Den Fule

Swedish group Den Fule grew from your demise from the reputable Filarfolket, their fresh name translating as ‘the unsightly 1’, a Scandinavian mention of the devil. Ellika Frisell (fiddle) and Stern Källman (soprano and baritone saxophones/percussion) experienced both previously used Filarfolket, while Jonas Simonson (flute/bass saxophone) experienced caused another renowned folk music group, Groupa. These were became a member of in Den Fule by three fresh musicians attracted from the Swedish jazz and rock and roll customs, Henrik Cederblom (acoustic guitar), Christian Jormin (drums) and Stefan Bergman (bass). The group produced its debut in the Falun Folk Event in 1990, pledging to bridge the space between traditional music and modern instruments. This notion was first used by Källman in 1989 when he was asked to supply the musical entertainment for Swedish Country wide Radio Gothenburg to accompany the live Midsummer’s Eve Broadcast. This initial development of Den Fule included another initial person in Filarfolket, Thomas Ringdahl, however the aforementioned line-up was founded soon after. Nevertheless, their Falun appearance and following performances resulted in them becoming labelled folk rock and roll, a explanation with which Källman is certainly displeased: ‘The folk little bit is appropriate. All our music are Swedish and Norwegian music and sound-wise we have been a folk music group. But the tempo isn’t rock and roll – it’s even more of a relationship between Afro-tradition and Nordic shamanism.’ Instead of folk rock and roll they choose the term ‘power polka’, although this appears to be splitting hairs. Their debut record of 1993, Amalthea, impressed broadly using its frantic rhythms, immortalised in Folk Root base mag as ‘funk powered Viking feet stomping’, that is a minimum of as useful a explanation as the music group’s own.