The Northern Territories interview: ‘We’re a bit of a mess when it comes to defining what we sound like’
The Northern Territories (Photo by Chris Ruiz)
The Northern Territories was founded by the duo John Alexander Ericson and Stefan Sääf in 1992. Their debut album “Midnight Ambulance”, released on the then-legendary Machinery Records in 1994, became an instant success and is undoubtedly an opus that many fans in the scene still cherish. Two more albums, “Orange Moon” (1997) and “Satellite People” (1999), followed and confirmed their talent and distinctive approach to Electro-Pop — somehow floating and emotional. These are calm songs that carry you along on a fantastic, imaginary journey, simply guided by the tones of their music. The Northern Territories returned this year with their new album “A Star In Orbit Still”, released by Dependent. The music stays true to the foundations of their sound: subtle, floating Electro-Pop that you wouldn’t immediately compare to other artists, but that feels like a deeply personal interpretation of the genre. I spoke about it with Alex Ericson. (Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: All the music lovers who knew you in the ’90s must be wondering: how did you finally reunite after 25 years for this new adventure? And how do you look back on your work from the ’90s, which brought undeniable success but ultimately led to a split?
Alex: I think we both felt that it was time to do something together again, that The Northern Territories felt unfinished somehow, and that deserved a second chapter. We’ve also been working together on other music projects over the years, so it’s not that we’ve been out of touch all these years.
About two years ago we decided to try and record a few songs; we did, and much to our surprise, it was a bit like we picked up just where we left off in 1998. When our last album, “Satellite People,” came out in 1999, we had actually already stopped making music as The Northern Territories. The split wasn’t that dramatic, it was more just a feeling of ‘ok that’s enough of that…’ time to do something else.
I think we both look back on those early records quite fondly. I mean, it’s nothing we ever listen to because it’s a bit like reading old diaries or looking at old photos. But it was also a musical learning process; we were just kids basically when we got our first record deal. Twenty years old or something like that. It was definitely a different era. We got our first record deal by sending a demo tape via post to a label in Berlin. They called a few weeks later. Very old school.
Q: I can imagine that getting the band back on its feet after 25 years must have felt like a new beginning — yet when listening to “A Star In Orbit Still,” it sounds very much like a natural continuation. How did you experience that yourselves, especially considering how you’ve grown and evolved as people over the years? What has perhaps changed in your perception, composition, and the final result?
Alex: Yes, in a way, it’s strange that it sounded and felt so familiar; it’s hard to pinpoint what it is… but that goes for a lot of bands. There’s a certain sound when certain people are involved. Take one person out of the equation, and it changes. I think our sound is a combination of the actual sounds we’re going for and our voices. For the first time in our lives, we recorded a few covers for the bonus album that goes along with a special art book edition of the album.
A Lana Del Rey song (that actually ended up on the album), a Neil Young song, and a Twice A Man song. But they still very much sound like The Northern Territories. In a way, it was like hearing our music from the outside for the first time. A bit like, ‘Ah… so this is what we sound like.’
Q: Speaking of the new album, what is it music- and lyrical-wise about, and how do you look back on the entire process — from the moment you started making music together again to the final completion of the album?
Alex: I write the songs, and like most writers, I’m influenced by stuff around me and the general state of things. I think everyone feels we´re living in strange and scary times… so of course that finds its way into the music and the songs. The album title “A Star In Orbit Still” is lifted from a line from one of the songs on the album… “Around A Star In Orbit Still” Yes we´re still here… mankind… but for how long? Sometimes I feel like we don´t care either way.
I read something the other day that made laugh, it stated that aliens have in fact already been here visiting… but they left because they could not find any intelligent life…
I don´t think we analyzed that much in the actual recording process. We just recorded one song after the other pretty quickly until we had something like 20-25 songs, and the ones we finished first ended up on the album.
Q: Your music still carries a very unique signature — a kind of floating Electro-Pop infused with an extremely personal DNA. Where do the influences and inspirations for this distinctive sound come from, and could you explain a bit more about how you envision your music should sound?
Alex: Yeah we’re a bit of a mess when it comes to defining what we are or what we sound like. We get that a lot, that it is hard to categorize out music. I guess part of it is down to that we listen to so much different music and we like anything from Portishead to The Doors to Leonard Cohen to Kraftwerk… and Björk… and recently the Swedish band Kite… it´s all in there somehow.
And we both love the way Alan Wilder shaped the Depeche Mode songs he was involved in arranging… so it´s all a wild mix really of many influences. We started off more as a pure Electronic band on our first album, but quickly evolved and already ditched the pure electronic sound on our second album “Orange Moon”. That one had a lot more acoustic guitar on it. The following album “Satellite People” went a bit harder towards indie almost. So we´ve definitely confused our fans over the years! The new album is again a bit more Electronic sounding.
Q: I understand you are both based in Berlin now, often regarded as the Mecca of music. What has your experience been with the city, its numerous clubs, and how has it influenced you as musicians?
Alex: Yeah we used to go to Tresor (a famous Techno club in Berlin) back in the day, but not so much anymore. I think it´s always a bit of a love and hate thing with Berlin. The winter in bloody awful… it feels like a never ending November for 6 months. The summer is lovely though. I think we both have a strong connection to Berlin since we got our first record deal with a label called Machinery, based in Berlin. In fact I think every single The Northern Territories album has been recorded partly in Sweden and partly in Berlin. Except the new one. That one is pure Berlin.
And of course we were drawn to the city back then because of its music history with David Bowie´s “Heroes”, Depeche Mode´s “Black Celebration” U2´s “Achtung Baby” and Nick Cave etc…
Q: You’ve also released some singles recently, but what else does this year have in store? Are there new productions, remixes, live performances, festivals, or possible side projects on the horizon?
Alex: We will definitely start playing live this year, that´s very much on the horizon, we´re in fact rehearsing already. There will be another single called “Arizona” coming soon, before the album drops. “Arizona” also has a remix on it by Helax , an Electronic side project of mine.
We´re also shooting a video for “Arizona” pretty soon, so that should be out shortly after the album release. There are also a few other remixes we´re working on so they will hopefully be release later in the year. In a weird way it feels a bit like we´re just getting started.
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