Aug. 16, 2023

Erland Westerstrom interview

Erland Westerstrom joins me on episode 92.
Erland is from Sweden, where he studied Swedish folk music on the harmonica at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, with Filip Jers as one of his teachers there.
Erland released a solo harmonica album in 2020, Andas! (Swedish for breathe), where he makes use of drones, polyphonic rhythms, tongue spilts and other techniques to create self-accompaniment to the melodies of the traditional tunes he plays.
Erland’s latest band is with the trio Västanvinden. This sees the harmonica combining with great effect with the clarinet and cittern, with the harmonica used as much for chordal accompaniment as for melody.
A big part of Erland’s music is playing for dancers, who are part of the show in Sweden.
Erland also does some harmonica maintenance work as well as teaching in Stockholm and online. He is touring with the Västanvinden trio in Europe later in 2023.

Links:

Erland's website:
http://www.folkmunspel.se/english

Contact:
erland.westerstrom@icloud.com

Blog:
http://www.folkmunspel.se/blogg

Custom harmonicas for sale:
http://www.folkmunspel.se/till-salu

Great resource for traditional Swedish tunes:
folkwiki.se

Audio-Technica ATM350 mic:
https://www.audio-technica.com/en-gb/atm350

Videos:

From Andas! Album:
https://youtu.be/6E3jK0Hj71I

With Bjorn Gardner:
https://youtu.be/6E3jK0Hj71I

With Vastanvinden trio:
https://youtu.be/eNDmadf1k0M

Tremolo playing:
https://youtu.be/7CXqJ4-v1wU

Graduation concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKKNMHmeR6o

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

or sign-up to a monthly subscription to the podcast:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/995536/support

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS

Support the show

01:33 - Erland is from Sweden, and specialises in Swedish folk music

01:54 - Folk music scene in Stockholm is there, if you look for it, with Erland discovering it in his early 20s

02:27 - The Swedish for harmonica is Munspiel, which translates as ‘mouth play’

03:03 - Erland’s first instrument was the clarinet, and started playing harmonica in early teens

03:49 - How learned the clarinet and played in an orchestra

04:18 - Doesn’t play much clarinet these days, replaced by the harmonica

04:48 - Similarities between clarinet and harmonica, including the breathing technique

05:39 - Mainly learned to play the harmonica by ear

05:51 - Two advantages of being able to read from sheet music

06:16 - Doesn’t play the chromatic, with the diatonic suiting the style of music Erland plays

06:36 - Reads sheet music for playing the diatonic

07:06 - Studied harmonica on the folk course at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm

08:15 - Filip Jers also studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and was one of Erland’s teachers there

08:37 - Also had tuition on the course from violin, accordion and flute, and how that influenced harmonica playing

09:44 - Dancing is an integral part of Swedish traditional music

10:42 - Info on Swedish folk music, with much of it deriving from Poland (Polska)

11:16 - Polska is not the same as Polka, being a three beat rhythm, but different from a waltz

11:54 - How much is Swedish folk music played outside of Sweden

12:59 - Link on podcast page where interested people can find resources to learn Swedish folk music

13:33 - Most Swedish folk music is played in 1st position on harmonica, although Erland uses other positions when required

14:14 - Also uses some minor harmonicas

14:20 - Adds overblows and bending on his playing of folk music, which hasn’t been done much by other traditional Swedish players

15:07 - There are other harmonica players of Swedish folk music, but Erland is one of the few actively gigging

15:27 - Filip Jers plays some folk, but is more of a jazz player

16:08 - How Erland started playing folk music on the harmonica, after initially playing blues

16:40 - Tried to play folk music on clarinet at first, but found it fitted better on harmonica

17:30 - Started playing in a student folk group

18:17 - First recordings were with Bjorn Gardner, who is a folk singer songwriter

20:19 - Released a solo harmonica album in 2020: Andas! (Translates as breathe), recorded at the end of studying at the Royal Academy

21:40 - The harmonica works very well as a solo instrument

22:56 - Records one song with a harpist on the album

24:48 - Use of a drone in solo harmonica song

25:26 - Makes use of polyphonic techniques, including different tongue spilts

27:02 - Tries to find out how many chords are available to play on the harmonica (mainly using two notes)

27:33 - Sometimes uses different tunings, mainly for minor tuned harmonicas (not for major)

29:03 - Example tuning modification on minor tuned harp is to raise 6 draw a semi-tone

29:37 - Uses different tongue splits to produce different intervals, drawing inspiration from fiddle players

30:43 - Creates a drone tuning: which can be done using 2 draw / 3 blow, but Erland tunes 1 draw down a tone to drone on same notes on 1 hole blow and draw

32:39 - Does anybody else play drones in this same way?

33:23 - Erland gets a different sound than typical harmonica players due to his polyphonic techniques

34:29 - Interprets a solo vocal line on harmonica in Polska efter Måns Olsson

36:05 - Nominated for Swedish Independent Music Producers award for Andas! Album

36:21 - Album with trio Västanvinden, and how came to combine with a clarinet and cittern

38:42 - Does a lot of chordal accompaniment on the harmonica with this trio

39:34 - Often plays two holes to the melody on harmonica to add texture

39:53 - Playing in unison with the clarinet to create almost a ‘third instrument’

40:46 - Melodic sections played on harmonica

41:36 - Plans to release more albums with Västanvinden trio, playing traditional tunes from different parts of Sweden

42:17 - Trio has been working a lot with two dancers recently, where the dancers are part of the show

44:12 - Erland also plays the Harmonetta: a harmonica with buttons

46:50 - Erland also offers maintenance and customisation of harmonicas

47:39 - Teaches harmonica, both in person and online, and in group classes in Sweden

48:21 - Enjoys teaching beginners because reminds him to work on the fundamentals

48:52 - Plays some tremolo harmonica, inspired by Finnish player Jouko Kyhällä

51:15 - 10 minute question: 1. Learn new tunes, 2. Breathing / tone exercises

52:04 - Harmonica of choice: Hohner and Seydel brands

52:24 - What difference Erland sees from using custom combs

53:17 - Uses overblows, reasonably sparingly

54:09 - Amplification: uses PA

54:21 - Cups a small condenser mic: ATM 350

55:36 - Doesn’t use any effects pedals, a little reverb through PA

56:09 - Future plans: upcoming gigs in Sweden and Europe, including playing for dances

WEBVTT

00:00:00.066 --> 00:00:02.448
Orland Westerström joins me on episode 92.

