Garmarna

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Garmarna


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Origin = flagicon|SWE Sweden
Genre = World music
Folk
Folk rock
Nordic Roots Revival
Years_active = 1990 - present
Label = Massproduktion
Associated_acts = Triakel
URL = http://www.garmarna.se/
Current_members = Stefan Brisland-Ferner
Emma Härdelin
Jens Höglin
Gotte Ringqvist
Rickard Westman
Past_members =

Garmarna is a Swedish folk rock band founded in 1990. Their songs are mainly old Scandinavian ballads.

Biography

Garmarna was founded in 1990. Stefan Brisland-Ferner, Gotte Ringqvist and Rickard Westman were inspired by old Swedish music, which they had heard in a theatre. They began searching for old tunes and instruments. After a year of playing together, Jens Höglin joined the band on drums.

In 1992 the band recorded their first EP. They thought that female vocals would provide a contrast to the dark mood of their music and invited Emma Härdelin, a long-time friend of the band, as the guest vocalist on the EP. She officially joined the band in 1993. The debut EP sold well in Sweden, and helped the band tour in Scandinavia.

On the album "Vittrad", the band decided to add samples and sequencers to the mix. In 1994, Omnium released "Vittrad" in the USA, with English translations of the old songs.

Garmarna started a long German tour and released the album "Guds spelemän" in 1996. The album sold well in Sweden and was reviewed favourably internationally.

In 1998 Garmarna did a series of concerts in churches in the North of Sweden presenting their interpretation of the medieval works of Hildegard von Bingen, together with actress Felicia Konrad.

In 1999 the band released their third album "Vedergällningen". The album's production leaned towards rock and trip-hop, the atmosphere of the music being more obscure than in previous albums.

Following "Vedergällningen", the band returned to the studio to complete the full-length Hildegard von Bingen album, which was released in 2001. [Biography from http://www.noside.com/bio_garmarna.html] The tracks in this album are based on the compositions of 12th century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen, and the lyrics are in Latin.

Band members

* Stefan Brisland-Ferner – violin, hurdy-gurdy, sampler
* Emma Härdelin – Vocals, violin
* Jens Höglin – drums, percussion
* Gotte Ringqvist – guitar, violin, backing vocals
* Rickard Westman – guitar, bass, e-bow
* Robert Humphries - Bongo Drums
* Daniel Rutter - Penny Whistle
* Jack Proctor - Triangle

Discography

Albums

* "Garmarna" (1993, EP)
* "Vittrad" ("Withered") (1994)
* "Guds spelemän" ("The fiddlers of God") (1996)
* "Vedergällningen" ("Vengeance") (1999)
* "Hildegard von Bingen" (2001)
* "Garmarna" (2003, re-release of the 1993 EP with 6 bonus tracks)

Singles

* "Euchari" (1999)
* "Gamen" ("The Vulture") (1999, featured in "Project Gotham Racing 2")
* "En gång ska han gråta" (1997)
* "Herr Holger" ("Sir Holger") (1996)

Other

* "Rastlös" (Rasta Hunden) in compilation "We´re Only In It For The Money" (1999)

See also

* Triakel

References

External links

* [http://www.garmarna.se/ Official website]
* [http://www.noside.com/bio_garmarna.html Northside biography]
* [http://www.tvfolk.net/ TVfolk.net] videos (search under "Sweden")
* [http://www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue17/garmarna.html Interview in 2001]
* [http://www.globalvillageidiot.net/Garmarna.cfm GlobalVillageIdiot's Interview]

Video

* [http://thepuredrop.com.au/ep_gothic/ Interview] from The Pure Drop