“Norwegian folk rock has been down and out ever since Gåte was cool. Finally, someone has done something about it! Nice, cool and fun, Gangar has everything. If they don’t make you happy, you are an angry person” – Tuva Syvertsen
“Tre Danser» refers to the three tunes on the EP and to Gangar’s signature dance, “The Tree Dance”, where you lock your legs, lift your arms, and sway like a tree with the wind.
The three tunes show the broad musical spectrum in Gangar’s repertoire, from the heavily arranged heavy metal composition “Fjellets melodi”, after Ola Løseth (Rindal, Møre og Romsdal, 1897-1978), to a tune rocking like a merciless freight train, “Reinlender fra Åseral”, after Gunnar Austegard (Åseral, Vest-Agder, 1884-1973). “Gammel vals fra Rindalen” consists of a beautiful and sweet melody in contrast to a hard and mean riff, meaning that you have to listen very carefully to realize that it is a waltz.
Front person and fiddle player Mattias Thedens grew up in a folk music family, having played Norwegian and American folk music since he was 9 years old. Saxophonist Oskar Lindberget is firmly planted in jazz tradition, despite his young age he has contributed to no less than 18 recordings. Guitarist Richard Max has a background as a drummer and hardcore fan of prog metal, he’s the cause of the syncopated rhythms and guitar riffs with heavy distortion. Drummer Henrik Dullum grew up with rock music, first time exposed to folk music when he moved to the big city Oslo from Trondheim. Bassist Jonas Thrana Jensen has a basis in popular music and rock, finding Gangar to peek his interest to explore the folk music traditions.
«To headbang to three different traditional tunes, is something I never thought I would do” – bassist Jonas Thrana Jensen
Gangar has made a wide impression on the live scene in Norway and abroad the last few years. From being the opening act for Hoven Droven’s 30 years release concert in 2021, they went on to make a convincing show case at Nordic Folk Alliance in Gothenburg 2022. This brought them to Delsbostämman (SE), Viljandi Folk Music Festival in Estonia, Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival in the Netherlands, Live at Heart in Örebro (SE), Osafestivalen, In November 2022 they will have their (no less than) third performance at Folkelarm, Oslo! In February 2023, they will also play at the esteemed show case festival Folk Alliance International in Kansas, US.
