>> Stephen Winick: Welcome
to the American Folklife
Center's 2022 Homegrown
at Home Concert Series.
I'm Stephen Winick,
and for many years,
we presented the Homegrown
Concert Series featuring the
best in traditional folk music
and dance from around the world.
In various rooms and spaces
in the Library of Congress
in Washington, D.C.
But in the year 2020,
because of the global pandemic,
we shifted to producing an
online video concert series
which we call Homegrown at Home.
So now in 2022, this is
our third year of Homegrown
at Home concerts because
we're still being cautious
about bringing audiences
together.
We have had our collective eye
on the Swedish group, Kongero,
for several years now,
since several Library
of Congress staff members
saw then in concert
at Folk Alliance
International a few years ago.
So we are very happy to bring
them to this series this year.
Now to get some more background
and context for our concerts,
we interview the
performers whenever we can.
And so I am here today
with members of Kongero,
Emma, Lotta, and Sofia.
So welcome, Kongero.
>> Emma Björling: Thank you.
>> Sofia Hultqvist
Kott: Thank you.
>> Stephen Winick: Now
one challenge that I have
in doing these interviews is
pronouncing the names of people
from a wide variety of cultures.
So I think I'm going to take
the cowardly way out and rather
than introducing you by your
full names, may I ask you
to introduce yourselves
by telling our viewers
your full names?
>> Emma Björling: My
name is Emma Björling.
>> Lotta Andersson: And my
name is Lotta Andersson.
>> Sofia Hultqvist Kott: And
my name Sofia Hultqvist Kott.
>> Stephen Winick: Well,
welcome to all three of you
and we're delighted to
have you here with us.
So we're going to talk a little
bit about Kongero and the music
that you do in the group.
So first of all, you call the
group Swedish Folk'appella.
So what exactly is the
meaning of that term?
What do you mean by it?
>> Emma Björling: Well,
we sat down thinking
about how we would explain
what we actually are doing.
In some way, we are exotic
in all kinds of environment.
We're different or, yeah,
exotic in the a cappella world,
and also in the folk world,
since we're only
using our voices.
So we try to, in some
way, try to explain that.
And Swedish Folk'appella to
us it means it's folk music
or rooted in traditional
music, but we do it a cappella.
So we just made up our
own genre, basically.
>> Stephen Winick: So and
it's a wonderful sound
and I think people will
really enjoy the concert,
which of course is live
on our website at LOC.gov.
So I should ask you then how
does a Swedish person today,
a young, Swedish person,
encounter traditional
folk music?
What are the mechanisms
through which people learn
about it even in Sweden?
>> Lotta Andersson: I would say
the most common way is we start
maybe playing an instrument
at a local music school.
And then someone suggests that
you go to a music camp, maybe,
where you will find
traditional music.
Or maybe you have someone in
your family that is interested,
already, maybe plays the fiddle
or some other traditional
instrument,
and you get to it that way.
But I would say that most kids
in Sweden don't know their
traditional music that well
and are not very
much exposed to it.
So it's either by suggestion
or by someone you
know bringing you in.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm,
and that kind of brings us
to the question of the education
system there in Sweden and how
that sort of interacts with
the folk music community.
Can someone talk about that?
>> Emma Björling: Sure.
>> Lotta Andersson: I
could say something, first.
Just there are initiatives
with traditional musicians
bringing traditional music
into the schools with, you know,
touring projects and you get
to try to play or, yeah, at
least be exposed to it somewhat.
But as you go further,
Emma will tell you.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah.
Yeah, I would say school
education now has a lot to do
with the exposure to traditional
music in Sweden because it's not
like back in the days,
it was really a part
of our everyday life.
So everyone was singing the
songs, everyone was dancing,
and so on and so forth.
But since the world look a
little bit different now,
I guess most people get
exposed to it by a relative,
or a friend, or in school, and
if you ever get to hear it.
But, yeah, so as Lotta
said, there are projects
in for smaller children to
try and play, or try to sing,
or you make a story,
or something,
and a touring band comes in
and works with the children.
But we actually have education,
traditional music educations
in all like levels after the
- what would you call it?
Like ordinary school,
so after high school,
you could choose either to go
to a specific music gymnasium,
as we call it, like
it's somewhere
between high school
and college for you.
And where you could
actually try, at least,
if you have the right
teachers on your school,
to focus on folk music.
But after that, when you have
done your nine years, or sorry,
your 12 years in school,
you could choose to go
to a specific school that is
also, I mean, for in Sweden,
all education is free.
So you choose to go and
learn whatever you want.
And there are specific schools
for traditional music
and world music.
And then you could go on
to university or college
that is very specified
for traditional music,
and we have four folk music
or traditional music university
educations in Sweden right now.
>> Stephen Winick: Excellent.
So --
>> Emma Björling: But
we have about 20 of them,
I would say, in college level.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
Great. So we've asked about
this or I've asked about this
on the sort of general
level of how does one do it.
But I could also ask you
individually how did you come
to traditional music?
So why don't we start
with Sofia,
since she hasn't had a
chance to talk to us, yet.
>> Sofia Hultqvist Kott:
Yeah, well, I think,
like I grew up in a family
that enjoys all kinds of music
and they also listen to a lot
of the popular Swedish folk
bands and as I grew up.
