motel void

MOTEL VOID: You’ve just released your new single Fences – can you tell us more about how it came to be?

YNDLING: Fences comes from quite a claustrophobic time, where I kind of felt a little bit imprisoned in my own mind and moods, if that makes sense. When I made this song, it was an outlet for that feeling and kind of trying to put into words how I’d built this weird restrictive space for myself, were it felt like everyone and everything would be better off if I kept to myself, and with it I made my world very small. With this song I wanted to really distill that claustrophobic feeling both with the lyrics as well as the feel of the song, and the general first idea came with the synth in the verses, the eery drum machine and the whispered, wordy vocal line that goes with it. That’s how I made the demo, and we – me and my co-producer Adrian Einestor Sandberg – ended up keeping both the synth and the vocal recording from my demo when we finished the track in studio a bit later on. 

MOTEL VOID: You’ve been releasing music since 2021, and in that time your songs have really taken off on streaming platforms, with several tracks reaching hundreds of thousands of plays. How has this success affected your career? And does it also create pressure when you’re putting out a new single?

YNDLING: Oh thank you. Um I mean putting out music and having people listen at all is such a privilege, it honestly feels so strange to me still that people do listen and let my music be a part of their lives. I feel so grateful about that. With Yndling though it’s always been a very self-driven indie project, and I have by no means had an instant success with my music. It’s been a very slow process, it’s not like I’m even close to be able to live off music or anything like that. I do think that sort of slow progression has made it easier to still trust myself about what I want to release though, I don’t ever feel like a release is an «all or nothing» kind of moment, I know that I’ll always want to keep creating and I don’t put too much pressure on myself by thinking that «this next single must be a hit», because I kind of know that I’ll never want to stop making music anyways so I don’t want to be scared of releasing something as long as I like and are proud of the music myself, if that makes sense? 

MOTEL VOID: You’re originally from Norway – how would you describe the current local scene? Do you feel like you’re part of it?

YNDLING: It’s good, in Oslo where we’re based it’s quite a few smaller indie bands as well. Oslo have a lot of bands with more of a jazz influence, and there are so many talented musicians here. I mean I do think we’re part of it, absolutely, but my music has always had a better audience internationally for some reason. 

MOTEL VOID: This November you’re releasing a new album and heading out on tour – you’ll be playing several shows in Scandinavia, as well as in the Netherlands and England. Is there a specific place you’re especially looking forward to? And do you plan to bring the new album to the US as well?

YNDLING: I’m really excited about the UK shows actually, as we’ve never done anything like that before, and I’ve never been to Scotland (we’re playing Glasgow nov 8th) before so I’m so excited about that. 

I also hope to be able to do a proper US tour soon, I’ve been wanting to do that for so long, and we will as soon as we can find some way to make it financially doable.

MOTEL VOID: Who was your biggest inspiration in creating the new album?

YNDLING: So my music in general is heavily inspired by bands from the 90s such as Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins, Massive Attack and Portishead, as well as more newer ones like Beach House, Tame Impala and The Marias. I think of my music as a shoegazey, trip-hoppy brand of dream pop – and this is something I’ve really wanted to highlight on my upcoming album. 

So with that in mind, I’ve divided the album in two parts. Part 1 is heavily shoegaze influenced, I’d say the main inspirations are My Bloody Valentine, Alvvays, Beach House and Cocteau Twins. Part 2 is more on the trip-hop vibe of my sound, influenced by artists such as Massive Attack, Erika de Casier and Portishead. All in all thought, I hope we’ve brought something new to the sound with this album and I’m so excited for you all to hear it.

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