Garmarna

Biography

Garmarna is a Swedish folk rock band. 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 two years 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×Vittrad18 April 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 13 tracks1Straffad moder & dotter5:052Garmgny3:343Nämndemans-Ola2:404Kulleritova0:565Vittrad4:016Skallen3:117Flusspolska1:118Antiokia3:049Liten Kersti5:2410Inte sörja vi…2:5311Domschottis3:4612Den bortsålda4:2313Styvmodern2:51, the band decided to add samples and sequencers to the mix. In 1994, Omnium released Vittrad in the United States, with English translations of the old songs.
Garmarna started a long German tour and released the album Guds spelemän×Guds spelemän14 February 1996 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 10 tracks1Herr Mannelig6:222Vänner och fränder5:113Halling från Makedonien2:464Min man4:205Varulven4:346Hilla Lilla6:207Drew Drusnaar / Idag som igår2:468Njaalkeme5:039Herr Holger4:3810Guds spelemän3:27 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 of Bingen, together with actress Felicia Konrad.
In 1999 the band released their third album Vedergällningen×Vedergällningen2 January 1999 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 10 tracks1Gamen4:012Euchari4:213Halling Jåron3:034Vedergällningen4:565Nio år4:296Sorgsen ton4:487Herr Holkin5:188Bläck5:059Polska3:0810Brun5:57. The album's production leaned towards rock and trip hop, the atmosphere of the music being more obscure than in previous albums.
After Vedergällningen, the band collaborated with Swedish House producer Eric S. for their next studio album Hildegard von Bingen×Hildegard von Bingen1 January 2001 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 9 tracks1Euchari5:062Viridissima virga4:463Salvatoris4:384O frondens virga3:285Unde quocomque7:156O vis aeternitatis4:067Virga ac diadema6:508Paso3:099Kyrie2:45, which was released in 2001. The tracks in this album are based on the compositions of 12th century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen, with the lyrics to each song being sung entirely in Latin.
In 2003, their first EP was released as a full album with six bonus tracks.

In 2016, the band released their sixth album called 6.
In 2018, Garmarna initiated a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new album, Förbundet×Förbundet6 November 2020 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 9 tracks1Ramunder4:582Två systrar5:533Dagen flyr3:514Sven i Rosengård5:245Ur världen att gå4:526Vägskäl4:567Lussi lilla4:358Avskedet5:279Din grav1:56, to be released on November 6, 2020. The album was released on Season of Mist containing mostly interpretations of traditional Swedish folk songs and two original tracks by Garmarna. Guest musicians on this album include Maria Franz from Heilung and Anders Norudde from Hedningarna.

Band members

Stefan Brisland-Ferner – violin, hurdy-gurdy, sampler – on Garmarna (2003): jews harp, viola
Emma Härdelin – vocals, violin
Jens Höglin – drums, percussion – on Garmarna (2003): death grunts
Gotte Ringqvist – guitar, violin, backing vocals – on Garmarna (2003): lute guitar, jew's harp
Rickard Westman – guitar, bass, e-bow – on Garmarna (2003): bouzouki, lute guitar

Singles

"Herr Holger" (Sir Holger) (1996)
"En gång ska han gråta×En gång ska han gråta8 March 1997 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 2 tracks1En gång ska han gråta (Manus)3:002En gång ska han gråta (instrumental)2:58" (One Day He Shall Cry) (1997)
"Euchari×Euchari3 May 1999 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 2 tracks1Euchari (singel-edit)3:552Viridissima Virga7:19" (1999)
"Gamen×Gamen22 February 1999 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 2 tracks1Gamen3:472Konungen och Trollkvinnan4:03" (The Vulture) (1999)
"Över gränsen×Över gränsen6 November 2015 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track1Över gränsen3:29" (2015) (Over the Border)
"Kashmir×Kashmir20 December 2019 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Kashmir6:11" (2019)
"Ramunder×Ramunder27 August 2020 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track1Ramunder4:58" (2020)

Other

"Rastlös" (Restless) in compilation We're Only in It for the Money (1999)
Nordic Woman (2012)

In popular culture

The single "Gamen×Gamen22 February 1999 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 2 tracks1Gamen3:472Konungen och Trollkvinnan4:03" was featured in the 2003 video game Project Gotham Racing 2.