Anda

Anders Peev and Mattias Ristholm met in 1997 and at that point they decided to form a band, but it would be another 5 years before they found their formula. Mattias brought home a turkish lute, the Saz from Turkey and took it to their rehearsal. "Hey look at this funny instrument I got in Turkey!" he said and the unusual sound of Anda was born. Anders had just acquired a rare kind of keyed fiddle, the Tenor nyckelharpa, played by only a handful of people in the world. The brisk sound of the Saz, and raw deep voice of the Keyed fiddle constitutes the hallmark of Anda. With strong male harmonies this dynamic duo is often said to sound like a larger band.

Anders is an accomplished electric guitar player and has a background in heavy metal. This is still heard in his way of treating the keyed fiddle as the rock riffs comes pounding underneath the haunting scandinavian folk songs. He has a degree from The Royal Musical University of Stockholm.

Mattias has a background in gospel, grunge and musical. He made his way through Europe busking in the streets, starting out with pop songs, moving on to irish folk and then was introduced to scandinavian folk music as he hitchhiked through Norway.