Petur Pólson

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Petur Pólson visits Copenhagen during the production of the album Koma , 2005

Petur Pólson , actually Petur Pólsson Jensen (born January 18, 1973 in Tórshavn , Faroe Islands as Petur Heinesen , grew up in Gøta ) is a Faroese poet and musician who became known beyond the Faroe Islands as a singer ( rapper ) and songwriter of the former rock group Clickhaze . Pólson is known in the Faroe Islands for his melancholy and empathetic poetry , which can be summed up and yet says a lot.

Life

Like many of his compatriots, Petur was born in the national hospital in Tórshavn (he jokingly mentions that like most of them he was born in winter and was male, but unlike most of them, he was never a fisherman). When his mother married, he was later given the surname Jensen, by which he became known as a poet. Later he added the name Pólson (son of Pól) to the (reintroduced) patronymic Faroese naming law . Grammatically correct would be Pólsson (genitive construction Póls-son (ur) ), but the Faroese pronunciation rules would turn it into a [ ˈpœlsɔn ], but he would like to be pronounced [ ˈpɔuːlsɔn ], hence the “mistake” in the spelling that he himself uses.

Petur Pólson broke off his studies in comparative literature in Aarhus and switched to teaching Faroese , English and music . Today he works as a teacher for Faroese, English and Christian religion at the communal elementary school in Sandavágur . He and his girlfriend Birita have had a daughter named Døgg Petursdóttir since 2004 .

During an interview for Sosialurin newspaper in Copenhagen in 2005

Petur Pólson came to music in the 1990s when he worked with Eiler Hansen a . a. founded the Visibility group , later renamed Visible Fish . He describes U2 , Pearl Jam and REM as his musical role models , alongside Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan as personal role models.

Visible Fish had their practice room on the old sloop Høganesi in Runavík , and took part in the Prix ​​Føroyar in 1997 , where they did not get beyond the preliminary round in Klaksvík . Nevertheless, they were known because Petur Pólson staged a " suicide " on stage, which may have contributed to the elimination, but on the other hand increased the level of awareness.

As a poet, however, 1997 was a complete success for Petur Pólsen when he received the Faroese Literature Prize for his second volume of poetry, Ogin sól er til . He later said self-ironically: As I understand it, everyone gets it sooner or later - which is a bit exaggerated in view of the comparatively high Faroese book production (measured against the approx. There are also years when the fiction award is not awarded, such as the year before it and the two years after it. Last but not least, his musical engagement contributed to the award ceremony, where it was said that his poetry was breaking new ground and that it would undoubtedly be of importance for future Faroese literature .

The band had a respectable success with the song Tender Skin in the same year. It landed at number 2 on the Útvarp Føroya charts and appeared on the 1997 sampler Rock í Føroyum 2 . In 1998 his own album Doing Lounge Jesus was released , which was more of a coincidence, because the plan was only to record 3-4 songs in the studio, but within 2 weeks it became a whole record. The two songs Styrofoam Punk Doing Lounge Jesus and Drive Through My Head were quite successful in the Faroe Islands.

In 1999 Visible Fish made a second attempt at the Prix Føroyar and also made it to the final. But it wasn't enough to win. The song Bróðir Judas still appeared on the Tutl sampler Grótføroyskt , but in the same year the group broke up. In 2004 there was a revival concert in Gøta , where her last performance was.

In 1998 another group was formed around Jón Tyril , Bogi á Lakjuni and Jens L. Thomsen , who invited Petur Pólsen as singer, rapper and lyricist. At the Prix Føroya 1999 they called themselves Clickhaze . Eivør Pálsdóttir joined them as singer and Høgni Lisberg as drummer. The group made it to the final of the Prix, but it was not enough for them to get 1st place either. They competed again for the 2001 Prix. This time the well-known bass player Mikael Blak was there . After a successful qualification, the group made it to the final and won the Prix with the hit Indigo Brow . This was followed in 2002 by the production of the Clickhaze EP with 6 tracks, of which Daylight was number one in the Faroese charts for eleven weeks. The group also played at the Roskilde Festival . The group broke up in 2003 and the musicians went their own - successful - ways.

Only for Petur Pólson was there a musical break. In March 2004 he turned to his old bandmate Eiler Hansen and showed him some lyrics that were close to his heart. Together they tried to translate that into guitar chords. After a year this preparation was completed and Eiler produced a demo tape with 11 songs. They invited other musicians to come up with an arrangement, and six months later the record Koma (which means “arrival” in Faroese, not Koma ) was ready. It was released in November 2005 and, judging by the first reviews, has what it takes to become a classic in the Faroe Islands. Well-known musicians like Kári Sverrisson ( Enekk ), Niels Arge Galán ( Tveyhundrað ) and Guðrið Hansen have guest appearances on the record, while the Tveyhundrað drummer Uni Árting and the former Clickhaze colleague Bogi á Lakjuni (guitar, keyboards, production) on all pieces play along. Other members of the band are Niels Jákup í Jógvansstovu (bass) and Knút Háberg Eysturstein (keyboards).

The basic theme of the lyrics on the album are soul pain and loneliness, but also deeply felt love for people. Pólson is known for his soulful and at the same time dark lyrics . His language is concise and uses a rich vocabulary and sometimes unusual grammatical forms of Faroese. His brief expression is typical. So the piece Hválv gets along with just two words: himmalhválv bíðar - Heaven is waiting . What he wants to say emerges from the overall context of the other songs, which give the album the character of a set of poems under a motto.

Petur Pólson dedicated Koma to his daughter Døgg (she was the only newborn name bearer according to the Faroe Islands Statistical Office in 2004). The name means " Tau " in German and also appears in the text of the title song, which translates into German as follows:

Coma - arrival
sleeping grass
Morning roar
comes on
the indifferent soul
gets lost home
awakening dew
morning sun
origin
the blessed soul
finds home
dying grass
awakening dew
the blessed soul
finds home

So this text can also be about an awakening Døgg. It is expected that all lyrics on the album will appear in English and German translations. The latter would be a novelty for a Faroese production.

Works

Volumes of poetry

  • 1994: Afturvendandi endurspeglingar av komandi dreymum
  • 1997: Ongin sól er til (received the Faroese Literature Prize 1997)
  • 1999: Guru-yrking
  • 2001: Persona Non Grata
  • 2008: "Hamskifti"

Discography

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Pólson, Petur
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pólsson Jensen, Petur (full name); Heinesen, Petur (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Faroese poet and musician, singer (rapper) and songwriter of the former rock group Clickhaze
DATE OF BIRTH 18th January 1973
PLACE OF BIRTH Tórshavn , Faroe Islands