Gåte | |
|---|---|
 Gåte in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Trøndelag, Norway |
| Genres | |
| Years active |
|
| Labels | Warner Music Group |
| Members |
|
| Past members |
|
| Website | gaateofficial |
Gåte (pronounced[ˈɡôːtə];Norwegian for 'riddle') is a band fromTrøndelag, Norway playingNorwegian folk music bred withmetal andelectronica. Their style has been referred to asprogressivefolk-rock. The band was put together by Sveinung Sundli (violin, keyboards) in 2000 and originally consisted of his younger sisterGunnhild Sundli (vocals), Gjermund Landrø (bass, backing vocals), Martin Langlie (drums) and Magnus Børmark (guitar, keyboards). Langlie was replaced byKenneth Kapstad in 2004.[2][3][4] They representedNorway in theEurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "Ulveham".
The band released their first EP,Gåte EP in 2000, and rapidly gained popularity. A second EP, also self-titled, was released in 2002. Their first album,Jygri, released the same year, proved to be their commercial breakthrough both in Norway and abroad, particularly in Scandinavia and Germany. They also gained a lot of media attention, particularly the distinctive voice ofGunnhild Sundli caught the interest of music journalists, who immediately started to speculate on her departure in order to establish a solo career. After the release of another EP,Statt opp (Maggeduliadei) in 2003, and their second album,Iselilja in 2004, the band announced that they were taking a break. In their press release, issued September 6, one of the reasons cited was that Gunnhild wanted to devote time to other pursuits. Nevertheless, their record companyWarner Music Norway issued a live album, titledLiva, in 2006 which had been recorded at theRockefeller Music Hall the previous year, and with bonus material from their concert at theRoskilde Festival in 2003.[2] Gåte made a comeback in 2017 with the EPAttersyn, followed by the albumSvevn in 2018.[5]
During the first part of their career they toured extensively and played almost every popular music festival in Norway, as well as the major international festivalRoskilde Festival in Denmark. The band reunited for one concert in 2009, but then decided to follow this up with a mini-tour of Norway consisting of five concerts in 2010. The fifth concert was held at the roof of theOslo Opera House, and the band stated that this would be their final farewell.[3] In 2018, they started touring Norway again.[6]
In August 2023, Gåte announced that Sveinung was temporarily leaving the band and would not participate in the upcoming tour.[7]
The band took part inMelodi Grand Prix 2024, the Norwegian selection for theEurovision Song Contest 2024, with the song "Ulveham".[8] They qualified from their semi-final on 20 January 2024[9] and ultimately won the final on 3 February 2024.
At Eurovision 2024, Gåte finished 10th in the second semifinal on 9 May, qualifying them for the Grand Final on 11 May, where they finished 25th.[10]
Many of Gåte's songs are rearranged versions of traditional Norwegian folk tunes, such as "Sjå Attende" (the title translates to "Look Back"), and "Knut Liten og Sylvelin" ("Little-Knut and Sylvelin"). Another main source of Gåte songs are poems by the Norwegian poet Astrid Krog Halse with added music by Sveinung Sundli, such as "Følgje" ("Company") and "Stengd Dør" ("Closed Door"). Some of their songs were written inNynorsk/Landsmål and performed in a broadTrøndersk dialect.
On "Svevn", several songs have lyrics by veteran folk musicianKnut Buen, who also wrote the lyrics to "Kjærleik" on "Iselilja".[5]
|
Gunnhild (born 2 July 1985) is the band's lead vocalist and joined the band in 1999. She was born and grew up inOrkdal Municipality, and currently resides inTrondheim Municipality. She began to sing when she was 9 years old, and has since been singing in bothclassical andjazz music. She studied singing atHeimdal Upper Secondary School.[3]
Børmark (born 21 November 1982) is from Trondheim. He learned to play guitar and piano from his older brother. He has played inpopular rock bands, such asTorch, before joining Gåte in December 2000. He plays aFender Telecaster, Robotcaster and Les Robot, the last two being made by Frank Stavem. He also plays guitar in the band22 [no].[11]
Schärer (born 27 September 1990) is fromKvikne. He is the band drummer and collaborates with Norwegian artists as a lyricist to promote folk music. He is also an educational manager in a kindergarten and finished his bachelor's thesis in kindergarten education.[12]
Paulsen (born 1 March 1983) is a bass player from Trondheim. Together with Børmark, they formed the Norwegian band 22. He also became a finalist in the Norwegian version ofMasterChef in 2010.[13]
Stenersen is a musician and composer fromRisør Municipality. He plays ancient Nordic instruments such as thenyckelharpa,moraharpa, andhurdy-gurdy.[14]
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOR [15] | |||
| Jygri |
| 1 | |
| Iselilja |
| 3 | |
| Liva |
| 15 | |
| Svevn |
| 11 | |
| Nord |
| — | |
| Ulveham |
| — | |
| "—" denotes an album that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOR [22] | |||
| Gåte EP |
| — | |
| Gåte EP |
| 2 | |
| Statt opp (Maggeduliadei) |
| 4 | |
| Attersyn |
| — | |
| Til Nord |
| — | |
| Vandrar |
| — | |
| "—" denotes an extended play that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
| Single | Year | Peak chart positions | Album or EP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOR [15] | LTU [29] | |||
| "Sjå attende" | 2004 | 10 | — | Iselilja |
| "Iselilja" (with The Blizzard) | 2009 | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Stolt solvår" | 2017 | — | — | Attersyn |
| "Rideboll og gullborg" | — | — | ||
| "Kom no disjka" | 2018 | — | — | Svevn |
| "Bannlyst" | — | — | ||
| "Tonen" | — | — | ||
| "Huldra" | 2019 | — | — | Ulveham |
| "Svarteboka" (featuringDjerv [no]) | 2023 | — | — | Vandrar andUlveham |
| "Skarvane" | — | — | ||
| "Ulveham" | 2024 | —[A] | 91 | |
| "På veg" | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||
| Single | Year | Peak chart positions | Album or EP |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOR [15] | |||
| "Førnesbrunen (Radio Edit)" | 2023 | 10 | Vandrar |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Recipient of the NewcomerSpellemannprisen 2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
