Nytt Land is a ritual path expressed through sound. Breath, rhythm, silence. Siberia as a living source. Music as a trace of the rite. Inspired by the traditional spiritual practices of the indigenous peoples of Siberia.
We are happy that you found the time for this written interview, we are all looking forward to hear more about your music journey
Would you like to tell us a little about yourself?
We live in Siberia, far away from large cities, in a place where human life is still closely tied to seasons, weather, and silence. Long winters, short summers, forests that seem endless — this is our everyday environment.
We are not surrounded by constant noise, advertising, or crowds, and this gives us time to listen: to ourselves, to each other, and to the land.
We are a family, and this is essential. Music is not something we “go to work on.” It is woven into daily life — into mornings, evenings, walks, and long periods of quiet.
You know, we prefer to keep personal life details private, not out of secrecy, but out of respect for intimacy. What matters most is that our life is simple, grounded, and intentional.
Nytt Land what does that mean? and does it means something special for you?
“Nytt Land” means “a new founded land,” but for us it has never been about discovering or conquering something external.
It is about entering an inner territory — a state of awareness where old habits, noise, and fear fall away.
This “new land” is reached through experience: through sound, breath, repetition, and attention.
It is a place where a person remembers that they are part of the world, not separate from it.
In this sense, Nytt Land is not a destination — it is a process.
How long have you been playing and producing music? and how did it start with the music?
We have been making music for many years, maybe over 30, but it did not begin as a career choice. It began as a necessity.
At some point, ordinary language became insufficient. Music appeared as a way to process life, emotions, questions, and silence.
At first, it was very personal and inward — something we did without thinking about listeners or stages. Only later did it become clear that this sound could be shared.
What music inspired you at that time?
We listened to many forms of music. From ballads of Johnny Cash to authentic ethnographic recordings of native people of Siberia and native American. But just as important were non-musical influences. Nature itself taught us structure and rhythm: wind through trees, footsteps in snow, the pulse of fire, the steady cycle of seasons.
We learned that inspiration does not always come from melodies. Sometimes it comes from atmosphere, from repetition, or from stillness.
Have you ever played in any other bands?
Yes, before Nytt Land we were involved in YLANDE (folk rock), and some experiments mostly in heavier and more modern genres.
Those experiences were important — they gave us technical skills and stage experience — but eventually we realized that something essential was missing.
Nytt Land was born when we stopped trying to fit into a scene and started listening more honestly to ourselves.
How many instruments do you play and which ones?
We work with a wide range of traditional and acoustic instruments: frame drums, large ritual drums, tagelharpa, lyre, bone and wooden flutes, mouth harps, rattles, and various percussive objects. But of course – voice is central, a main instrument — not only as singing, but as breath, vibration, and physical presence. Each instrument carries its own character and demands respect. We do not treat them as interchangeable tools.
Any plans about learning to play a new instrument?
We are constantly discovering something new, so of course, anything is quite possible. The most important thing is that it should be a tool with its own soul. Alive.
Did any of you have any kind of music education, or did you learn by yourself?
We are self-taught in many ways. We learned by listening, observing, repeating, and making mistakes.
This way of learning preserves musicality and individuality. He gives free rein to intuition and allows the body to control the sound. Without any doubt, classical music education is very important, and it helps in many ways on the path of a musician, and we are gradually learning it together with our son, who has been studying piano and classical guitar at a classical music school for 6 years. But in fact, serious life experience is also necessary in what we do.
Have you made any collabs. with other musicians, and would you like to tell a little about that and maybe with whom you have done collabs with?
Yes, we have collaborated with musicians from different cultures and countries.
For us, collaboration is not about combining names or styles — it is about meeting another worldview with openness and respect. These encounters are rare, but meaningful. They leave traces.
Would you like to do collabs?
Yes, but only when there is a real connection.
A collaboration must feel like a shared ritual — not a project built for visibility.
Do you have a favorite band or musician that means more to you than others?
There are artists we deeply respect, but we do not organize inspiration into hierarchies. Johnny Cash, Queen, Eagles and of course traditional music of native people.
Sometimes a single sound, a moment, or a memory can be more influential than an entire discography.
Do you make other kind of music than what we know you for?
Yes, you can check our side project c It’s another side of Nytt Land. More aggressive, but not less spiritual for us.
Where do you typically get your inspiration to compose/ produce music?
Our inspiration rarely comes from a single idea like “let’s write a song about this.” It comes from a way of living and a way of paying attention.