And then, I don't know.
I started playing music in
school when I was a kid,
but it was just different
genres.
Then I went on to
high school and I went
to these folk music camps
that Lotta talked about.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah.
>> Sofia Hultqvist Kott:
And, yeah, after that,
I just fell in love with
the genre and I kept
on studying folk music and
I am studying right now,
so I'm at the Royal College of
Music in Stockholm right now.
Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: All
right, that sounds great.
And, Lotta, how about you?
What was your path
into folk music?
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah,
I guess kind of similar,
although my parents
didn't really play
or engage in that genre.
But like by happenstance, I
came to this folk music camp
and it was the best week of
my life up until that point.
So I was just totally
blown away.
I played the fiddle,
at the time,
but I had, you know, a good ear.
And I hadn't really realized
that I didn't read
the sheet music
because it said what song
it was and then I played
that one together
with the teacher
who also played the same song.
And that had kind of just,
yeah, I just realized
that this might be a
problem and I felt really bad
like I had been cheating
and like I could never learn
how to play the fiddle.
And this year at this specific
camp, you could apply just
like for song only
with your voice.
And I thought, okay,
that's fine.
I'll go. And when we got there,
my dad kind of just handed
me the violin case from out
of the trunk and
said, "Here you go."
And I played, and I sang, and
I danced, and it was awesome,
and yeah, on that road.
I'm still on that path.
>> Stephen Winick:
Excellent, thank you.
And I should say about
Emma that she was
in our concern series last year
and so we actually have a
full interview just with her
on the website that you
should look for, as well.
But give us the short
version, Emma,
of how you also came
into folk music.
>> Emma Björling: All right.
My paternal grandad played the
fiddle and he played folk music.
So I was already without
knowing it in that world.
Started studying all kinds of
genres, singing mostly for me.
I played a little bit of
piano and flute, as well,
but it was always
I always came back
to singing and a lot of choirs.
And then I started taking
courses in summer camps
and with just with folk music
and traditional music
in specific then.
And then I started when I went
to university, I started doing,
well, I'm actually an
educated jazz teacher,
jazz singing teacher,
which is really weird
because I don't sing
jazz, anymore.
I love it, though.
But, yeah, during those
years, I sort of tilted more
and more towards folk music
and then I also studied
at the Royal College
of Music in Stockholm.
That was specifically
in traditional music.
So after, I guess, after
maybe six years out of nine
that I studied, I was totally
like only studying folk music.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
>> Emma Björling: Hm.
>> Stephen Winick: All right.
So if you are a Swedish
traditional singer,
you're picking up on
these songs that have been
in tradition for many years.
And there's a wide variety
of traditional folk
songs in Sweden.
So tell us a little bit about
the different types of songs
that you started to learn
when you became interested
in traditional singing.
>> Lotta Andersson: A lot of
the first ones are, you know,
very short dance songs.
So usually with a polska
beat, heavy one and three,
and the two in the middle
is kind of just to get
to the three, and just to get
to the next one, so three beats.
And they could be silly.
They could be about,
you know, youthful love,
or just about dancing, or about
losing your shoes, or whatever.
But those - there's, you
know, hundreds, and hundreds,
and hundreds of those.
>> Emma Björling: Loads
of animals, as well.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah.
So that's kind of one type.
And then, of course, we
have medieval ballads,
and some of them are
about mythical creatures
and all of that.
And others are actually
based on "true stories"
about honorable knights and
battles that has taken place.
But you can't hardly tell
because they've been
so very much --
>> Emma Björling:
They traveled a bit.
>> Lotta Andersson:
They have traveled
and they have changed over time.
Lots of love songs, lots
of, yeah, traditional hymns,
and with melodies that are
more intricate than the ones
that were then standardized
into the hymn books.
A lot of music connected
to herding culture,
where in our parts, you took the
animals up into the mountains
and away from the valleys
where you have fertile land
to grow your own food.
Took the cattle up and
during all of summer,
and that was the job of usually
elderly women, or young girls,
or young ladies who had
not yet been married.
So lots of songs suitable
for the female voice there.
What else?
Of course, joking songs
and drinking songs.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah,
work songs, sailor songs,
railer [assumed spelling] songs
in the little bit more
modern times, but also a lot
of woodworking or forest
working songs, of course, yeah.
>> Lotta Andersson:
To keep the pace.
>> Emma Björling:
Yeah, and school songs
for learning the alphabet,
or the Bible, or yeah.
>> Stephen Winick:
Great, and many --
>> Emma Björling:
Educational ones.
>> Stephen Winick:
Sorry, go on, yeah.
>> Emma Björling:
Yeah, no, no.
I was done, I think.
>> Lotta Andersson: Lullabies.
>> Stephen Winick: Oh,
yes, lullabies, sure.
>> Lotta Andersson: Of course.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah.
>> Lotta Andersson: And then
we do a lot of mouth music,
which has no lyrics, and
that's just for dancing.
>> Stephen Winick: Right.
>> Emma Björling: So I
would say in our repertoire,
we have music from all kind
of like all functions in life,
whether it's work, or dancing,
or putting a baby to sleep,
or whatever, or telling a story.
I mean, the medieval ballads,
they were that - the newspaper
of that time, basically,
even though it took three
months for it to reach you.
>> Stephen Winick: Right.