00:00:02.468 --> 00:00:10.778
Orland is from Sweden, where he studied Swedish folk music on the harmonica at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, with Philip Jers as one of his teachers there.

00:00:11.419 --> 00:00:24.734
Orland released a solo harmonica album in 2020, Andas, she's Swedish for breathe, where he makes use of drones, polyphonic rhythms, tongue splits and other techniques to create self-accompaniment to the melodies of the traditional tunes he plays.

00:00:25.506 --> 00:00:28.048
Arland's latest band is with the trio Vastanvinden.

00:00:28.548 --> 00:00:36.158
This sees the harmonica combining with great effect with the clarinet and sittern, with the harmonica used as much for chordal accompaniment as for melody.

00:00:36.819 --> 00:00:40.862
A big part of Arland's music is playing for dancers, who are part of the show in Sweden.

00:00:41.444 --> 00:00:45.969
Arland also does some harmonica maintenance work as well as teaching in Stockholm and online.

00:00:46.488 --> 00:00:49.792
He is touring with the Vastanvinden trio in Europe later in 2023.

00:00:51.042 --> 00:00:53.566
This podcast is sponsored by Seidel Harmonicas.

00:00:53.966 --> 00:01:03.320
Visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seidel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Seidel Harmonicas.

00:01:13.576 --> 00:01:13.918
Seidel Harmonicas

00:01:25.986 --> 00:01:28.709
Hello, Arland Westström, and welcome to the podcast.

00:01:29.329 --> 00:01:29.790
Thank you.

00:01:29.870 --> 00:01:31.132
It's a pleasure to be here.

00:01:31.953 --> 00:01:32.953
Great to speak to you.

00:01:32.993 --> 00:01:34.677
So you're based in Sweden?

00:01:35.337 --> 00:01:37.879
Are you sort of mainly focusing on Swedish folk music?

00:01:38.361 --> 00:01:39.121
Yeah, that would be.

00:01:39.421 --> 00:01:41.325
That's the thing I'm working with.

00:01:41.665 --> 00:01:45.149
I'm mostly specialized in folk music and traditional music.

00:01:45.590 --> 00:01:47.031
Whereabouts are you based in Sweden?

00:01:47.632 --> 00:01:49.775
Yeah, I'm in Stockholm, in the capital.

00:01:50.155 --> 00:01:52.058
So that's where I was born.

00:01:52.378 --> 00:01:53.539
I'm from here.

00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:54.540
Great.

00:01:54.740 --> 00:01:55.221
Is there a good...

00:01:55.906 --> 00:01:59.429
music scene in Stockholm and Swedish folk music specifically?

00:01:59.468 --> 00:02:20.308
It is but the folk music scene is a bit how to say it it's a bit secret maybe actually I didn't discover it until in my early 20s so before that I played music but I didn't really find the Swedish folk scene but it is definitely here and there are many great musicians living in Stockholm.

00:02:20.688 --> 00:02:40.020
Great we'll get into that so a really interesting thing I discovered and I have talked to a couple of other swedish players but the swedish for harmonica i believe is uh munspiel yes i checked out the google translator this and uh mun stands for mouth and spiel stands for game so it's mouth game is that a correct pronunciation

00:02:40.241 --> 00:02:51.973
not really game it's more like it's spiel it also means to play like the the word to play and to like to play an instrument so it's more like you play it with your mouth the literal translation

00:02:52.193 --> 00:02:55.977
So mouth play is a great way to think about playing the harmonica, I think.

00:02:56.056 --> 00:02:56.937
Exactly, it's a

00:02:56.978 --> 00:02:58.058
very accurate one, I think.

00:02:58.759 --> 00:02:59.901
Yeah, it's beautiful, yeah.

00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:02.742
So what got you into playing the harmonica?

00:03:03.304 --> 00:03:07.586
My first instrument was the clarinet in the public music school here.

00:03:07.987 --> 00:03:16.155
So I played that for many years, but I started playing harmonica, I picked it up maybe in seventh or eighth grade, I think, in my early teens.

00:03:16.694 --> 00:03:21.740
Mainly I was fascinated with the sound and I also listened to some blues music, so...

00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:23.401
That's how I started.

00:03:23.481 --> 00:03:28.270
And I remember I had like one summer I started playing the harmonica.

00:03:28.311 --> 00:03:31.195
I had the harmonica and a book.

00:03:31.316 --> 00:03:40.473
I don't remember which one right now, but I was just trying to pick up some melodies and some blues licks and really trying over and over again that summer.

00:03:40.492 --> 00:03:45.322
And I learned to bend some notes and took some steps and then it stuck with me.

00:03:45.698 --> 00:03:48.881
but I mostly kept it as a side instrument for many years.

00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:49.600
Yeah.

00:03:49.661 --> 00:03:53.425
Did you have sort of classical sort of, you know, training on the clarinet?

00:03:53.724 --> 00:03:54.626
Yeah, more or less.

00:03:54.945 --> 00:04:03.312
My first teacher wasn't really like, I mostly played a variety of things and he was not pushing me that hard.

00:04:03.834 --> 00:04:08.677
So we tried many different things and played various tunes together on the clarinet.

00:04:08.798 --> 00:04:12.741
But later on, I had a classical teacher who was very inspiring.

00:04:12.781 --> 00:04:15.104
So then I started playing more classical things.

00:04:15.503 --> 00:04:18.348
I have I played clarinet in a symphonic orchestra, for example.

00:04:18.848 --> 00:04:20.290
So do you still play the clarinet now?

00:04:20.331 --> 00:04:21.392
Not really.

00:04:21.413 --> 00:04:30.608
I keep one in my closet, more or less, and sometimes I pick it up to try if I can get a tone, and it usually works, but then I put it back again.

00:04:30.627 --> 00:04:34.053
Now I play almost exclusively harmonica.

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.000
.

00:04:48.449 --> 00:04:51.572
What about any similarities between clarinet and harmonica?

00:04:51.773 --> 00:04:55.956
Anything that, you know, helped you with the harmonica that, you know, you'd learned on the clarinet?

