Swifan Eolh & the Mudra Choir

Swifan Eolh & The Mudra Choir was founded in 2015, by the two musicians Tom Inge Andersen (Bass, Synth pedals - Utopian Fields, Carvus, Harstad prog ensemble) and Rune Seip Bjørnflaten (guitar/ vocals - Captain Cumulonimbus & His Wondrous Cloudship, Vishwa Soundreflector), with the goal to intermingle their two respective, distinctive, writing styles, in order to create an even richer musical palette.

As the story goes, the progressive, hard rocking drummer Jarle Alfsen joined in on the drum kit the same year. The band, for a while, worked with keyboard player Bård Thorstensen (Infringement), with whom they recorded a promotional demo, resulting in them doing a support gig with the legendary psychedelic jazz rock outfit, Gong, in Mars, 2017. Later Bård Thorstensen quit, and a hunt for a replacement began, resulting in collaborations with Mari Lesterberg, Mishan Karlsböck, Endre Christensen (Shine Dion) and Ståle Langhelle (Jordsjø/Ståle Langhelle band). Later, in January 2019, keyboard player, Marius Ystad joined the fold.A second voice and the grace of motion was added in the fall of 2017, with female singer and dancer Synøve Jacobsen joining in.
The band received an amazing feedback from the audience, loving their intricate, and hard hitting, yet melodic, and sensible fusion of different forms of music, performed with a forceful and enigmatic stage presence.

In desember 2017, the band did a support gig for Magic Pie, and later were sharing stage with Krokofant, Panzerpappa and Suburban Savages, playing the mini festival, "SUBJAZZ". In September 2018 they played at the “Brekkerock- festival” in Skien, and did a warm up gig for Motorpsycho later the same month.

In Mars 2018 the band officially signed a record contract with the vital record label "Apollon records prog".

In Desember 2018 they released a digital single, title track of their debut album, “The Key”, and the electronic piece called “Blessed Be”, featuring the late Gilli Smyth (GONG) reciting her poem. It was premiered with a video  on the website of the international magazine, PROG: http://bit.do/thekeyvideoprogmagazine

In the January issue of the same magazine the group featured on the CD that comes along with the magazine with their complex piece called “Earth Shakes, Rattles and Rolls”.Their debut album, “The Key”, was released on January 18th, 2019. Some comments about the offering:

“Sounds good in a proggie way. I like the the way you have treated Gilli`s poem – appropriate electronica. Overall, this is intricate and complex long form music performed with a high level of technical proficiency.”- Mike Howlett (Gong, Grammy award winning producer etc.)“I was amazed by listening to this piece of cool, new, proper progrock!!! It’s a great debut album. It made me pick up my old Gentle Giant and YES albums. I can’t wait to hear more from this band!- Frode Berg (Award winning bassplayer in Helge Lien trio etc.)“What a prog guild! Lots of music and fun made by real admirers of the old prog scene. Good compositions and musical ideas, provided by solid musicians with the right approach and sound. This has obviously been generated by plenty of hours of hard work in the rehearsal studio. Listen to the album, and get them booked at a festival near you, sooner the better!”- Jon Sjøen (Kaizers Orchestra etc.)

The band has received great reviews for “The Key” in both Norway and the rest of the world.

Get your copy of “The Key”: https://swifan.bandcamp.com/

They are these days both rehearsing new material, as well as playing as many gigs as possible. Look out for them coming to a venue near you soon, or, even better, make it happen!