#Fred er ei det beste

[sinceileftyoublog]

Hedvig Mollestad Interview: The Rhythm of Care

Photo by Kim Hiorthøy

BY JORDAN MAINZER

On her upcoming album Maternity Beat, Norwegian guitarist and composer Hedvig Mollestad redefines what it means to be maternal. Though she has two kids, her exploration of motherhood is not autobiographical, nor is it dependent on having children at all. Really, Mollestad boils the concept down to its essence: caring for something other than yourself.

Around the European migrant crisis of 2015/2016, Mollestad had her first child but was faced with images, whether on the news or in person, of immigrants from Syria coming to Europe to request asylum, many of whom had young children of their own. At the same time the unfortunate nativist aftereffects of the crisis arose around the world, Mollestad was beginning to feel like she needed to do something different with her music. She drafted Maternity Beat for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and pitched it to the Molde International Jazz Festival and Midtnorsk Jazzsenter. While they rejected it in 2017, they eventually accepted it for the Festival’s 60th anniversary in 2020, which, unlike so many other festivals that year, actually did go on, albeit at a much lower audience capacity. Last October, Mollestad and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra recorded Maternity Beat, which finally sees release next Friday on Rune Grammofon.

Though the recorded version of Maternity Beat is a bit shorter due to studio time and vinyl constraints, the ideas are consistent: It’s a piece about how we support each other and help each other grow. Mollestad knew pretty early that she wanted to include spoken word, or at least voice, on the record, and from the very first track, we’re presented with what’s at stake: “Is there a boat on the horizon? / With mothers and children and fathers?” Atop rolling drums and sharp guitars, and eventually woodwinds that sound somewhat hopeful, we experience the rollercoaster of emotions brought upon by these images of desperation. “Do Re Mi Ma Ma” contains improvised nonsensical vocals that sound like a baby trying to say their first words, and clattering drums that are akin to how one might play with their toys. Eventually, the band picks back up, with horn blasts and searing guitar solos, the song developing in sophistication along the way. “Her Own Shape” is comparatively subdued, inspired by parents giving their children tools they need to create, with peaceful, wordless harmonies over bendy, exploratory guitars. 

But it’s “Donna Ovis Peppa” that’s the album’s centerpiece, touching on the brunt of the record’s themes. The title itself is inspired by the phrase Dona nobis pacem (“Grant us Peace”), which comes from the Agnus Dei section of the Roman Catholic mass. “Ovis” itself is a play on Ove, the name of the father of Mollestad’s childhood best friend, who was a big supporter of her as a child and was sick with cancer at the time Mollestad was writing Maternity Beat. “I had a little contact with his family...in spring of 2020,” Mollestad told me over Zoom a couple weeks ago. “I had this urge to make something in this music for him. That’s the 5/4 pattern in the middle. It’s made only for him and his family.” He ended up passing away the day before Mollestad and the Orchestra performed for the first time. The last part of the song’s title is, yes, inspired by Peppa Pig, whose instrumental theme you can hear in the song if you listen closely enough. Mollestad’s children loved Peppa Pig, and though they’re too old for it now, I guess she wanted to nod at least once to her own motherhood.

Read my conversation with Mollestad below, edited for length and clarity, in which we talk about the album’s themes, working as a guitarist with a large orchestra, and the distinctive cover art.

Since I Left You: Last time we were talking, you mentioned Maternity Beat in context of reading Dag Hoel’s Fred er ei det beste, about ammunition production in Norway. Now, I understand the context, you thinking about the world you want your child to grow up in. As such, this album is your first time exploring gender and motherhood in relation to your music, which you were reticent to do before. Why was that, and what changed?

Hedvig Mollestad: The main reason in the beginning was as simple as I thought it was very important for there to be female instrumentalists where [people] were only talking about their instruments and their craft, the subject of their music and guitar and art. Very often, I saw female musicians being asked to comment on their gender, and of course, male musicians never were. So I was very strict on that. Gender-related stuff wasn’t my expertise. My experience with it would have been a very selective voice to the matter. If someone wanted to know something about it, they could find some good feminist research about it.

Music and art today are fighting a lot against the media. At the same time, it’s a way of reaching people, as that’s the nature of music, to be heard by others if not necessarily everyone. You want to find a way of getting into the ears of people who appreciate it. But [the media] is also problematic because it’s taking away the focus from the music itself. Very many musicians have to work with the media to be there in the right way, and you have to produce and tell people you’ve done it and present it in a way. [The media] grasping into the places where the art is made and taking over a little bit. For that reason, I was trying to focus on the music. As it’s instrumental music, I don’t have lyrics I can pull meanings and philosophies from.

Now, as I’m 40 and a mother of two, I’ve understood that as a touring musician and a composer, it’s also important for others that mothers are visible as musicians. Now, I’m sharing a little bit more for both female and male musicians. Touring as a family member is hard. It’s very good for the community to be open about it and talk about it and share our experiences. I’m also in a position to be able to work with my music as it is. 

I was playing with my much beloved Trio for many many years. I started feeling that I wanted to make music for other kind of ensembles using other kinds of instruments and expressions. [I had the idea for Maternity Beat] very early in 2017, and I drafted it for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and the Festival. They didn’t pick it up at the time, but they picked it up a couple years later for their 60th anniversary. It took some time for it to come to live. I started to work on it and was supposed to work on it at the start of 2020. The pandemic came. The festival was so big, they decided to go through with it even though the capacity would be very low and very uncertain. I got to work on this February-June of 2020. The children were not in school. I spent time with them during the day when my boyfriend was working, and when he came home, I just left the house for my rehearsing and working space. I worked the evening and the night and came back. It was very focused and so undisturbed. It was such a good place to dig into another world, thematically and in terms of deeper structures and working them out all the way.