>> Emma Björling: But, yeah,
so all functions, and then,
of course, the what I call
sometimes diary songs that's
like from your own heart,
from your own lives,
things that you just
wanted to sing about.
I was, yeah, your
own experiences.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
So given that there's
this wide variety of songs
and that there are many,
many examples of every type
that you've talked about.
How is it that you pick songs
for Kongero to perform and also
to do in your workshops?
>> Emma Björling: Oh,
that's a tricky one.
Well, I guess, well, we choose
songs - often, we choose songs
with where we have a clear
view of what we want to say.
So it either it's a very -
it's a good story that we want
to tell or it's a clear or
strong emotion that we could -
how it is - I just
forgot the word.
>> Stephen Winick:
Expressed, I think.
>> Emma Björling:
Expressed, thank you.
So that could either be the way,
or I mean, we write quite a lot
of our music ourselves, as well.
So we mix it nowadays,
it's usually around 50-50
with our original music
and the traditional.
I think the song needs to have
like a message of some kind
or a story that we can
tell that we can stand for.
That is tricky, sometimes.
I've actually done
another interview
about specifically that,
that the place for a woman
or the woman's place in the
society is not what it was.
And hopefully, it will
continue to change.
But, yeah, so that
could be tricky,
sometimes with the lyrics.
And then we take the liberty
to change the lyrics sometimes.
And also, we might find a
really like a fantastic song,
piece of song lyrics, and the
melody is meh, yeah, you know.
Then we take the liberty
to write a new melody.
So but it needs to be
something that all four
of us really feel we can - I
can express this and I feel okay
with this message
or I like this song.
That, I guess, that's
the easiest way of --
>> Lotta Andersson: And to me,
it's a lot about the melodies
or like the expression.
If I listen to an archive
recording and I get so inspired
by this old woman or a
man who was kind enough
to open their kitchen
for someone
with a microphone
back in the '60s.
And here I have this
treasure trove of,
you know, just awesome stuff.
And a lot of times,
it's just browsing
and then find something
that I like.
And it, you know, start building
an arrangement maybe in my head
or maybe I'm typing it up.
And then I bring it to the
group and let - then we'll see
if it fits or if it's a song I
should do, you know, elsewhere.
What do you say, Sofia?
>> Sofia Hultqvist Kott: Yeah,
I was going to say I feel
like since the band has existed
since 2005, we have really
like developed a
sound and, yeah,
our way of doing the
traditional music.
So I think that sometimes
you just hear
like a traditional recording
or something and you just
like immediately think that this
is a Kongero song, you know.
You can like almost
hear it in an instant.
It's you know what fits kind of.
>> Lotta Andersson: And for
workshops, when we do them
in Sweden, we usually have
a broader variety of songs
to choose from because
the language is not
such a big barrier.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
>> Lotta Andersson: But when
we do them in English online
or if we do them, you know, in
other countries where we go,
we choose songs that
have not too much lyrics.
So that we can get into doing
the music as soon as possible
>> Emma Björling: And
I think more and more,
since we've started
touring abroad,
not just with the workshop
material, but also,
we really like we
understand the significance
of the music also
telling the story.
Because we, I mean, we
have more concerts abroad
or outside Sweden than
we have in Sweden.
So we need to tell the
same story with the music
and our arrangements that we
do with our words because most
of the times, people don't
understand what we sing about.
And that also goes for really
young children in Sweden.
They don't understand because
it's really old-fashioned
language, sometimes.
So yeah, we need to tell the
story with our music, as well.
>> Stephen Winick: Interesting,
and so a couple of things came
up in that - in your answers
that I wanted to
ask about, anyway.
And one of them was archives.
Of course, we're the
Library of Congress.
We have a massive archive
of traditional songs
on every format from
cylinder going forward.
So I wonder how much
time you spend listening
to archive recordings and what -
how important that
is to Kongero.
>> Emma Björling: I would say
really important that in, yeah,
and you have periods when
you're looking for new material
or when you're going
through the material
that you already found
during listening through.
You could either, I mean,
a lot of the music has been
actually released on a couple
of CDs, back in the days,
and not it's all on Spotify,
from the National
Archive in Sweden.
They chose like 20
sailor songs, here you go,
and they actually released it.
So it made it way more
accessible for everyone to find.
But now, they have digitalized
the whole sounding archives,
so you can actual go
on to their website
and you can find
whatever you want.
That is just fantastic,
actually.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah.
>> Emma Björling: So
yeah, we use it a lot.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah, and
that, to me, it's very inspiring
to go back to like
recordings that I kind of chose
to maybe do something with
when I was in school, like ten
or 15 years ago, and like
I haven't used them all.
So during the pandemic, I
was kind of sorting through
and making sure that I had
them accessible at home
in my computer that
I could find stuff.
And there's so many things that
I've forgotten and, you know,
I'm eager to get to and
maybe to arrange either
for teaching or for Kongero.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah,
it's amazing when you find --
>> Lotta Andersson:
Yeah, go ahead.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, go on.
>> Sofia Hultqvist
Kott: Yeah, no, sorry.
I was just going to say I
feel like it's also very
like included in the education
in Swedish folk music, as well.
Like we base the entire
education upon looking
at traditional music,
and searching
in the archives,
and, you know, yeah.
