Jenny Wilhelms Said
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Christian Yakowlef ith this band it has always been Hardanger fiddles, and the gentle ringing of ethnically Swedish minority residing in the music that chooses the mandolas with the exciting percussive attack Finland. While the group members’ native members,” Jenny Wilhelms of world music. On top of it all soars language is a dialect of Swedish (a Scandi- said. “It is like a living being of Wilhelms’ voice, pure as the driven snow navian language), their other national its own in a way.” and wild as…well, the driven snow. It’s a language is Finnish (a Finno-Ugric If Gjallarhorn is a living being, Wilhelms perfect vehicle for the Swedish, Norwegian, language), and for Wilhelms to sing in both is its head; she is the band’s lead singer, and Icelandic ballads and Finnish runo songs is no more contrived than, say, Celine Dion fiddler, and primary spokesperson. After 12 she interprets as the group’s main singer. singing in both French and English. years with the group, she is also its only The result has been critical acclaim in Europe Wilhelms explained a bit further: “Politi- remaining original member. The next- and North America, a regular touring cally, Finland belonged to Sweden from longest-serving member has been in the band schedule, and three (soon to be four) highly medieval times until the 19th century, and less than half as long. For over a decade, regarded albums. most castles, cities, churches, and universities Gjallarhorn has been playing Nordic (Scan- With Finnish and Scandinavian music were founded during this period. The official dinavian and Finnish) songs and music for coming from the same band, readers might be language was Swedish in those times. Now audiences all over the world. Its sound forgiven for thinking this was pan-Nordic the situation has been the reverse for almost combines the earthy pulse of deep-drone fusion. But there’s a more organic explana- 200 years, but the position in society for the instruments like the Australian didjeridu with tion. Gjallarhorn has its origins in the commu- Swedish-speaking minority is still fairly good, the lushness of Nordic violins, violas, and nity known as Finland-Swedish, the and we are much better off than most minorities 24 June/July ’06 #124 Jenny Wilhelms Adrian Jones Allan Price courtesy of Guinness Irish Festival in the world. We have our own broadcasting “I decided to become a hard-core folk Göran Månsson networks, newspapers, publishers, theaters, and musician and study the traditional music thor- schools, as well as universities in various cities, oughly.” For 15 years she has pursued this and all street signs are in two languages in the interest. In addition to performing with Gjal- western parts of Finland. The Swedish- larhorn, she has studied at several important speaking people remain mainly in the coastal folk-music conservatories, including the regions and in the archipelago.” Malungs Folkhögskola in Sweden, the Ole Being from this minority even has its Bull Academy in Norway, and the Conserva- advantages; their own Swedish sounds archaic tory of Keski-Pohjanmaa in Finland. She is to people from Sweden, for example. “They currently finishing a master’s degree at the tell us we have preserved a much older version Sibelius Academy, also in Finland. of the Swedish language than the one spoken How did this self-described hard-core in Sweden today. We speak a little like their Nordic folkie come to form such an unusual great-grandparents did.” It’s perfect for ballads band? It was the didjeridu, she explained. One from before their great-grandparents’ time. night in 1994, Wilhelms and fellow fiddler Wilhelms, like many of the folk musicians Christopher Öhman got together with didjeridu in Finland, is a conservatory-trained musician player Jakob Frankenhaeuser for a jam session. from a conservatory-trained family. “My “We immediately discovered that this sound grandmother studied piano [at the Sibelius was something to build on,” she remembered. Academy in Helsinki],” she began. “My “We suddenly had an enormous range, bass mother played the accordion and the clarinet, from the didge, then viola in the middle, and and also taught dances from various ethnic fiddles and vocals on the top.” The didjeridu, cultures, so we have always listened to ethnic she thought, was surprisingly well-suited to music from all over the world since I was a Scandinavian music; its rhythmic droning baby. She wanted me to play the violin. I started made it like a gigantic, bass version of the when I was 8 and played classical music until Jew’s harp. “It sounded like much more than I was 19.” During her teens, however, Wilhelms just