The Sámi-people were not the first nomadic group to enter this area known today as Scandinavia, or to develop here, but they are most likely the oldest clearly visible culture still present, living mostly in the areas known today as Sápmi (Lapland). Once inhabiting for example the very southern parts of modern Finland, before merging with another group arriving from modern day Estonia (the Baltic Finns), while some migrating northward to those areas named after these very people (covering areas in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia), the Sámi have been subjected to many negative aspects of colonialism, not unlike for example their distant cousins in the North American continent. Considering the uniqueness, archaism and authenticity, as well as the unjust hardships of this ancient culture, it is perhaps only natural to express the more spiteful and bitter feelings of a Sámi-man through a musical style such as raw old school black metal. I interviewed the main person behind the project Ruohtta, Tervaaja, “the one who tars”.
Greetings Tervaaja! How are you feeling in this November of 2021?
Terve! All good here, roughly minus 30 Celsius right now where I live so I am burning some wood at the moment.
As you are apparently situated in Gällivare (Meänmaa, Tornedalen, Swedish Lapland), is this the area where you were born, and grew up in? How do you see your childhood, compared to perhaps someone growing up in a big city like Stockholm today. Did you feel like missing out on something, or was it the other way around?
Yes, born and raised in Gällivare municipality. I would say that Gällivare was quite a rough place to grow up in during the 80's and 90's. There was a high rate of suicides and murders in relation to the small population as well as economic cutbacks that had damaging effects on schools. I remember someone comparing Gällivare with Rovaniemi back then. Besides the negativity and roughness, I would say that it was great place to grow up in. I was a teenager in the 90's, a time when a lot of interesting stuff happened in the subcultural realm. The local death metal and hardcore scene was really vibrant back then with bands such as Dissolved, Septic Grave, Against, Incendiary etc. and it was easy to get a rehearsal space for free. A store in Gällivare sold black/death/punk/hardcore albums and merch which compared to the situation today is quite extraordinary haha. I don't think I felt that I was missing out on things. We had our own little creative bubble that we lived in and I guess we made the best we could out of what was available in this small town. I actually lived in Stockholm for many years until I moved back home about 6 years ago. I went there to study and got stuck a couple of years due to work and a relationship. When both of these things fell apart I moved back home as fast as I could. I don ́t mean no disrespect to those who live in Stockholm but I personally really hated most of my time there.
You have a Forest Sámi background, live inside the Swedish borders, and speak a Finnic language or dialect known as Meänkieli, “our language”. Do you see any major difference between the cultures of Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian Lapland, if you have any experience of the other two? Are the cultures similar, when it comes to the Sámi-people? How about the people of the three countries in general, in your experience?
Yes, that is correct. Many of my ancestors on both sides of the family used to be called “Lappfinns” in old parish registers and I occasionally use that word myself in spite. To answer your questions; it is a large topic but I would say that there are a lot of nuances within Sámi identities and communities. There are equally as many nuances concerning Sámi languages and dialects; people who speak it fluently and people that has lost it completely. I think the major differences are related to the politics of each mentioned country. Norway and Sweden have historically threatened their national minorities; Sámi, Kven, Romani and Lantalaiset/Tornedalians, like shit. The colonial oppression is not as noticeable and violent nowadays of course. However, the same mechanisms and methods are still at work although more neatly redressed. Generally speaking I would say that the folk spirit and mentality, regardless of ethnicity, is very similar all over the North Calotte. People tend to be honest, show hospitality when needed, speak when necessary and spare the bullshit.
There is still some solidarity amongst the people. Most people in Sápmi stand up for each other and refuse to bow to the great beast (state) in the south. However, this beast is gradually sucking us dry with politics and economic interests that inevitably turns some Laplandic people against each other.
It is no secret that the Finnish people who have emigrated to Sweden, and their children, have traditionally experienced racism, as have unfortunately the Sámi people in all of Scandinavia. How has your area been in this regard?
I would say that there is some local racism against both Sámi and Lantalaiset in my area. Sadly, most of this shit is done by people that have roots in these cultures themselves. The loss of history and knowledge of identity seems to get worse which makes disunions more common. There is also often a conflict about who has right to owning reindeers, right to claim certain parts of land and who has not. There is a lot to say about all these things but I will leave it at that.