There was like there's a fiddler
in where I come from, and Emma,
as well, Shaleric, Eric
Somme [assumed spelling].
He's really good.
And I think he explained
it very well.
He said that it's
like rowing a boat.
You're just looking backwards
but you're rowing forward,
and that's like traditional
music.
That's --
>> Stephen Winick:
That's a good one, yeah.
That is really good.
>> Emma Björling:
Yeah, that's good.
>> Stephen Winick: So I was just
going to say it's just amazing
when you've listened to these
recordings so much and you feel
like you kind of
know the singers.
You know, like you've
gotten to know the people
through their voices on
these old recordings, so --
>> Emma Björling: Yeah,
and some of them talk, too,
and make jokes, and tell
stories about how they learned
that song, and yeah,
it's mesmerizing.
Mm-hmm.
>> Stephen Winick: All right.
So you talk in your
concert actually quite a bit
about the workshops
that you give.
And I'm interested,
you know, you mentioned
that your performances
are different, of course,
based on whether you're in
Sweden or somewhere else
and that must be the case
with your workshops, as well.
As you mentioned,
you do, you know,
songs with fewer words
outside of Sweden.
But I guess one of the questions
is what is the main goal
of the workshop?
Is it strictly musical or
are you trying to teach
about Swedish culture
a little bit, as well?
>> Emma Björling: I would
connecting is the main goal.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
>> Emma Björling: Connecting
through music and to the wonders
of making music together.
And when you start learning
something, and we all work
with it, and then it
starts sounding good,
and we make something together.
That's what is just amazing.
And just seeing how many
similarities there are regarding
language, regarding melodies,
culture, old stories.
Like everything is so similar,
you know, wherever we go.
It was the same when we went
to Barbados, have a workshop
with the students at the
university in Barbados.
And even though it feels really,
really far away from Sweden,
that is - that was amazing to
connect with them through music.
And they say, "Oh,
we have a song
about this, too,
here," you know.
That was pretty cool, actually.
So I would say that's
our main goal.
But, yeah, do you want
to continue, Lotta?
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah,
I just want to say, yeah,
that's the overall goal.
But we do the workshops in a way
where we have maybe two, three,
four-part harmonies that are
simple enough that everyone gets
to learn all of the harmonies
and switch in between them.
And it can be like a scramble
in your head, and at the end,
you may choose which one was
more comfortable for you.
But while doing that, you
get to experience the music
with a different viewpoint.
Like if you're doing
the melody, you have all
of the other things around you.
And if you're doing the low
part, you kind of see the music
from a different angle.
And I think that
is important to us
because when you're not just
doing your thing but you are
in this whole thing that we're
doing together which is music,
it's a different
kind of feeling.
It gives you more understanding
and more connection.
That was one thing.
And then I had another.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah, I
can say that what we really aim
for is all of us has -
have been to workshops
where you have a
good time there.
But when you go home,
you realize that I didn't bring
anything from the workshop
that I can actually use.
And that's something that's
really important for us,
that you get something that
you can use with your choir,
or your singing group, or
just singing by yourself
in the shower, basically.
You should have some kind
of knowledge, an experience,
something that you have
use for afterwards.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
>> Emma Björling:
That's important.
>> Stephen Winick: Given that
the folk tradition has a lot
of songs that are essentially
monophonic, right, there's -
there aren't harmonies in a lot
of traditional singing
in Sweden.
What are the source
of the harmonic ideas
that you're bringing to
those kinds of songs?
>> Emma Björling: Yeah.
We had to invent the
wheel all the time.
We have just a few.
I think we spoke about this
last time, as well, just a few,
I think two recordings,
in any case,
of traditional singing
in harmonies.
And that's just two people
singing together and making
up a harmony as you roll.
Basically sometimes
singing the melody together
and sometimes spreading
those two, yeah.
So we are, yeah, we're inventing
the wheel all the time.
>> Lotta Andersson: But what
we do usually is, I guess,
could be inspired by, you know,
like if you would play a melody
on a fiddle, for example,
and then you play the
string next to it.
So you have a drone going.
So we use drones.
And then you could use that with
lyrics, or just playing going
on forever, or you
can rhythmasize it.
So that's, you know, kind of
one box of arranging technique.
And then, you know, second
harmony, which is very common
in Swedish traditional music,
at least in the past 70,
80 years, or something.
Then you have like
a third under --
>> Emma Björling:
So the choirs.
>> Lotta Andersson: Oh,
like in choirs, as well.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah.
>> Lotta Andersson: And then
we work with ostinatos and --
>> Emma Björling: So we
actually we get inspired
by the traditional music
and how that's been played.
Because the harmony singing
hasn't been there so much.
We are inspired by the like
classical choir singing,
and in some ways
when we arrange,
we're also let ourselves
be inspired
by the - oh, I don't know.
Like the contemporary
a cappella singing,
how they use the voice
as an instrument.
And so the instrumental
use for voice,
not like mimicking an actual
instrument or trying to sound
like a trumpet, but like
the rhythmic function
or the harmonic function
of instruments, yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah,
and I'll say you guys
do that really well.
In the concert, you
can hear that influence
of contemporary a cappella
music, but not in a way
that sounds conscious.
It just sounds like, oh, that
you kind of see where that came
from but it fits beautifully
into the Swedish context
that you're singing.
