The last two years have been extremely intense for the Wardruna, between the long tour that led – and will continue to take them – to play all over the world and the publication of the new album “Bly”, the Norwegian program seems more dense than ever.
After having the honor of treading the stages of historical and prestigious venues such as Red Rocks, Royal Albert Hall in London, the Acropolis of Athens and Oslo’s Operahuset, Einar and associates will also stop in Italy, in the summer for two highly anticipated dates: the one at the Pompeii amphitheater of 5 August and that of Montelago for the Celtic Festiva on the same month, In Turin, on 7 December at the Lingotto Auditorium.
An artistic journey that seemed unimaginable in the beginning, but which has made full justice for what is, to date, one of the most sincere and touching expressions of what is called ‘Pagan Folk’, the result of a musical, spiritual and inner research whose expressive power does not mention the fading.
In a gray, cold and windy Tuesday of late May in that of Oslo, we talked to the present, past and future of the Wardruna universe.
Hi Einar and welcome to Metalitalia.com. Let’s start with a point of the situation: how is the first part of the tour (at the time of the interview has just finished the first part of the world tour) and what is the response of the new “Bly” album so far?
– So, I can say that so far we have only had positive responses. The feedback we receive every evening are fantastic and we feel really lucky to be able to share our music with so many people all over the world and it overwhelms us every time of emotions.
We have already included three/four new songs in our concerts and work very well. In the latter dates we also added the track that gives the title to our latest album, which is a particular and quite complex song but being able to play it live is something very special for us.
Your first three albums were a trilogy on the runes while with “Kvitravn” before and “Bly” now, the concept has moved to other symbols, in this case in the animal sphere. How did you manage to give this sense of continuity using an apparently different symbolism?
– See, actually the music of the Wardruna has always told the different aspects of the relationship between man and nature. In the case of the runes, these, although they are symbols of writing, are also representations of these aspects.
If we move everything on an animal sphere, the thing does not change. In the case of “BIRNA”, the narrative theme talks about the Forest Guardian, guardian of nature, and its battles here on earth where, slowly, she is driven out of her habitat by modern societies, entering a permanent hibernation phase. The forest is gradually dying, losing his beating heart: his priestess. “Bly” acts as an invocation on his return. Most of our music speaks of cycles, and it doesn’t matter if this is told through the language of the runes or animal, these are only vehicles to view the symbols of what surrounds us.
“Kvitravn” is a more detailed and layered job while “Bly” speaks of the movement of the earth, which reminds us of our cycles.
What I do is usually focus on the message using different objects but communicating the same concept. I use the theme of the relationship between nature and man mainly as a bridge to understand ourselves. After all, we are different on the surface, but we are all part of the same language.
How is a Wardruna song born?
– The main focus is always the theme, the message. Everything was born from there and there is no standard methodology in creating music.
I often feel as if I had to re-learn to write every time, because everything starts from what I want to communicate, and the rest comes by itself.
Often it also happens that the result is totally different from what I had in mind, but the important thing is that everything comes from something real: a feeling, a landscape or simply a concept. Our music is like a journey, try to give you a destination but the way and time with which you reach it always comes spontaneously to often unexpected.
The sound of “Brina” is even more enveloping, with a lot of space between the tools and the voices, which gives a sense of even greater three -dimensionality than in the past. Have you burned unpublished tools?
– Yes, there are tools that we never played before, like the kantelea kind of harp typical of European east areas, present in Finland, in Baltic areas and in Russia. This certainly contributed to donating a personal sound to the songs of “Bly” but as I have already said before, music is something that evolves starting from the message we want to give.
The first seven songs, for example, are almost to be considered as a single movement, in which musical or lyrical themes are taken within the same songs. Many songs are then written in the rhythmic meter of five and contain several polyritms, which gives a sort of hypnotic and, in fact, cyclical mood that differs from the classic four quarters of modern music. In general, “Bly” is a very demanding job that has requested many energies but of which we are fully satisfied, even if perhaps not all songs are necessarily re -proposed live.
Yours is a music that lives on the oldest roots of human culture. How can you make technology and folklore share?
– I always try not to use too much electronic when I make up or play a Wardruna song. Most of the time the technology is used to sample the sounds of nature, certain frequencies of the tools, or even human voices and everything is then tried.
We are not the instrumentation nerds and we always try to maintain a truly basic set-up. Let’s say that 95% of what you feel are vibration and sounds of real tools, while the remainder is a way to make everything even more enveloping.
Have you brought your show to stages all over the world, passing from clubs, large natural arenas, concert halls or large outdoor spaces, but your music never affected, always reaching the point regardless of the situation? How do you explain this thing?
– The most important thing is to adapt at the moment and to the location. Playing in a concert hall of a large theater of the Opera is a totally different thing compared to the stage of a festival. Fortunately we have accumulated some experience with the years and we have a troupe of professionals with us who knows exactly how to manage the sound. However, what is important is that music, the message reaches those who listen to you regardless of where you play and the quantity of scenic tampers available.
It takes a certain discipline in not falling into the trap of creating an entertainment show at all costs: the music is always the key, and such must remain in the memories of those who participate in an event.
You have played in historical sites such as the Acropolis and now in a few weeks you will have the privilege of limestone a historical arena like that of Pompeii. Where did this little man come from?
– We had the honor of being contacted by the organization and the Italian Ministry of Culture, consequently we could absolutely not reject. It is a profound honor to be able to bring our music to a place so full of history and we can’t wait to bring our show among the ancient Pompeii stones.
Obviously there is also the Pink Floyd issue of which you absolutely cannot pretend anything. Their concert in that of Pompeii is something with which you will or hole must be confronted, but we do it with the utmost serenity, trying to make our music embrace with the spirit of the Roman ruins. It is for us a reason for pride and a remarkable emotional push and it will be an experience that we will carry in the heart, this is sure.
Ours is music that speaks of culture and culture is the mirror of the history of the human being, regardless of place and time. As part of nature we have more things that unite us than those who divide us, just see how similar the historical, literal and artistic basis of the various civilizations are.
What’s in the future of the Wardruna and what are the plans after this last part of the tour?
– We have no big plans, except to take a moment of rest, after these last periods truly full of commitments in a succession of other parallel projects such as soundtracks.
It is important to recharge the batteries and manage the various periods in a healthy way: like the one around us, we are also subject to a cyclicality. Relaxing is the best way to continue being focused on creating new music.
The most important things are not having to follow success and have a full agenda always and in any case, but rather to continue to grow as artists. It does not matter if this process will take away months or years because our focus is the present, advance in small steps.
The creative being is not something that you can program or force, even if I personally always try to keep myself active to transpose any external input to transform it into music. It is a process that always keeps me busy even without making me feel ‘obliged’ to write. If what I want to express resonates with external nature, then that will be the right time.
Thanks again for the time granted Einar, good luck and see you in August.
– Thanks to you, we will do everything to make the imminent dates in your country special.
