Composer Magazine: Behind The Music of LEGO 'Builder's Journey'
Words by Sally Stenning
Henrik arrives at Spitfire HQ with his manager, Annie. It’s around 12pm, the sun is shining for the first time in what feels like years, and he towers over us both as we greet each other.
We introduce ourselves, somewhat awkwardly sidestepping the usual handshake in favour of a nod and smile- Coronavirus news is fresh and everywhere, and the government has advised minimal contact with others.
We’re here to discuss Henrik’s recent work writing music for LEGO’s new mobile game Builder’s Journey- but in a past life, Lindstrand topped the Danish charts repeatedly with his alternative rock band Kashmir, with critically acclaimed records such as the multi-DMA-winning Zitilities and the Tony Visconti produced No Balance Palace, which featured collaborations with David Bowie and Lou Reed.
We start with a little background: “I grew up in a medium-sized town in Sweden called Örebro” he begins. “I started playing piano when I was three- my grandmother had to get rid of her piano and all of a sudden it was in our house and I started playing. My parents got me a teacher, who was a cellist- so from very early on I got the opportunity to play along with someone else”. When he was nineteen, Henrik applied for the Conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark. “I never came back” he laughs. He was on course for a career as a jazz pianist, but in 1999 was asked to tour with Danish rock band Kashmir, after meeting the singer Kasper Eistrup at a Jeff Buckley memorial concert. “They [Kashmir] had been around a couple of years at that time as a trio, but on that third album, it really exploded.” He says.
Since Kashmir went on hiatus in 2014, Lindstrand has placed his focus on creating emotive compositions for films and television (scandi thriller series Greyzone, Itsi Bitsi and the upcoming thriller The Exception).
Builder’s Journey is his first game, and I ask how he became involved in the project. “At the beginning of 2019 I was contacted by LEGO Games. They had been listening to my first solo album from 2017, Leken, and asked me if I was interested in composing music for the game- which is obviously a dream situation.” I comment that it must have been especially satisfying to land the job from his solo work. “Exactly, that's it” he replies. “As a film composer, very often you’re given lots of briefs or references to a style that they want it [the music] to be in. It's not all the time that it fits with who you really are. I've been working in so many different genres over the years which have been fascinating and rewarding in many ways but, this was a very direct proposition. That was amazing.”
[h2]“I was very keen on focusing on melody, because we knew from the beginning that there was not going to be any dialogue. So in that sense, the music was going to have quite big narrative role to play.”[/h2]
LEGO Builder’s Journey is a beautifully designed puzzle leveler that takes place in a LEGO brick world. It tells the story of a mentor figure who teaches the player the ins and outs of building and creativity, before the player is left to seek out their own adventure. “It’s a story about the importance of remembering to play in your life, even as a grown up; remembering to play and remembering to play with your kids” Henrik explains. The soundtrack, composed by Lindstrand, has recently been released by English independent label One Little Indian, who count the likes of Björk and Poppy Ackroyd among their roster, and have also released Henrik’s solo albums.
Read the rest of the interview here!
Henrik arrives at Spitfire HQ with his manager, Annie. It’s around 12pm, the sun is shining for the first time in what feels like years, and he towers over us both as we greet each other.
We introduce ourselves, somewhat awkwardly sidestepping the usual handshake in favour of a nod and smile- Coronavirus news is fresh and everywhere, and the government has advised minimal contact with others.
We’re here to discuss Henrik’s recent work writing music for LEGO’s new mobile game Builder’s Journey- but in a past life, Lindstrand topped the Danish charts repeatedly with his alternative rock band Kashmir, with critically acclaimed records such as the multi-DMA-winning Zitilities and the Tony Visconti produced No Balance Palace, which featured collaborations with David Bowie and Lou Reed.
We start with a little background: “I grew up in a medium-sized town in Sweden called Örebro” he begins. “I started playing piano when I was three- my grandmother had to get rid of her piano and all of a sudden it was in our house and I started playing. My parents got me a teacher, who was a cellist- so from very early on I got the opportunity to play along with someone else”. When he was nineteen, Henrik applied for the Conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark. “I never came back” he laughs. He was on course for a career as a jazz pianist, but in 1999 was asked to tour with Danish rock band Kashmir, after meeting the singer Kasper Eistrup at a Jeff Buckley memorial concert. “They [Kashmir] had been around a couple of years at that time as a trio, but on that third album, it really exploded.” He says.
Since Kashmir went on hiatus in 2014, Lindstrand has placed his focus on creating emotive compositions for films and television (scandi thriller series Greyzone, Itsi Bitsi and the upcoming thriller The Exception).
Builder’s Journey is his first game, and I ask how he became involved in the project. “At the beginning of 2019 I was contacted by LEGO Games. They had been listening to my first solo album from 2017, Leken, and asked me if I was interested in composing music for the game- which is obviously a dream situation.” I comment that it must have been especially satisfying to land the job from his solo work. “Exactly, that's it” he replies. “As a film composer, very often you’re given lots of briefs or references to a style that they want it [the music] to be in. It's not all the time that it fits with who you really are. I've been working in so many different genres over the years which have been fascinating and rewarding in many ways but, this was a very direct proposition. That was amazing.”
[h2]“I was very keen on focusing on melody, because we knew from the beginning that there was not going to be any dialogue. So in that sense, the music was going to have quite big narrative role to play.”[/h2]
LEGO Builder’s Journey is a beautifully designed puzzle leveler that takes place in a LEGO brick world. It tells the story of a mentor figure who teaches the player the ins and outs of building and creativity, before the player is left to seek out their own adventure. “It’s a story about the importance of remembering to play in your life, even as a grown up; remembering to play and remembering to play with your kids” Henrik explains. The soundtrack, composed by Lindstrand, has recently been released by English independent label One Little Indian, who count the likes of Björk and Poppy Ackroyd among their roster, and have also released Henrik’s solo albums.
Read the rest of the interview here!