And I think Lotta remembered
what she was going to say.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah.
It was about that what you can
actually do with your voice.
That's something that I think
is important to us I guess both
in concerts, but
also in workshops.
That you can use it in
so many different ways,
and everyone has a voice, and
we can find something you can do
with it to make music together.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
No, that's really important.
And, you know, it must be a
challenge in your workshops
that you probably have
people who come to them
who are very experienced harmony
singers, on the one hand.
And then you also have people
come who haven't done it before.
How do you bridge that
gap in a workshop?
>> Emma Björling: I
would say it could be quite
like the same amount of problems
with both types of person.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah.
>> Emma Björling:
Really unexperienced person
that is very shy maybe
or nervous about singing.
And someone that is really
used to singing in a choir,
and always singing the alto,
or the tenor, or, you know,
"Am I going to sing
all of them?"
You know, it could be - that
could be a challenge in -
on both ends, actually.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah.
>> Emma Björling: We just
try to create an environment
that where people
feel safe to try
and that they get
excited to try something.
And we say, "You don't have
to, I mean, we're not going
to sing this high
for a very long time.
We're just going to learn this
harmony and then you can go back
to singing in your own
comfortable range."
But, yeah, I think we try
to keep like we always say
in the beginning, there
are no stupid questions.
Just, "If there's
something you need to ask
or something you need
to - that you want us
to explain better or,
you know, whatever."
We try to keep an open mind
and an open environment
in our workshops so that
everyone feels welcome wherever
they come from.
>> Sofia Hultqvist Kott:
Yeah, a playful, safe space.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah.
>> Lotta Andersson: And usually
if someone is very experienced,
and in Sweden, many, many
people sing in choirs.
It's, yeah, I was about to
say ridiculous, but it's not.
It's beautiful.
And you learn how to sing,
you know, long vowels,
which we don't really do.
The traditional way of
singing is much more close
to the speaking voice
where you don't so dooon't.
You say don't.
And we use the percussives
a lot.
So that's something that we need
to work with even with singers
that are, you know,
used to harmony singing.
So there's something for
everyone that might be different
or challenging, but we, yeah,
we have fun and it's all good.
>> Sofia Hultqvist Kott: Yeah.
Also, when we're not in
Sweden doing workshops,
then everybody has the
difficulty with the language.
So then they're all equals.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah.
Great. So moving a little
bit from the workshop
to the performance end,
what - describe your process
for arranging a song,
if you could.
I know there's probably more
than one process depending
on the song, but
just some examples.
>> Emma Björling: Okay,
so most of the time,
someone like we write - I write
an arrangement, or Sofia does,
or Lotta does, or Anna does,
and then we come with sort
of a draft to the band.
No point in finishing an
arrangement before everyone has
had their say and say, yes,
we want to do this song.
So you bring it to the band.
We try it out.
If it's something that we feel
like doing, and yeah, okay.
We want to do this.
Then you go back and you
finish the arrangement
or you finish the
draft, I would say.
It's - it could be
more or less finished
when we finally take
it to the group.
But I would say it always
changes when I get this part
or that harmony and I
have to make it my own.
So I'm going to change things or
we figure out things together.
So that's one, the most common
way where we make arrangements.
The other way is
- and especially
with the traditional
dance music, someone comes
with just a tune and then we
have a session and we just jam
and figure things out.
And in that case, the
arrangement usually changes
over the time, like over time,
so it's not the same from time
to time until we have
come to something
that we do most of the time.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah.
But regarding how
different it is, you know,
it could be different
depending on the type
of music you are
arranging, but also the type
of person arranging it.
So both --
-- yeah, we do it differently.
I think I'm the weakest,
you know,
sheet music person
in this group.
So what I tend to do is I might,
you know, write the melody
into a program and then
kind of fiddle around
and let the program
play it back to me
to see was this what
I had in mind or not.
Or maybe I use, you know,
four-track app on my phone
and there's just four Lotta
singing different things
on top of each other.
And, you know, finally,
I get something
that is presentable
to the group.
And if they like
it, I'll, you know,
finish it, finish that draft.
And, you know, it might
be that I had Emma in mind
for this melody, but
she says, "No, no, no.
I think you should have it."
And maybe that's the best way.
And usually who has
which part depends
on what voice quality we want
for this particular arrangement
or this particular
bit of an arrangement.
Maybe I want the
fluffy high part.
Then it's Emma's.
Or maybe I want the very kind
of thick big sound on the top
and then I would choose Anna.
So it's - it can be different
and I know she usually composes
and arranges by the piano.
And how do you do it, Emma?
Is it different?
>> Emma Björling: Yeah,
I do it - it depends.
I sit in the sofa and
sing along to my brain,
or I sit by the piano,
or I record on four-track
or to the computer, or yeah,
I do it in different ways
depending on what kind
of song it is, actually, yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
And when did Kongero
start to do this?
What was your - the sort of
founding of the group like
and how did you begin coming
up with these a cappella
arrangements?
>> Emma Björling: Well,
the band started in 2005
and then it was only
like jamming the
arrangements together.
So the first maybe five songs
that we started with singing,
that was all by ear
and like jamming the
arrangements together.
And then we started writing the
arrangements and I, actually,
I started singing in a vocal
group on a pretty high level,
actually, from the age of 16.
