I was able to catch up with Antti Järvelä  of the Finnish string band Frigg.  The band is no stranger to Lotus Festival, but according to Antti, they’re still excited about their 2008 performance.  Throughout the interview, Antti kept me laughing but still had some very interesting outlooks on music and mission statements.   After listening to some of the band’s songs on myspace, I can only describe their sound as jolly, down-home and intricate, especially when it comes to the fiddling.  However, they more aptly describe their music as Kaustinen folk string music.  Kaustinen is an area in Finland known for its annual folk music festival.  Frigg will be performing October 2.  Anyone that spends 5 minutes listening to them isn’t immune to their infectious positive attitude and good vibes.  Read on:

Dawn: I wonder what was the impetus for naming the group Frigg? Is it after the goddess of fertility?  Is there another reason why you chose this name?

Antti: Just a coincidence with a dictionary even though the name kind of fits us because we’re still pretty young and fascinated about what we do.

Dawn: How is the dynamic between group members?

Antti: Getting better every year.

Dawn: Is it a serious group or are you guys always having fun?

Antti: Last year we toured the States for 6 weeks and no arguments at all! We’re really trying to have as much fun all the time as we can. Really a fantastic group to be on the road with.

Dawn: I had a feeling from your Myspace page, which says “Nordic Fiddling Fun!”  And you do tours in Europe and Australia as well?

Antti: In Europe, yes, but Australia is still waiting. We really want to go there soon, too. USA has been our main focus so far because we can basically go for one longer tour each year and the States has been kind of our #1 investment in past years. We’re about to focus more on Europe, too in the future.

Dawn: Tell me, what were your childhood experiences that led to you picking up the fiddle?  And why bass now?  And Estonian bagpipes—how did that come about?

Antti: There was a little reason called my parents.  They took me to have lessons from my uncle Mauno Järvelä (the father of Alina & Esko) when I was 4 years old. Mauno was then the leader of a youth group called  Järvelän Näppärit and with that group we also did our first trip to the USA ever. In the group there were mainly fiddle players accompanied by some older guys from the local village-scene and also some professional musicians–Timo Alakotila (a member of JPP etc.), to mention one.  Later on when the older folks couldn’t join every rehearsal some of us started playing the reed organ, guitar and the bass. My second instrument was actually the mandolin - after mandolin I picked the guitar and last but not least came the bass when I was in my late teenage.  Petri, Frigg’s mandolin and cittern player,  started playing Estonian bagpipes at some point after discovering Finnish folk music. He must have liked the sound (also some of his early friends from the folk music scene - one to mention again - Kurt Lindblad - played the Estonian bagpipes).

Dawn: What a list! I wish we saw some of these instruments in music in the States.

Antti: There has been also some Finnish bagpipes, but it’s been only some prototypes rebuilt during the few past years. Petri is pretty desperate to show off with the Finnish bagpipes because in the fashion world he might not have such a chance, I suppose…

You have such a great traditional scene also in the States if you go a bit deeper from the surface. In the counterpoint of 19th and 20th century there were lots of people all around  northern Europe moving to the States and really bringing a huge variety of different musical styles and instruments to melt together on the new continent.

Dawn: However, I fear there isn’t much variety in our popular music scene today.  I’m glad to have a good college radio station in my town.

Antti: The pop scene is 90% about business. But as we’ve seen, businesses fall, music stays. There will be times ahead when people search for exotic things and the more difficult it gets to travel in the future the closer (from our own backyards) we can find exotics again.

Dawn: That is very profound!  So, any mission statement with your music?  I suppose that is a heavy question, but I’ve read about how your families and now you and your band mates have been influential in teaching young people the fiddle.

Antti: The mission could be just to enjoy life. If I can enjoy and show that I enjoy what I do, maybe the folks listening and seeing me can hear it and feel good too.  At least we get to do what we want the most, and that’s fun!  We get to travel and see a lot, we get to spend quality time with best friends, we meet new people all the time. Two days in a row in our lives are never too similar.

Dawn: That sounds great.  So your first Lotus Festival…was that more nervousness or fun?

Antti: Our first Lotusfest was early 2000, or was it 2003? First of all it was really exciting to go to the States with Frigg. I was excited about the music we played and also how the band had developed with such a fast tempo. We had some nice time with Lee [Lotus director] and had great local beers! It was also so great to find out that we really got a small group of fans there after our first show. I wonder how it’s going to be this year…I think we play better, we enjoy more on the stage, we have plenty of new good tunes but haven’t forgotten the good old ones either.

Dawn: Oh good, you like the Upland beer?  Me too.

Antti: Petri just went wild when I told him that we’re going back to Bloomington… Just hands up in the air and yoo-hoooing.

Dawn: So what to expect from Frigg this year at Lotus?  This will be my first festival.  Any surprises?

Antti: Hopefully our gigs there will be full, hopefully we’ll sell all the CDs we’ve brought, hopefully we’ll get offered some nice local beers, hopefully you’ll also find your way there and get partly to make my expectations come true.

Dawn: I will definitely be there, though one night I am a volunteer.  I have to make sure no one leaves the festival parameters with their beers.  I fear I won’t be very popular that night.

Antti: Don’t worry; we’ll be carrying them only in our bellies.

Dawn: Do you have any parting words of wisdom, or anything else you’d like people to know before Lotus?

Antti: I’m not too good in sharing wisdom. You could just convince people that the “hot fiddles from cool Scandinavia” are coming to the oasis of Indiana and they are going to make and have a good time!

-- by Dawn K. Shanks