Here are some impressions from a great weekend in April 2024, when Pøbel came to record their second album, which is going to be released next year. We used our mobile recording equipment to capture the quartet (with guests) at Malmö latinskola.
Pøbel is a band that plays captivating and danceable medieval music performed on a multitude of instruments such as the hurdy-gurdy, vielle, bagpipes, lute, shawm and various medieval drums. Bringing authentic instruments, tunes and costumes on to the stage Pøbel is not only a qualified guess on how a renowned “dance band” might have looked like in the late 1400s – it is also one of most busy and ambitious medieval bands in Denmark today!
”Pøbel” is an old Scandinavian word for ”mob” or ”crowd” and as the name suggests, the approach to the music is that of the common man i.e. the music that ordinary people could have experienced at the faire or at other festive occasions around medieval Europe.
The involved musicians are all very active in the contemporary Scandinavian folk music scene and with Pøbel like to take the medieval troubadour songs, hymns and anthems and transform them into instrumental dance music based on the idea that art music has influenced folk music anywhere throughout history. The result is a kind of ”medieval folk music” which seems both authentic and timeless. It’s basically early music for modern ears!
The members of Pøbel are: Thor Ahlgren: various bagpipes, lafta, recorders & vocals. Mads Kjøller-Henningsen: hurdy-gurdies, whistles, shawms, swedish bagpipes & vocals. Lasse Væver Jacobsen: medieval fiddles/vielles, keyed fiddle (Moraharpa) & vocals. Magnus Heebøll: davul, tambourine, lafta, jaws harps & vocals.
Guest appearances: Søren Vinther Røgen: Mora-oud & Cittern. Mia Guldhammer: Lead vocal. Malte Zeberg: Double bass. Frida Höfling: Swedish cowhorn. Morten Fredberg: Grumpy Innkeeper.
The album was recorded during this weekend, a few overdubs were added later on (mostly recorded by the musicians themselves), and was mixed by Per Tidstrand and with a lot of participation by all of the band members.
Check out https://poebel.dk , https://www.instagram.com/poebeldk/ and https://www.facebook.com/Poebelmusik for more.