SILY: When did you start to think about motherhood and parenthood as it relates to the various social issues you explore on the album, like the migrant crisis?

HM: The idea for this music was first and foremost musical. I wanted to write for a big orchestra, and I wanted to put the guitar in a way that could drive it without taking up too much space and without being an instrument like the saxophone and the trumpets [that are] playing lines. The title Maternity Beat was very good to work from because it suggested rhythm and something that, yes, [has to do with] motherhood, but also mother earth. I wanted to connect it to my experiences, but I was also clear to myself from the beginning that it wasn’t going to exclude anyone. It’s not about being a mother; it’s about caring. What’s happening when you’re caring for someone or something? What’s waking us up to care for others? For people that have children, it could be parenthood, but it doesn’t necessarily have to me. Many people have bad relationships with their parents [or no parents] at all. [Maternity Beat] is a way of describing how we care and what makes us care. That’s the only thing we have in common. We all come from parents, but not all of us know them or like them.

When you’re a new mother, you’re very full of hormones, and it’s very overwhelming. Suddenly, another life is relying on you and your presence so much. That was very shocking for me as it is for very many new parents. There are so many parents and children around the world that have so many bigger issues than putting their kids to bed and making them go to sleep. When the migrant crisis happened in Norway in Europe in 2015/2016, that was when I had my first child. I found it very disturbing we were [having] this amazing experience at the same time there was a crisis for people in my situation. I was going around and making my baby fall asleep, but I felt like I wanted to go and help others because they really needed it. It’s a cliché, but with the loss of power you feel when a global crisis comes close, it feels meaningless to go on with your life and letting [the crisis] pass by on the side. So I didn’t want the album to be about [speaks in precious voice] my child and the beauty of life. It’s such a harsh contrast and still is.

SILY: Even though your music doesn’t usually have lyrics, this album does have passages of spoken word that allude to what you’re talking about. At what point during the creative process did you realize you wanted something more lyrical on here?

HM: I knew it quite early, because I was setting up what type of musicians I wanted to be a part of the project. I wanted to use vocalists for that purpose, not just to use their voice but to speak words that had meaning. I also knew very early I wanted the opening track to contain lyrics about the darkest part of this, to set the pace and get it over with. [laughs] For the first track, I was very inspired by Scott Walker and the opening of Tilt. It hasn’t been many years since I heard that for the first time. It made such an impression on me. The atmosphere that he creates, and the emotionlessness of the words. [sings] “Do I hear, 21, 21, 21.” There’s no metaphor. It’s very simple yet extremely powerful. I really wanted to go in that direction because the focus he managed to make there is really amazing. During the composing process, I wanted to have different theories in different parts of the music. I didn’t want it to be one big fat sausage. I wanted various things represented, both humorous and my experiences with motherhood. So I put in the words for when I thought [the music] needed it.

SILY: You really get at what you’re aiming for on “Her Own Shape”, which is about parents giving children the space and tools they need to thrive. That song is so spacious as compared to the rest of the record, almost like a canvas that demands to be filled.

HM: The words [on that song] are so very specific and filled up with serious meaning, the music cannot be as emotional as the text. It should be beautiful and easygoing, and a place for that lyric to be able to be what it is without too much disturbance.

SILY; Can you talk about the song “Do Re Mi Ma Ma”?

HM: The recorded version is a lot shorter than what we’re doing live. There’s a wonderful transition from the first part to the second. In general, [on the record], I was very specific for how the lyrics should be performed. I read them, recorded it how I wanted it to be, how short, etc. But I wanted to give [the vocalists] a task where they were a lot freer. So I thought, “Okay, what’s the [simplest] thing they could say?” It was, “ma.” So I gave them 5 minutes of improvisation. I said, “You can use 'ma,' but you have to avoid it sounding like 'mama,' at least for the first three minutes.” It was so funny and so interesting how they worked around that. I also wanted to have a bassline pattern that I could write so I could focus on the horns and trumpet section. “On The Horizon, Part 2″ has a lot of things happening with the band, very busy patterns with the guitar and the time signature changes. So I wanted to [follow it with] this very slow, bluesy bass riff where I could get the most out of the horns. That was a good thing to bring together with the vocalists.

SILY: You mentioned wanting to use the guitar in unexpected ways with this orchestra. Both of the singles, “All Flights Cancelled” and “On The Horizon, Part 2″, do that. When you think, “Guitar in a jazz orchestra,” you don’t necessarily hear the sounds of those two songs.

HM: “All Flights Cancelled” is a band song, with an A part and a B part. Rune Grammofon released that single first, but I think it’s the least orchestrated piece on the whole record because it’s only the band. I like it because it has a whole other mood than when we recorded it with the Trio. It was a good way to break everything up and bring back the focus to what I’m usually working on, which is the guitar in a band setting. [This time,] it was much more complex and involved a lot more composing. It was so hard to make it fit with the rest of the music. It had to be pointy and very audible. I’m not used to pointy and audible; I want to be broader. The tempo was quite high, and the time signature was changing. [The drummer] was really mixing the ingredients. That helped a lot with the role of the guitar, which had to be restricted.