I was the youngest
member in the group.
And so the others in the
band were pretty experienced
and I never wrote for that
group in I think in ten years.
So it was always
someone else writing.
But I learned so much from
those arrangements and how
to write vocal arrangements
by being a part of that group.
So I think when I started
writing, I realized that, huh,
I sort of know this even
though I didn't know it
because I'd been singing in a
vocal group for ten years, or,
yeah, 12 years, already.
So, yeah, I think and then we
started writing the arrangements
down because everyone in the
- among the original members,
all of us could write music,
and had taken arranging
courses, and such.
So, yeah, and then we got
arrangements from everyone,
actually, so that was
we started already there
to get arrangements
from everyone.
And we've just continued
doing that because
that brings a variety
to the repertoire
and into the arrangements.
>> Stephen Winick:
So at the time,
there weren't really many
other folk groups like Kongero
in that sense of being
just a vocal group.
So what was the Swedish folk
scene like or folk establishment
like and how did
you find you fit in?
>> Emma Björling: There were
a few vocal groups doing similar
things to what we do.
There was also a band with
both voices and instruments
like we had this - well, I
guess, Lotta, you can tell -
talk about this forever, like
the folk music wave that we had.
And the kind of Prague folk
scene there was a little bit
on the side from the traditional
like fiddlers' conventions
and festivals.
So I think but they were sort
of parallel and have been
since then, so I'm
not sure what to say.
I think we're just a product
of our own experiences,
our musical baggage, as I call
it, and in a positive sense.
And the time, you know.
Because there were so
many established really,
really good folk music bands at
the time when Kongero started.
So and it's been strong.
Sweden has always had a
like since the '60s, '70s,
we've had a really like
a lot of folk music bands
that have been really successful
abroad, as well, yeah.
>> Lotta Andersson: I would say
I wasn't an original member,
but I would say you didn't plan
like let's start a vocal group.
This was really, you
know, a coincidence
that these four people sat down
on a blanket in the May sun
at a convention for higher
education in traditional music.
In the Baltic and Scandinavian
countries, Nordic countries.
And you just sat down and had a
lot of fun and decided to sing
for dancing the same night.
>> Emma Björling: Yes.
>> Lotta Andersson:
It was, you know,
four people with the
same interest who were
at the same place,
at the same time,
sang together, and
it was amazing.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah.
Yeah, that's basically
how it started.
We just looked at each
other and was, "Wow.
Oh, my. Okay.
We have to do something
with this."
Yeah. But we didn't have any
like goals like touring abroad
or anything for many
years, actually.
That was - that came with
Lotta, and also, with Anna,
when the two of them started
in the band, I would say.
That's when we all were on the
same page and everyone wanted
to start touring more and
explore the world, yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: Great.
Now you mentioned that
there was a sort of wave
of Swedish folk music back
around when the group formed.
And then, of course, there was
a scene since the '60s and '70s.
So talk about the influence
of that whole folk
scene that exists there.
>> Emma Björling: Sofia,
do you want to say
something about that?
>> Sofia Hultqvist Kott: I
was very young, at that time.
>> Emma Björling: Oh, no, but
I mean the aftermath of that.
>> Sofia Hultqvist
Kott: The aftermath.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah,
your parents would listen
to that kind of music.
>> Sofia Hultqvist Kott: Yeah.
Yeah, I don't know what to say,
but I feel like it's very much
like still available
to this day, also.
I think a lot of young people in
the folk music scene in Sweden
like now they're still listening
to that music that was popular
like in the '90s and
beginning of the 2000s.
It's still very much like
popular now, I feel like,
and people are still
getting inspired by that.
And I think since like tradition
is, you know, it's evolving,
always moving forward.
And so it's, you know, you
can't look past the fact
that people are going to - and
also now when different kinds
of music are more available
to everybody in the world.
Then, yeah, people are getting
inspired by other genres and,
you know, and electronic
music, and stuff like that.
So it's always changing,
I feel like, but yeah.
>> Lotta Andersson: I think
that's the beauty of it
when you kind of can feel
like a part in the long chain
and you kind of just
add your new ring to it.
And like thinking back when
I went to this music camp,
there were teachers there and
they taught tunes and songs.
That was all I knew,
that I wanted more,
so I went to more courses, and
more camps, and more stuff,
and learned more tunes.
And in a way, you are - you're
almost programmed to do right.
And when I realized that this
right that I'm looking for,
it was maybe how one person
sang one song one day.
Then you need to
be humble about it.
Also, this person might,
you know, be 80 years old
and not performing the song the
way they wanted it to sound.
They might not even be able
to, but you need to be able
to listen past that and
hear the quality through it.
And I think anyone
who listens to a lot
of old recordings can kind
of feel that connection
to something in between
or in behind what
you're actually hearing.
And if there are lots of
recordings of the same person,
you can kind of figure
out, okay, yeah,
this is this or this is that.
And when I was younger, I
was very much, you know,
focused on playing the right
notes at the right time.
And I guess that's one
reason why listening
to archive recordings
is so important
in the educational system
here is that, you know,
you can hear the same song
or the same tune played
by multiple people.
And they do not sound the same.
>> Stephen Winick: Right.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah.
>> Lotta Andersson: Because
people have put something
of their own in there.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah.
