Nephila
Interview conducted on July 4, 2021
By Dan Locke
Swedish psychedelic rock band Nephila is set to release their self-titled debut album on The Sign Records. Drawing inspiration from 60s and 70s folk and prog rock, the album includes seven experimental tracks that launch the listener into a journey through space and time. The signature mix of retro rock and heavy guitar solos with fantastic vocal harmonies from their two lead singers makes this album truly stand out. Consisting of seven masked musicians, Nephila combines progressive songwriting and visual expressions to merge mysticism, folklore, and storytelling into a theatrical journey
BANDMEMBERS:
Stina Olsson – singer
Josephine Asker – singer
Johan Lööf – drums
David Press – bass
Jacob Hellenrud – guitar
Anton Athley – guitar
Johan Larsson – organ
What is your upbringing?
Some of us went to the same music high school a couple of years back and we then wanted to keep playing music outside of school, but some different music from what we were doing in school. // Josephine
How did you discover music?
Music has been a part of every member’s life and we all come from different kinds of musical backgrounds. // Josephine
How did you start to write music?
One of our guitarists, Jacob Hellenrud, approached us with a self-written song; we then kept on writing music together. //Josephine
You are a Swedish psychedelic rock band. How did your band form?
I’d say it all started when we got together and did a cover of Rival Sons “Pressure and time” for fun in school. From that moment we’ve continued to develop our own sound and we started to create ‘Nephila’. //Jacob
Why 2 lead singers?
We love those two singers who can make harmonies together, the sound will be much wider and fuller. You can do a lot with it live, both with the performance and sound. Also, it’s really fun singing together, we give each other energy on and off stage. / Josephine
How did you get your bands name?
Nephila comes from a spider called Nephila clavata. The spider spins a golden web. From the beginning, we were eight members. One for every leg of the spider. But we lost one leg on the road, so our logo only contains seven legs now. //Jacob
Describe your music.
Spaceships collide with space rock from the year of 1969. We love combining psychedelic rock and heavy blues with theatrical expressions, our 7-headed rock orchestra wants to bring out the best of 70’s experimental rock while adding our own touch of mysticism and visual storytelling. //Jacob
What was your first performance at like?
Our first gig was at a local pub where we’ve played a lot since. A small intimate show for mainly friends. We didn’t have many songs at the time so we played some covers from bands such as Cream and Abramis Brama. //Jacob
Tell me about winning the Swedish music competition Livakarusellen in 2019?
It was an incredible feeling and absolutely rockin’. We had a blast throughout the whole competition and we grew a lot as a band. It was also a confirmation for us that people actually like and appreciate our music, which made us really happy. //Josephine
Before Livakarusellen you released the video “Growing Down” What is the back story to the video?
Some of the original members dropped out at the same time and we wanted to present the member shift through the video. The video represents a ceremony where the original members hand over the masks and the wreath to the new members. //Josephine
Tell me about the making of the Belladonna video?
The video is about telling the listeners about the environmental crisis. The actress in the video, Ida Blom, is portraying mother earth, who’s feeling helpless watching the humans fill the world with debris and emissions. But the video ends in reverse, keeping the hope up for the future.
Due to covid-19 we made the video by ourselves with the help from the amazing actress Ida Blom. //Josephine
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP?
Yes, in Sweden we have STIM, which could be translated to “Swedish composers, International, Music covenant. They help us songwriters to get paid when our music gets streamed or when we play live. //Jacob
What makes a good songwriter?
For me, a good songwriter doesn’t care about trends or what people want to hear. Instead, the songwriter should set the trends before we know what we want to hear. Express yourself in music and let your instrument led the way to places you never knew existed. To be able to make something out of nothing, that for me is a good songwriter. //Jacob
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
Our first song was called “Blåa kräldjur”, which is “Blue reptiles” in English. Sadly, we never recorded this in the studio, but we played it live a bunch of times! Maybe we’ll dust it off someday and record it. //Josephine&Jacob
What is the process of writing your music?
Often someone comes with an idea or a riff and we jam together while trying to finish the song. Everyone in the band always has something to give with their own musicality so a song could sound completely different when adding all of our own ideas to it. It’s like a big compromise of ideas and you have to know when to “kill your darlings”. //Jacob
Tell me about your single “White Bones” which was released at the beginning of the year?
“White Bones” is about the refugee crisis, where for example parents have to send their children across the ocean to risk their lives, just so they might get a better life without poverty, war and hunger. Some people won’t always make it all the way throughout the journey across the ocean, sadly some will have to witness the white bones of other travelers. Through the lyrics we want to give the listener some perspective, to picture how it would be if you switched lives. //Josephine
You debut album Nephila came out June 4th.is there a theme behind the music?
