An Interview with Einar Selvik of Warduna

Photo credit: Morten Munthe

Last November I spoke with Einar Selvik of Norwegian dark-folk band Warduna. The band were touring Europe at the time, ahead of the release of their album, 'Birna,' a sonic journey into the world of the she-bear. Einar was so generous with his time, and his answers provided so many insights into the craft of songwriting, recording and performance, that I’m posting the interview in full here, as Wardruna continue to tour the UK and Ireland.

TG:  I understand that Birna was written and recorded between 2021 and 2024 so did you begin work on it immediately after the release of the album Kvitravn?  Did it begin as an extension of that album – or was it an entirely new concept in your mind from the outset? 

ES: It's a totally separate thing. The whole process is quite slow. To begin with, I spent a lot of time finding the bear’s voice, writing poetry, recording certain ideas, doing lots of research, both in terms of the historical aspects and relation between man and bear, but also scientific research about the bear itself. In between touring and whatever else I was doing. I've had periods where I've done recording during this, yes, so it has sort of been a process where I've been visiting and revisiting the album for these four years, more or less. But the intensive period where you start really chiselling down to what becomes the final album,  that has been the last year I would say, even though a lot of the poetry and idea material and even some of the songs were started quite a few years ago.

TG: The use of the choir, Koret Artemis, is very effective and adds another dimension to tracks like ‘Jord til Ljos’ and ‘Himinndotter.’ What inspired you to use a choir on certain songs? Did you compose the songs with a choir in mind, or did that idea come later? 

ES: Going back to the bear, I felt I could tell the story in a more powerful and direct poetic way if I chose the female aspect, both with its connection to Mother Earth and how the bear in its annual cycle is sort of mirroring the cycle of life in nature. Not only the earth itself, but also movements of many other animals that happens in these annual cycles and so I felt that the female aspect would create a stronger connection. And that also connects it to me wanting to – or envisioning working – with an all-female choir like Artemis. So it was composed with the choir in mind and ‘Himinndotter’ was actually one of the first things I started to work on with this album and it was written always with the female choir in mind. I wanted a choir that didn't sing in the normal, classical way but one that had a broader variety of styles and Artemis work a lot with ethnic music from all over the planet. They do traditional folk music songs and things like that, so I felt it would be a good match. I’ve had them on my radar for a while. And when I approached them, they were really, really excited about the potential collaboration. Yes, I'm very happy with how it turned out. It was a good match.

Birna album cover | Cover artwork by Øivind A. Myksvoll

TG: ‘Dvaledraumar’ is an ambitious track running over more than fifteen minutes. It seems to represent the hibernating bear, with its slowed-down heartbeat. What was the inspiration for this track and how did you go about creating it?

ES: Yes, ‘Dvaledraumar’ means ‘dormant dreams.’ So, yes, it is the bear and its winter sleep and its dream. I wanted to mimic the heartbeats. Bears don’t really hibernate as such –  it sort of semi-hibernates and one of the things it does is it lowers its heartrate to about nine or ten beats per minute. I chose nine, for conceptual reasons, and so that’s the pulse that runs through that whole musical piece. The song is also a collaboration where we invited Swedish film artist and music artist Jonna Jinton to collaborate – it's something we've been discussing for a long time – most prominently through the field recording she did up in northern Sweden of ‘singing ice,’ (basically, when water freezes in a certain way on some of these lakes the ice starts to ‘sing’ for a day or two, and Jonna has captured that.) So, that is basically the sound that is serenading the bear throughout. And the instruments were chosen to have particularly relevance to the bear, in one or the other way. The type of lyre I'm playing is the Finnish and Karelian kantele, which comes from ‘bear country’ and is also a tradition very much connected to the bear historically. Towards the end of it you hear the sound of the melting ice and also the bear is sort of woken by a willow flute – a real willow flute, not a plastic one. This is a flute that can only be made in those weeks right before the leaves pop from the willow, so it’s very much a spring instrument, an overtone flute, performed by a master Norwegian traditional flute player Hans Fredrik Jacobson.

TG: Since we last spoke in 2021, shortly after the release of Kvitravn, Wardruna have been on a fairly unrelenting tour of Europe and America and, in 2025, you’re off to Australia and touring Europe again. How do you find time to relax ...and to compose and record new material?  

ES: That's always a challenge. I'm used to living and planning two-three years ahead. What can I say? It's a challenge and a discipline. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't work, but the goal is to be present in whatever situation I’m in. So when I'm on tour, I'm on tour and all my energy goes into that and to do that in a healthy way so that, when I get home and have space for creation, I can actually spend my time doing that. Thankfully, even though it was a lot of concerts in the aftermath of the whole COVID void, I would say it was a good balance of doing tours in bulks and then you have enough time in between tours to actually have time off and time to do different things and, like I said before, this is not an album that’s written in a short time span. I like to spend time in between because, for many people, they write an album and then they go into studio and record it in a very intensive period. But I can’t work it in that way. So it's juggling these things and creating when it feels good to create and when there’s space to create, that's the way to do it for me.

TG: Wardruna have performed at Red Rocks in Colorado and the Acropolis in Athens. Can you say which places you most enjoyed performing in and why?

ES:  We've been so lucky from the very beginning in terms of the spaces and places we perform. I strongly believe – and it is my experience – that, when you perform in places that complement the music in whatever way, that you create a good synergy. And that makes a basis for a stronger experience, both for the audience and us on stage. Playing at the Acropolis or Red Rocks, or some of the other Roman amphitheatres we’re playing in... I don't know. Every place is different; every time in front of an audience is different and they all have their own powerful personality in very different ways. I can't pick a favourite but, when you play in places like the Acropolis, I would say it's a very demanding place to play because the place itself has such a strong feeling and a strong personality that it can almost steal your focus in a way that it takes over, the experience of actually being there. So it demands a lot of disciplined mind. 

Wardruna continue touring the UK and Ireland this month before returning to tour Norway in April and May with a few extra European dates in the summer. The album Birna is out now, as well as the DVD/Blu-ray Live at the Acropolis.