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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 MAY 2016 31 This Week Traditional does not need to be conservative ERIC MONTFORT speaks to the members of Trad Attack – an Estonian trio heading their way to our islands for a performance at this year's edition of Ghanafest ESTONIAN music has always intrigued me even before this country regained its inde- pendence and self-determination back in 1991. I had long known about the plights that this country along with fellow Baltic States, Latvia and Lithuania had passed through over hun- dreds over years, and in recent history, under Soviet rule. Eventually, in 1993, I followed the late John Peel's BBC World Service programmes from the Baltic States, fell in love with a band he championed, namely Rooval Oobik, and in the following year, I visited these countries, and to date, I still have fond memories of the people, their old and rich culture and their unique folk music styles. In Tallinn, Estonia, I was lucky to have been right on time for the Singing Festival, an event that takes place once every five years. This was the first post-independence singing festi- val, and the response was overwhelming, with more than 300,000 people attending from as far away as Germany, the UK, Australia and the USA. Estonian nationality preserved itself largely through this singing festival, which endured even during Soviet rule, albeit with much wariness and restrictions. It also helped to spawn many new talents, who were ready to dig into past archives and deliver something that was old and new, borrowed and fresh, rather than blue. Trad Attack! are a case in point. This trio comprises Sandra Jalmar and Tonu, old friends who have been active for about 15 years. They are one of many bold, young talents who have been reworking folk music with a lot of surpris- ingly breath-taking results. Sandra, who plays the bagpipe, has been following this scene ever since she was 13. Jalmar, on the other hand is himself a product of a family steeped in tradi- tion; his great grandmother Anne Vabarna was an eminent folk singer in Estonia. Tonu, who plays trombone and drums comes from a fam- ily rooted in jazz and these are quite evident in Trad Attack's music. Such synergies worked very well on Koo'reke, an eerie yet very ear friendly song which features some insidious percussive overtones, rapturous bagpipe ar- rangements and a thoroughly overtly fresh ap- proach, where folk remains the basis of songs that exude so much warmth, emotion and also wry humour. Two years since their groundbreaking ap- pearance in Tallinn's Music Week, Trad At- tack have won the hearts of many European and American critics. I caught up with San- dra for further insight about the band's music style, their latest projects and how latter-day Estonian folk has evolved. Trad Attack sound so cohesive as a trio and yet so remain so versatile... the sort of attitude adopted by various other great trios like Cream, Rush, The Police and The Jam among others. Have you always worked as a trio? How does this cohesive factor work? Yes, we have been always a trio, because we decided to challenge ourselves. As a trio we have very different roles, and we are responsi- ble of our own areas and at the same time find- ing ways how to breathe together. We like it, because it opens up our minds and creativity in totally another way and we start to feel music from another perspective. There are songs that fuse very well tradi- tional and modern styles, notably Jan'keene which features the great-grandmother of Jalmar. Her voice ended up sampling in this recording! Yes, thank you. That's one of the inspiration sources for us – old Estonian archive record- ings. At first we sang these songs ourselves, but it was missing something. When we added the original recordings then the songs started to live real life and got some special mystical energy. These old singers were amazing and the songs came out of their hearts and souls. All the songs had purpose and meaning in everyday life, that's why they have a special en- ergy. And that's why we decided to bring them on the stage with us and add our own world around it. Estonia has preserved its identity through singing. I could notice the passion and the great response I saw in Tallinn back in 1994 when I attended the singing festival there. Yes that's true. They call Estonians 'the sing- ing nation'. This singing festival is still going on in every two years and it's really popular. We are happy that Estonian traditional music is also getting more and more popular. Young people listen to it and radios play it. A good example is that we, who make very alternative and folkish music, won awards for the Band Of The Year and Album Of The Year in The Esto- nian Music Awards 2015. Estonia has also managed to deliver some very good bands, who can sing very well in English too, even though you were not a UK colony. A case in point is Rooval Oobik... just love that compilation Balts Bite Back which a guy from the national broadcaster gave me back then! Maybe because we have good education sys- tem and children start studying English at a young age. There are quite many artists who sing in English and have made it also to inter- national scene: Kerli, Ewert and the Two Drag- ons, etc. We love to sing in Estonian, because its so special. I think at the end it doesn't mat- ter what language you sing until the energy and vibe is right and connecting to audience. Another song of yours, Kuukene, goes very much in the mysterious, pastoral, forest chant...the Baltic States seem to place a lot of emphasis on songs inspired by forests. Do you agree? Yes definitely. Because we have lots of forest. The forest was a very important part of Esto- nian every day life and Estonians were spiritu- ally attached to the forest –it fed and protected them. They also believed that the forest had a special magic and that spirits and fairies lived there. We do refer to other aspects of nature in some our songs, notably on Kuukene, which is an old chant. It is all about turning to the moon. Centuries ago, Estonians believed that turning to the moon helped revitalise them as well as curing some of their illnesses. Some people still sing this chant nowadays. Trad Attack will be performing at Għanafest on June 11. Għanafest Malta World Music Fes- tival 2016 is organised by Arts Council Malta and supported by the Ministry for Justice, Cul- ture and Local Government, MSV Life and TVM. The Festival will be held on June 10-12 at 7pm, at Argotti Gardens, Floriana – within walking distance from Valletta. Tickets: €3 and €7 for a three-day block ticket available at the door. Parking available at the Floriana Boy Scouts headquarters, right next to the venue. For more information, log on to: www.malta- worldmusicfestival.org cinema "I believe that the film's continued success is largely due to a deliberately planned timelessness in the script and in the production. The only twentieth Century gadget in the film is a sea plane… The audience can believe they are experiencing a story some- how related outside time as they know it. Although there are many clues, verbal and solid, scattered around in the film in plain sight, they do not tell the whole story unless the viewer is looking for them and want- ing to see meaning in them. The Wicker Man is, among other things, a game and par- ticipating in that adds to its timeless appeal." The screening of the final cut of The Wicker Man will take place at the Valletta Campus of the University of Malta on May 28 at 18:30. The screen- ing of 'The Wicker Man' will be preceded by 'Breakable Boundaries', a performance by a group of theatre students prepared specifically for the event – and following the screening, the audience will also be able to see an artistic installation inspired by 'The Wicker Man', and produced by Rachel Formosa, Ian Caruana and Steffi Degior- gio. Reservation is not man- datory but seating is limited, so if you would like to reserve a seat, please contact Yanica Cassar on 2340 2309 or at yanica.cassar@um.edu.mt "The forest was a very important part of Estonian everyday life and Estonians were spiritually attached to the forest – that's why there's such an emphasis on it in our music" Trad Attack are (left to right): Tõnu Tubli, Sandra Sillamaa and Jalmar Vabarna