Probably contemporary Japanese music is not what we’re listening to every day, but Yasuragi Land by Foodman is the perfect start to get inspired by and fall in love with the contemporary music of Land of the Rising Sun. This album has everything we love Japan for – minimalism, Japanese street food market, neon signs, silent beauty of landscapes and a fabulous combination of classical and modern culture, which is not found in any other country in the world

When and how was NSB founded as a band?
Stig: I played in School – a post punk band from Trondheim. After School was disbanded I released a solo album. Many artists from Trondheim participated in this album…

My interest in instruments started as a child. I had relatives who played traditional instruments, and I was exposed to a lot of different music through my parents

If we speak about production as a process, what stages must the song go through on the way to the final product?
It changes on a case to case basis, to be honest. I was about to write “well, first it needs to be written”, but sometimes a song doesn’t even need to be written before you pull it from the idea world and record it onto some sort of media.

After some years as YODOK III together with Dirk Serries you came back to duo format Yodok. And this time you invited Italian bass player Massimo Pupillo (Zu) for an improvised studio session. Could you tell us a little more about all this..?

There is much less bureaucracy when you work alone. And also you get the opportunity to express yourself musically and artistically as you wish. Because I believe there is no compromise when it comes to art. Therefore, it was very important for me to do this now alone.

​After three years with the “Gullvåg Trilogy” and more prog sound you changed your musical direction to more hard rock. What was behind this change…