INTERVIEW: NIGHTLIGHT
- Kirsty Shepherd
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Melbourne Alt-Pop Trio Nightlight recently took to the newly created outdoor stage at The Brightside for the Ocean Sleeper Metalcore Christmas Special; and we were lucky enough to be there to take photos
and experience the night. You can see the full photo gallery here and
read the review of the night here. Nightlight was kind enough to answer some questions for you all so lets jump into some band history and background information.
How did you choose the name Nightlight?
Nightlife was taken (jk, please don’t call us that). Hayley and I were brainstorming names one day and it just came to me, like a lightbulb moment I guess. Better than our other options, like Static Mango - Laura
What does your writing process look like?
I usually write a bunch of random ideas and then flesh out the good ones
- next it goes to Hayley to fix my chord progressions and add sick synths, then to Laura for scratch topline. Finally we take our ideas to our producer Ionei Heckenberg (Ocean Sleeper) who crushes our souls by telling us how shit our chorus is - and then we make it better together! - Jordan
How did you come up with your coordinated Christmas outfits?
I saw a reel of the vocalists of Kpop Demon Hunters performing at Jingle Bell Ball, sent it to the gang as inspo and we took it from there - Laura
Especially as a vocalist, was there anything that you had to do to prepare for a Queensland summer performance compared to a Victorian?
I’ll be honest, I do a shockingly minimal amount of vocal warmups before a show. One day that might kick my ass, but for now I’m vibing - Laura
As a fan of BMTH for 20 years I was excited to hear the “Kingslayer” cover, was it daunting to perform a song from such a formidable band?
Considering Laura and I covered a bunch of BMTH songs in high school, anything we do now is probably better than those performances, so that’s
reassuring I guess. Plus we’ve been covering Kingslayer for so long that it’s basically our song now - Hayley
Performing with RedHook was a special experience to witness, was this pre-organised or a spare of the moment decision between bands?
I usually get a message from Emmy 4-6 hours before the performance which goes a little something like: E - ‘Hey girl, guestie?’ L - ‘Hell yeah.’ - Laura
Overall how did the trip to Brisbane go for you?
Logistically speaking we had a great run - red eye flights kick you in the ass though. We were running on Ocean Sleeper-sponsored Monster
Energy, 2 hours sleep and pure vibes - Jordan
Who choreographs the dance moves?
Picture Laura and I as two children putting our hearts and souls into a duo performance for our family, but the family is Jordan and we are grown ass adults. Seriously though, we just channel our inner Katseye and hope for the best. - Hayley
The keyboard guitar is extremely unique, how did you come up with the concept?
I used to play on a keyboard but got really jealous of Laura being able to move around on stage - so instead of learning guitar, I just flipped my keyboard around and added a strap so I could wreak havoc with her. - Hayley
If you could feature any Australian artist on a Nightlight song, who would it be?
Oooh, Zheani vs Laura rap battle would go hard. - Hayley
Who is your dream artist to tour with?
Laura - twenty one pilots
Hayley - Ashnikko
Jordan - Electric Callboy
How do you feel the release of Heaven//Below and Drama//Drama has gone so far?
We’re really stoked with the reception to heavier nightlight, these songs have been in the pipeline since the start of the year and we’re sitting on even more tracks that we think our audience will really love. - Jordan
For Fans Of: Ashnikko, Poppy, Charli XCX, Blackpink and BABYMETAL
My Favourite Song: what if I'm the devil?
All Photographs by: Sam Herbert Media