a few people, and that has been one of our courtesy of Guinness Irish Festival also began to explore other musical styles, key ideas since then. I remember we played all seeking a direction for her own developing night...we just could not stop.” Petter Berndalen musical creativity. “Melodies kept coming into After the band was underway, it added my head all the time, and I picked up new tunes another major element to its sound: drums. Its very fast by heart,” she remembered. “Instead first drummer was David Lillkvist, who was of practicing my etudes I found it more inter- replaced by the band’s current drummer, Petter esting to improvise over different modes. So at Berndalen. Although there are few drums or first I started to learn from all the LPs I could percussive elements in modern Nordic folk find with violin on them. I listened to every- music, the drum has a long history in the thing from Gong and Mahavishnu Orchestra to region, since the days of ancient shamanic Jean-Luc Ponty and Stephane Grappelli.” drumming. The members of Gjallarhorn see Wilhelms was already familiar with “the themselves as bringing back to the music an green wave” movement of the late 60s and element that has been largely lost, rather than 70s, Swedish and Norwegian youth bands adding an element that is alien. Moreover, associated with folk-jazz-rock fusion music. their current drummer has a particularly Several veteran players from this movement, melodic approach to his kit that fits in better such as multi-instrumentalist Ale Möller, with folk music than purely rhythmic drum- Hardanger fiddle player Gunnar Stubseid, and ming. “Petter has this very unusual technique vocalist Kirsten Bråten-Berg, were inspira- where he actually produces traditional fiddling tional figures to the teenage fiddler and singer. tunes on the drums, a bit like a tabla player, but courtesy of Guinness Irish Festival Dirty Linen 25 with a kit of his own. He is very much a folk wife of Aegir, a sea goddess of Nordic we find, in living tradition, a trace straight to musician and a melodic player, too. The fact mythology associated with drowning. With its the medieval perception of sacral vocal music. that we are all melodic players, who are used heady blend of elemental sounds and mytho- And this is, in my opinion, a true treasure for to performing solo concerts on our instruments, logical themes, the band was quickly hailed as a folk musician.” makes the sound even more dynamic, and the an up-and-coming force in Nordic music. Sjofn also gave the band a chance to make style even more Nordic,” Wilhelms explained. Its second CD, Sjofn, was a more polished videos for the first time; they are included on With an initial sound palette involving production that nevertheless carried through the “Enhanced CD” release. “We went out to fiddles (including violin, Hardanger fiddle, with many of the same ideas and themes. a remote island here in the archipelago with a and viola), mandola, didjeridu, drums, and Wilhelms thinks it’s more accessible to people film team,” Wilhelms recalled. “The island is voice, the band started to research and arrange who don’t know Nordic music, and the world very special; it has old mazes from the Bronze material. The process is much the same today. seemed to agree. It won several European Age. The fishermen who brought us there said First, the group members do research to find prizes and was certified a gold record. One they would pick us up after five days. So what unusual songs and tunes. Wilhelms finds thing Sjofn continued strongly from Ranarop do you do on a remote island in Finland? Well, almost all of the songs. “I need to have lyrics was the pagan orientation; the album is titled first you heat up the sauna!” It wasn’t all a big I can relate to, and I think the boys have learned after a Nordic love goddess, and the opening party, however. “We started with the structural I won’t just sing any planning of camera tune. So usually I do the angles and in-ear moni- archive digging and pick toring with remote the lyrics.” The men controls. Then the rest come up with the instru- was all about waiting mental tunes more often. Christian Yakowlef while the mosquitoes ate From there, the process us alive when we stood is collaborative. “Who- in the woods covered in ever comes up with a body paint, waiting for tune also presents a basic the right moonlight or structural idea, but we sunset or morning mist don’t want to tell each to arrive. But there was other strictly what to lot of sauna in between, play,” she said. “We try and very much fun. And to leave space for the video made it all the everyone to add their way to German MTV own talent into the and World Link TV in arrangement.