by emily harris
photo courtesy of notd
NOTD is a powerhouse Swedish production duo known for their hits "So Close” and “I Wanna Know.” Their newest track, “Never A Good Time,” is with The Band Camino. The almost three minute track is an upbeat, pop energy that is bringing NOTD into a new sonic direction. We had the pleasure of speaking with the duo about the newest project and the future of their discography!
Congrats on the release of your newest single, “Never A Good Time!” What was the writing and recording for this track like?
NOTD: “Thank you! We’re so happy it’s finally out. We’re big fans of The Band Camino and have had them on our list of dream collaborators for a long time – it was just about finding the right song. When they sent us the demo for ‘'Never A Good Time’ about a year ago, we immediately felt like this was the one. The creative process for us to do most of the production was pretty quick, but everyone is so busy that it ended up taking a while to find a window in both of our schedules to focus on it and wrap it up. We love the end result as it feels like a true blend of the band’s sound and ours.”
What inspired you to release this track as the newest single?
NOTD: “We spent a lot of time during the pandemic digging in to figure out how the NOTD sound can continue to evolve and, in that process, found ourselves listening more and more to artists like The Band Camino and The 1975. We’re very inspired to bring our roots in dance music into the world of alternative pop music and ‘Never A Good Time’ feels like a big step in that direction for us.”
This follows the release of another single, “Malibu!” How does “Never A Good Time” follow the upbeat track of “Malibu?”
NOTD: “‘Malibu’ is an amazing song that our friend Virginia To Vegas sent us and we knew we wanted to be involved in. Looking back that was early on in the process of understanding where we wanted to go next with our sound, and you can definitely hear a mix of alternative and electronic elements in that record. ‘Never A Good Time’ takes that one step further and feels like a natural evolution.”
How do you feel your production has evolved since the release of your past hits “So Close” and “I Wanna Know?”
NOTD: “We’ve always wanted to make records that can be played in many different places — be it the club, on the radio, or in your home. That applies to our early records like ‘So Close’ and ‘I Wanna Know’ as much as it applies to this next chapter of our music. As we’ve grown into our career and played our music for fans around the world, our music taste has also evolved. Our productions these days are a reflection of that — staying true to our roots, but incorporating the sounds we love and are inspired by today to try and make something unique.”
Who would you coin as your musical inspirations from a production standpoint?
NOTD: “They’re all over the place [laughs]. Avicii was really the producer who inspired us to start making our own music, individually. But we’re both instrumentalists as well (guitars, keys) and it was bands like Guns N’ Roses back in the day that inspired us to play those instruments.”
Can we expect more projects from you soon?
NOTD: “Yes! We’ll be rolling out our debut EP over the course of the next six months or so. To date we’ve only released singles and putting together a cohesive project has been an exciting new challenge for us.”