In the heart of Minnesota is a new record label devoted to preserving and distributing the rich traditions of Scandinavian music. Minneapolis' NorthSide was founded Rob Simonds, who also co-founded the Rykodisc CD label, in order to bring this music to a wider audience. I recently asked Mr. Simonds a few questions about his new label, and had the chance to listen to a few recent NorthSide releases.
Paula: How did a record company for Scandinavian music end up in Minnesota?
Rob: Despite the fact that this is the #1 or #2 region in North America for
Scandinavian immigration and would probably be a natural place to do it, it
just happens that my interest in this music coincided with a point in my
career where I was looking for what to do next, and I happen to live in
Minneapolis.
Paula: What is your attraction to this kind of music?
Rob: There's certainly an intellectual element. While this music is accessible
to casual American music listeners (like Celtic or Appalachian music), it
also has some unusual modal qualities and rhythms that are a bit tricky. I
like that. The Finns in particular like strange, shifting time signatures.
Also, the quality of play, composition, and arrangements by the musicians
involved with this music is incredibly high, so that's a big plus for me.
But there's definately an emotional element which drives my passion for it.
The mythology and energy connected with Scandinavian folk tradition may be
part of that (maybe I was a Swede in a former life!), but I've always been
attracted to music that has some spiritual element to it. It intensifies
the emotional depth, which is what really gets me hooked.
Paula: Can you comment on some of the musical styles from Sweden and the
other countries you deal with -- I notice a lot of it has an almost Middle
Eastern feel.
Rob: There are really a number of different styles and cultures involved with
"Scandinavian" music. First there is the medieval music, which bands like
Hedningarna and Garmana work with, and all of the Scandinavian countries
(and other parts of Northern Europe, including the British Isles) have
overlapping roots with that music. The ballads are generally dark, sad, or
violent, and the instrumental music has lots of drones (bagpipes, hurdy
gurdy, nyckelharpa, etc).
The more "contemporary" traditional music of Scandinavia has been
influenced by many other cultures. Because of its geographic and political
position, the Scandinavian countries have been key players in world trade
for hundreds of years. This has brought the influence of countries as far
away as China and Africa (and, yes, the Middle East) into the evolution of
Scandinavian folk music.
In general, today's contemporary folk artists from Sweden and Norway share
very similar (often the same same) roots in the fiddle music and vocal
styles of the countryside. Denmark has a similar but slightly different
(and less involved with today's scene) folk music tradition. Finland has
more ties to the Ugric side of things (Russia, Eastern Europe) and this can
particularly be heard in the vocal music. But even these "roots" were
influenced by other cultures. Norway used to own the Shetland Islands, for
example, and a lot of exchange happened there.
Then there's Sami music, the indigenous people of Scandinavia. That's more
related to other Northern Hemisphere indigenous music, including Inuit and
American Indian. A number of American Indians who have heard our Finnish
Sami chanter Wimme comment that it's "their music."
Paula: What are your goals with Northside, what do you hope to achieve
artistically?
Rob: I think the musical scene in Scandinavian is tremendously exciting and
interesting, and my primary goal is to expose and make this available to
North American music lovers. Ultimately, I would like to see the
Scandinavians take their place on the world stage of "ethnic" music, right
up there with the Celts and Africans.
Paula: What are the plans for the label in the near future?
Rob: We have ten releases planned between now and mid-May, so lots of work! We
want to take the momentum we have built with Väsen's "Whirled" title and
with Hedningarna and Wimme in particular and keep those moving forward. We
also have one of our new Finnish bands, Troka, coming over in May to appear
on Prairie Home Companion. And we hope to be further involved in getting
these bands to tour the U.S. by later this year. Mostly we are committed to
doing whatever we can to expose this wonderful music.