>> Emma Björling:
And I think --
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
>> Emma Björling: And
I think when it comes
to the folk music wave in Sweden
and when they started
bringing new instruments
into the folk music and the
difference that that made.
And also, how the - it
made, well, a lot of people
that never heard any folk
music except for the, you know,
lullabies, and maybe the
midsummer's celebrations,
and Christmas, and stuff.
They - the folk music
got - became available
for a broader mass of people
and it was also a very strong
political movement, the -
in back in those days.
Now it's not that way, anymore.
You could be to the
right or to the left
and still play folk music.
But at that time, it was
really quite a lefty movement,
I would say, and so it was it
could be a political statement.
It could be just
love for the music.
It could be like a really
cool gang that you hang -
hung out with, you know.
It could be anything.
But it had - it really,
truly had an impact
on the Swedish society,
the folk music wave,
especially at that time, the
'60s and '70s, for sure, yeah.
It's pretty cool and it
sounds good when you listen
to it now, good music.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah, that's true.
It doesn't - it hasn't
aged badly.
That is definitely true.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: So one
of the things that's interesting
is there was a record company
here in the U.S. That
actually released a lot
of that 1990s Swedish, and
Norwegian, and, you know,
Scandinavian and
Nordic folk music here.
So a lot of people here
had a chance to hear it
and then sometimes
that led them to listen
to even older recordings
but also
within that folk revival scene.
So when I first encountered
you at Folk Alliance,
I actually knew some
of your songs
from '70s records that I have.
So it's kind of funny,
you know --
>> Emma Björling: Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: -- that's
out there in the U.S., as well,
because we have a large
population, of course,
of Nordic language
speakers here all over,
but mostly in the
Midwest, so yeah.
>> Emma Björling:
Yeah, that's so cool.
I think that's still to
this day, folk music bands
that are really cool, you know,
and maybe play some rocky folk
music or some poppy folk music.
They're the perfect
gateway drug --
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah.
>> Emma Björling: -- to get
down to the archive recordings.
And it's still that
way today, actually.
When we get out - when we play
with Kongero or our other bands,
and a lot of kids, they
come up to us and they say.
"You were the reason that I
started listening to folk music
and that led me to
blah and blah."
And maybe they study
folk music now.
So that's really,
really cool, actually.
But it works that way.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah, and it's wonderful
that those archival recordings
are there and available
so that once they get that
introduction from you,
they can - there's
something for them to go to.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: It's also
really important what Lotta said
to remember that those
recordings sometimes are,
like you said, just the way one
person sang a song on one day.
And they become fixed in
our minds as these artifacts
because they're there on
recordings, but, you know,
who knows how they sang it
before that or after that.
So, but so wonderful to sort
of just think about those,
you know, that long stream
of tradition that you are in.
So thanks, again,
for your concert.
And one thing I wanted to
mention, too, is Sofia,
you're the newest
member of the group.
We've been talking about this
long history of the group.
And you had to enter
this established group
and become one of the voices.
And I guess one question
is sort of practical.
Were you using the
same arrangements
that you had always used,
and Sofia, did you just have
to take someone's part,
or did you then did you change
everything for Sofia's presence?
>> Sofia Hultqvist Kott: I
think I know [inaudible].
>> Emma Björling: Yeah.
>> Sofia Hultqvist Kott: It
was kind of a long process
because I started singing
with the band during the
like at the beginning
of the pandemic.
So we had a lot of time to just
figure things out and, you know,
rehearse together when we
were able to meet each other.
But, yeah, I think
in the beginning,
I just took the same - because
we sang the same arrangements
that you had been singing
for a while, I think.
And then I think I just started
with taking like the parts
that I liked and the parts
that were missing, you know,
since there was one
person missing.
But then, yeah, it's
always changing.
We've brought older
material into the repertoire
and also brought new material in
and I've changed harmonies here
and there from different
songs and stuff.
So it's really been
like a wild ride.
But it's been very large fun.
I really enjoyed it.
It's because I haven't
been singing
in like a vocal group
before and I didn't know
that it was my thing, but
now I know that it is.
I fell in love with it
immediately, so yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: Wonderful.
So you - we've mentioned
the pandemic as, you know,
as a kind of background to the
last couple of years and we're,
to some extent, emerging
from that now.
So, I mean, I guess one question
is how it affected the group.
I mean, it put a stop to a lot
of the things you were doing,
I guess, but apart from
that, what else did it do
for - to and for Kongero?
>> Emma Björling: Yeah,
well, as a bit of a background
to that, in 2019, we spent
almost 200 days together
in the group and did about
100 jobs both with concerns
and workshops included.
So that was a big difference.
That was a kind of the
opposite situation then.
So, yeah, of course, we got
to spend time with our spouses
and we got to know
our backyards, again.
But also, it gave us the
time to write new music
and we had a couple of
years before the pandemic
that was actually
really, really busy,
and we never found the
time to write and rehearse.
So that's basically
all we've done
for two years, write
and rehearse.
But, yeah, we went - we had a
couple of gigs like every year,
five, six, seven gigs
2020 and the same in 2021.
We had a little bit more,
maybe ten last year.
But now we just came home
from our first tour
since the pandemic.
That was like, yeah, we
need to learn this, again.
