Page 5 - Black Velvet Issue 95

BV95 pg4-6 normandie_BV95 pg4-6 19/12/2017 03:16 Page 2

BlackVelvetMagazine.Com - 5
wedish rock band Normandie first came to our attention when supporting Yellowcard
Son their final world tour. The UK shows took place a year ago, just prior to Christmas
2016 and discovering the band was like pulling a Christmas cracker and finding a prize
you’re excited to keep. We want to keep Normandie – but we’ll share them with you! Fast
forward to December 2017 and here they are again; this time with frontman of Yellowcard,
William Ryan Key, on tour with them performing as a solo artist. We caught up with Nor-
mandie frontman Philip Strand to find out exactly how this touring partnership came to be
– as well as discussing the band’s positivity, inner struggles and more.
ormandie have been a band since stand for from the first album that we do. We all 017 has seen the band follow up ‘Inguz’
N2013, although how they started out is agreed on that. Jesper has been a big part of 2with a couple of singles. ‘Ghost’ was re-
quite a way away from where they are now. After that. He was the first one to bring in the whole leased on June 2nd, prior to the band’s appear-
a couple of years, the band’s ‘screamer’ and ‘Awakening’ thing. The full song of ‘Awakening’ ance at Download Festival. And while there is a
bassist left, leaving the remaining members to is basically around spirituality and finding your- positive message in the song, it also came from
decide where to go from there. self awakening inside. ‘Believe’ is about religion, a struggle.
“Johan and Stefan left the band in Septem- but at the same time it could be finding religion “I know that everyone is going through a
ber 2015, I think,” says Philip, “and we had a in anything. It is finding a higher power to help struggle,” says Philip. “The mid-20s and 30s is
tour booked in March 2016, so that was half a you even if you don’t need it. You can make it always a big struggle. You come from your teens
year where we were like, “Should we cancel the up yourself, and that still affects your living situ- and school when everything has been on a sil-
tour and focus for a year on writing ‘Inguz’ or ation and makes it easier to go through the day, ver plate, basically. You get food every day at
should we write this album now in two or three maybe. You don’t have to believe in only your- school and have something to do every day, and
weeks and then get it mixed and recorded and self, you can also have some kind of entity that then you’re out of school and just facing eternity,
other things?” We were backed up against the you think of.” and facing the world for the first time. And peo-
wall; not by someone else, we could just face In ‘Fight’, Philip sings ‘do you stand for ple freak out. It’s very natural to be experiencing
upwards or quit, so we just took the best deci- something or do you fall for nothing?’ He says anxiety. I was myself experiencing it a few years
sion we could ever take and just sat down, that just standing for something is better than ago. I had numerous panic attacks. I couldn’t re-
talked about it and said, “What do we want to nothing. “I have friends who stand for stuff that I ally tell why because I’m a happy guy. I had my
write? What should the songs be about? How don’t stand for and you can all have different family and I was living together with three
should they sound?” - everything like that. opinions; it’s not about us judging someone. If friends, and we had this really nice life, living for
“Should we get a new screamer?” “No, I don’t you don’t stand for anything, you won’t really the day, and it just hit me like a full-on knockout
think we should replace someone in the band.” have a personality. You won’t really have an to the jaw. And I just fell in a deep hole and when
It didn’t feel right. We all just came to the con- honest relationship with a person. We stand very I got out of it, it took me a good time, six months
clusion; ‘this is it or this is nothing,’ which is ba- much for positivity. We talked about this right or whatever. But, basically, what took me out
sically ‘Inguz’, which is, ‘where there’s a will, when we were writing ‘Inguz’.” was something that I wanted to spread out to
there’s a way’.” In ‘Awakening’, one of the major lyrics is ‘It everyone else; if it can be any help that’s good,
The band – which then comprised of Philip, feels like I’m alive’ – and Philip says this came but I don’t want to come across as this guy like,
drummer Jesper Malmberg and guitarist Håkan as a result of wanting fans to sing positive lyrics “I’ve been suffering, you haven’t”, it’s more of
Almbladh - worked on their debut album, ‘Inguz’, back to them. “If we fill up an arena with 80,000 “everybody’s suffering and there is probably a
for two months. “It took one month to write all people, if that will ever happen, we’d rather have way out for everybody, even if you don’t see it
the ten songs, basically,” explains Philip. “And people screaming ‘It feels like alive,’ than, I don’t right now, there is a way out”. For me, it was ba-
