#48 - Olav Luksengård Mjelva

Over the course of his career, Olav Mjelva has become something of a face of the Hardanger Fiddle, with his fiddle being heard in settings such as Rings of Power, God of War: Ragnarök, and Marvel’s Loki. As well as being featured in over 60 studio projects, he is also well known in the Scandifolk scene for his work with Sver, the Nordic Fiddlers Bloc, Rydvall/Mjelva, and the Lodestar Trio. After collaborating with Einar Selvik and Ivar Bjornson for Skuggsjá, Olav has returned to sign with ByNorse for his project Afargang, whose debut album “Andvake” is looking to reimagine what Folk Metal can be. 

I hope you enjoy this milestone episode of the Nordic Sound, in which Olav and I discuss his upbringing as a fiddler from Røros, his love of black metal, and how his upcoming album Andvake blends these two worlds, and as always, taking little detours along the way.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:12 Sver in the States

4:38 Origin Stories

10:11 Learning the Hardanger Fiddle

13:00 Becoming a Studio Musician

18:04 Skuggsjá

23:02 Afargang

37:25 Black Metal as a Folk Musician

45:11 The Nordic Sound

48:29 Waiting for Andvake

52:22 ByNorse

56:24 Norway’s Folk Music boom