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Wardruna are no strangers to documentaries – 2016’s London By Norse, a Metal Hammer collaboration, charted the roots of the Norse folk guiding lights and the Enslaved team-up project, Skuggsjá, while the Kvitravn series of shorts explored the creation of their fifth album just as the world was entering lockdown. However, a new 70-minute film released on YouTube, Tracking Birna, offers a deep dive into a side of the band that they’ve never revealed publicly before.
“It offers a glimpse into something that I’ve been very hesitant towards,” founder and mastermind Einar Selvik says. “I didn’t want it to steal focus from what we do or demystify it – not that there’s anything mystical going on backstage. But at the same time, we go onstage as ourselves. It’s not a mask we put on, and I think that comes through in the film.”
Directed by publicist – and member of Wardruna’s inner circle – Laetitia Abennes, Tracking Birna was shot during the near-two-year world tour that encompassed the release of Wardruna’s latest album Birna. The documentary takes you behind the scenes to reveal the inner workings of Warduna, not just through the perspective of frontman Einar Selvik, but through the rest of the band, and the extended “family” that brings the increasingly detailed ecosystem of their stage shows to life.
Sitting in an Oslo restaurant before a screening of the documentary during the city’s long-running Inferno Festival, Einar acknowledges that the decision to put Tracking Birna out isn’t one that was taken lightly.
We go onstage as ourselves. It’s not a mask we put on
Einar Selvik
“We show people what happens behind the scenes, how that part of life is,” he acknowledges. “You also get to know some of the other people in the band who normally don’t do interviews, and the crew too. It’s not only me and my voice, it’s a much bigger organism now. I think it’s our human nature that we want to pry into the peeping hole, but I don’t necessarily think it’s a good thing.
"That was partly the thinking behind it, to do it on our own terms. For me, there is no half-assing it. It’s been such a powerful journey that we’ve been allowed to be part of.”
That journey is tracked through various locations around the world. From The Romano Amphiteatre in Pompeii, London’s Royal Albert Hall and the equally ornate Centennial Hall of Wrocław, Poland to the tribal grounds of the TūRongo Collective in Auckland, New Zealand and the Blackfeet Nation as part of the Fire In The Mountains festival, which had just moved to their sacred grounds in Montana, each setting has a unique history to bond with.
“The amphitheaters in Pompeii and Red Rocks [Colorado] were very special experiences,” Einar recalls, “but there were some other pretty spectacular concert halls, including the Royal Albert Hall. I’m glad I have more experience with it now. These places are hard because of the aura and fame, and because of your own expectations, so the last thing you want to do is to start creating stories before you go there.
"They can steal your focus if you’re not careful, and once you’re there, those expectations are going to be in everyone within the group or space. They demand a different type of discipline.”
In keeping with Birna’s theme – the cyclical nature of the she-bear – Tracking Birna is framed by Einar’s insights into the album’s creation. Montana’s Red Eagle Campground, home to the Blackfeet Nation and host to Fire In the Mountains, is also bear territory. But did he witness one?
“I didn’t!” he huffs jokingly. “But you know they are there - the day we played, there were bears seen right across the river from the festival area.”
Along with Neurosis’s Steve Von Till, Einar was heavily involved with last year’s Fire In The Mountains event, as part of a team that met up with tribal elders in preparation for the festival.
“It was a beautiful exchange of ideas,” says Einar. “For them it's also beautiful to see all the things that we used to do, how we used to think, and that that we also come from a perspective that’s really similar to their Heritage. I think that's also very hopeful, and an interesting thing to realise that we are the same when we allow nature to define our culture.”
Being involved with a festival like Fire In The Mountains on so many levels, is an experience that clearly left its mark.
“It’s one thing doing a gig there, but I did feel more invested, and it’s definitely something I want to support in the longer term,” he explains. “Seeing the local population open up to it was incredible. It’s more important than ever to give voice to common native wisdom and cultures that are more aligned with their surroundings. I left changed; I think a lot of us did.”
Wardruna: Tracking Birna is available to watch on Youtube