SILY: I was also surprised by how much music from other regions of the world snuck in. “Donna Ovis Peppa” had some klezmer, and the hand percussion on “Maternity Sweep” was almost Latin. Was that intentional?

HM: I don’t think it was very intentional, but it was important for me to have percussion, other rhythmic impulses besides drums, to have another person go crazy on all these other rhythmic sounds. It’s an orchestra, and it should be in the drum section as well. The percussionist was instructed very little. He was encouraged to do what he thought would fit. Then we worked on it. We used congas and so many woodblocks! He was very free there. He’s amazing and eager and has so many ideas. He’s so vibrant and was working so hard. He was the one who left the studio the latest.

SILY: What’s the inspiration behind the cover art?

HM: I’ve been working with Kim [Hiorthøy] since the first record I released on Rune 11 years ago. When I signed there, cover art was one of the only things I couldn’t decide. They said, “Kim is making the covers, and he’s making them the way he wants. If you really hate it, you can tell me, and he’ll make another one, but if you just don’t like it, it’s not enough.” I was very cool with that because Kim is amazing. But I really wanted to have pictures on the covers. I talked to him about it, and he was cool about it. When we make new covers, we meet up, talk, maybe have a beer, hang around at some strange place. For the first cover, we did a lot of straight things. I showed him around my rehearsal room while he was taking photos. For the second, he came to a gig. For the third, we went to his very small studio. For the fourth, it was outside where I used to live. Then he came to the rehearsal space again. He’s into closed places.

When Maternity Beat came up, it was obvious it was something a little different, elevating on a philosophical level. I don’t know why, but I think he wanted to try another technique. He suggested we would do it in two processes. He would first take photos of me and then project it. I instantly liked that idea because it was very analog and something I could relate and connect to. He couldn’t fix it; he had to develop the film, make small [versions], and then we could meet up again. It was going to be a process that would take some time. I came back [to him] and brought my grandmother’s dress, and we tried different ways of projecting me on myself. It was another way of working with him. Of course, it took a lot more time, but it didn’t matter because it’s so nice to spend time with him. Whatever session I have with him, something extraordinary comes out of it. He has an eye for something else. He’s not looking for the face, or what the media tells us is beautiful. He’s looking for something very human, other structures in a photo. There’s so much to think about when I see all of his photos, which is so much better than having a big, fat face on the cover.

SILY: You mentioned “Do Re Mi Ma Ma” is a lot longer live. Are there any other stark differences between the recorded and live versions of these songs?

HM: Yeah. There are very many transitions that have been left out. There’s even a whole part with a lyric and an improvised piece that had to be left out because of time limitations both in the studio and on the vinyl. We haven’t performed this live more than twice, but it was a main idea to have transitions. “Do Re Mi Ma Ma” is one of them. There was a longer part in “On The Horizon, Part 1″ where Ingebjørg [Loe Bjørnstad] actually spoke in Norwegian. There was a solo bass transition at some point. For the record, I really wanted to shape and tighten things up because there was so much going on anyway. I was pleading on my knees to have a conductor. It was freaking impossible to play this piece and still get the most out of a horn section, putting them in where they were supposed to be. I was with the guitar in another room. We tried to do most of it as live as possible. But we had to move a little away from that because I couldn’t do all of those tasks. We [did get] a [conductor] who was working with the horn section--saxophone, trumpet, flute, and violin--and taking over the score. I really depended on him. He was really important in making the peaks as good as they are. I wouldn’t have managed to do that without him.

SILY: Do you have any upcoming dates playing this material?

HM: Yes, in a year. That’s because I have this big residency at a Norwegian festival in July, playing so many different shows with a lot of different projects. I’m going to have to work for 6 months. But next October, we’re going to have 5 shows in Europe. It could be that some of them have to be in Norway. It would be amazing to go to New York and play there. The Jazz Orchestra have played there. I really hope we can play this live.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, reading, or watching lately?

HM: I’ve started to only read newspapers since February. I stopped reading news online. It got to me. [But my decision] freed up a space inside of me, not worrying as much. I feel happier.

I’ve been listening a lot to Led Zeppelin lately, as well as a lot of fellow musicians in Norway.

I’ve been touring a lot.

[svanhildbogseth]

Om slekta mi

Når jeg besøkte foreldrene mine, fant jeg noe gamle familiebilder. Da bestemte jeg å skrive i bloggen om slektninger mine.

Mora mi heter Therese og hun er 44 år gammel. Faren min heter Carl-Bjørn, har er 45 år gammel og blir 46 i januar. Foreldrene mine har truffet på noen campingplass nord for Norge når de var unge. De var vennene i mange år før de innså at de er forelsket. Nå de er gift og har tre barn. De er ganske eventyrlystene mennesker, mora og faren mine. De liker å reise og være ut i natur. De er alltid sammen. Jeg vet at de elsker hverandre mye.

Brødrene mine, Mikkel og Tore, er tvillinger. De er 13 år gammel og var født i august. De begge er så talentfulle! Mikkel er glad i musikk og han lærer å spille piano nå. Han er nokså beskjeden, han liker å være alene. Men han og Tore er gode venner. Tore spiller fotball nå og han kan ski veldig bra. Allerede bedre enn meg.

Jeg også har ei mormor, hun heter Sunniva og vi kaller henne Sunni. Hun er 76 år gammel. Hår hennes er hvit som snø, men før var det rød, akkurat som hår mitt nå. Hun bor i Alesund og vi besøke hverandre noen ganger. Mormora Sunni er veldig snill og leser mange bøker. Når vi møter, gir hun meg ei ny bok for å lese. Mannen hennes, morfar min, døde når jeg var 10 år. Jeg minnes bare hans seriøse blåe øyene.