then I produced it almost 12 hours a day for a know, ‘Rock ‘n’ roll is dead’ or ‘fuck the society’. sically accepting that I was anxious. It’s not an
full month. I recorded guitars, vocals… we got The vibe in the room will be a positive vibe and outside thing. It’s all happening inside me, in my
the drums recorded by Jesper in the studio, I think that will influence people or at least light mind, and finding myself, the actual self that I
recorded bass, synths… everything from 0 to a spark. It’s like a prayer. You can say a prayer am, and finding my place in my life, and cutting
100%. It took two months and then mixing the and you don’t even have to believe in God, but off everything that wasn’t doing anything for me,
final third month and then doing a music video a prayer will make you feel like you’ve done and just prioritizing myself and my energy, hang-
and then we got signed literally two weeks be- something. Even if people scream ‘It feels like ing out with myself for a good few days, just
fore the album was supposed to come out. So it I’m alive’ and they don’t know what the song is being with myself in my thoughts and not being
all really had some momentum, I think, because all about, it’s still going to make a difference, I scared of thinking and hearing voices, that’s
of our dedication to this album. It worked out in think; to fill up the room and atmosphere with what helped me; accepting that I am me. Every-
the end but could have come crashing down.” positivity.” thing that is happening in my body is my body
The band signed to InVogue Records, an in- Out of the bandmates, drummer Jesper reacting to myself. Even if you have a fever, your
dependent record label based in Ohio. The label posts the most positive tweets. We spotted him body will try and shake it off, and if you get a
is also home to Courage My Love, JT Woodruff posting ‘compassion + meditation = (love)’. panic attack it’s probably your body telling your-
and Ashland, and a previous home to bands like Philip says that compassion and positivity has self that something is wrong, and you can try
Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, Hawthorne Heights affected the band in a good way. “It’s way easier and face it in the best way possible. I’m not a
and Punchline. Normandie then released ‘Inguz’ to tour when you have a positive vibe, for sure. doctor so I’m speaking about my experience,
in March 2016. Since ‘Inguz’ stands for change Going on stage and doing a good positive set; I and that’s all that song is about.”
and with the band’s new phase of life, Black Vel- do these positive talks in between a few songs For the song, the band managed to enlist a
vet asks whether as individuals the members sometimes. It depends on the mood in the room. local children’s school choir. “That was a beau-
transformed as people along with the general We don’t really care if people are jumping or tiful experience,” Philip says. “I’d never done it
band transformation. screaming at us, we’re rather see 100% of the but I’d always talked about how I’d like to have
“Not necessarily,” answers Philip, “but people in there having a smile on their face in- a choir that’s just children, and Maria, our man-
throughout that year, 2015, was a big change of stead of half of the people in there looking angry ager, she went to this school way back, a musi-
mood. We kind of found ourselves there, lyric- and half of the people going insane. We’d rather cal school, and the kids there are just amazing.
wise, and we did three tours in 2015; three just fill up the room with… or help people leave They play guitar fluently and they are 12/13
headline tours… or one of them might have the room happy. So yeah, we don’t wanna be tops, so we sent an email to Maria’s old teacher
been supporting… but anyway, the touring situ- the band that goes on stage with this mask on and got in contact and they said, “Yes, this falls
ation isn’t always good and we all found spiritu- to look cool. I do some really dorky smiles on perfect into our schedule because we’re looking
ality. Is it a religious view on stuff or is it a stage. I don’t really know the way I look, but we for something practical to use their voices”. For
spiritual view or is it just common sense? We all all try to smile in between the songs and hug the children to actually get studio experience is
found this way that we might not do this for 20 people after the show, and have a great talk with something that will matter a lot to them, so it fell
years, and we might have a chance to make an everybody, even if it means pushing the curfew perfectly hand-in-hand, so we took a train there
influence and make a difference here. We don’t a few minutes, which happens almost every to Urebro (a city in Sweden), and recorded it for
want to become a big band and then make the night.” two hours and they heard the song before it was
change to become positive. We want to do it released. It sounded great. I didn’t have to do
from day one, and everyone should see what we that much with it. I just put up two mics and that
NORMANDIE