Band Interview: Skáld

The French Nordic-themed cultural collective that is Skáld will release ‘Huldufólk’, a 12-track anthology that tackles Scandinavian history and pagan anecdotes across Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland, keeping the folk traditions of yesteryears alive. It is out on January 20th, 2023, via Universal. You can read our review here.

Hello Skáld! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. How is everyone doing so far in 2023?

Hello, Everyone is doing great, can’t wait for this third album to be released, and can’t wait to get back on the road starting with this US tour. We’re looking forward to it.

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions, and if so, what were they?

No real resolutions, but the desire to get away from the surrounding stress to focus on composition and rehearsals.

The release of your band-new album, ‘Huldufólk’ is right around the corner. Take me back to the early days of its inception. What did your vision for the record look like and was it clear from the start?

-From the beginning there was the desire to put face to face a choir of women and a choir of men to embody the different hidden entities, and also to use some small bowed instruments by layers to discover listening after listening. And of course to keep these epic percussions which are our trademark.

Along the way, were they any events or situations that directed, changed, or influenced your specific plan?

Yes, having new voices in the collective brought new colors to explore, and the vision evolved to keep only the essential instruments and make even more space for voices and percussions.

What made you want to focus on the Huldufólk (the hidden people) and the effects of Nordic mythology?

The nordic mythology was the theme of the first album, in the second one we approached the submerged lands, the disappeared civilizations, and what created the legends that the old norsemen told each other, in this third album we speak about the invisible, about this presence that we can all feel without being, nowadays, able to really see. it’s a way of questioning us about our place on earth, about our relation to the nature.

Were there any stories that you found particularly fascinating? If so, what were they, and why did they capture your imagination?

All this hidden world is fascinating, and the fear that it provokes on the modern man questions us, I liked to mix with this disturbing urgency in “Ridum, ridum”, the history of this Icelandic road that one must take quickly if one does not want to meet there ghosts or other apparitions, and this still today.

I also liked the melancholy that is the price to pay after entering an elven circle.

What were some of the interesting aspects of working on this record for you?

The studio in which this album was produced is an old troglodytic chapel of the XIth century, I liked to record all the voices and instruments and to let me guide in this place to assemble, arrange, modify all this material.

So, underground, I had the impression to be close to the Huldufolk, it was a force to shape this album.

How about some of the challenges? What was particularly difficult and how did you overcome these challenges?

Nothing was particularly difficult, there was just to integrate the new voices of the collective, and to refrain from producing too much 🙂 and also find a balance between the Morin Khur (new instrument in Skáld) and the Nordic fiddles.

The challenge was to keep the colour of Skáld while evolving, and not to lose the little “sortilege” touch.

Were you conscious of the wide-ranging subject matter and do you feel as though the album is open to interpretation because of the mythical nature of it?

Yes, the subject is vast, and there are many different interpretations, Icelandic folklore offers one, I preferred to look in the ancient texts for the presence of this world described then as a visible, palpable world, but everyone can go with their own interpretation, the songs on this album can be understood in different ways.

Huldufólk is an incredible piece of work and the reaction, so far, backs that up. How have you found the reaction so far?

We are happy with the feedback on this album, the theme seems to speak to all of us, as if an ancient glow shines in all of us, it will be exciting to bring Huldufolk on stage.

Is there a specific track from the record that you’re really interested in seeing the reaction to more than any other?

We already play Ljósálfur on stage, I like the raw power of this song, percussion, voices, an instrument that responds, it’s very simple, with this end that flies away.

It’s even more powerful live and often leaves the audience ion awe-struck, I can’t wait to see the reaction to this track when the album is released.

Du Hast – an unexpected cover! What made you want to give the Rammstein hit your own twist?

There are two covers on this album, A forest fits in the theme and made me think of this bewitchment by a Skogsra making the one who is looking for her lose the reason, I like that this track closes the album.

Du hast started from a jam, it was fun to take on the challenge of recording this standard without any electric instruments, just hurdy-gurdies and drums.

Skáld won’t always do covers, with Du hast there is a continuity for our audience who liked the covers on the previous albums.

What’s a goal you have set out, that you’re aiming to achieve this year?

To be on the road as much as possible, to meet our audience in all countries, and to use these trips as a strength to write the next album.

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