Gåte
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the NorwegianNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
band Gåte, for the two self-titled EPs by the same band, see Gåte EPGåte EPGåte EP is the first self-titled EP released by the Norwegian band Gåte.-Track listing:#"Byssanlull"#"Litlefuglen"#"Solbønn"#"Grusomme skjebne"#"Eg veit i himmelrik ein borg"...
and Gåte EP (2002)Gåte EP (2002)Gåte EP is the second self-titled EP released by the Norwegian band Gåte.-Track listing:#"Grusomme skjebne"#"Følgje"#"Liti Kjersti"#"Storås"...
Gåte was a band from Trøndelag
Trøndelag
Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
playing Norwegian folk music bred with metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
. Their style has been referred to as progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
folk-rock. The band was put together by Sveinung Sundli (violin, keyboards) in 2000 and originally consisted of his little sister Gunnhild Sundli (vocals), Gjermund Landrø (bass, backing vocals), Martin Langlie (drums) and Magnus Robot Børmark (guitar, keyboards). Martin Langlie was replaced by Kenneth Kapstad in 2004. The band's name is the Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
word for riddle
Riddle
A riddle is a statement or question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and...
.
History
The band released their first EP ("Gåte") in 2000, and rapidly gained popularity. A second EP, also self-titled, was released in 2002. Their first album, "Jygri", released the same year proved to be their commercial breakthrough both in Norway and abroad, particularly in Scandinavia and Germany. They also gained a lot of media attention, particularly the distinctive voice of Gunnhild Sundli caught the interest of music journalists, who immediately started to speculate on her departure in order to establish a solo career. After the release of another EP, "Statt Opp (Maggeduliadei)" in 2003 and their second album, "Iselilja" in 2004, the band did indeed announce that they were taking a break. In their press release, issued September 6, one of the reasons cited was that Gunnhild wanted to devote time to other pursuits. Nevertheless, their record company Warner Music Norway issued a live album ("Liva") in 2006 which had been recorded at the Rockefeller Music HallRockefeller Music Hall
Rockefeller Music Hall, ordinarily referred to simply as Rockefeller, is a concert venue in downtown Oslo, Norway. The building, known as "Torggata Bad" earlier used to house a public bath facility. The music hall was established in 1986...
the previous year, and with bonus material from their concert at the Roskilde festival
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...
in 2003. This was Gåte's final release.
During their short career they toured extensively and played almost every popular music festival in Norway, as well as the major international festival Roskilde festival
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...
in Denmark. The band reunited for one concert in 2009, but then decided to follow this up with a mini-tour of Norway consisting of five concerts in 2010. The fifth concert was held at the roof of the Oslo Opera House
Oslo Opera House
The Oslo Opera House is the home of The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighborhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is operated by Statsbygg, the government agency which manages property for...
, and the band stated that this would be their final farewell.
Song origins
Many of Gåte's songs are rearranged versions of traditional Norwegian folk tunes, such as "Sjå Attende" (the title translates to "Look Back"), and "Knut Liten og Sylvelin" ("Little-Knut and Sylvelin"). Another main source of Gåte songs are poems by the Norwegian poet Astrid Krogh Halse with added music by Sveinung Sundli, such as "Følgje" ("Company") and "Stengd Dør" ("Closed Door").Gunnhild Sundli – vocals
  Two pictures of Gunnhild Sundli at Rock Mot Rus at Andøya Andøya Andøya is the northernmost island in the archipelago of Vesterålen. Andøya is located in the Andøy municipality in Nordland county, Norway.The island has an area of 489 km², making it the tenth largest island in Norway. The island is connected to the neighboring island of Hinnøya using the... , 2005 |
Gunnhild Sundli born 1985, is the band's lead vocalist and joined the band in 1999. She was born and grew up in Orkdal
Orkdal
Orkdal is a municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Orkdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Orkanger. Other villages in the municipality include Kjøra, Geitastrand, Gjølme, Thamshavn, Fannrem, Vormstad, Svorkmo, and...