Mora mi har også en bror som heter Edvin. Jeg ser ikke onkel min ofte. Han er skilt og har en sønn. Fetteren min heter Fred og han studerer historie i Bergen nå. Vi snakker på nett noen ganger.

Farmor og farmar mine bor i Rjukan, de heter Pia og Arman. Jeg tror at de er nokså snobbete, og de liker ikke å gå ut fra huset deres. Kanskje det er fordi de er veldig gamle, over 80 år. De sender til oss korte hver år.

Tanta mi, søster til faren min, heter Magnhild og hun er 32 år gammel. Hun bor i Oslo og i våren skal hun gifte seg med kjæreste hennes, Frøya. Jeg gleder seg til bryllupet det, de er så søte! Tanta mi arbeider i kunstgalleri nå og hun skriver også. Frøya er veldig vakker og har jobb i teater.

Vent! Det er ikke alt! Jeg har Matilde - verdas beste katt. Hun er 3 og halv år gammel og hun er veldig vennlig. Matty liker å snakke med hver menneske i familien. Vi alle elsker henne. Når jeg besøker foreldrene mine, sover hun med meg alltid på senga mi. Jeg ville gjerne ta henne med meg til Fagernes, men gården er bedre til henne enn leiligheten, synes jeg.

[micasaeselmundo]

Wonder of the day, 01.04.2019: Welcome, April

JEG VELGER MEG APRIL

Jeg velger meg april I den det gamle faller, i den det ny får feste; det volder litt rabalder, – dog fred er ei det beste, men at man noe vil.

Jeg velger meg april, fordi den stormer, feier, fordi den smiler, smelter, fordi den evner, eier, fordi den krefter, velter, – i den blir somren til!

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

[victimwithoutacrime-blog]

