Love and marriage go together like Wildbirds & Peacedrums for Sweden’s storied husband-and-wife duo

By Selena Fragassi
Published: September 15th, 2009 | 12:00am

Sweden is experiencing a growth spurt. Not since the days of ABBA have there been so many noteworthy pop acts to come out of this tucked-away, coastal country. In the last couple of years, the indie world has been abuzz over acts like the Sounds, Peter Bjorn and John, Lykke Li, Anna Ternheim, and the Hives.

The latest addition to the Swedish music census is also one of the most distinct: husband-and-wife duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums. If the name of the band itself doesn’t incite a native soundtrack of heavy beats and soft, woodsy vocals, then surely the lauded recorded efforts and evocative live performances capture the natural strength of vocalist Mariam Wallentin and her percussionist better half, Andreas Werliin. It’s only fitting, since it’s the nature surrounding the couple that has helped to inspire such a nurtured sound.

“We’ve always made good music up north,” remarks Wallentin of her countrymen’s contributions to a thriving music culture. “It’s cold and dark during the winter, so we get creative to keep ourselves alive.”

It is here in the metropolitan city of Gothenburg, Sweden, second-largest only to Stockholm, that Wallentin and Werliin first met after milling about the local music scene. “We were both at a party one night, in the house I lived in then, and I asked Andreas if he wanted to come to my room and try out a new drum I just bought,” laughs Wallentin as she recalls her bait-and-hook method of winning over the burgeoning percussionist. Adds Werliin of the lasting connection with his wife, “Improv and jazz got us together … ‘90s ballads keep us close as a couple.”

It was the perfect match in both personal and professional endeavors. As the couple began their courtship, they also began their journey of recording music together, releasing Heartcore (Leaf) in 2008 and quickly following it up with this month’s sophomore effort, The Snake (Leaf) — while at the same time trying to keep both parts of their partnership separate.

“Our marriage isn’t something that we focus on when making music,” concedes Wallentin. “For us, it’s important to separate our private life and our creativity. I almost never write love songs.”

Instead, the focus remains on the band’s affair with their all-important audience — a rationale for their meek, drum-and-vocal pop minimalism. “You never want to pack too many sounds on people. You need to respect your audience and allow them the ability to breathe in the music they hear,” explains Wallentin of the band’s sonic architecture. “Our vision has always been to play music that means something direct and pure … music that has a lot of space so you can fill it with impulses and energy.”

After winning the prestigious Jazz In Sweden 2008 prize and touring in support of Heartcore, which developed a bolder, louder sound in their onstage delivery, the duo decided to up the ante for their second release. Says Werliin, “Heartcore was an experiment in how few elements you need to create a good song, but when we went into the studio to record The Snake, we had a lot more live experience, more confidence, and had collected more instruments. We simply wanted a bigger album.”

So Wildbirds & Peacedrums beefed up on rich instruments like the zither, xylophone, santoor, guzheng, and steel drum. “With all the string instruments, I wanted something harder to hit on, so I borrowed my aunt’s steel drum and fell in love with it,” exclaims Wallentin with the excitement of a kid just entering the school orchestra. “Just four months ago I got my own, but there’s only one guy in Sweden who can tune it, so I hope it will cope with all the flight travels!”

If you ask Wallentin and Werliin, it’s onstage where the magic really happens, where the chemistry pours out of every note and beat. It’s the compelling performance of an operatic romance unfolding onstage — each slow and sensitive wail balancing out the heart-racing melodies and rhythm. It’s the sense of a band so complete that any additional players would just ruin the drama. “We’ve always found it completely natural to just play with just the two of us,” says Wallentin. “Although people may find it different that we play as a drum-and-vocal duo, if they just see it live, they walk away completely getting it.”

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