Over the course of his career, Olav Mjelva has become something of a face of the Hardanger Fiddle, with his fiddle being heard in settings such as Rings of Power, God of War: Ragnarök, and Marvel’s Loki. As well as being featured in over 60 studio projects, he is also well known in the Scandifolk scene for his work with Sver, the Nordic Fiddlers Bloc, Rydvall/Mjelva, and the Lodestar Trio. After collaborating with Einar Selvik and Ivar Bjornson for Skuggsjá, Olav has returned to sign with ByNorse for his project Afargang, whose debut album “Andvake” is looking to reimagine what Folk Metal can be.
I hope you enjoy this milestone episode of the Nordic Sound, in which Olav and I discuss his upbringing as a fiddler from Røros, his love of black metal, and how his upcoming album Andvake blends these two worlds, and as always, taking little detours along the way.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:12 Sver in the States
4:38 Origin Stories
10:11 Learning the Hardanger Fiddle
13:00 Becoming a Studio Musician
18:04 Skuggsjá
23:02 Afargang
37:25 Black Metal as a Folk Musician
45:11 The Nordic Sound
48:29 Waiting for Andvake
52:22 ByNorse
56:24 Norway’s Folk Music boom
The Nordic Sound is supported by its patrons over on Patreon.com/nordicsound
Bar
Monica
Ember
George
Bets
Carrie
Gen
Leigh
Mike
Cindy
Clayton
Drake
Eric
Jamie
Julia
Mary
Michael
Michael
Sean
Simon
Tony
You too can support the project at patreon.com/nordicsound
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.