00:04:57.598 --> 00:05:05.064
Many things, I think, but one is the breathing, because I had like a good breathing from very, very deep from your diaphragm.

00:05:05.685 --> 00:05:07.005
I knew how to do that.

00:05:07.326 --> 00:05:11.750
But it's, of course, also different because on the clarinet, you need to have a very high pressure.

00:05:11.769 --> 00:05:15.273
And for the harmonica, you don't want to have pressure.

00:05:15.312 --> 00:05:17.435
You want to just breathe, relax.

00:05:17.774 --> 00:05:30.197
But I had good control over those breathing muscles and also to get a good tone i think it's also important on under wind instruments like the clarinet so you know how to shape your mouth to get a good tone

00:05:30.697 --> 00:05:38.673
but you know so you're obviously playing in an orchestra she said there so you you were reading music to quite a good level yeah so is that something you've carried forward onto the harmonica

00:05:39.012 --> 00:06:08.161
yeah when i started on harmonica i i used some tablature and but I quickly like left that behind and just played by ear so for me mostly I mostly play by ear but it's really good to to be able to read sheet music for two reasons mainly one is to find new repertoire from sheet music and the other is to if you have like very complicated arrangements and stuff it's it's good to have it written down for me at least

00:06:08.701 --> 00:06:16.168
for reading would you you know play say the chromatic and and diatonic more by ear or anything like that or do you not really distinguish them too much?

00:06:16.709 --> 00:07:00.541
I don't really play the chromatic harmonica I tried it a few times I'm kind of almost intimidated by the chromatic because I feel like if I started playing it I have to start learning all the scales and it's like too much work for the music style I play and also the diatonic really fits the style I play but I learned to read sheet music for the diatonic and to switch between different keys and even different tunings I suppose it's a good like practical music theory to have the music theory like by heart the intervals and that helped me a lot to start to read music I know which harp it is and which position, and I just identify the root, the fifth, etc.

00:07:00.822 --> 00:07:04.346
in the sheet music, rather than thinking about note names.

00:07:04.826 --> 00:07:09.050
So going back, so you have a higher education in music.

00:07:09.089 --> 00:07:11.451
You went to the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

00:07:11.492 --> 00:07:13.713
Was this mainly on the harmonica?

00:07:14.213 --> 00:07:14.434
Yes.

00:07:15.134 --> 00:07:16.735
I didn't have a second instrument, really.

00:07:16.797 --> 00:07:18.718
I played only harmonica there.

00:07:19.338 --> 00:07:19.619
Great.

00:07:19.699 --> 00:07:23.041
And so was this specifically a folk chorus?

00:07:23.401 --> 00:07:31.817
It was on the folk music, the In Stockholm, it's because you can apply either in Swedish folk music.

00:07:32.377 --> 00:07:35.904
And when I say folk music, I mostly mean traditional music.

00:07:36.505 --> 00:07:40.935
So it's not like folk songs and stuff like that, like later.

00:07:41.396 --> 00:07:46.365
I mean, the term folk music is very broad, but this is for the traditional music industry.

00:07:46.497 --> 00:08:11.095
here in sweden and you can also apply for for a more like if you play traditional music from other parts of the world so one of my classmates he for example he he he sings like english folk and and stuff like that so he he applied for this other course but we had we studied together in one class but most of the people there study swedish folk

00:08:11.596 --> 00:08:15.285
so yeah great that you can you know, you can study folk music there specifically.

00:08:15.545 --> 00:08:19.329
And so Philip Jers, it's someone else I had on the podcast previously.

00:08:19.348 --> 00:08:22.733
He also went to the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

00:08:22.913 --> 00:08:22.992
Yeah.

00:08:23.012 --> 00:08:24.514
And he was one of your teachers there.

00:08:24.535 --> 00:08:24.915
Is that right?

00:08:25.375 --> 00:08:26.156
Yes, that's right.

00:08:26.538 --> 00:08:28.300
He was my teacher for three years.

00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:35.347
For me, they did the special arrangement because I play the harmonica and all the teachers there, they play other instruments, of course.

00:08:35.868 --> 00:08:44.855
So I had a split Most other students had one main teacher every year, but I split my hours, so I had half of the time I had.

00:08:44.914 --> 00:08:53.726
First year I had a violin teacher, and the second year I had a flute teacher, and the third year I had an accordion teacher.

00:08:53.746 --> 00:09:01.317
And they all taught me how to play in the traditional style and how to learn tunes and all these things.

00:09:01.798 --> 00:09:06.443
And then I had Filip also, so he helped me with all the harmonica-related stuff.

00:09:06.865 --> 00:09:07.806
Great, yeah.

00:09:07.905 --> 00:09:12.839
Again, picking on the other instruments there, you mentioned violin, accordion, flute.

00:09:13.981 --> 00:09:15.404
But you were playing obviously the harmonica.

00:09:15.424 --> 00:09:18.833
So what about translating what they were teaching into the harmonica?

00:09:19.335 --> 00:09:23.485
Yeah, it was great because, for example, when I had the violin teacher, she...

00:09:23.778 --> 00:09:28.048
She might wanted me to play something and she asked like, can you do this?

00:09:28.350 --> 00:09:35.288
It could be like an intonation thing to do a quarter tone, for example, or some kind of ornament.

00:09:35.688 --> 00:09:43.597
And then I could bring this question to Philip and we tried to figure out together how to solve this problem, so to speak.

00:09:44.337 --> 00:09:49.643
So you mentioned, obviously, you specialize in Swedish traditional music and in folk music specifically.

00:09:49.682 --> 00:09:52.144
So could you tell us a bit about that?

00:09:52.184 --> 00:09:54.086
And I know that's something you're interested in.

00:09:54.527 --> 00:09:58.671
You're interested in the history and culture of the music here.

00:09:59.230 --> 00:10:00.331
Yes, that's correct.

00:10:00.552 --> 00:10:04.716
Yeah, I play the Swedish traditional music or folk music scene.

00:10:04.895 --> 00:10:07.958
It's very much like a living tradition.

00:10:08.499 --> 00:10:40.971
There's a lot of music that's been played continuously and taught from person to person over generations and there is also a very active dance scene which is quite different because in many countries there is like a kind of folk dancing that is a reconstruction or like you show folk dance but this is an active dance where you go to a dance night and you dance these folk dances together in a very improvised and spontaneous way So this is something I really like about the folk scene in Sweden.

