QUESTION: How would you say your education and background as a musician have led to this interest in gamelan?

​

Answer: My interest in gamelan is relatively fresh. In my adolescent years, I played in school bands and different rock groups.  During my three years at high school, I took lessons in both jazz-drumming, with Carl Haakon Waadeland, and classical percussion, with Jon Gunnar Gundersen. Back then, I thought I had to choose between the two instruments or styles to be able to get an education with a goal to become a musician. In Namsos, where I grew up, we had a fantastic classical percussion unity. This lead to applying to the music conservatory in Tromsø, where I started to study classical percussion in 1994 with Guri Frenning as my percussion teacher.  My four years, 1994-1998, in Tromsø, was a great experience. We played a lot of percussion ensemble, performed in Tromsø Symphony Orchestra, and different contemporary music ensembles. I also started to play more regularly jazz drums, because other students were interested in jazz. This led to regular playing with the local jazz musicians in Tromsø. I then thought it would be a wise thing to study jazz drumming because I felt ready to apply to the jazz-department at the Conservatory in Trondheim. In the 90-ties to study jazz in Trondheim was the place to evolve if you wanted to become a jazz musician. I then studied jazz-drumming for two years in Trondheim, 1998-2000, with a subsequent master in jazz  2004-2006. 

Based on my education, I would say I have been fortunate. I have found ways of using both my educations in my profession. Since I started my classical education, I have been interested in contemporary music. In 1998 the Trondheim Sinfonietta was established, and from 2002 I became the main percussionist of the ensemble. On the other side, I played and composed the music for several jazz-groups, where the most important was “The Core” and “Basement Sessions”, both groups I started and co-led. In addition to this, I have done several school concert where I have been able to mix my different musical professions and also compose much of the music.

 

As a percussionist with a broad genre background, I am used to playing percussion instruments from around the world. If you look at the percussion section in western orchestras and ensembles, these instruments come from all across the globe. Instruments such as Turkish cymbals, Chinese gongs, Egyptian/Arabic tambourine, Central American marimba(which originally came from Africa) are all instruments standardised as part of the percussion group. Similarly, the drum set is also a construction, where drums and cymbals, with additional pedals, were combined to cover several musical functions. As percussionists in several genres, I can also relate the use of lesser-known and exotic instruments, which percussionists do not necessarily think of as "special" or "exotic". I have throughout the years played instruments such as the Indian tablas, Arabic darbuka, Caribbean steel drum, Chinese tom-toms, and the more non-exotic hand saw, where all these instruments are written in the percussion part by composers. This is expected to be performed by a "regular" percussionist. I say "regular" in quotations, as there are often percussionists with interest in the instruments of other cultures, and want to learn something new who perform these parts. However, it is not uncommon for percussionists to have an open approach playing non-western percussion in an orchestra setting.

 

But you asked how this background has led to an interest in gamelan? To be able to explain this, I need to break it down to different “key” musical experiences.

 

As a student and professional musician, I have been involved in projects that have affected my choice of musical interests and career. I can point to three different musical experiences that, in many ways, defined me as a musician and further led to this interest in gamelan music.

 

The first experience was during my classical education in Tromsø, which was the process of rehearsals and performance of Steve Reich's work "Drumming (1970-71)". The entire idea of this composition was so strong: the freedom of this music within the framework, the non-score rehearsal process, the intricate yet straightforward concept of rhythmical interlocking, the modal concept with the pentatonic scales, and the way this 90-minute piece influenced the audience with its hypnotic atmosphere. This experience fundamentally changed me and made me more focused on following a contemporary path as an ensemble musician. Over the years, I have performed works by other composers that I could relate to this experience and musical interest, like works by John Cage, Rolf Wallin, David Lang, to name a few.