We need to learn how
to go on tour, again,
but it was so much fun.
>> Lotta Andersson: I had
lost my packing skills.
I brought way too much stuff.
>> Emma Björling:
Yeah, there's a lot.
>> Lotta Andersson: But
another thing that we did is
that we had time to kind of
reevaluate some of the ways
in which we have worked both,
you know, with administration
and with communication.
And, you know, a lot of stuff
that has just, you know,
been kind of rolling
on however we did it.
So that's been good, I think,
for all of us, and
going forward.
And we also found
out that, you know,
having online workshops
was really quite fun.
And that it also worked for
the singers on the other end
because they don't
have to listen to all
of the other singers who don't
know what they're supposed
to sing.
They just hear the four of us.
And also, this past Sunday, we
had one, and we had participants
from Sweden, Denmark,
Germany, Austria,
Belgium, Canada, the U.S.
>> Emma Björling: France.
>> Lotta Andersson:
France, yeah, so I mean,
it was that can't happen in
real life, but it's something
that was actually
beneficial for us to figure
out that we could do, something
new that we've learned.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah,
that's similar to us
with the concert series
that you're a part of, that,
you know, we never thought
about having artists film videos
of themselves and
presenting them.
Or we actually had thought
of it, but it didn't -
it wasn't a priority
certainly until this happened
and then we thought,
wow, you know,
we can do a whole
concert series this way.
And it was a real experience
and really taught us a lot
about different models
of getting participation
in traditional folk arts,
which I think is what all
of us are interested in.
So now that we're emerging a
little bit from the pandemic,
do you have any project plans,
any things that Kongero is going
to do that you haven't been
able to do for a while?
>> Emma Björling: Oh, yeah.
Yeah. We're going back to
Germany and Denmark now in May.
And then we have almost five
weeks' tour planned in Canada
that has been postponed since we
were supposed to do it in 2020
and it's been postponed
now to this year.
Yeah, we have loads of tours
just piled up that we're trying
to get in this year or
the next year, yeah.
>> Lotta Andersson:
Yeah, and we also got --
I want to find the
word here, Emma,
for [foreign language]
for the --
>> Emma Björling: Oh,
yeah, the residency.
We've got a residency.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah, so
we got residency in, yeah,
actually in the region
where Emma and Sofia are
from in [foreign language]
for making a program
for kids aged eight to 12,
or something like that.
That we started to develop
just before the pandemic hit.
And, yeah, it was supposed
to be, you know, doing -
making up this program and
then touring it in schools,
which we were so much
looking forward to.
And then schools were closed.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah.
>> Lotta Andersson: We
were - they were open
but we couldn't get into them.
Only the kids that were
there could go there.
So those things are also on
the horizon for next spring,
I think, to do some school tours
with a specific program,
which is cool.
>> Stephen Winick: That's great.
>> Emma Björling: And
then we have a new album
with new music in the pipe.
We did release our live album
last year that we recorded it
in 2019 and then our label
wanted to wait during 2020
and not release it then.
But since the pandemic just
went on, together with him,
we decided that we would release
it in 2021, so that we did.
But that was old material.
So now we're working
on the new material
and we have a new CD coming up.
We don't know exactly when.
We're, hopefully, next
year, but we will see
if we get the time
to release it.
>> Stephen Winick: But it
is nice to have the live one
to show people what, you
know, what your sound is
like when you're
doing it in concert.
And I guess that does bring
up a question in terms
of the recording process.
We haven't really talked
about your making albums,
but you have made several
albums over the last few years.
Is, I mean, do you
still sing together
or do you record your parts
in isolation and mix them?
>> Emma Björling:
We sing together.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
>> Emma Björling: And then --
>> Stephen Winick: I suspected
that might be true just
because of your - the way
that you work, so yeah.
>> Emma Björling: Yeah, we
couldn't do it in any other way.
We have recorded a couple of
songs actually in the part
by part just as a studio
production and a specific song
that we actually
don't sing live even.
But yeah, we need
to sing together.
>> Stephen Winick: Mm-hmm.
>> Emma Björling: You were
saying something, Lotta.
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah, I was
saying the same as you, dear.
>> Emma Björling: Okay, yeah.
No, and the live
album, the recording
of that one was actually we
had no idea if that would be,
I mean, if the quality of
it would be good enough.
Because it was one concert
during one tour and that's it.
So we didn't have a huge
plan of making a live album,
so we recorded all
the concerts on tour.
I don't know how people do it,
but we recorded one concert
in a very, very simple
way, actually.
It was --
>> Lotta Andersson: Yeah,
and it was because a friend
of ours asked, "Oh, you're
in Quebec the same time I am.
Can I mix your show?"
Yeah, of course, and then
he suggested he'd record it,
as well, and we're
like, yeah, fine.
If it's good, we could
use it for something.
And it turned out really good.
I like it and it's
my mom's favorite.
>> Stephen Winick: Well, that's
really important and I suspect
that your mom will also love
the concert that you recorded
for us, the video concert.
And we hope that our
audience loves that concert
and loves this interview,
as well.
So one more time, I would
just like to thank the members
of Kongero for being
here with us,
and for doing this
interview, and for recording
such a lovely video concert.
Thank you all so much.
>> Emma Björling:
Thank you, Stephen.
>> Lotta Andersson: Thank you.