00:10:41.552 --> 00:10:43.615
Well, some more about the music.

00:10:43.895 --> 00:10:51.448
We have some different types of tunes that are specific to Sweden, mostly the different types of polska tunes.

00:10:52.250 --> 00:10:54.934
And it's a dance that comes from Poland originally.

00:10:55.054 --> 00:10:56.317
That's the name, polska.

00:10:56.817 --> 00:11:00.965
But that was several hundred years ago, and since then it has evolved a lot.

00:11:08.289 --> 00:11:12.436
so

00:11:16.981 --> 00:11:21.489
is that polska is that related to polka or is it something different

00:11:21.869 --> 00:11:35.325
yeah it's something different it's it's easy to mix them up but no not really polka is more like a 19th century thing and it's uh it's a two beat so we also play polka here but uh Polska is really the thing.

00:11:35.345 --> 00:11:40.476
The most common type of polska is a three beat and it's not really even.

00:11:40.537 --> 00:11:41.919
So it's the way you dance.

00:11:42.139 --> 00:11:47.392
It's like you walk on the first and the third beat and then there's a pause in the middle.

00:11:47.432 --> 00:11:51.480
So it's kind of a special kind of rhythm to the three beat.

00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:53.645
Quite different from waltz, for example.

00:11:54.145 --> 00:11:59.457
So, I mean, how much do you perceive that Swedish folk music is played outside of Sweden?

00:11:59.518 --> 00:12:04.629
I mean, obviously, you know, Irish music is kind of very famously probably played as a main traditional music.

00:12:04.669 --> 00:12:06.653
There's quite a lot of American type folk music.

00:12:06.714 --> 00:12:11.544
And so, you know, is Swedish folk music played in many of the places, do you think?

00:12:12.001 --> 00:12:18.493
It is played in many places, but it's a very small scene outside of Sweden, I would say.

00:12:18.854 --> 00:12:28.450
But I know there are some people and some enthusiasts in Japan, for example, and in other countries in Europe, like Germany, and also many...

00:12:28.929 --> 00:12:37.236
Many people come to Sweden to learn this, to study in the music academy, for example, at the folk music department.

00:12:37.557 --> 00:12:41.721
I knew many people from France and Belgium and etc.

00:12:42.041 --> 00:12:47.566
who come to the Nordic countries to study because the folk scene is much more active here.

00:12:48.047 --> 00:12:54.611
Sure, and as we go through some of your songs later, hopefully people will hear a song that they might want to learn, a Swedish folk song.

00:12:54.672 --> 00:12:58.875
So that would be great if we can get some people learning a few Swedish folk songs.

00:12:58.895 --> 00:13:09.434
So it's like a resource besides your own music, which you'll listen to where, you know, people can find Swedish folk music like, you know, the tablature, for example, or the music or, you know, in recordings.

00:13:10.235 --> 00:13:12.240
I think tablature will be difficult.

00:13:12.419 --> 00:13:15.745
So if you can read sheet music, it's possible to find a lot.

00:13:15.905 --> 00:13:24.153
But it may be mostly in Swedish, so you need to either do some guessing or use some translation software.

00:13:24.432 --> 00:13:27.836
But there are some great resources online to find tunes.

00:13:28.297 --> 00:13:32.460
So yeah, if you share that link with me, I'll put that on the podcast page so people can find that.

00:13:32.500 --> 00:13:33.400
That'd be great, thanks.

00:13:34.081 --> 00:13:37.644
So what about playing Swedish folk music on the harmonica?

00:13:37.684 --> 00:13:42.928
Are you mainly playing in first position or are you moving into playing second position and others?

00:13:43.450 --> 00:13:46.765
Well, for me, I mostly play in in first position.

00:13:47.105 --> 00:13:50.649
And that's kind of the traditional way of playing.

00:13:50.989 --> 00:13:53.711
I think it gives the biggest sound.

00:13:54.251 --> 00:13:56.413
It fits the music very well for this style.

00:13:56.673 --> 00:14:05.822
But I do, for example, if it's a different mode, like a Mixolydian mode with a flat seventh, I might use second position.

00:14:06.182 --> 00:14:08.524
If it's a Dorian mode, I use third position.

00:14:08.625 --> 00:14:12.488
And some other minor scales, I might use third position as well.

00:14:12.807 --> 00:14:15.029
So it depends, but mostly first position.

00:14:15.090 --> 00:14:19.374
And I also use minor harmonicas in a few different tunings.

00:14:19.754 --> 00:14:29.004
And, you know, one thing I've been reading about your music is, you know, you kind of put a sort of modern approach to the traditional music, your interpretation, and obviously playing it on harmonica as well.

00:14:29.083 --> 00:14:30.605
So what about that?

00:14:30.985 --> 00:14:40.836
Well, the modern stuff that I bring to it, I think, is some extended techniques like overblows and bending that I use to complete the scale on the instrument.

00:14:41.037 --> 00:14:41.937
So that's one thing.

00:14:42.529 --> 00:14:47.317
And I also try to explore some more sounds on the instrument to use.

00:14:47.677 --> 00:14:55.047
For example, I play using the overtones of the tone to kind of a bit like a yaw harp.

00:14:55.467 --> 00:14:57.029
I use that for accompaniment a lot.

00:14:57.350 --> 00:14:59.312
That's not really a traditional thing.

00:14:59.994 --> 00:15:05.301
But the, in quotation marks, modern parts, that's mostly the overblows and the bending.

00:15:05.441 --> 00:15:07.604
That's not done by traditional players.

00:15:08.044 --> 00:15:08.765
So are there...

00:15:09.153 --> 00:15:13.339
quite a few other people in Sweden playing the traditional music on harmonica.

00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:44.677
Yes, there are some older players traditional playing in traditional styles and also some younger not many who are like active and playing concerts a lot or in bands and etc and there are players like Philip Gers who you mentioned and he plays a lot of folk material and he also did this recording with Joko Kihle from Finland for example playing traditional music so he definitely does that but he is mostly a jazz player I would say and I think he would agree

00:15:44.929 --> 00:15:50.177
Yeah, I noticed Philip, I've seen his post recently, he's doing very well with the Toots tribute album he's just released.

