EINAR SELVIK – WARDRUNA ‘THE LONG JOURNEY BACK TO THE START AND PREMIERE AUSTRALIAN EXPEDITION’
“I have come to realise that even though some of these ancient places of human culture in nature are powerful, I have come to realise that those that have absolutely no traces of human activity are the ones that I prefer most. Like where you have really old forests, because they are so rare; they have become so rare unfortunately. Making sounds with a tree from such a place, actually gives me much more than any human artefact.”
When the enigmatic Einar Selvik from Norway’s Nordic Folk music collective Wardruna discloses his most inspiring locations he has ventured to in an effort to evoke his artistry from nature; Selvik’s above stated articulation sends shivers down this writer’s spine. Einar is compellingly a musician driven by exploration, the wilderness and ancient sounds and traditions of Nordic history. However, the magical uniqueness exists in how Wardruna take thoughts, tools and methods from the past and use them to compose new music which intensifies the contemporary as well as the ancient.
“Walking has always been my main muse. I just see it, hear it. But of course, sometimes the lack of…” Mr Selvik trails off in deep thought, as if recalling his most memorable journeys and reliving his creative sparks, before continuing – “People often think that I’m only in nature. That’s when I feel it. But sometimes the lack of nature can be just as even more inspirational, because then you have distance, and you have an element of longing. The same way as sometimes when you’re on a different part of the planet, that’s when you feel most connected to your own tradition. It’s the same function, in a way, because longing is a very powerful creative tool. It can come anywhere, everywhere, at any time.”
Having only just turned 45 years-old this past November, it is beyond remarkable taking in his insights and reminiscences as Einar presents a captivating aura of an old soul who has lived decades (even centuries) longer than his actual age. This is more than conceivable as Wardruna explore old Norse myths, traditions, and language through the 24 proto-Norse runes; as well as Northern sorcery, spirit-animals, animism, and the act of creation throughout their expansive five studio album discography.
Yet this is still only one profound part of Einar Selvik.
He also gives tutorials and lectures on Old Norse literature, musicology, instruments and philosophy, and has appeared on Norwegian, Danish and Polish national television. What modern society may recognise the musician best for though, is his work with Wardruna on the Emmy award winning (among countless awards) TV series Vikings. Selvik not only helped compose the enthralling soundtrack to the production, but also appeared as an actor in seasons three and four as a Shaman.
“I don’t know. I feel that… I don’t like repeating myself in a way. I like to do new challenges, whether developing my music or exploring other pursuits. So, when I was asked if I wanted to come on the set and basically do what I normally do. It didn’t feel like a very foreign thing to do. It felt quite… natural.” He explains with a slight chuckle, then elaborates further – “But if you’re thinking like the show in general, what it did, it was definitely a steep learning curve compared to when I started working on the soundtrack. Even though I have done smaller productions and work here and there for audio/visual things, when you suddenly find yourself in the middle of such a huge production created in a crazy tempo, it’s a different world. But I’m very happy; I am happy to have done it, and I for sure learned a lot from it as well.”
The other “audio / visual” projects Selvik takes part in are almost countless in number. Whether collaborations with fellow Norwegian art-pop singer AURORA (“She is a force of nature. We’re fans of each other’s music, and both our managements knew about this. So, when we were set to play at the same festival, I think in 2017, it was proposed that that we collaborated on a song in our show and we did that and LOVED IT. I hope our paths will cross again at some point.”), or further film work as a composer in numerous projects including Lords Of Chaos released in 2018. An astonishing undertaking the Norwegian native has pursued is in the video game universe, specifically the mega success story that is Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
“Throughout the years, I’ve been offered many opportunities to, or many is perhaps a strong word, but several quite good opportunities to work with the game format. And for me, it was important to choose wisely; whatever project you go into, you have to be sure that you’re able to do a good job. That’s the first premise. And also, you have your own artistic integrity and there’s a lot of boxes that need to be ticked. I guess, what really sparked my interest in terms of Assassin’s Creed was how they envisioned my role and how I envisioned my role in it was pretty similar.” He expressed with an immeasurable passion that bolstered the energy of the atmosphere of our conversation until he was short of breath, but carried on with infectious sincerity – “What they wanted me predominantly to do was to give voice to a part of the tradition that is very often neglected whenever Nordic cultural history is portrayed in a game or series, and that is the Skaldic tradition, the tradition of the poets and the poetry.”
Did actually playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla help with discovering the how to portray the Skaldic tradition?
“Definitely, I needed to figure out how the game works, but also how the music works and what annoys you in a way or how can it not annoy you?” He reveals in laughter, then adds further detail – “Because you have to think differently, and that’s the case also when you work with film and TV series as well. You have to think differently. You have to express yourself in a slightly different way than when it’s just audio.”
The “audio” format will be the cause of much celebration in the coming days with the release of Wardruna’s sixth studio LP entitled Birna (the “she-bear” in Old Norse and the record’s conceptual topic) arriving on January 24th via Sony Music/By Norse Music. This exultation will actually take place while the Nordic folk musical collective are on their debut Australian tour and as Einar describes, both the journey for Birna and their performances on our shores are endeavours that are well worth the wait.
“It’s an album I thought about for many years before I started. It’s, well, first of all, it follows the same creative concept as all our music from the get-go; the same method. So that didn’t change. But of course, I’m not the same person as I was 10-15 years ago, or whatever, or yesterday even.” He charmingly giggles. “So, it needs to be… I will never do like the AC/DC and create the same over and over again. It follows the previous releases, but I have to create whatever comes and also conceptually. I felt that this album, the more and more I studied into it, both the bear itself from a scientific point of view, but also the man and bear cultural relationships throughout time. It became very evident that it needed to be a contemporary piece.”
How about the over 16,000 kilometres travelling to the lands of Australia?
“I’ve only passed through Australia. I had two days in in Sydney, 25 years ago, but I was able to stay for a while in New Zealand at that point. So, I have had the pleasure of experiencing New Zealand, and yeah, I always hoped to at some point visit Australia properly as it is definitely on my list as well. The nature, the variety of animals; especially the Indigenous culture. There is a lot of lot of really exciting things, so hopefully we get at least a little feeling of it.
“Aboriginal culture is absolutely, incredibly fascinating. Their animistic worldview is so inspirational. It’s still there, it’s the tradition. The tradition is so old and meaningful. Their traditions and ways go so far back in time. So, it’s definitely something I’ve looked into. And like many others, been absolutely fascinated by.”
“Rare is the union of beauty and purity.” – Juvenal.
Imagine experiencing this through a musical ceremony; this is Wardruna‘s ‘Løyndomsriss’ (‘Secret Carving’).
Interview by Will Oakeshott @TeenWolfWill
Birna is out Jan 24, 2025 via Sony Music and By Norse Music.
Pre-order here
Wardruna – Birna Tracklisting:
1. Hertan
2. Birna
3. Ljos til Jord
4. Dvaledraumar
5. Jord til Ljos
6. Himinndotter
7. Hibjørnen
8. Skuggehesten
9. Tretale
10. Lyfjaberg
Wardruna – Australian East Coast Tour
Thursday, January 23: Melbourne, Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Saturday, January 25: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Monday, January 27: Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane
Thursday, January 30: Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Auckland NZ
Tickets from
destroyalllines.com