The lyrics from the album were inspired by worldwide issues, for example, “Guidance to agony” tells a story about violence against women, especially in near relationships. The song “White bones” is about the refugee crisis, where for example parents send their children across the ocean to risk their lives, so they might get a better life without war and hunger. We also have a song about the environmental crisis, “Belladonna ”, from the earth’s perspective. Stina and I often tend to write about issues around the globe, where a message can be sent through the song to the listener. //Josephine
What is your favorite track on your album?
For a bunch of us the favorite song is “Who are you”, but also “Alla galaxers centrum” and “Guidance to Agony” for some members. “Who are you” and “alla galaxers centrum” is also extremely fun to sing live. It’s like you disappear into the song. /Josephine
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
I believe that live music has been laying on its deathbed many years before this pandemic, but covid was the nail in the coffin. But I think that live music will reincarnate and grow greater than before because of it. I hope that people are hungry for live music. At Least we are. //Jacob
Do you think that Covid-19 has been a plus to an artist career?
Maybe for someone, but in general, no. We thought that we would be more creative or write hundreds of songs. But it has been really hard to motivate yourself through this. //Jacob
How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?
Doing what you love. Maybe it’s baking, writing music, dancing around listening to your favorite songs, or video chat with your loved ones. It’s important to priorities your health and happiness! //Josephine
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. In October that is going to change at least on Facebook. Facebook is cracking down on livestreamed shows that include recorded music with new terms of service, preventing artists from using the platform for “commercial or non-personal” purposes, unless they have obtained the relevant licenses.
The updated music guidelines state that users “may not use videos on our products [which include Instagram] to create a music listening experience […] This will include [Facebook] Live,” and stipulates that such content should be posted for the enjoyment of friends and family only.
How do you think this will change the landscape of Facebook?
Everything that keeps people from playing music and express themselves could be bad. I get the idea that the artists and songwriters should get paid when people play their music. But shutting music down on one of the biggest platforms in a period where you can’t even go and see live music is a disaster. //Jacob
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merchandise to them at the show?
We think that it’s important to connect with people and make sure to tell them that you’re alive and conversate via text. It is hard for bands to reach a new audience in these times. But I think that it is important to keep in touch with the ones that follow and listen to your music. They are what’s important. //Jacob
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means thinks like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
We believe so. It is common to pay to support other bands. It can be a smart thing to reach a certain audience who may like your music, but that never would have listened if it wasn’t because of the headline. If it is financially worth it or not, we don’t know. But we see why it could be good for upcoming bands. //Jacob
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
I think that it could hurt the live scenes around the world. But I see why people may want to watch Dio in your living room, haha. //Jacob
In the past if a musician stops doing music, they find a new career. For example, David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants. If you can’t do music, what would you like to be doing?
Move to nowhere and become self-supported from nature. //Jacob
Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to sell their entire song catalog for $140 Million. In the past year a lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks ($100 Million), Bob Dylan (over $400 Million), Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, K.T. Tunstall, and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Neil Young song 50 percent of his worldwide copyright and income interest in his 1,180-song catalogue to Hipnosis Songs Fund limited. Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative than the mechanical royalties paid to artist based on sales, airplay and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.
The lump sums being offered by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
Do you think you would be willing to sale your back catalog if someone like Universal is willing to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
I think that this can hurt smaller bands and artists that may have no other choice than to sell their music for financial reasons and for much smaller prices. I get why Dylan or Dee Snider sell their catalogue, they don’t know if their music will be popular in 10 years and they will always be the real songwriters, no matter who owns the songs. But it’s sad that it’s always about the money and not the artistry. //Jacob
Spotify’s ‘Stream On’ event on (February 22), the company confirmed that more than 60,000 new tracks are now being ingested by its platform every single day. This means people are adding new tracks uploaded to its platform every 1.4 seconds.
The figure, announced by Spotify’s Co-Head of Music, Jeremy Erlich, means that across the course of this year, approximately 22 million tracks will be added to Spotify’s catalog. Spotify confirmed in November last year that its platform now played host to around 70 million tracks.
Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.
But still back at the beginning of the year Spotify deleted 750,00 songs, mostly from independent artists. What do you think what that could mean to independent artist?
It is really hard to stand out when so many songs are released every single day, and that’s only on Spotify. Artists are struggling to end up on playlists which is so important to be on today. The demand is so much smaller than what is released every single day. Everyone wants to be stars, but no one wants to listen. I believe that it is important to support other artists, add them on your favourite playlists and stream them and create your own community around your music instead of relying on Spotify’s algorithm. //Jacob
Anything you would like to say in closing
We are releasing a live session, music video, and a piano version of Belladonna in the near future, so be on the lockout on our Facebook and Instagram! Thank you so much for having us. //Josephine