00:15:50.197 --> 00:15:52.059
So yeah, he's definitely playing jazz at the moment.

00:15:53.982 --> 00:16:10.668
And so what about your transition to folk music?

00:16:10.687 --> 00:16:11.929
You mentioned that initially...

00:16:12.289 --> 00:16:15.578
The first thing you heard on harmonica, like many of us, was blues harmonica.

00:16:15.820 --> 00:16:18.948
So how did you move then across to the folk side?

00:16:19.551 --> 00:16:23.240
Yeah, I discovered the folk scene.

00:16:23.874 --> 00:17:04.750
through some some friends and i i started going to there is there are some places where you can dance and jam and hang out with people so i started going to these places and parties and like trying to jam along with the tunes and try to learn how to play initially i brought my clarinet but it was really i found it difficult because i had played so much from sheet music so i was not that used to to learning by ear some of it can be quite challenging to play uh folk music on clarinet also, because the tunes are very busy, you're playing all the time, and the clarinet is kind of demanding to play, so you get tired quickly.

00:17:05.570 --> 00:17:07.873
So I started using my harmonica instead.

00:17:08.413 --> 00:17:12.837
Yeah, it kind of stuck with me, and I really liked it, so I kept working on it.

00:17:13.198 --> 00:17:22.980
Transition from blues, it kind of helped me that I had already learned how to bend notes, for example, and also do some I had tried that.

00:17:23.324 --> 00:17:26.244
I had that technique before I started to learn.

00:17:26.498 --> 00:17:27.098
folk music.

00:17:27.439 --> 00:17:30.020
So I incorporated that quite early on.

00:17:30.582 --> 00:17:31.662
So how did you develop from there?

00:17:31.742 --> 00:17:35.306
You started, like you say, going to these parties, these get-togethers.

00:17:35.365 --> 00:17:38.689
Did you then start playing in any bands, playing this type of music?

00:17:39.229 --> 00:17:43.071
Well, at that time, I was not going all in on music.

00:17:43.212 --> 00:17:44.753
I was studying at the university.

00:17:45.034 --> 00:17:47.215
I studied language and art history.

00:17:47.296 --> 00:17:49.657
So I had a lot of other things going on.

00:17:49.718 --> 00:17:51.720
And I also had my first daughter at that time.

00:17:52.299 --> 00:18:04.299
So in my early 20s, well, I played like on the side and that When I was in a student band, or we call it Spelmanslag, that's like a gathering of traditional players.

00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:08.086
Spelman is like a fiddler or like player of traditional music.

00:18:08.288 --> 00:18:13.538
So I joined this student group and that helped me a lot to learn a lot of tunes.

00:18:13.898 --> 00:18:17.346
If you join a group like that, you quickly get a big repertoire.

00:18:17.794 --> 00:18:20.097
Going on then to your recording career.

00:18:20.198 --> 00:18:25.005
So the first person I've got you recordings released with is Bjorn Gardner.

00:18:25.045 --> 00:18:25.645
Is that right?

00:18:26.006 --> 00:18:28.089
Yes, we met at the Royal Academy.

00:18:28.130 --> 00:18:34.740
So this type of music is, well, certainly on the first album, which is the Ballads and Lullabies album.

00:18:34.819 --> 00:18:35.000
Yes.

00:18:35.260 --> 00:18:37.002
You play on a song called Autumn Bell.

00:18:44.034 --> 00:18:44.094
Yes.

00:18:51.170 --> 00:18:55.163
This is more of a kind of folk singer-songwriter type of music, yeah?

00:18:55.885 --> 00:18:56.567
Yes, it is.

00:18:57.029 --> 00:18:59.196
Bjarn is quite an interesting...

00:18:59.458 --> 00:19:25.039
musician because he has he's like a folk rock musician but he is he also studied composition like in a modern classical composition and he also did did a degree in folk music in traditional singing both nordic and and in other styles like english and american so so he has a lot of different influences but but it's mainly in a singer-songwriter style i would agree on that

00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:31.025
yeah so you're playing this kind of melodic kind of uh ballad on this first one but but the second album with him.

00:19:31.726 --> 00:19:34.468
I guess, is it more kind of traditional folk sort of sounding?

00:19:35.009 --> 00:19:40.733
It's more of a traditional music, but it's also more of a folk rock album.

00:19:41.193 --> 00:19:45.238
And he is working with the sound engineer and producer.

00:19:45.377 --> 00:19:52.263
They do a lot of work on the recordings and add effects and some electronic sounds also to the music.

00:19:52.884 --> 00:19:56.086
Yeah, and of course singing in Swedish as well, which I think is great.

00:19:56.106 --> 00:19:58.269
And you do some playing in between the lyrics.

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.000
...

00:19:59.586 --> 00:20:18.910
Bända oss en säng När sängen den var bedatt Och rosor ströda i jaja

00:20:19.521 --> 00:20:27.751
And then in 2020, you released a solo album, so a solo harmonica album called Andas, which means breathe in English.

00:20:27.833 --> 00:20:28.032
Yes.

00:20:28.532 --> 00:20:28.794
Great.

00:20:28.814 --> 00:20:33.960
So was this a kind of a pandemic project and hence maybe one of the reasons you did a solo album?

00:20:34.740 --> 00:20:38.145
No, actually, it was recorded in 2019.

00:20:38.605 --> 00:20:40.808
There was a delay before I released it.

00:20:41.309 --> 00:20:43.772
It was going to be released in April 2020.

00:20:44.865 --> 00:20:48.048
So we had to postpone the release concert.

00:20:48.209 --> 00:20:52.893
The album was kind of the conclusion of my studies at the Royal Academy.

00:20:53.133 --> 00:20:58.397
So I recorded it just at the very end of my bachelor studies in music.

00:20:58.837 --> 00:21:00.138
Was it part of your degree?

00:21:00.159 --> 00:21:02.101
Did you submit it for anything?

00:21:02.141 --> 00:21:05.022
Not really, but it was part of it.

00:21:05.044 --> 00:21:12.569
We had some courses you could take where you could do a musical project that was very free and open.

00:21:12.670 --> 00:21:17.536
So I choose to make this album and to do the recording and everything.

