An Interview with White Night Band

White Night is an alternative electro-pop band based in both Berlin and San Francisco. The German-American duo draws inspiration from 1980’s pop, classical music, contemporary-classical music, and jazz. The members, Willi Leinen and Elizabeth Boardman, in addition to being songwriters and producers, are classically trained musicians who perform on guitar and viola/baroque viola respectively.

We are sharing our recent interview with the band.

Twist Online : First of all tell us about the start of your professional career?

White Night : We are both classical musicians and went from music conservatories to performing and teaching. White Night began in February, just as a fun side project. I think we both realized White Night might actually have professional potential when we started getting played on a several German radio stations. From then on we started taking the project more seriously, from songwriting to promotion.

Twist Online : Who or what inspired to launch the band White Night?

White Night : First and foremost we inspired each other. We were both feeling worn out and in need of inspiration and a creative outlet. Our music draws inspiration from contemporary electronic music, 1980’s pop, disco, classical music, and minimalist music.

Twist Online : Our readers would like to know more about the band members and their roles in the band?

White Night : Willi manages the electronic live set and does most of the promotional outreach. Lizzie is the vocalist and writes the lyrics and vocal melodies. We take turns with the songwriting/composing chord progressions and we both play synths.

Twist Online : Tell us about your recent release?

White Night : Whilst working towards our first album, we have released quite a bit of music on SoundCloud in the last half a year to try and get people listening.

Twist Online : What kind of response you have received from the release?

White Night : The songs that received the most positive responses were Crush, Snow, Don’t Care, Close, Strangers, and our most recent song, Golden Heart. Our cover of Lord Huron’s The Night we Met was also well received.

Twist Online : What attracts you more, performing on stage or working in studios?

White Night : The kind of music we create lends itself more to working in studios…however, both coming from performance backgrounds, we are super excited to hone our live performance shows!

Twist Online : What’s your favorite music genre?

White Night : We are both drawn to alternative/indie electropop and that seems to be the main inspiration for White Night.

Twist Online : Have you set some target to achieve as a music band?

White Night : Our practical target is to release several albums, tour and perform regularly, and gain US airtime in addition to the airtime we have received in Germany. Our more personal goal is to keep creating music that is true to ourselves. It is important to not get too caught up in what you think people want to hear or don’t want to hear. Create music that you want to listen to and chances are, others will too.

Twist Online : Are you currently working on any other project?

White Night : This is currently our only pop project, we both have other ongoing classical guitar and viola/baroque viola projects.