, and currently resides in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
. She began to sing when she was 9 years old, and has since been singing in both classical and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music. She has a degree in singing from Heimdal
Heimdal
Heimdal is the southernmost borough in Trondheim, Norway named after the god Heimdall in Norse mythology. The area has been continuously inhabited since at least the Iron Age, and is rich in archaeological sites....
high school ("Heimdal videregående skole").
Sveinung Sundli – fiddle, keyboards
Sveinung was born 1979, and is Gunnhild's older brother. He began learning to play the fiddle at an early age, and studied music in high school. Sveinung first persuaded Gunnhild to start singing in front of an audience, and he was the one who put Gåte together. He was taught to play keyboards/synth by Thomas Henriksen.In Gåte he plays keyboards/synths, the acoustic fiddle and electric Zeta-fiddle. He has written some of the melodies in Gåte: a "pols
Pols
The pols is a Norwegian folk dance, a fast version of the Nordic polska....
" called "Storås" and "Ola I", and he has set to music some of Astrid Krogh Halse's poems: "Fredlysning", "Du som er ung" and "Sjåaren".
He recently formed a band which has "Råte"(meaning "rot") as its working title.
In 2003 he got the idea for a big music festival in Norway, which became a reality in 2004 as Storåsfestivalen
Storåsfestivalen
Storåsfestivalen is a three-day annual music festival.It's held at Storås, in municipality of Meldal, in the county of Sør-Trøndelag, Norway....
(The Storåsfestival).
Gjermund Landrø – vocals, bass
Gjermund was born 1980. His main role in Gåte’s music is as bassist, but he has also contributed backing vocals.Magnus Robot Børmark – guitar, synth-guitar, synth
Magnus Robot Børmark born 1982. From TrondheimTrondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
. Learned to play guitar and piano from his older brother. He has played in popular rock bands, such as Torch
Torch (band)
-Music:The band have self-described their sound a mix between Rock and Metal. Although sources have described their sound as everything from Hardcore Punk to Metalcore, Emo and nu metal.-History:...
, before joining Gåte in December 2000. He plays a Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
, Robotcaster and Les Robot, the last two being made by Frank Stavem. He now plays guitar in the band 22.
Albums
- JygriJygriJygri is the first album released by the Norwegian band Gåte, and sold 40,000 copies in Norway.-Track listing:#"Bendik og Årolilja"#"Snåle mi jente"#"Til deg"#"Springleik"#"Stengd dør"#"Kara tu omna"#"Jygri"#"Bruremarsj frå Jämtland"#"Skrømt"...
(2002) – Sold 40,000 copies in Norway - IseliljaIseliljaIselilja is the second album released by the Norwegian band Gåte.The meaning of the word “Iselilja” is uncertain. When asked in an interview, Gunnhild Sundli and Sveinung Sundli said that they themselves do not know its exact meaning...
(2004) - LivaLivaLiva is the first live album released by the Norwegian band Gåte, and was recorded on December 30, 2005 at Rockefeller Music Hall, Oslo, Norway.-Track listing:#"Knut Liten og Sylvelin"#"Kjærleik"#"Følgje"#"Venelite"#"Du som er ung"#"Stengd dør"...
(live) (2006)
EP's and Singles
- Gåte EPGåte EPGåte EP is the first self-titled EP released by the Norwegian band Gåte.-Track listing:#"Byssanlull"#"Litlefuglen"#"Solbønn"#"Grusomme skjebne"#"Eg veit i himmelrik ein borg"...
(2000) (aka Gammel) - Gåte EPGåte EP (2002)Gåte EP is the second self-titled EP released by the Norwegian band Gåte.-Track listing:#"Grusomme skjebne"#"Følgje"#"Liti Kjersti"#"Storås"...
(2002) (aka Grusomme skjebne) - Statt oppStatt oppStatt opp is the third EP released by the Norwegian band Gåte.-Track listing:#"Statt opp "#"Til deg" #"Bendik og Årolilja" #"Litle fuglen"...
(Maggeduliadei) (EP) (2003) - Sjå attende (single) (2004)
According to the Gåte homepage, the two first EPs are self-titled, and contain different tracks.
External links
- Official homepage
- Gåte on Europopmusic.eu (English)