00:21:17.836 --> 00:21:24.605
So it was the result of a school project, but not really the release of the album that I had to do afterwards.

00:21:25.026 --> 00:21:29.451
Yeah, so tell us then something about recording a solo harmonica album.

00:21:29.471 --> 00:21:36.780
So there have been other solo harmonica albums, quite a few of them, you know, so what did you have to do to release a solo album?

00:21:37.422 --> 00:21:38.103
Well, for

00:21:38.143 --> 00:21:40.266
me, it was not that difficult.

00:21:40.586 --> 00:21:45.494
The thing is, if you play in this traditional traditional style and you play tunes.

00:21:46.058 --> 00:21:49.500
The harmonica is actually a very accomplished solo instrument.

00:21:49.953 --> 00:21:51.355
You have everything you need.

00:21:51.395 --> 00:21:52.356
You have the melody.

00:21:52.376 --> 00:22:02.611
If you play with tongue blocking, you can add rhythm and chords, and you can make small arrangements with extra notes.

00:22:03.451 --> 00:22:12.865
And since this Swedish traditional music is very melody-based, if you work on your melody playing, you have all the components you need, more or less.

00:22:12.884 --> 00:22:19.933
¶¶

00:22:20.513 --> 00:22:37.509
So it's quite common with solo albums for different instruments, where solo fiddle albums are very common here.

00:22:38.082 --> 00:22:48.678
So it was not that difficult to do solo pieces, but then I had, of course, to pick together a collection of tunes that I like and to make a variety for the album.

00:22:48.958 --> 00:22:55.607
So that's, of course, a challenge, but I think playing solo is not that intimidating if you play in this traditional style.

00:22:56.449 --> 00:23:00.576
We should mention as well that you do do one song with another instrument, which was with a harp.

00:23:00.796 --> 00:23:01.036
Yes.

00:23:01.217 --> 00:23:04.741
So, you know, why did you choose to record with a harp?

00:23:07.266 --> 00:23:07.486
piano plays

00:23:19.329 --> 00:23:22.394
It's been done before where a harmonica player is recorded with a harp.

00:23:22.413 --> 00:23:26.619
I don't know if it's just because of the, you know, the name harp goes with the harmonica harp.

00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:27.740
Is that your motivation?

00:23:28.142 --> 00:23:31.125
It's a bit of a coincidence that it was the harp I did.

00:23:31.246 --> 00:23:35.971
It was, that is my former wife who's playing the harp there.

00:23:36.251 --> 00:23:36.532
Okay.

00:23:36.712 --> 00:23:38.776
So we wanted to do a tune together.

00:23:38.796 --> 00:23:43.301
Yeah, she plays a lot of different instruments, but I thought the harp would fit nicely.

00:23:43.586 --> 00:23:44.247
Yeah, definitely.

00:23:44.287 --> 00:23:45.088
Yeah, definitely does.

00:23:45.490 --> 00:23:45.710
Yeah.

00:23:45.789 --> 00:23:48.375
So, you know, let's go into some detail on the songs in here then.

00:23:48.454 --> 00:23:52.963
So the first one I picked out is the Send Polska Eftergården Lang.

00:23:53.263 --> 00:23:53.805
Göran Long.

00:23:54.046 --> 00:23:55.788
So this is a very sort of mournful one.

00:23:55.808 --> 00:23:57.813
You're playing lots of drones and double stops.

00:24:22.945 --> 00:24:25.348
That one is the Zen Polska.

00:24:25.509 --> 00:24:29.775
It's also a Polska tune, but it's a very slow Polska.

00:24:30.115 --> 00:24:33.559
And that's one I played with my flute teacher.

00:24:33.779 --> 00:24:34.461
I learned from him.

00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:36.903
Or it's not really flute.

00:24:36.923 --> 00:24:38.286
How do you say it?

00:24:38.365 --> 00:24:40.749
It's more like a tin whistle, but made from wood.

00:24:41.569 --> 00:24:44.273
Yeah, he plays all kinds of flutes and recorders.

00:24:44.705 --> 00:25:00.492
things but i learned it from that teacher and i've been working on this drone technique for many years before i i was able to use it for an entire tune like that it's it's uh it takes a really long time to learn to play a consistent drone.

00:25:00.512 --> 00:25:10.182
I don't know if everyone knows this, but since there is, if you have a standard tuned harmonica or a minor tuned harmonica, you can use the two draw and the three blow.

00:25:10.481 --> 00:25:11.343
They are the same note.

00:25:11.383 --> 00:25:21.030
So you can, if you are very precise with how you move your mouth and use tongue blocking, you can keep this note all the time to create a drone effect.

00:25:21.290 --> 00:25:26.576
So this was one of the first tunes where I really learned how to do this technique

00:25:26.576 --> 00:25:41.872
Again, this being a solo album, you've used something which is polyphonic harmonica, where you're playing, as you say with the drone, you're playing more than one note at a time and accompanying yourself by doing tongue blocking and that sort of thing.

00:25:41.912 --> 00:25:44.154
Is that something you use quite a lot in this solo album?

00:25:44.474 --> 00:25:54.125
Yes, I try to use a variety of techniques like that, either like this in a polyphonic way or to use tongue blocking in a more rhythmic way.

00:25:54.625 --> 00:25:56.067
I really try to...

00:25:56.528 --> 00:26:04.435
explore the different ways to make arrangements for the solo harmonica without kind of harming the melody playing.

00:26:04.497 --> 00:26:07.440
The melody playing is always the most important thing.

00:26:07.900 --> 00:26:20.473
Yeah, so if you maybe give people a few ideas about polyphonic playing or other techniques, as you say, to sort of accompany yourself in this way, if people are interested in that sort of approach on harmonica, because it's not used that much.

00:26:20.993 --> 00:26:27.000
It is used quite a bit, but yeah, it's a reasonably unique and unexplored area of the harmonica thing isn't it?

00:26:27.121 --> 00:27:12.990
Yeah it is I really enjoyed exploring it I think others should do it too it's I think the reason might be because so many players they play like in a traditional blues style and that style has has a lot of these techniques but it's used only in some specific ways for example you play octaves or you might play the two draw and the five draw to have this seventh sound but there are so many other intervals you can play but those don't really fit in a blues context they fit in in many other styles so that's maybe one reason for me I kind of I try to find for example how many chords can you play on the harmonica if you allow yourself to play only two notes you can play almost complete chord.