Kain og Abel

Kain og Abel het to brødre inne i Lutrelia. Faren deres het Adam, og drev med slektsforskning, mens moren Eva jobbet som gartner. Hele familien stemte Senterpartiet, som moren til Eva hadde gjort det, og familien hennes, samt hennes mors familie, og hennes mors igjen, helt tilbake til Oldmors-Grannveig. Adam lette etter levningene til Oldmors-Grannveig med metalldetektor oppe i Gørråsen. De overga mye gull sammen med Oldmors-Grannveig, het det seg nemlig. Det er derfor de sier til grådige barn i Lutrelia på den spesielle dialekten sin at "dela du ikk me han bror din så enda du upp så ho Ållmosch-Grannve". LEGENDEN OM OLDMORS-GRANNVEIG Oldmors-Grannveig var en pike i Lutrelia. Moren hennes kom fra Lutrelia, og moren hennes igjen og så videre, helt tilbake til Bestemor Strymfars, som ingen egentlig trodde på at hadde levd på ordentlig, selv om de hadde funnet det myr-balsamerte liket hennes i en grav hvis spesifika matchet med det som sto skrevet om henne i Kobolt-krøniken, og gjentatte mDNA-tester hadde påvist rettlinjet slektskap mellom henne og Oldmors-Grannveig og moren hennes. "Hvis du er moren min", sa Oldmors-Grannveig da hun fikk papirene med prøveresultatene i posten, "da er Bestemor Strymfars stammoren din også." "Du er fremdeles bare en liten jente, Oldmors-Grannveig, og har ikke større vett enn en heller", sa moren hennes, "så ikke snakk til meg om Bestemor Strymfars. Snart tror du vel på Mor Åshilde også." Dette var et uttrykk i Lutrelia den gangen, fremdeles er det noen gamle som bruker det, men nå er det ikke lenger noen som vet hva det betydde den gangen Oldmors-Grannveig fikk høre det av moren sin. Hun mørknet hvertfall og sa ikke et ord, men gikk inn på rommet sitt for å skrive det i dagboken sin, at hun aldri skulle glemme den fornærmelsen. Hun var femten år. Moren til Oldemors-Grannveig het Setra. Hun var en gild kvinne og hadde mange beilere etter at mannen hennes, fire ganger ordfører for Senterpartiet og den første i Lutrelia som kjøpte Tesla, døde av slag i en alder av førtito. Dette var syv år siden. (Da det sto i avisen at Gruve Gakkstad var død av slag, begynte pogromene. Folk trodde at noen hadde slått ham ihjel, og skylden falt naturligvis på jødene, som alltid når en frukthage ble rammet av epleskurv eller et hønsehode hadde glemt å lukke døren til hønsefabrikken og den første som kom på jobb på mandag ikke fant annet nede i kaklegraven, som de kalte det betongstøpte bassenget der titusenvis av fjærkre etter driftsplanen skulle pelle i seg pellets og hakke hverandre opp, enn et par hvite fjær og en fullstappet gråbein som lå med labbene i været og snorket, eller også når et annet strukturelt problem rammet lokalsamfunnet. Men dette med pogromene er en annen historie.) Særlig var slakteren i Lutrelia, han Herodes, frempå. Setra sverget imidlertid på at hun aldri skulle gifte seg igjen. Da Oldmors-Grannveig gikk inn på rommet sitt ristet Setra på hodet sitt og sa "den jentungen", og satte seg til rette i gyngestolen med det beroligende lydløse ansiktet til lokalnyhetsankeret i sidesynet så tv-lyset blaffet blekt i hele stuen, for å arrangere ekteskapet til datteren. Setra hadde mange kandidater i tankene som hun anså som verdige og som hun inviterte til å battle mot husvennen Crinolle, en slags diger marekatt med Google Glasses, og mange var dem som gikk i grusen i oppkjørselen med håp om å vinne Oldmors-Grannveigs mindreårige hjerte, kanskje hadde de også foreviget intensjonene sine med en statusoppdatering på face, bare for å gå derfra med tre striper skåret av ryggen og salt gnidd inn i sårene, for på scenen i grendehuset var det ingen som kunne stå seg mot Crinolles presise og sårende karakteristikker. Setra var vakker, men hard som stein og kald som kniven hun brukte på dem. Men da Oldmors-Grannveigs konfirmasjon allerede nærmet seg bestemte Setra seg for å senke kravene, og en ubehagelig og høylytt scene mellom henne og Crinolle, som naboene ringte inn til politiet som husbråk, endte med at hun tok spionbrillene med ansiktsgjenkjenning og alle mulige algoritmer plugget rett inn i Rimordboka for gatesmarte fra Crinolle, så han ved neste battle ikke ville kunne få svakhetene til opponenten opp på netthinnen sammen med ord som hadde såret dem tidligere, ord som rimet på dem igjen, situasjoner som ville få dem til å føle seg underlegne, basert på deres personlige historikk, og hvordan de kunne skanderes til dj'ens beat for best mulig drive og så videre og så videre. Det eneste Crinolle ville ha tilbake var sin erfaring, sin teknikk og sitt rykte. Samtidig som dette skjedde ble Herodes mer og mer bestemt på å blande sine gener med Setras. Kanskje hadde hun noe på henne som han brukte som pressmiddel, nøyaktig hva er i så fall av hensyn til privatlivets fred utelatt fra kvadene, men Sigvat Skald diktet i Bloddråpa om det som videre skjedde, at "natt til femte april besluttet Setra seg for å gifte bort Oldmors-Grannveig til Herodes. Hun kan ha vært like motivert av økonomisk vinning som av ønsket om å få være i fred, for mange historikere mener at å inkludere Herodes' pølser i familiebedriften ville gi betydelige skattefordeler." Da Oldmors-Grannveig fikk høre om planene gråt hun mye, hun satt på rommet sitt sammen med Crinolle, som også bar nag mot Setra, og spilte på harpe mens hun gråt. Crinolle prøvde å rappe litt til tonene hennes, men uten brillene ble det ofte med en verselinje eller to før det stoppet helt opp. Brillene hadde alltid forsynt ham med en gøyal, men naturlig fortsettelse, som han hadde vennet seg til å regne med, og som hadde vennet ham av med å finne en fortsettelse selv. Likevel planla han å vinne mot Herodes for å ta hevn over Setra. Også skjebnen hadde andre planer enn å la Oldmors-Grannveig giftes bort sånn uten videre. Kvelden da de skulle battle, Herodes og Crinolle, blåste det opp og det ble uvær. Mads var ute på jordet. Han hyppet poteter i halvmørket, rettet opp den verkende ryggen sin og skjøv stråhatten bak i nakken fordi det klødde i pannen av stråene, noe som ikke ble bedre av at han svettet som en gris. Noe hvitt leet på seg borte i grøfta. Det var for stort til å være ei katte. Kanskje plasten fra ei høyballe. Det kom nærmere. Han trodde ikke sine egne øyne. På null komma niks ble han revet i filler. Kroppsdelene fløy hit og dit mens blodspruten sto som vannspruten fra en dekapitert brannhydrant fra halsen der hodet hans hadde sittet. Imens tok Crinolle på seg lykkeunderbuksen sin inne på garderoben. Han syntes de som sa han var overtroisk ikke forsto noe som helst, de fikk passe sine egne saker, og han kunne uansett ikke gå på scenen helt naken. Setra satt på tronen sin oppe i losjen og skjente på Oldmors-Grannveig fordi hun så trist ut, der nede på gulvet, med de vide rosa kjoleskjørtene som en dam omkring henne. Herodes, på den andre garderoben, løftet bort slagene på smokingen for å tørke av de alltid svette hendene på buksebaken før han trakk på seg de hvite hanskene. Gårdbruker Gard og datteren til husmannen hans som het Alvor, hun het Spesi, på vei inn i garasjen til Gard. Han hadde bedt henne