Phonix

"In our music you can always sense the Danish traditional music even though we mix it with inspiration from other musical genres."

Danish music has been very much in the shadows of its Nordic cousins in Sweden and Finland. That's despite a long, rich tradition, and more collected ballads than any country in Europe (although, tellingly, they were taught in schools as literature, not music). Denmark's folk revival began a little over 30 years ago, but it's only very recently that it's achieved the critical mass needed to break through on the international scene.

These days there are a number of quality bands from Denmark with a heart in the tradition, and Phønix stands as one of the most strikingly original, with a distinctive bass clarinet underpinning voice, accordion, and percussion. They've had plenty of chance to develop their sound, as the core of the band has been together since 1990, "when we met at courses/workshops around Denmark," recalls bass clarinetist Anja Præst Mikkelsen. "We formed a band and called ourselves Fritterne (chips). Initially we played only traditional dance music, primarily for folk dancing, but eventually it developed and we started composing music and started arranging it with ostinatos and different rhythms and chords." But even within their original material, there was a strong tie to the tradition, simply because "we grew up with it and we are very fond of it. In our music you can always sense the Danish traditional music even though we mix it with inspiration from other musical genres."

"In our music you can always sense the Danish traditional music even though we mix it with inspiration from other musical genres."

While starting out purely instrumental, one of the biggest changes in the band's sound arrived in 1994 - and it wasn't a singer.

"We talked about the band needing a bass, the talk fell upon a bass clarinet. I had the possibility to borrow one and then she was swept away." She took the money her parents had put aside for her, went out and bought her own. "It was perfect for cheeky ostinatos, and around it we developed our own special sound. The soft basis from the bass clarinet fits in perfectly with percussion and together with the accordion it creates a beautiful accompaniment to the old Danish ballads."

They issued CDs and grew, becoming more a concert group than a dance band, then in 1999 added a singer, Lousie Høgh, who was replaced in 2000 by Karen Mose.

"Another development is musical; we have got to know each other really well over the years, both personally and musically," explains Mikkelsen . "It gives a fantastic reserve/strength to know exactly where we have each other and that when [accordionist} Jesper Vinther leans a little forward it means "play faster" and when it looks up in the air it means "phased bass sequence up." They are signs that we never have talked about but just developed over time. Our musical expression has developed, has become very varied and refined."

"It's been very rewarding,"

They've found their best expression to date on 2002's Pigen og Drengen (The Girl and the Boy), which brought them two Danish Folk awards, and kicked their career into higher gear. They'd already played in Sweden, Norway, Finland and The Faroe Islands, USA, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Italy, France and Japan. But they kicked off 2003 with a tour of Danish schools before heading off to Folk Alliance in the US, where they landed American agents (a proper US tour is in the works for 2004). During the summer it was "festivals in France, Germany and Italy, rounding off with the Danish international Tønder Festival. The autumn was spent making a non-verbal show for children, a show which we presented on the school concert festival 'Earports 2003' in Helsingborg, Sweden. That brought a tour of children concerts in Finland."

At the start of the year their fiddler/flautist left, and they've remained a quartet of Mikkelsen, Vinther, Mose and percussionist Jesper Falch.

"It's been very rewarding," says Mikkelsen. "There's more space for the accordion and the bass clarinet, giving them the opportunity of showing further aspects of themselves. At the same time the band has become more mobile and also a bit cheaper to buy for the venues - which we've felt in the increased number of concerts."

So far the slimmed-down lineup has only recorded one track (the single "De 2 Kongebørn"), but it's apparent in concert that there's no shortage of inspiration and quality. At present, Mikkelsen says, "there are no concrete plans of a new CD but it is possible that we might go into the studio in 2004."

Over the last 12 months, in fact, it's all taken off in a bigger way than they'd expected, to the extent that "we're looking for an agent to take care of Europe bookings as the band members have difficulties following up on all the practical work that the success has brought."

And next year looks to be even busier. After the APAP conference in January, there's another tour of Belgium and Luxembourg, hopefully a pair of US tours, and a first trip to Taiwan. The Danes are coming, but this time it'll be a lot less messy, and a lot more enjoyable, than when the Vikings landed.

Phonix

"In our music you can always sense the Danish traditional music even though we mix it with inspiration from other musical genres."

"It's been very rewarding,"

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