Because we live in Siberia, far from big cities, nature is not a decoration for us — it is the environment that shapes the mind. The forest, the wind, the long winter silence, the short and intense summer, the sound of snow under boots, the rhythm of chopping wood, the breath in cold air — all of that becomes a kind of hidden metronome. When you live close to these cycles, you start to feel that music is not something you invent; it is something you reveal.
Very often a composition begins as a physical sensation rather than a melody. A pulse. A drone. A certain tempo of walking. A pattern of breathing. Sometimes it begins with voice — not with words, but with a vowel, a vibration, a call that feels older than language. We listen to what the sound wants to become. Then we build around it slowly.
We also draw inspiration from ancient stories and traditional worldviews — but not as “topics.” We are not trying to illustrate mythology like a book. We are trying to touch the inner reality behind it: the relationship between humans and the unseen, the idea of vow and responsibility, the fear and beauty of wilderness,
the feeling that the world is alive and listening back. For us, that is what “old ways” truly mean: not aesthetics, but a different way of perceiving existence.
Our travels through Siberia and our encounters with local traditions have also shaped us deeply. Not in the sense of collecting folklore, but in the sense of being reminded how carefully sound can be treated, how silence can be respected, how meaning can live in a single repeated phrase. Sometimes the most powerful inspiration comes from witnessing restraint — when people sing or drum not to impress, but because it is necessary.
When we produce and arrange music, we are also inspired by space itself — the way sound behaves in wood, in small rooms, in open air. We pay close attention to texture: the rawness of a drum skin, the breath between phrases, the distance of a voice, the “air” around an instrument. In our world, production is not about polish — it is about honesty and presence. We want the listener to feel that the sound is alive, not manufactured.
And finally, inspiration comes from inner life: from grief, gratitude, endurance, calm, and the need for grounding. Many people tell us that our music helps them return to themselves. In truth, this is also why we create it. We write from the same human place — and we try to make a sound that can hold a person gently, without forcing anything, and without pretending.
So if we had to name the sources, they would be simple: the land, the seasons, the body, the breath, silence, memory, and the sacred responsibility of sound.
Are you a believer of the Nordic/old ways or finding the history interesting?
We do not follow a reconstructed religion or claim adherence to a specific system.
We are interested in ancient ways of perceiving the world — ways shared by many cultures, including indigenous cultures of North America. These perspectives emphasize balance, respect, and responsibility. We approach them carefully and humbly.
Any new releases of tracks or album soon?
A new album titled Aba Khan will be released on February 20. This record is the result of a long and very focused period of work and reflection. It is deeply connected to our experiences in Siberia, to journeys through remote territories, and to encounters with traditional worldviews where sound is treated as something alive and responsible.
Aba Khan is not built as a collection of separate songs, but as a continuous inner path — each piece is a step, a state, a moment of transition. We approached this album with great care, allowing the material to mature slowly, without forcing it into a specific format or expectation.
In addition to the album release, we are preparing something truly special for the Spring Equinox. For us, this day has strong symbolic meaning: balance, renewal, and the turning of the inner cycle. What we are preparing is not just a release in the usual sense, but a ritual gesture — something that invites listeners to pause, to listen more deeply, and to enter a shared moment of transition.
We prefer not to reveal all details in advance, because this work is meant to be experienced rather than explained. What we can say is that it will mark an important threshold for us as artists.
For us, releases are not dates on a calendar — they are moments of responsibility. Both February 20 and the Spring Equinox are points where we consciously open a space and invite others to step into it with us.
How is 2026 looking with concerts and festivals for you?
2026 is taking shape gradually. We prefer fewer performances with deeper meaning rather than constant movement. Already announced several festivals, and for every of them we preparing especial rituals. There will be a big Russian tour in March, and a lot of work is underway on tours and concerts in other parts of the world.
Do you have other interest like crafting, painting, games or carving?
Yes, of course we do — and these interests are not separate from the music. They are part of the same way of living.
We are drawn to activities that involve the hands, patience, and attention. Simple crafting, working with natural materials, maintaining instruments, repairing things, carving small objects, or preparing ritual items — all of this teaches the same qualities that music requires: slowness, respect, and care. When you work with your hands, you learn to listen differently, and that listening later returns in sound.
Spending time in nature is especially important to us. Long walks in the forest, observing seasonal changes, gathering silence — these moments reset the inner rhythm. They help us stay grounded and prevent the music from becoming abstract or detached from real life. Many musical ideas are born not in the studio, but during these quiet, physical experiences.