bli med for å hogge hodet av Innfjords-kreet, som han sa. Han pleide å voldta henne der og alle andre steder. Spesi hadde sluttet å bry seg om det, for situasjonen var uansett uforbederlig. I begynnelsen hadde hun vurdert å flykte til skogs for å sulte ihjel, men hun klarte ikke miste håpet om bedring. Nå hadde hun likevel klart det, og innfunnet seg med situasjonen. Noe stort og hvitt lå og koste seg bak Gårdbruker Gards grønne T-Ford, et restaureringsobjekt han jobbet med på fritiden. Gard sa: Men i alle... Mer fikk han ikke sagt. Det hvite viklet seg ut og reiste seg opp på to i en rask, men jevn bevegelse, og ble til en isbjørn som brølte over ham og Spesi og slo ned på dem med det samme så blod og fett sprøytet omkring og tjafser av innvoller klasket mot murveggen og ble hengende der og bensplinter og muskelvev for veggimellom. Og Gard som hadde vasket T-Forden samme formiddag. Setra fulgte to parreklare spyfluer med øynene. Hvordan hadde de funnet henne, oppe i losjen, hevet over allmuen, som begynte å stimle sammen i salen under henne? Tankene gikk straks til familien til Yizhak Levi i Bråkmakergata.  Langsomt mobiliserte hun den kinesiske viften sin for å ta dem av dage. Hun visste at hun bare ville få én sjanse, for smekken ville skremme flue nummer to og da ville den ta sine forholdsregler og holde seg unna, men bare til det var for sent, og showet begynte. Oldmors-Grannveig på gulvet tørket tårene og sa hun skulle gå ut et øyeblikk for å samle seg. "Bare ikke la dem se deg med de øynene", sa Setra uten å slippe fluene med blikket. Herodes hadde et visst anlegg for adel og gikk mot Crinolles garderobe for å ønske ham lykke til og måtte den beste vinne. Crinolle på sin side pumpet seg opp og yppet mot speilbildet sitt. Oldmors-Grannveig gikk i grusen i mørket. De kinesiske lyktene lyste opp periferien der folk klirret i glass og de ulovlige bookmakerne skrev ut kvitteringer i bytte mot pog og Hubba-Bubba. Ingen la merke til henne. Hun gikk nederst i hagen, der Amor pleide å sitte i husken på denne tiden av døgnet. De var gode venner, de to. Men Amor var ikke der. Isteden fant hun noe stort og hvitt og pelsete som lå og gnog på restene av et eller annet. En stor hvit isbjørn var det hun hadde funnet. Hei, sa Oldmors-Grannveig, hva heter du? Jeg er Karate, sa bjørnen. Du kan vel ikke hete Karate, sa Oldmors-Grannveig, du er en isbjørn. Jeg har sett sånne som deg på Youtube. Visst heter jeg Karate og er isbjørn, sa bjørnen, det er vel ikke noe rart med det. En venn av deg heter jo Crinolle og er marekatt. Han er faktisk mer som familie, sa Oldmors-Grannveig, men jeg hadde ikke tenkt på det på den måten. Hva driver du med? Bare henger, sa bjørnen. Har du sett Amor, sa Oldmors-Grannveig, vi er gode venner og jeg hadde håpet på litt trøst fra ham i kveld. Er du i trøbbel, sa bjørnen. Ja, eller nei, mamma sa jeg ikke skal vise noen at jeg er lei meg. Men jeg snakker med Amor om alt. Du mener han asylsøkeren, sa bjørnen. Ja. Han som fikk avslag på søknaden i våres og stakk av fra mottaket. Ja. Jeg hørte om det, sa bjørnen tankefullt. Han snudde seg litt bort og vasket det skittenrosa ansiktet sitt med labbene. Har du sett ham? Skulle dere treffes her? Vi hadde ikke avtalt det akkurat men, sa Oldmors-Grannveig. Du, jeg må be deg om hjelp til en sak, sa bjørnen. Jeg er egentlig på flukt selv, jeg har stukket av fra dyrehagen. Oida, sa Oldmors-Grannveig. Du skjønner, jeg er så innmari kjøttsulten. I dyrehagen kastet de seler og sånn inn til oss, men her ute må jeg klare meg selv. Så jeg ber om unnskyldning på forhånd hvis du blir støtt av det jeg nå skal spørre deg om. Nei, ropte Oldmors-Grannveig, si det, si det! Gartner Olahid Muharred von Skrupp sto på gardintrappen og friserte hekken utenfor arbeidstiden. Han gikk opp på det øverste trinnet og stakk hodet over hekketoppen og fikk øye på Oldmors-Grannveig nede i hagen på den andre siden. Han lurte på hva hun drev med der nede på denne tiden av døgnet, strakte hals og satte straks hjertet i den. Thi en hvit slagbjørn reiste seg som et fjell over henne og stupte over henne og slukte henne på et blunk. Så luntet den videre mens den slikket seg om munnen. Dette er en lang historie. Og den har ikke begynt ennå egentlig, for dette skulle jo handle om Kain og Abel. For å korte litt ned på det så ringte Olahid til Tjommi med geværet som skjøt bedøvelsespiler, og denne kom så fort han kunne. Han var jo amublansesjåfør, bodde like ved akutten og hadde nøklene til nøkkelskapet der ambulansenøkkelen hang. Han ladet geværet, kløv oppi ambulansen og ventet ikke til han hadde satt på sirenen med å trykke klampen i bånn. De jaktet på bjørnen hele natten og hele neste dag, og dagen etterpå. Samtidig rappet Herodes og Crinolle mot hverandre uten at den ene fikk overtaket over den andre, og ingen merket at Oldmors-Grannveig var borte. Vinteren kom. De begynte å regulere rappetiden og servere måltider og tilby pauser til Herodes og Crinolle. Dessuten trengte de grendehuset til andre ting. Det fantes jo dem som skulle konfirmeres til våren også. Du kan gjette på hvem som fikk skylden for dødsfallene til Mads og Amor, Spesi og Gårdbruker Gard. Tjommi fortalte Gatrofars hva som hadde skjedd med Oldmors-Grannveig. Gatrofars sa: Ingen fare. Vi bare leter i hagen etter noen hårstrå, så kloner vi henne. Ingen kommer til å merke forskjell. Og som sagt, så gjort. De smuglet kloningen opp på losjen samme kveld som Crinolle endelig satte Herodes på plass, det var tredje desember. Oldmors-Grannveig var sitt sanne jeg, ingen merket forskjell og aller minst Setra, da hun falt om halsen på datteren og erklærte at hun aldri mer skulle forsøke å gifte henne bort etter det som hadde skjedd, at Crinolle hadde vunnet en ærlig seier over Herodes i rap-battle. Hva så med gullskatten? Jo, Oldmors-Grannveig begynte å fortelle om hva som hadde skjedd. Hun hadde kløvet opp på ryggen til Karate, som slo over i trav bortetter, fortere og fortere, over åkrer, inn i skogen, over åser, han svømte sågar over et par tre fjorder, helt til han kom til slottet sitt, der hun hadde bodd som dronning ganske lenge. Om natten var Karate en vakker prins, men hun måtte ikke se på ham, og de omgikkes da utelukkende i totalt mørke. Hun fikk en masse gull, som Karate ville begrave sammen med henne da hun døde, det sa han da hun en dag etter en legeundersøkelse motivert av en influensalignende tilstand som ikke ville gå over, kom hjem med en kreftdiagnose og fire uker igjen å leve. Den spådommen viste seg å holde mål. Hva er best, sa Karate, å bli spist opp utenfra, eller å bli spist opp innenfra. Det siste Oldmors-Grannveig kunne huske var at hun lå i sengen med smerter og opiater en tirsdag må det ha vært, for hun hørte isbilen. Likevel trodde hun nok at hun rent medisinsk betraktet levde en god stund lenger, skjønt alt var mørke og tåke. Kain, som var eldst, var veldig glad i moren sin og pleide å hjelpe henne i hagen, mens Abel heller satt ved grua og grov i asken mens han hørte på Roxy Music på kasettspilleren sin. Til slutt ble likevel begge to vaktmestere på Lutrelia Steinerskole.

