'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.
Following ''Vedergällningen'', the band returned to the studio to complete the full-length Hildegard von Bingen album, which was released in (
2001).
[1]
Band members
★
Stefan Brisland-Ferner,
violin,
hurdy-gurdy and
sampler.
★
Emma Härdelin, vocals, violin.
★
Jens Höglin,
drums, percussion.
★
Gotte Ringqvist,
guitar, violin and backing vocals.
★
Rickard Westman, guitar,
bass,
e-bow.
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
1. Biography from http://www.noside.com/bio_garmarna.html
External links
★
Official website
★
Northside biography
★
TVfolk.net videos (search under "Sweden")
★
Interview in 2001
★
GlobalVillageIdiot's Interview