Shimmering Eternally

In the Saami understanding, the evocation of a yoik is something that when started will continue to shimmer into eternity. While the yoiker creates a melodic backdrop, and calls forth a particular yoik, as the tone slips into an illusion of silence, the yoik will continue to stream entwined in the energy of creation. These ancient spiritual connections come from a place beyond western tonal borders or understanding. The rhythm can sometimes have a conventional pulse pattern or sometimes be fractal.

Vajas intends to renew the traditional yoiks of the past and stretch the limits of Norwegian folk music. Vajas takes modern concepts of sound to helpful new expressions by inviting yoiks to appear in new forms. Our vision is to give both yoiks and traditional Norwegian folk music our stamp, without causing either to lose the energy that brought them to this meeting place.

We invite you to experience with us, the opening of the conventional and the unleashing of ancient music forms. We have provided you with an example of this in “Robbers Chief” on this website. “Robbers Chief” mixes the power of rock music with tones from the High Romantic period, both are then merged with yoiking in a Tom Waits style, and generously spiced up with a screaming violin.