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Hedvig Mollestad Interview: Move Inside the Weather

Photo by Francesco Saggio

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Tempest Revisited (Rune Grammofon), the upcoming album from Norwegian guitarist Hedvig Mollestad, is all about moments in time. For one, the music itself was composed as part of a commission to celebrate the 20th anniversary of cultural house Parken in 2018. (When Parken opened in 1998, legendary composer Arne Nordheim debuted The Tempest; Mollestad’s new album is a self-described “bookend” to The Tempest.) The album, one the other hand, was recorded in 2019, and in the recording process, Mollestad wished to revisit the past, namely the winter storms of Ålesund, where she was born (and home to Parken). Opener “Sun On A Dark Sky” opens with reeds, rumbling percussion, and distorted voices, the unease of an approaching storm that belies gently moody guitar and tenor sax. The threats of bad weather are mirrored by wavering vibraphone, bluesy guitar riffing, and speedy nordwave and drums. “Winds Approaching” sways like gusts, with a two-note mirrored saxophone and guitar riff, and ends with some serious shredding. The funky “Kittywakes In Gusts” recalls the way birds play in the wind. “418 (stairs in storms)”, named after the number of stairs you have to climb to get to a scenic overlook in Ålesund, like the first two tracks on the album, begins unassumingly, trickling guitars, warm reeds, and tapping drums, but builds up to prickly blues riffing. 

Over a Zoom conversation last month, Mollestad told me about the topography of Ålesund and how she attempted to have the instrumentation of the album correspond to different natural elements. She also talked about where Tempest Revisited fits within her discography and songwriting tendencies and playing the songs live. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: Did you go into Tempest Revisited intending for it to be a bookend to Arne Nordheim’s The Tempest?

Hedvig Mollestad: I don’t know if this is a regional thing, but in Norway, it’s very common for cultural houses, festivals, or big organizers to invite composers or musicians to do commissioned pieces of music for celebrations and anniversaries. This was one of those things. Where I grew up, there is a cultural house, Parken, and they were celebrating twenty years. Their manager contacted me and asked me if I wanted to do 1 of 4 commissions, one for each season: spring, summer, autumn, and winter storms. None of the other commissions came through, so I was the only one left. That was the winter storms idea. This manager, I went to school with him when I was a kid, so we know each other quite well and had a lot of conversations on how this should be. This culture house is not very commercial, but it’s very beautiful. It’s in this city center, close to a mountain. For him, he wanted to connect this commission to the culture house and winter storms and the city of Ålesund where I grew up.

When we started to converse more about it, I wanted to embrace my kind of weather and Ålesund and storm I lived through when I grew up there. I thought a lot about the philosophical aspect of it before making the music.

SILY: The songs on here sound like they have intentional moods and correspondence to natural elements. Can you talk more specifically about how you came up with those correspondences?

HM: This is not program music. You’re not supposed to hear whatever the title refers to. But as a composer, it’s a privilege to put a name for the piece. What I was thinking when I was making this whole piece was the view from where I grew up. I can see straight west, and to the left, it’s a big long mountain. When a storm is approaching, I can see it 20 minutes before it hits the place where I’m at. “Sun on a Dark Sky” is when the sun is still with me, but I can see what’s coming in the horizon. That was trying to embrace the light, the shadows, the contrast between the warmth of the sun and what I see from the west. I wanted to move inside the weather aspect of it.

"Winds Approaching” was more light and not so meditative. It was supposed to be “winds approaching, but nothing severe.” The birds are playing on the wing. I wanted it to be light and anticipating what was about to come. What is crucial to note here is it was written in 2018, more than one year before I wrote Ekhidna. It was earlier in my composing career. In this music, I can hear a lot of the ideas that come out later in a monstrous way. I can hear that I’m working on ideas on a more basic level. I’m going back to the root of working with the reeds and trying to make them sound good together and not going crazy loud rock guitar. I’m trying to pinpoint something else.