We have witnessed during this year of 2021 the emerging of evidence how the Canadian Catholic Church oppressed and even killed thousands of indigenous children in their school system. However, unfortunately few people in Scandinavia (or the rest of the world for that matter) are aware of how the Sámi have been subjected to similar kinds of tactics of conforming in the countries they live in. Did you experience any of this kind mentality in your childhood, or your parents or grandparents?
Yes, we had similar oppressive school systems here. A lot of mountain Sámis was pretty much forced to attend Nomadskola (school for nomadic children) which did great damage to these communities. Lantalaiset and settled Forest Sámis in my area were sent to Arbetsstugor (Work cabins) where they experienced similar type of cultural genocide. The children that did not go to these schools was nevertheless forbidden to speak their languages in class or even on the schoolyard. If they did so, the teacher (often a non-Sámi/non-Lantalainen) would often punish them violently. My grandfather got so badly beaten that he pretty much lost his hearing on one ear. Then we have all the shit that the race biologists caused but that is a whole other chapter.
The first releases of Ruohtta are from 2013, are of a more ambient kind of nature compared to a lot of the later material. Did you have any musical projects previous to this one? How about today, is Ruohtta the only channel for your creativity, or are there other projects as well?
I have been a musician for a long time and am/have been active within other genres of music as well. I have released a couple of guitar-driven experimental and dark folk music-ish albums under my own name prior to Ruohtta and am still making music in that vein. Actually, I had plans for Ruohtta already back in 2006 but I never found the time for it then. Today I would say that Ruohtta is my main channel, at least regarding the music I make as a one-man band.
Growing up, how present has the musical influence of Sámi-culture been in your life? I remember in the mid-nineties when artists like Wimme Saari and Angelin Tytöt became quite recognised globally. How is the situation with the more popular yet traditional Sámi-music these days, in your opinion?
I would say that I have been more exposed to Finnish/Tornedalian music growing up rather than Sámi yoik or popular music. The Sámi popular music/world music scene got really popular in the mid-late 90's while I was deeply into the darker sides of rock n ́roll so I didn’t really pay too much attention to that. However, there are a couple of Sámi artists from that era that I still like a lot; Wimme, Mari Boine and Niko Valkeapää. Niko's “Gusto” is one of my favourite albums of the past ten years.
The name Ruohtta (Ruto), besides being the personification to sickness and death, perhaps relates also to feelings of hatred, bitterness and revenge. Do you feel the musical styles of raw black metal and dark ambient are perfect vehicles for what you are trying to convey, or are there other styles you would like to explore with Ruohtta as well?
I think I have found the right aural path for Ruohtta in focusing on and combining these mentioned sub-genres. They seem to reflect my cultural environment, feelings and messages in the best way. I am not sure whether I will let the dark/black ambient side of this project take as much space as it has done in my earlier releases but I will not shift or change the formula of the music too much in the future. If I want to explore other black metal genres, then I will most likely release it under a different name. Actually, I have such project in the works called Djuasa. That project is more of an extension of Ruohtta rather than a totally separate entity.
Personally, having been a teenager and listening to black metal in the early and mid-nineties (and still some) your sound and approach reminds me of that era, with a very unique primitive yet psychedelic and avantgarde twist. When were you first exposed to the sounds of extreme metal, especially black metal? How do you see the culture of black metal (which is of course a vast concept) changing, from those times you first heard the cold and aggressive sounds of this style, to the current environments and towards the future..?
My older brother was into heavy music so I was really young, about 10 years old, when I discovered and began listening to death/black metal. The first black metal bands I was exposed to was Beherit and Abruptum although I didn’t know it was called black metal then. I remember how I admired that classic photo of Nuclear Holocausto with spikes and corpse paint. When I think of the term “black metal”, that image still pops up in my head. The fact that they were from Rovaniemi was also a big thing for me. I later got introduced to the Norwegian bands and became especially interested in the music of Darkthrone, Satyricon and Burzum. Black metal today is spread out into so many sub-genres, making it hard to catch up on all. The genre has also gradually becoming more political which I am not too fond of.
A lot of assholes exploit the genre for purposes that has nothing to do with the actual music or the essence of it.
There are parts in your discography where I get the notion of almost improvised and “shamanic” way of creating, and parts where the compositions and executions are much more planned. How would you describe the writing process of a typical Ruohtta release? Is it all very spontaneous, or do you take your time, or does it vary from song to song?
