A lesson with Ande Somby: "I'm gonna fucking be a joiker"

When I decided to be a joiker. Then I also decided I shall learn all the traditions. All the different sami joik traditions. I should be able to joik in any tradition. That sort of became my project. My thing. So I know a lot of traditional joiks.

And then. I started to. To meet new joiks. New joiks came to me. And I don't know if I compose them. Its a personal mystery for me. How these joiks come about. But I experience for example a joik, a new joik, like a bird that lands, lands on my shoulder for example. I often think in that way about ideas. An idea is a little being that lands on you. And then I use to negociate with the joik. And try the joik. Joik it a little bit. Will this fit into my moods? My voice? Will it work well with my voice? Does it have the exciting energy and so on. And if that matches. I use to record it. On my cell phone. Or a recorder.

And then. When I was visiting professor in Arizona. When you are a visiting professor somewhere. You are very much alone. Cause if you come as a visiting student. Then there will be many other visiting students. And you have somebody to hang around with. But when you are a visiting professor. Then the post professor meets you the first night. But then he has familiy and obligations and his life. So you will almost never see him again. You will see him now and then. But you are basically very much alone. And I thought there. I had so many joiks that landed. And then I found out that. Now that I am so much alone. Now is the time to. To work with the joiks. So I got some professional recording equipment. And then I found a canyon right outside of Tucson. Pima canyon. And I walked there for an hour into that canyon. And then I found a big tree. And I decided. Well. This is Andes studio. And I got gaffatape with me. And I taped the microphone to the tree. And then I had one working principle. And that was. I didnt know the poems of the joiks. I didnt think about the poems. Because I had just decided I should work with those joiks. I should have the poem to meet me there in the studio. And. The poem came to me and I recorded it. Only one piece. Then I went back to theTucson. And I did that for three weeks. So I got 21 tracks. One of these tracks is the Star Girl. I can read you the poem. It goes like this:

In a dark world

We need stars

So that people who are lost

Again can find their way home

We joik the star girl

We joik her with strength

We joik her with love

We joik her with intensity

We joik her with presence

In a grey world

We need colors

So that people can see the joy

and again can find it

We joik the star girl

We joik her with strength

We joik her with love

We joik her with passion

We joik her with presence

In a silenced world

We need a voice

So that people who have forgotten to sing

Again can find their song

We joik the star girl

We joik her with passion

We joik her with strength

We joik her with presence