DREAMARCHER - Harding (12"EP)

Harding is a tribute to Hardanger, the area of Norway where Dreamarcher comes from. It is written with respect to those from the past who clung to the steep mountain sides, planted fruit trees, played the fiddle with eight strings and dressed the mountains in large black pipes which fueled the turbines of industry. They created a society and a life for all those who came after them. Harding was written with the fascination of both the heroic and legendary stories, of common people who fought their own battles of survival.

 

 

Harding is the Norwegian word for "a person from Hardanger", but is also the word used to describe the weathered, warm and mentally strong. Hardanger is an icon of Norwegian Romantic Nationalism and also lead the industrial development from around 1900. Because of its remote geography, Hardanger was an area where religion struggled to get a foothold for a long time. During the religious revivals in the 1800s, the Hardanger Fiddle was viewed as a sinful instrument encouraging wild dances, drinking and fights. This lead to the burning and destruction of many fiddles, as they thought it would be best for the soul - and thus the fiddle remains a symbol of rebelliousness.

 

Living in seclusion between towering rocky mountains where avalanches isolated the community both summer and winter - industrial smoke and mountain peaks blocked the sun’s light and heat, forming the culture there. To this day Hardanger continues with the tradition of creativity, making one’s own warmth and light.

The lyrics are based and inspired by the stories of local author, blogger and former journalist Jan «Jangen» Gravdal. He is one of the few who maintains and guards the legacy of those heroes who lived before us. Like Gravdal, by collecting their stories and forwarding them to future generations, Dreamarcher does the same with their latest EP release, Harding.

TRACKLIST