I have spent a lot of time improvising with my instruments over the years so I often incorporate that into the music making process as well. The black ambient stuff is more or less totally improvised on the spot while the black metal parts are a mix of spontaneity and calculation.
What are your favourite black metal artists? Do you feel you are actively interested in what goes on in the larger musical world of for example extreme metal, or are these musical styles merely tools that feel natural to you, in order to convey the feelings you want to express with Ruohtta, and besides creating your own art do not really care what the other bands are doing? How about other styles of music, do you follow any “scenes” so to speak?
If I look at the classic bands that have been around for a long while, then I would say early Satyricon, early Burzum, Beherit, Abruptum, Profanatica and Xasthur. Some of the newer or semi-new bands that I have listened to a lot lately are Bekëth Nexëhmü, Rienaus, Lampir, To Conceal the Horns, Azelisassath, Ritual Killer, Chaos Moon, Pan-American Native Front, Lunacy, Vargrav, Akhlys, Head of the Demon and many more. I am always interested in new music and don't restrict myself to only one genre. I have a quite schizophrenic music taste I would say. Besides black/death metal, I listen to all kinds of folk music, old Finnish tango, punk, jazz, choir music, experimental electronic music etc. I am also very fond of the art of Kalervo Palsa and John Savio.
As the theme of Ruohtta is at least in part very anti-colonialist, and full of pride towards the culture of your ancestors, how do you see tricky concepts like nationalism in the case of the Sámi-people? Are there a lot of nationalistic movement of people dreaming of a country called Sápmi, perhaps?
Hmm, tough question. Nations, as in the Western definition and form we see it today, never last since human beings, regardless of ethnicity, can't handle having power over people. I also think that Sápmi or Meänmaa as separate countries/states would be very tricky to establish due to the natural resources we live on. Capitalism and the governments that holds the power would never let it happen. What we can do at the moment is to resist against this imposed modernity and exploitation, strengthen our own cultures and structures and find some kind of self-dependant autonomy within it.
Unfortunately, the Sámi people are still today subject to different kinds of colonialism and discrimination, such as land grabbing. Besides making music, do you engage in any sort of activism, or is your music your way of telling people about these issues?
I am quite active in preserving and revitalising the specific Meänkieli dialect that I speak. The folk music projects I am active in also deals with minority languages in the Arctic along with an anti- colonial/decolonial stance. I do my part mainly through music and art.
Do the so-called pagan customs of ancient (or modern) Sámi play a large role in your life? Do you think they have already been integrated in some of your daily activities since childhood, or have you had to study the ways of your ancestors? Do you feel other Sámi-people around you have or are starting to forget their culture?
Remnants of the shared pagan customs of Forest Sámi/Lantalaiset have seeped into my life and consciousness throughout my life and I have gradually with age been exploring it further. A lot of spiritual practices and customs have been lost over time due to imposed Christianity and Laestadianism but glimpses of it has always been there. The old Sámi and Finnish pagan beliefs are part of a greater Finno-Ugric belief system. By studying for instance the spiritual world of Nenets, Khanty, Mordvins, Mari etc. some of the missing pieces may be restored in many ways.
As the Sami religion is by its very nature extremely animistic, how do you see the religious concepts of your ancestors when observed through a more modern lens of a much used term such as “spiritual”? Do you look at the religious terminology, symbols and practice in a metaphorical way in order to transform yourself psychologically, or do you see things and forces in nature yet unexplained by modern man?
I would say that my relation to spirituality is not metaphorical. It is neither a belief nor wishful thinking, it’s a way of knowing. I don’t believe in the spiritual world; I know it is there. Many of the old symbols spoke to a different kind of life and living conditions and is not particularly useful when lifted out of the drum context. Symbols are a form of communication that holds a personal meaning to each interpreter or practitioner. My own use of symbols is highly personal and stands directly in line with both my spirituality and life as an artist.
Thank you very much for this extremely fascinating interview! What does the future hold for Ruohtta?
Thanks for the interest! I have two new albums with my projects Ruohtta and Djuasa coming up in January/February 2022 through Realm and Ritual and TormentRex. Vinyl releases for “Reetessä” and “Gutna” is in the works as well through a label to be announced later. I am always a couple steps ahead of my own releases so expect something in the autumn of next year as well. Kuulema! / Tervaaja
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