Music
Press
Enchantingly exotic
KANSAN UUTISET(People’s News, Finland) January 2005
“Ancient sounds and melodies produced by stones, seeds, sticks and frame-drums influenced
by rock music and blues : something to be compared with the modern Sami Music.”
“Both the ancestral culture of his (Yovan Nagwetch) people and modernity merge together when
natural elements melt with simplicity in rock music”
SOUNDI(Rock Music Magazine, Finland) October 2004
“The ritual and spiritual feeling is freshly different.”
“…contagious rhythms and melodies are plenty. The effect is calming and improving.”
FRIITI(Folk Music Magazine, Finland) Fall 2004
“Though Wabanag’s unique sound is strongly anchored in Native American (Canadian) roots music,
we can rightly categorize this band as multicultural.”
“…
"It provides an alternative that suits people who look for new lifestyles contrasting the mainstream monoculture
and materialistic efficiency.”
FACES ETHNOFESTIVAL NEWS Summer 2004
“Native Music doesn’t have limits”
KARJALAINEN(The Karelian, Finland) November 2004
“On the album ULODI, the music of Wabanag is a rhythmic and illuminating ethno- rock.
The songs put a spell on the listeners and have a strong attaching power”
SALON SEUDUN SANOMAT(The Salo’s Paper) November 2004
“The album ULODI is made out of an interesting mix, traditional in its inspiration and modern in its expression.”
HELSINKI SANOMAT (main Helsinki’s paper) august 2002
“The band is for me like a family declares Nagwetch, singer of Wabanag”
“The band plays some rock influenced by (native American) indian music inWabanaki’s language”
SATAKUNNANKANSA(Satakunta’s people’s paper) January 2001
“Nagwetch created in Finland a music style that translates his own people’s culture”
VÄSTRA NYLAND(Swedish Newspaper, Finland) July 2001
"Nagwetch was personal, devoted and offered what is central to his life: not only spirituality,
but also a strong, gentle and warm expression of humanness. The audience perceived it
very clearly when it forced its way dancing before the stage.
Nagwetch was definitely one of the most positive experiences in this year’s FACES-festival. "
KAJO(North-American Indian-Finnish society’s magazine) 2001
“Nagwetch’s search is to be in contact with nature through the music”
“In the music, Nagwetch is interested in harmony. He tries to figure out what are the connecting channels
between music and nature; how every parcel of life - in a flower, a tree or a human body - is connected
to sound vibrations.”
ILTASANOMAT(Main evening paper, Helsinki, FInland) Avril 2000
“The songs written in Wabanaki are full of emotions.”
“Listening to this music, we easily imagine the gray hair of an old "Indian" flowing in the wind.”
KIRKKO(The church)
“The songs in Wabanaki are full of feelings”
LAPIN KANSA(Lappish people’s paper) November 2004
“One of the most interesting guests of the “Kaamokse Kasvot Festival” was the representative
of the Metis-Wabanaki tribes, the Canadian Indian Yovan Nagwetch”
“The music of Yovan is close to Earth.
It reminds of the shamanic spell and it's easy to imagine that it can lead to trance”
Please visit http://www.wabanag.org/press1.html
for more press quotes - Eric E. van Monckhoven
Discography
ULODI (Well Being - Happiness - Harmony), Helsinki. 2004
Most of the songs are YOVAN's own compositions, and the lyrics are in Wabanaki language.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
A descendant of the Metis people, Canadian artist Yovan NAGWETCH from Gaspe can trace his origins back to his native ancestors, the WABANAKI, who inhabited the country long before the Europeans arrived. Still today, the WABANAKI confederation is a strong hoop of First Nations on the East Coast of Canada and the US.
Yovan's family emigrated to Europe when he was only a child. It's there he got interested with music. As a teenager he was already composing his own songs and fighting with a guitar to get a proper sound. Then he took part in several musical projects that brought him all around Europe, from South to North.
Yovan lived for more than a decade in Paris where he was in touch with many different cultures. This raised his interest about the musical heritage of his native ancestors. It eventually lead to the creatio of his concept band, WABANAG.
WABANAG's world of sounds and music is a fusion between tradition and modernity.
In the end of the 90s, the band started to play a so called "Indian Rock" that got them the heart of the Finns. The shamanic pulse of the music and the energy of rock proved to please the audience.
In 2004, the band got a proposal to record an album of world music where the focus was made on a more ethnic and acoustic sound. ULODI brought the band to the attention of the Canadian Aboriginal community who made Wabanag a Canadian Aboriginal Award Nominee in the best International Album ctegory (www.canab.com).
With 2006, the band is planning to come back to the "Indian Rock" mood that suits better the audience of clubs and festivals, and to remain available for acoustic shows whenever there will be some request.
WABANAG is your chance to get inspired and to start your journey to Indian, Native and Metis country.
Links