We are also interested in history, old tools, and traditional ways of making everyday objects. Not as nostalgia, but as a reminder that functionality and meaning can coexist. Even simple domestic routines — cooking, preparing firewood, caring for the space we live in — shape our sense of rhythm and repetition, which later becomes part of our music.
We do not chase constant stimulation or distraction. Instead, we value practices that bring us back into the body and into the present moment. In this sense, our other interests are not hobbies in the modern sense — they are grounding practices. They help us remain balanced, attentive, and honest, and they quietly support everything we create as Nytt Land.
Extra questions from fans from Herknungr & the server:
Do you have any plans to visit Texas or the States after the war started?
At the moment, everything depends on circumstances. So far, the problem is that we need a really interested organizer who will make this tour possible. But so far, there have been no offers from the United States. But we feel a strong connection with listeners in the United States and are grateful for it. We hope and looking forward that one day we can meet on your beautiful land with openness to share our music, our experience with American people.
Do you know how many US Veterans love your music and the healing your music have brought to many people?
Yes, we are aware of this, and we speak about it with great respect. When we receive messages from U.S. veterans, we never take them lightly. We understand that people who have served often carry experiences that are difficult to express in words — experiences of loss, responsibility, endurance, and deep inner tension that does not simply disappear when service ends. We approach this with humility, because these are not abstract stories to us, but real human lives. We have deep respect for all veterans, not in a political sense, but in a human one. To stand in difficult conditions, to protect others, and then to return home carrying invisible weight requires great inner strength. We would never claim that music can “heal” in a simple or complete way. But we do believe that sound can offer a moment of grounding — a place where the nervous system can slow down, where breathing becomes deeper, and where a person can feel safe enough to be present with themselves.
If our music has helped somebody find calm, focus, or even just a brief sense of stillness, we accept this as a responsibility rather than a compliment. It reminds us to remain honest, careful, and respectful in what we create. We never aim to manipulate emotions or create artificial intensity. Our intention is to build a space that is steady, strong, and non-invasive — a space where a listener can enter and leave freely.
We are thankful to every veteran who has shared their story with us, and we hold that trust with great respect.
Are you making any music or have you made music that is Magical like how Heilung sang Traust?
We understand why this comparison appears, and we want to answer it carefully and honestly. We do not think in terms of “magic” as a performative effect or a label. For us, magic is not something you demonstrate — it is something that may happen quietly, without spectacle, when sound, intention, and attention align. If there is effort to show magic, to convince the listener that something mystical is happening, then the center has already shifted away from what truly matters. Projects like Heilung have played an important role in bringing ancient imagery and ritual aesthetics into the modern cultural space. At the same time, they function clearly within the logic of a large-scale contemporary music industry. This inevitably means staging, amplification of symbols, and a certain dramatization of spirituality. There is nothing inherently wrong with that — it speaks to a need many people feel — but it is a very different path from ours. Our approach is almost the opposite. We do not aim to represent spirituality or ritual. We do not recreate ceremonies, dress them up, or place them under a spotlight. We also do not believe that spirituality can be amplified by volume, scale, or visual excess. For us, the most powerful moments are often the quietest ones — when repetition slows the mind, when rhythm steadies the body, when sound becomes something you inhabit rather than observe. We are cautious with the word “magical” because it can easily become a
commodity. Once spirituality is packaged as an effect, it risks losing its grounding. What we seek instead is presence. We work with sound as a tool for focus, for inner alignment, for returning a person to their own breath and body. If someone experiences this as something “magical,” we respect that — but it is not something we design or promise. There is also an ethical dimension for us. We feel a responsibility not to speculate on spirituality, not to use ancient symbols as decoration, and not to turn inner practices into a spectacle. Sound has power, and that power should be treated with restraint. We prefer to create a stable, open space where the listener can have their own experience, without being led, instructed, or overwhelmed. So if the question is whether our music is “magical,” our answer would be this: we do not create magic — we create conditions.
What happens inside that space belongs entirely to the listener.
We would like to thank you for answering our questions about your music, and glad we could do this written interview, and we are sure many are happy to get to know you better.
Thank you for listening carefully and for approaching this music with respect! Across distances and cultures, what connects us is not genre or label, but attention, sincerity, and the willingness to listen deeply.
LINKS:
nyttland.bandcamp.com 
facebook.com/nyttland 
reverbnation.com/nyttlandband
