Sound & Soul: Inside the world of California Music

An Interview with Kristian Nord, Co-Founder of California Music

Kristian, Co-Founder of California Music, is a creator deeply driven by the belief that music is a universal language of human connection. He hopes his music inspires people to focus on the beauty in life, community, nature, and self-connection.

1. California Music has earned acclaim through Grammy nominations and platinum records—but beyond accolades, you speak about the power of human connection in sound. How does that belief shape your creative process and collaborations?

Yes, of course. Music is vibration, as our bodies. That’s why music is a superpower, because it touches us immediately at the choir, resonates with us. A split second of a chord can make you feel happy or sad. In the creative process the essential part is getting in tune with the universe by being completely in the moment and following your excitement without thinking too much. Yes, I’ll have an idea or a concept of what I wanna do, weather it’s a brand campaign or a song of my solo album, but then I try to turn off my head and rational thinking and immerse completely in the moment. This is the only way for me to create something truly special that might resonate with other people as well.

2. Your team is composed of musicians, sound designers, and creative producers. How do you balance technical excellence with the emotional depth you strive to bring into every acoustic creation?

To me, the music is just the vehicle to connect with other people, so the intention and attitude is the most important thing. That’s the essence that will move people. That being said, it doesn’t hurt to really know what you’re doing. And especially when it comes to music for picture and sound design it helps to have experience and skills. And we never stop working before we are all “dancing on the table” and are excited about what we’ve created. But the meter of excellence is: Does it make me feel what I want the the people to feel? Does it send me on a journey?

3. You describe your music of your solo project as blending electronic and classical elements with themes of personal growth. How has silence both as a practice and a concept shaped your creative process or personal philosophy?

Silence is the canvas, and sometimes it’s more powerful to have a single element on an empty canvas than 200 different elements. So I think silence is powerful in many ways. It can be very loud as well. And with silence you suddenly listen inwards and hear yourself, your soul if you want. So it’s connecting to yourself. Tat can be beautiful, and sometimes painful. But it’s Truth. So I try to reduce my music to only the most essential elements and leave out anything that’s not urgent. That way it’s the closest to the truth.

4.“ The Rest is a Gift” feels incredibly intimate—a cathartic tribute to your father and a deeply personal exploration of grief, memory, and growth. What was it like to revisit your father's story through music at the same age he passed? How did that shape the emotional tone and direction of the album?

Revisiting my father’s story and my own relationship to him was the foundation for the album. Although it’s an instrumental album, for me it’s the most concrete music I’ve ever written. Because every song has a very concrete feeling or situation that it’s based on and expressing. And in the process it wriote itself. A lot of the songs turned out very different then I expected them to turn out. They took on their own dynamic and identity, that expressed the initial idea even better than I could imagine. It was not easy to write this album, but it was a beautiful experience and I’m happy that I got beautiful messages that it helped some people through difficult times of loss and change.

“Father & Sun” is the third track from Kristian Nord’s Bali recordings, a meditative, downtempo piece born from a serendipitous moment in spring 2024. While visiting renowned gamelan builder I Wayan Sudiana (Wayan Rindik Bali), Kristian witnessed a spontaneous performance on Wayan’s porch, Wayan playing gamelan alongside his 12-year-old son Kadek Guna. Captivated, Kristian recorded the session on the spot, returning home to craft a track around the performance.

Listen to this music here - www.youtube.com/channel/UCymOnK7OGfIqM9Eqi9uBFtg

5. Both Nyepi and Echoes of Nyepi are deeply rooted in the Balinese Day of Silence. How did the spiritual and cultural themes of Nyepi evolve between the two tracks, and what shifts did you make in your sound to reflect that progression?

Nyepi is the original track that is very calm and meditative. I tulle reflects what the day of silence is to me. For Echos of Nyepi I worked with my good friend and brilliant electronic artist Max Joni to add some production. In my opinion one of the most important things in personal growth is the integration into your daily life. So I wanted Echoes to be a reflection of Nyepy, but with more movement and drive, which represent our dynamic life. That’s the art, keeping the insides of the day of silence alive by always keeping it on top of mind. Then it makes your actual life better instead of just being a nice experience or memory. It’s important if you want actual change.

6. Both tracks feel really meditative, with the use of ambient sounds and field recordings creating this deep sense of calm. What kinds of feelings or thoughts were you hoping people might experience while listening to Nyepi and Echoes of Nyepi?”

Again, Echoes is a reminder to make the extra effort of integration. I always start with journaling after a an experience like Nyepi or a spiritual retreat. Then I dense those thought and insides down. Best to a bunch of bullet points. Then, I’ll read those every morning to keep those insides on top of mind to create long lasting change in my life

7. What drew you to explore the themes behind Nyepi and Echoes of Nyepi, and how do you see these pieces connecting with broader ideas of stillness, cultural tradition, or our relationship to the world around us?

The music was a direct result of me experiencing Nyepi. To me the world would be a much better place if people would try to go inwards in stillness and connect with themself more often. Because as cliche as it sounds: Happiness and fulfillment comes from inside, not outside. And the only one who can give that to you on a permanent basis is yourself. If you connect to yourself on a regular basis nothing on the outside can really phase you, because you in tune and balance with yourself. It’s an art. I’m not a master of that yet myself. But I’ve gotten much better and it made me a much happier, content and resilient person. What I would with the world right now: Less finger pointing - More connection to yourself.

8. Looking back on everything you've created so far and everything still ahead, what do you hope people feel, carry, or question after experiencing your work?

I hope my music can be inspirational to other people. And at the same time, it’s about creating beauty and pleasure. It doesn’t have to be super deep all the time. In the end it’s all not so serious. Having fun and taking yourself not too serious is important as well.

I have a clear intention in my mind creating my music, but for somebody else it could stand for something completely different. And that’s great as well. It’s not my music anyway, I was just the one who brought it into this material world. So it’s as much yours as it is mine…

In general I would love people to focus more on the beauty in live: Community, family, nature, music, art…There’s plenty of that in everybody’s life, but often we choose to see only the “bad” stuff. If we change our perspective and prime ourself to focus more on the beauty we will experience more of that. It’s all here right now, we just have to choose to see it. If my music can help a little bit bringing that on top of mind of people I’m a happy man.

Discover Kristian’s world where music meets meaning, and let his work inspire a deeper connection to yourself and others. Explore his creations, you might just hear something that changes the way you listen.