Vajas
Encyclopedia
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
-Norwegian
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...
band with Kristin Mellem
Kristin Mellem
Kristin Mellem is a Norwegian musician , composer and conductor, known from Nord-Norge's musical scene.She was educated at Nordnorsk Music Conservatory and Bergen Music Conservatory , has worked as a violin teacher in Balsfjord, Bergen, Hadsel, and Tromsø...
on violin and vocals, Nils Johansen on guitars, computers and synthesizers and the famous Sami ethnic yoiker
Yoik
A joik, , luohti, vuolle, leu'dd, or juoiggus is a traditional Sami form of song.Originally, joik referred to only one of several Sami singing styles, but in English the word is often used to refer to all types of traditional Sami singing...
Ánde Somby
Ánde Somby
Ánde Somby, born in Buolbmat, Norway, is a well known traditional Sami joik artist and an associate professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Tromsø, specializing in Indigenous Rights Law. Somby is only one of few Sami with Ph.D in law . Sombys phD is titled "Juss som retorikk"...
on vocals and yoik (joik). The band debuted in 2003 and has toured internationally ever since. In October 2006 Vajas released its first album, Sacred Stone. The band is currently working on getting the release distributed in Germany and the UK with other countries to follow. In 2009, a minor YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
fad involved remaking or lipsynching to the song "Sparrow of the Wind".
Band members
Kristin MellemKristin Mellem
Kristin Mellem is a Norwegian musician , composer and conductor, known from Nord-Norge's musical scene.She was educated at Nordnorsk Music Conservatory and Bergen Music Conservatory , has worked as a violin teacher in Balsfjord, Bergen, Hadsel, and Tromsø...
is a classically trained composer and violinist who has done a lot of musical projects. She has composed and performed music both in smaller settings and with full orchestras.
Ánde Somby
Ánde Somby
Ánde Somby, born in Buolbmat, Norway, is a well known traditional Sami joik artist and an associate professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Tromsø, specializing in Indigenous Rights Law. Somby is only one of few Sami with Ph.D in law . Sombys phD is titled "Juss som retorikk"...
is both a traditional and non-traditional Sami yoiker (joiker) and has been performing since the late seventies. Somby also has a Ph.D. in Law and is a busy academic, employed at the University of Tromsø
University of Tromsø
The University of Tromsø is the world's northernmost university. Located in the city of Tromsø, Norway, it was established in 1968, and opened in 1972. It is one of eight universities in Norway. The University of Tromsø is the largest research and educational institution in northern Norway...
in Norway.
Nils Johansen is a musician, composer, artist and multiinstrumentalist and is also a member of the Norwegian pop/indie duo Bel Canto
Bel Canto (band)
Bel Canto is a Norwegian music duo, originally a trio, fronted by Anneli Drecker, and signed originally to Crammed Discs.-Biography:Their first two records were licensed to Nettwerk Records in Canada and its second album was licensed to IRS/MCA Records...
. Johansen has been a part of the international music industry since the mid eighties and has composed music for film, television and for full orchestras. He wrote the opening number to the debut of the Norwegian radio channel P3 and has done a lot of musical work outside his two bands.
Personal life
Somby lived with Kristin Mellem from 2003 to 2007 and have one child together, born in 2005. From a former marriage Somby has two children, born in 1980 and 1988. Somby is the father of Lawra Somby, who yoiks in the even more famous duo AdjagasAdjagas
Adjágas, from Sápmi, Norway are Sámi joikers, Lawra Somby and Sara Marielle Gaup with a band of musicians. The groups name Adjágas is a Sámi word describing the mental state experienced between waking and sleeping....
.