FIKA Elysian Fields featuring Jenny Eriksson

• 1 Living 05:46
• 2 Frid på Jord 08:49
• 3 Vi Ska ställa till enroliger dans 03:16
• 4 Låt Til Far 04:11
• 5 Nar som jag var på mitt adertonde år 05:12
• 6 Meditatus 06:00
• 7 Cold Soul 05:01
• 8 The Tragedy 07:24
• 9 Believe Beleft Below 05:15
• Total Runtime 50:54

Info for FIKA

Fika (pron. 'fee-ka') is an exploration of my Swedish heritage and the links group members have with Scandinavian. It is the recording I always wanted to do but only felt able to achieve at this point in my life.

Elysian Fields is one of the world's few electric viola da gamba groups/ensembles. Scandinavian repertoire started creeping into Elysian Fields’ set list quite early. This was partly due to the fact that our singer/violinist Susie Bishop has links to Sweden via her partner and visits often. She also sings in Swedish and plays the violin beautifully - the fiddle being the backbone of much Scandinavian folk music. Other group members also have Swedish heritage or experience including our bass player, Siebe Pogson. We continued to add to this repertoire and in January 2020 we hit the studio. We did not know it then, but the world was already under the grim shadow of Covid-19.

As our gigs started to get cancelled and cashflow dried up, we made decision to dig deep and finish the project. There is a reason for this. Fika is often translated in English as a coffee break. In reality, it means more than that. Fika is about making time for friends and family, to share a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. You can’t do fika alone although ironically, as I write this, many people are isolated or separated from those they love. Long before the current crisis we wanted to create a beautiful recording that would bring people together, as fika does. This music is our offering to the world.

Susie Bishop, voice, violin
Matt Keegan, saxophone
Matt McMahon, piano
Jenny Eriksson, Ruby electric viola da gamba
Siebe Pogson, bass
Dave Goodman, drums

Recorded & mixed by Richard Belkner
Mastered by Michael Lynch, Shoehorse Sound
Produced by Matt Keegan

Elysian Fields
is Australia’s first and only electric viola da gamba ensemble. Founded by leading early musician and viola da gambist, Jenny Eriksson, and highly regarded jazz musicians, Matt Keegan and Matt McMahon, the group charts new sonic territory at the intersection of jazz, world music and classical chamber music. Its truly unique instrumentation – voice/violin, saxophones, electric viola da gamba, piano, bass guitar and drums – and the fact that several members are skilled composers – has left critics and audiences reaching for superlatives. In 2019 the Sydney Morning Herald wrote of Elysian Fields: “this time-bending, mind-bending project makes music that sounds modern and hundreds of years old simultaneously.”

The group has a special affinity to Scandinavia including through Jenny Eriksson’s Swedish grandfather. Singer Susie Bishop speaks Swedish and Matt Keegan studied in Sweden. The recording will consist of original commissions by group members as well as several folk song arrangements.

As artists we MUST be prepared to do new things, even if it means leaving behind the safe and well trodden paths on which we know where to step. I am a classically trained early musician specialising in the French baroque. Several years ago I knew I had to expand my horizons which is why I bought and taught myself, the electric viola da gamba. I also wanted to create an artistic mileau which would attract and nurture improvising musicians like Matt McMahon, Dave Goodman and Matt Keegan, one where they could also explore new territory and try new ideas.

Connecting back to the musical aesthetic of Sweden, where I still have relatives, is also important to me. I have done this previously through my acoustic ensemble, The Marais Project. I am very attracted to the sound and sound production world of Scandinavian jazz and improvised music. Bringing these strands together in an original Australian recording has been a powerful and unrelenting dream of mine.

Donations will be used to fund studio hire and recording costs. We have been able to retain leading sound engineer and sound designer, Richard Belkner from Free Energy Device Studios to work on the project. The recording will be Produced by 2011 MCA Freedman Fellowship jazz award winner, Matt Keegan. As well as being a member of Elysian Fields, Matt is a nationally and internationally known performer, composer and arranger.

Booklet for FIKA