem really felt strongly about the topic and the idea of the production. It recording was both magical and very natural.

Duquette’s vocal is pretty ambient, and the background vocals are layered in a way that is truly haunting. How did the production evolve into what it is?

Johnansson: We had about three takes of the main vocal track, ended up with one of the takes practically unedited. After that, I just let Guillem play around, recording different layers of singing. He is just completely out of this world improvising and you find traces of traditional Spanish and Arabic harmonies that just comes out of him. Mixing it, I wanted the main vocals to be very close, giving the feeling of suppressed anger, combining it with the layers of vocals that are far away, like it was the real unspoken feelings of Guillem.

Does a different kind of energy run through you when you perform this song live?

Sabani: Guillem is also a trained actor and has an extraordinary ability to bring out all the emotions he put into the recording in the live performance, as well. I think it comes across to the audience beautifully.

What do you recall most when you two first met at 14 years old, and what music did you bond over?

Sabani: We met in a locker room in our high school, and one of the first questions that came up was “….so what music are you into?” And we quickly realized we shared a taste in music. At that point in time, it was very much about New Wave ⏤ mostly British and Swedish bands like Heaven 17, Japan, Ratata, Duran Duran, Talk Talk and Depeche Mode. But Tomas’ older brothers also inspired us to listen to older stuff like Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and early Peter Gabriel records.

What were some of your most important moments together ⏤ from youth to adulthood?

Sabani: The usual stuff I guess ⏤ getting drunk the first time, falling in and out of love, spring break vacations. But I think perhaps the most defining [thing was] we the really boring ones ⏤ hanging in the school yard, waiting for the train to come, waiting for something to happen. That’s when you really get to know one another on a deeper level. I tend to miss boredom these days.

Johnansson: I particularly remember hanging out at Adam’s place looking at MTV when it first started being broadcasted in Sweden. In a way, it was a magic moment when the world in a way opened up and became a bit bigger through music.

How has your relationship changed through the years?

Sabani: We’ve always been tight, but the design of adulthood these days seems to be that everything has to happen between when you are 25 and 40. That’s when you start to build a career, start a family, raise small kids, buy a house. And so naturally, although we have been in constant contact, during those years it was sometimes challenging getting quality time together. I think now, when the kids are getting older, and there are less things to juggle, we have come closer again. And of course in recent years, creating music together has been a great vehicle for our friendship.

In regard to Charlottesville and the continued deterioration of democracy, how can we reclaim our humanity?

Sabani: That’s a big question. I think it’s very easy and very hard. The easy part is to on a personal level and to try seeing what is good in everyone and always believing that people have good intentions, despite what is fed to us in the filter bubbles. But we also have to affirm humanity in the leadership of our politicians, and that’s the harder part. Because as long as it pays off to be a bigot, leaders will continue as some of them do today . I guess, it’s a bit like how you should react to an obstinate child ⏤ only pay attention to the good behavior.

In your life, how have you seen music and art be a catalyst for change in the world?

Sabani: When we were kids in the late ’70s and in the ’80s, political movements and artistic movements were often entwined in a way that you don’t see as much today. I do think music can move people’s perceptions of the world in a major way and make them take a stance in issues. Look at the impact of Live Aid in the ’80s or how pop music really helped bring down apartheid in South Africa in the early ’90s.

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