About Northtribe

Northtribe is the creative outlet of Swedish electronic musician John Ekström. It’s a journey that started back in the 1980s with a piano and the 8-bit melodies of NES games, which eventually grew into a lifelong dedication to electronic music.

From early trance and Goa experiments in FastTracker II to atmospheric productions in Propellerhead Reason, my sound has evolved across several distinct eras: Nostalgia, New Era, Ostendo, Study Phase, and now, Upprisa. Today, Northtribe is about bridging the past and the present – honoring those early tracker days while moving forward with new music, livestreams, and visual projects.

Here is the full story.

Origins (Childhood – 1996)

It began with a piano and an old TV.

As a kid, I taught myself to play by ear. I would sit in the hallway while games like Mario, Zelda, and Metroid echoed from the living room. I’d turn up the volume, wait for a melody to loop, and then run back to the piano to search for the notes until it sounded right. Those repeating game melodies were my first real music teachers. I didn’t realize it then, but that early fascination with sound was the beginning of a lifelong connection to music.

In 1996, a TV commercial introduced me to Teknomaker, a basic sampler program. I bought it the next day and started experimenting with loops and beats. Soon after, a friend introduced me to FastTracker II, and that changed everything. For the first time, I could control every single note, sample, and detail. I was completely hooked.

Nostalgia (1996–2000)

Discovering FastTracker II in late 1996 was the real starting point for me. By the spring of 1997, I had finished my first complete track.

Around the same time, the internet was taking off in Sweden. I found my way into the growing tracker and demoscene communities through forums and magazines like TEKNO. We connected, shared ideas, and swapped .xm and .mod files across boards and servers.

Back then, I produced under the alias Cream, making trance, Goa, rave, and ambient. In 1998, I joined my first tracker group, Future Beats, and later that year moved on to PlastiK, where I stayed until they disbanded in 1999. After PlastiK, I started using the name Pisces and uploaded music to mp3.com, which actually helped me reach an audience outside the tracker scene. A big highlight during this time was having my track “World of God” featured on the CD compilation Trancepotting 2 in 1999 – a huge milestone for me back then.

This period came to a sudden halt in 2001 when a major system crash forced me to take a break. But those years shaped my fundamental sound and workflow.

New Era (2000–2008)

In late 2000, I found Propellerhead Reason and it instantly clicked. Going from trackers to virtual instruments and cable routing was a massive shift. I wasn’t just working with samples anymore – I could build sounds entirely from scratch.

While some friends from the tracker scene made the same jump, the landscape was changing. Sites like mp3.com and Trax in Space were disappearing, so making music became a much more personal process, mostly shared with close friends.

Reason changed how I worked. Moving away from pattern-based composition let me see the bigger picture of a track. My sound became more atmospheric and structured, pulling heavily toward melodic trance, psytrance, and Goa. This also matched the underground rave culture I was a part of – forest clearings, warehouses, and clubs like Docklands where I saw acts like Astral Projection, Infected Mushroom, and Tiësto.

It was during this time I adopted the name Northtribe. It felt like a creative reset. Inspired by the tribal and cosmic vibe of the Goa scene, combined with my northern roots, the name just made sense.

While studying at university between 2003 and 2006, I wasn’t releasing music publicly, but I kept creating. I even made the soundtrack for a student video project that looped in the school corridors. Occasionally, I’d hear my tracks played at the student pub, which was always a surreal and fun experience.

This era ended in 2008 when another hardware failure forced me into a second long break.

Ostendo (2009–2017)

After about a year away, I got a new computer and returned to music with fresh energy. Similar to the New Era, this phase wasn’t about public releases. I shared a few clips on my website, but mostly I just created for the joy of it.

I produced less often, but with more focus. My mixes got tighter, the arrangements became more deliberate, and my sound matured as I dug deeper into progressive house and trance. Music just fit into whatever space life allowed – evenings, weekends, short bursts of inspiration. Ideas often stayed as loops or sketches, but the creative engine was always running.

I eventually named this period Ostendo – a time of quiet expression. The music didn’t necessarily reach the world, but it was still growing. Music has been a part of my daily life since I first touched a piano; it’s basically a form of meditation for me.

Eventually, my hardware couldn’t keep up with the newer versions of Reason, and the technical frustration led to another pause.

Study Phase (2018–2022)

Even though I wasn’t producing much during these years, I wasn’t idle. After upgrading my computer in 2018, I hit a turning point.

Despite all my years of making music, my tracks still didn’t have that professional polish I heard in my favorite releases. I was entirely self-taught – the ideas were good, but the sonic results weren’t quite there. Instead of forcing out new tracks, I took a step back and started studying.

I spent countless hours on YouTube learning about mixing, mastering, sound design, and production techniques. It wasn’t glamorous work, but I needed to understand not just how to make music, but how to make it sound right. I was building the technical foundation for everything that was about to come.

Upprisa (2023–Present)

After years of learning and refining in the background, 2023 became the start of a creative resurgence. I started finishing and releasing tracks from my archive – spanning the Nostalgia, New Era, and Ostendo periods – but this time with a fresh perspective and a much better sound.

This time, however, it’s about more than just putting out tracks. It’s about building a lasting platform. I rebuilt my website, organized my catalog, and started pushing my work out properly on platforms like YouTube and Spotify. Step by step, Northtribe is taking its true shape.

I call this current era Upprisa – a Norse word for resurrection or rising again. The old tracks aren’t just sitting on a hard drive anymore; they are part of a living project. At the same time, I’m constantly looking forward with new music, livestreams, and visual concepts.

I don’t make music for fame or recognition. I create because it’s fundamentally who I am. Upprisa is the result of years of quiet growth, and a commitment to keep the music playing.

– John Ekström / Northtribe