00:27:13.029 --> 00:27:17.078
You can play the root and the third or the third and the fifth, for example.

00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:26.680
And then I wrote down all the notes on one harmonica and tried to find all these combinations and how to make them using tongue blocking or using only two notes.

00:27:27.361 --> 00:27:31.390
That's really helped me in accompanying and also in adding notes.

00:27:31.554 --> 00:27:32.934
effects to the melody playing.

00:27:33.395 --> 00:27:40.662
And to do this are you sometimes using different tuned harmonicas so that you can get chords to the chords that you need and that sort of thing?

00:27:41.001 --> 00:28:33.203
Yeah, mostly when I use retuned harmonicas it's mainly for major key tunes I always use the normal Richter tuning but for minor tunes they are in the Swedish tradition they are most of the minor key tunes they are in the kind of harmonic minor or melodic minor minor kind of scale so it uses a major seventh but there can also be like a mix of a major and a minor seventh and a major and a minor sixth so you need to have access to all these notes and on the normal harmonic minor harmonica it's almost impossible to play the minor seventh for example of the scale in the higher register so I needed to retune my harmonicas mainly in the top end to be able to bend more notes and to have extra notes.

00:28:33.585 --> 00:28:37.634
But that also created some additional chords that may be useful.

00:28:38.355 --> 00:28:39.117
Yeah, sure.

00:28:39.178 --> 00:28:48.462
I always think that when people are trying to learn songs, obviously they've got to know that If you're using a different tuned harmonica to play a certain song, they might not be able to play it.

00:28:48.482 --> 00:28:51.767
Well, they wouldn't be able to play it on their standard Richter-tuned harmonica yet.

00:28:52.448 --> 00:28:58.375
But most of the songs on this album are played on either a standard or a minor-tuned Richter.

00:28:58.394 --> 00:29:01.098
They're with just a few variations in tuning on the minors.

00:29:01.499 --> 00:29:01.739
Yes.

00:29:02.180 --> 00:29:10.329
For example, one simple modification you can make to a harmonic minor harmonica is to raise the sixth draw.

00:29:10.657 --> 00:29:11.338
A semitone.

00:29:12.078 --> 00:29:18.224
The only thing different from a normal Richter harmonica are the minor thirds for the blow notes.

00:29:18.505 --> 00:29:22.769
So the rest is exactly like the normal standard tuning.

00:29:23.269 --> 00:29:26.313
And then you can bend the sixth draw.

00:29:26.732 --> 00:29:29.336
So you get both the major sixth and the minor sixth.

00:29:29.556 --> 00:29:33.459
And then you can also overblow on whole sixth to get the minor seventh.

00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:36.582
So that's a good one if you want to play minor tunes.

00:29:37.143 --> 00:29:37.363
Great.

00:29:37.383 --> 00:29:40.306
So I know another thing you mentioned is that you're using...

00:29:40.577 --> 00:29:48.765
tongue blocking for different combinations not just the usual octaves or like the seventh octaves as well so is that something you're using a lot in your playing as well

00:29:49.125 --> 00:30:18.752
yeah i certainly do i use a lot like to play fifths or then i block only one hole or to play a sixth interval for example it's very nice some of these sounds like these polyphonic sounds they are come from the fiddle style so fiddle player often use drone strings or they they add they use double stops, and so many of these intervals that the fiddlers use, I try to copy on the harmonica to get the same sound.

00:30:18.992 --> 00:30:22.596
And is that something you picked up from your fiddle teacher in your course?

00:30:23.397 --> 00:30:27.803
Yeah, and from listening to a lot of fiddle music and how they play.

00:30:28.523 --> 00:30:34.770
Great, so a lot of the time you're just blocking one hole instead of two, are you, to do a lot of these tongue blocks?

00:30:35.892 --> 00:30:36.071
Yes,

00:30:36.752 --> 00:30:36.932
so

00:30:37.513 --> 00:30:37.534
I...

00:30:37.794 --> 00:30:51.267
I also use sometimes, I don't think I recorded it on any albums, but one thing you can do if you get good at tongue blocking, you can create a drone tuning if you have the same note in and out on the first hole, for example.

00:30:51.867 --> 00:30:54.410
But then you need to be able to stretch your mouth a lot.

00:30:54.730 --> 00:30:57.192
So I use that as well.

00:30:57.633 --> 00:31:07.651
So I just keep the hole number one at the left end of my mouth and then play the melody on my right end and then just stretch my mouth to reach the notes.

00:31:08.192 --> 00:31:15.583
Right, so you're keeping the wand continuous and changing the right side of your tongue to change to play the entire melody.

00:31:15.663 --> 00:31:16.022
Exactly.

00:31:16.124 --> 00:31:17.965
How challenging is that to do?

00:31:18.426 --> 00:31:23.493
It was challenging at start, but now it feels like I can do it almost without thinking.

00:31:23.574 --> 00:31:26.898
I only focus on the melody and just keep that note.

00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:34.430
In a way, it's much easier than doing the two-draw, three-blow drone, because then you have to move on both sides continuously.

00:31:34.594 --> 00:31:35.255
Fantastic.

00:31:35.275 --> 00:31:41.144
So yeah, so is this, this is a technique and approach you definitely recommend people explore further, yeah?

00:31:41.463 --> 00:31:46.151
If you want some additional sounds like that drone note, yeah, maybe I should play some.

00:31:46.551 --> 00:31:47.071
Yeah, great.

00:31:47.093 --> 00:31:47.712
Give us some demo.

00:31:47.732 --> 00:31:48.294
Yeah, that'd be great.

00:31:48.314 --> 00:31:48.454
Yeah.

00:31:48.795 --> 00:31:50.678
So I have here an A harmonica.

00:31:50.758 --> 00:31:54.604
It's just the only thing I did, I changed the one draw.

00:31:55.064 --> 00:31:57.146
So it's also an A note.

00:31:57.508 --> 00:31:58.910
So then it sounds like...

00:32:04.897 --> 00:32:08.605
Thank you.

00:32:10.529 --> 00:32:22.701
Great, so as you said, so the one blow and the one draw are tuned to the same note, so that means you can obviously play the melody on the blow and the draw and maintain that sort of drone note on the A note, yeah?