[With] “Kittywakes In Gusts”, I wanted to have this fun-to-play jazz/blues theme in the middle of the commissioned work, because I knew the players that were going to play. Just something more rock-ish and straight. It’s fun to watch the kittywakes play in the gusts. It’s kind of artistic.

We turn into the “418″, which in the middle of the city where the cultural house is, there’s a viewpoint all the tourists are brought to by bus. My grandparents used to live by this city mountain. It’s so great because you can walk there from the city centers, but then you have to do 418 stairs. When I was a kid, there was rough weather--nothing like the hurricanes in your country--but the power went, and the roofs were flying, the trees were breaking, and I was thinking when I wrote this, to humans, the weather is something that can kill you and devastate, but to this mountain that’s been there for however long, it’s just very, very quiet or subtle. I was trying to think of the storm from the mountain’s point of view.

SILY: It’s increasingly relevant these days with climate change, as weather related disasters affect more people, but from the standpoint of nature, it is what it is.

HM: There’s no value to it. It’s not good or evil; it’s just happening. Everything with life happens without a sense of meaning unless we humans put [meaning] in it.

SILY: Did you try for certain instruments to correspond to specific aspects of weather?

HM: The saxophones were kind of free, but I was very into the timpani together with the flute. That was the closest I could get to capturing the visceral darkness and the streams from the sun cutting through everything. That was the instrumentation idea and important for me to keep as an opening and a closing to the album. For the reeds, I just wanted them to be together like the birds that work together as they fly together.

There is a piece that didn’t make it to the record that was quite fun, in the middle of this, a solo part for Ivar [loe Bjørnstad], the drummer. It was called [in English] ”Ivar is tying up all the garden furniture”. He was getting on this big percussion kit. It was fun having him do that in the middle of this piece, but unfortunately, it didn’t make it in the record.

SILY: You mentioned wanting to stray from rock and roll guitar, but there are still some places on here where they show up, like on the end of “Sun on a Dark Sky” and “Winds Approaching”. “Kittywakes” and “High Hair” are these funky stomps. To what extent were you trying to make something raw and fun with those last two tracks?

HM: “Kittywakes” is a little rockish, but playing it was a big difference playing with the reeds as opposed to just the basic drum and bass. When you play it acoustically, whether live or in the studio, you have to relate to them. I couldn’t play as loud as I wanted because it would fuck up the dynamics of how you could listen on stage. I think it’s important within a band to relay to each other what you can do decibel-wise. You have to be polite. You have to level onto each other. They had to play stronger and more powerfully, and I had to ease a little up. So in my hearing, even though it’s full tilt, I think “High Hair” was the one song where I really thought I wanted to do the things I usually do that I love the most. It was that intention that everybody was going to let loose and finish this off in a manner that’s expected. That’s what I love to do at the end of a set. It was very natural to finish it off and get us as close as possible to this stormy climax.

SILY: How often do you visit where you grew up?

HM: I have two children now, so they’re very much the reasons I go back, so they can visit their grandparents. I’m there about 4 times a year with them. I regularly play there. I was probably there a couple months ago.

SILY: What’s the story behind the cover art for this record?

HM: The cover art on all Rune Grammofon records are made by one artist, Kim Hiorthøy. Since I’ve released records there, I’ve always felt the artwork is important. All the records I’ve been listening to since childhood and that I still love, the artwork is very important. I’ve always wanted him to do photos on my records, which is what he’s done, but this time, he wanted to put something on top of my face to do something other than what we had been doing. When we tried to do this session, I was lying on a bench, and he put very many things on top of me. Bananas, clay, so many different things just to see how it worked. He dropped these shiny pearls on me and moved them around a little bit. Two of them were on my eyes when he took the picture. He [had] the artistic freedom to take it. I didn’t see any of the other [photos]. I thought it was really mystic, cool, and freaky, because as I’m lying down, I think the expression in [my] face was weird. I think it’s pretty scary.

SILY: Have you played these tracks live before?

HM: We played [them] in 2018 when it was first finished for the actual anniversary of the cultural house. I also played a couple of these tracks with the [Hedvig Mollestad] Trio. We brought in saxophone players as part of the Trio show; we played “High Hare” and “Kittywakes” and had horn players for a big ending to a special show. As a big ensemble, it’s been hard to make a whole tour of it. Ekhidna is still touring. We’re doing one release show here in Oslo. It looks like there might be some touring next year.

SILY: What else are you working on and do you have coming up?

HM: Last year, I was writing a big commission work for 12 musicians, the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. I finished it last year. It’s called Maternity Beat, and we just finished recording it in the studios in Norway. We’re mixing it in a couple weeks and it will be released next autumn, because it takes so long for the vinyl to press these days. I’m really excited about it.

SILY: Is there anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading lately that’s caught your attention?

HM: I’ve been reading two books that have made a big impression on me. They’re both Norwegian writers. Dag Hoel’s Fred er ei det beste, which is about the ammunition production in Norway. Norway produces a lot of war materials. It made such an impression on me, especially when I was about to record Maternity Beat. There’s another one called Liv by a professor named Dag O. Hessen. It’s about the meaning of life, but in a very entertaining way.

I just read George Orwell’s 1984 too, which I hadn’t read before. I knew what it was going to be about and what was going to happen, but I still felt nauseous at the end of it. It’s absolutely fascinating and very relevant, especially after I read the book on Norwegian ammunition about how we ignore things that matter because we just care about having the easiest way of living.