The Inquisition: 074.Yndi Halda (answered by James Vella)

1. First the question all Yndi Halda fans would like to ask...What's the story behind the huge delay of your next release?

Not much of a story, I’m afraid. Nothing interesting, anyway. We live far away from each other and aren’t able to spend much time together. We also all have our own lives, jobs, responsibilities and obligations away from the band - some creative and some not - and it really took us all that length of time to finish writing and recording the album. 

2. How did you came up with the name of the band?

It’s taken from an ancient Norse poem named Odin’s Raven Magic. The translation into English is “enjoy eternal bliss”, also the name of our first album. We saw a copy of the poem and we loved the shape of the words and their meaning. It fit perfect what we wanted to do musically. 

3. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it? 

We don’t have a standard procedure at all. Sometimes Jack or I will bring an idea for guitar to rehearsal and the band arranges it together into something useable. Sometimes one of us brings a fully-formed movement with suggestions for the whole instrumentation. Sometimes we just play in a room together. Sometimes Daniel and I write as a team together and then show the others. Likewise Jack and Oliver. It has never been a singular process, but all engaged and diplomatic. 

4. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home? 

As I answer this interview I am listening to Damien Jurado. I’m a big fan of his. I have right now on my iPod: Angelo De Augustine, Deeradorian, A$AP Rocky, Hamad Elrebh, Julia Holter, KS Chithra, Lorde, Cindy Lee, Mbongwana Star, The National, Yong Yong. I like to keep it to a very small number of records so I can listen closely, and then replace one at a time. 

5. Which is the one album you can't live without? 

Mount Eerie - Dawn. The complete spectrum of human emotion across two sides of vinyl. 

6. What's the first record you've ever bought? 

UB40 - Food for Thought. I misheard the lyrics when I was a kid. I thought it was a song about being a green banana. 

7. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with? 

Good question. There are a lot of bands I’d love to play with. I love The National. Mount Eerie too. It would be fun to play with a brutal black metal band but most of my favourites are broken up. Emperor, Weakling. Maybe REM. If you’re asking across history then John Coltrane. 

8. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to? 

Yes it has made a huge difference. I think starting as an instrumental band helped at the beginning. The music traveled fairly easily without needing lyric translations. We’ve received notes from Nepal, Peru, Guam, a Navy ship. The level of interest from those places so far from our home is truly humbling. It makes being in a band so fulfilling, to know that our music can travel without us and can mean something to someone so far away. 

9. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like Spotify? 

I like both. I know Spotify’s artist-compensation model is flawed, but as a music listener I like it plenty. I like to share mixtapes with Spotify. (You can listen to my mixtapes searching for alilysings). I check out a lot of new music on there and just consider it part of the search sweep, which also includes YouTube, Soundcloud, blogs and so on. Bandcamp I love. I spend a lot of time searching for new music on Bandcamp and deciding the price to pay artists. 

10. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? 

As a band, working on album #4, having finished world tours for albums 2 and 3. In our own studio where we can work all night without disturbing anyone. As a human, a much more difficult question.

11. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era? 

Yes, I believe so. I love album artwork. I get swallowed up by a record sleeve in a very different way to being swallowed by the music itself, but I like it just as much. I think small-scale portrayals of the artwork are necessary but no competition and no replacement for a full 12” print. We spend a lot of time working on our artwork and it’s very important for us and for the record. 

12. What is you favorite album cover? 

High Time by Pit Er Pat.

13. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format? 

I like vinyl. Big artwork print, solid sound quality, lots of space for sleeve notes, they look great on a shelf, no plastic. I’d be happy if the vinyl revival becomes the norm for a while. But it would be fun to see MiniDisc again too. 

14. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band? 

Ask me again on my deathbed.

Yndi Halda are back with a new album after 10 years! "Under Summer" is going to be released on March 4th.

More info:

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