00:32:22.941 --> 00:32:23.161
Yes,

00:32:23.540 --> 00:32:23.961
and also

00:32:24.001 --> 00:32:39.414
the note, the A note that has the same tone, having two reeds of the same note, it adds a lot of overtones and resonance to the sound, so it creates a really different tone for the whole instrument.

00:32:39.755 --> 00:32:43.679
I'm not aware of someone, of anybody else doing that.

00:32:43.699 --> 00:32:46.942
Did you hear about somebody else doing that or did you come up by yourself with that one?

00:32:47.182 --> 00:32:54.330
I'm sure I'm not the first one, but I, yeah, I did come up with it myself, but there have to be someone else who has done it before.

00:32:54.351 --> 00:32:59.336
I talked about it with Brendan Power, but he is mostly like, he doesn't play so much tongue blocking.

00:32:59.655 --> 00:33:04.260
So he, it was not quite the kind of concept he wouldn't have done, but yeah.

00:33:04.561 --> 00:33:06.042
Yeah, so that's a brilliant idea.

00:33:06.083 --> 00:33:07.664
That's something I might well try myself.

00:33:08.025 --> 00:33:16.634
And so, as you said, the rest of the harmonica is to just well usually just ripped to tuned and then you've just got that um that one draw uh retuned

00:33:16.894 --> 00:33:21.339
yeah and you can even do it with with blue tack or something if you want just want to try it

00:33:21.380 --> 00:33:37.136
no that's that's a that's a great approach yeah so you must get a really different sound than a lot of harmonica players you know as you say particularly you know sort of blues you know it's you can sound you know you're getting the same sort of sound so you must be getting really sort of unique sounds by doing these octaves and these you know sort of retunings that you've done

00:33:37.457 --> 00:33:44.306
yeah so i mean playing octaves and intervals i have I have heard examples of that from some traditional players.

00:33:44.605 --> 00:33:51.396
So there is a traditional style where you are playing almost, it's a bit inspired by accordion music, I would say.

00:33:51.616 --> 00:34:04.155
So you play the melody on the right side of your mouth, and then you play a rhythm with tongue blocking, with tongue slaps, and then you add bass notes from the left side of your mouth with octaves and other intervals.

00:34:04.276 --> 00:34:08.101
And that style is, it is part of the traditional style.

00:34:08.385 --> 00:34:12.048
But that bass note thing, most people don't do that.

00:34:12.409 --> 00:34:15.072
They do only the melody and rhythm part.

00:34:15.092 --> 00:34:17.554
I encountered it when I listened to some old recordings.

00:34:17.934 --> 00:34:18.655
No, that's fantastic.

00:34:18.695 --> 00:34:22.577
Yeah, so we'll return back to your album then, just pick out a couple more songs.

00:34:22.617 --> 00:34:26.621
So an interesting one on there is a song called Man's Olsen.

00:34:26.802 --> 00:34:29.103
It's by Polska after Man's Olsen, yeah.

00:34:29.483 --> 00:34:38.351
And so this is where you're interpreting an old recording of a singer, and so you're playing the melody of the singer on the harmonica, and you've got a recording of each one.

00:34:38.351 --> 00:34:39.574
for comparisons.

00:35:12.641 --> 00:35:17.447
Did you just learn all that by ear by, you know, picking up the singing, you know, to the harmonica?

00:35:17.807 --> 00:35:18.472
Yeah, exactly.

00:35:18.512 --> 00:35:21.045
So I just studied the recording.

00:35:21.378 --> 00:35:29.887
played it over and over and tried to copy the sound of the singer and use it as a starting point and inspiration for how to interpret this tune.

00:35:30.367 --> 00:35:37.036
I mean, depending on the source where you learn the tune, you can get quite different results.

00:35:37.315 --> 00:35:49.030
So if you study a style of a singer or a fiddler or a clarinet player or any other instrument, it gives a different starting point and a different inspiration for how to interpret the tune.

00:35:49.409 --> 00:35:53.789
Yeah, and there's some other great tunes on here for people to check out.

00:36:05.442 --> 00:36:13.909
And you actually were nominated for a Swedish Independent Music Producers Award for the Manifest Scholar in 2021 for this one.

00:36:14.289 --> 00:36:14.909
Yes, I was.

00:36:15.351 --> 00:36:16.010
So well done with that.

00:36:16.130 --> 00:36:17.072
It's a great album.

00:36:17.092 --> 00:36:21.115
And again, that solo harmonic, it's always really interesting to listen to and the approach you have.

00:36:21.635 --> 00:36:26.559
So then moving on to another album that you've released is with, I think, your main project now.

00:36:26.599 --> 00:36:29.402
You're playing in a trio called the Vastanvinden.

00:36:29.483 --> 00:36:30.804
Is that how you're saying it?

00:36:31.103 --> 00:36:32.125
Yeah, Vastanvinden.

00:36:32.585 --> 00:36:33.786
The main group I'm playing with.

00:36:34.047 --> 00:37:01.952
This is with a clarinet player in a siturn player yes so how did this come about and what about that combination of instruments which i've got to say it sounds really beautiful i really love this album uh and you know it's a great combination with those other two instruments

00:37:02.193 --> 00:37:02.393
yeah

00:37:02.753 --> 00:37:03.135
Yeah,

00:37:03.275 --> 00:37:03.835
it actually is.

00:37:03.956 --> 00:37:05.418
It is a great combination of instruments.

00:37:05.697 --> 00:37:08.422
It is mostly a coincidence that we ended up like that.

00:37:08.802 --> 00:37:11.347
It started when I met Albin, the clarinet player.

00:37:11.887 --> 00:37:14.552
He studied actually the nyckelharpa, the key fiddle.

00:37:14.771 --> 00:37:18.998
It's a special instrument in Sweden at a school north of Stockholm.

00:37:19.518 --> 00:37:26.128
So he moved close by and he appeared at some jam sessions sometimes and some other places.

00:37:26.188 --> 00:37:32.157
So I got to know him and we had some nice jams together and I really enjoyed playing with him.

00:37:32.545 --> 00:37:37.489
He's such a great player and really fun to play with.

00:37:37.831 --> 00:37:43.434

Erland Westerstrom interview

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