AILLOŠ

LONG BIO

 

The Sami musician and actor Iŋgor Ántte Áilu Gaup was raised in a reindeer herding family on the tundra 170 miles north of the Arctic Circle, in Guovdageaidnu, Sápmi (Kautokeino, Norway). The Sami are the indigenous people of Northern Europe, and their traditional homeland, called Sápmi, extends across Central and Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula 

of Russia.        

 

Iŋgor Ántte Áilu Gaup, also known as Ailloš, (pronounced “eye-losh”), is a master performer, composer and teacher of yoik, the vocal tradition of the Sami people. Far more than simply a style of singing, yoik is an ancient practice and way of being in the world that honors the interconnection of all life. Traditional Sami culture, including yoiking and the Sami languages, was repressed for centuries. As a result, when he was a child, Ailloš learned to yoik not from his parents, who were Christian, but from other relatives, community celebrations such as weddings, and from records and the radio. He took to yoiking with ease and joy, and has devoted his life to cultivating and sharing this gift within Sápmi, Europe and across the globe.

 

Ailloš’s musical career began in 1977 when, as a teenager who knew many traditional yoiks and enjoyed composing, he started his own band, Ivnniiguin, widely hailed as the first Sami rock band. Ivnniiguin combines Ailloš’s original compositions in the style of traditional yoik with rock music that is high energy, fun to sing and dance to, and draws from a variety of western musical styles. They released their latest album, Ánte, in 2017, and performed most recently in  Guovdageaidnu in 2023, in connection with the Sami National Day. Their music is popular on Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) Radio’s Sami playlists. The name Ivnniiguin means "with colours" in the North Sami language.

 

Ailloš’s musical theater and acting career began in the early 1980s, when Ivnniiguin became actively involved in the formation of the Sami National Theater Beaivváš and its first production, Our Highlands (Min Duoddarat/Våre Vidder), written by Ailo Gaup, and directed by Knut Walle and Nils Gaup.  Ailloš played a lead role in this musical, and he and his fellow band members collaborated with Ailo Gaup to compose its music. Several years later, he acted in the first full-length film in the Sami language, Pathfinder (Ofelaš/Veiviseren), directed by Nils Gaup. Based on an old Sami legend, this groundbreaking  film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988. 

 

In the four decades since the creation of Beaivváš, Ailloš has been employed as a full time actor, composer, playwright and translator for this unique and highly successful theater. Located in Ailloš’s hometown of Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Norway, Beaivváš is a professional theater in the Nordic region whose productions are entirely in the Sami language. It tours extensively throughout the Sami areas of Norway, Sweden, and Finland as well as internationally.

 

In addition to composing and performing leading roles for Beaivváš’s musical theater productions, Ailloš has produced his own album, "Yoikur", and has collaborated in performances as well as albums with musicians from various musical genres including jazz, classical and folk music. He has performed with opera singer Solveig Kringlebotn, the Arctic Philharmonic, bassist and composer Mich Gerber, and with jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek at the Molde International Jazz Festival. He has also acted in TV series and a variety of films, and composed music for multiple theaters as well as Nordic and German television and the BBC.

 

Ailloš’s passion for yoik shines through his performances, lyrics, compositions and also through his teaching. He has taught yoik in Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Latvia and the U.S. through in person workshops and online classes. He teaches with such disarming humility, enthusiasm and joy, that his students, whether complete beginners or advanced musicians, invariably leave his classes delighted, intrigued and eager to learn more.

 

Ailloš comes from a long line of musicians and healers. His father was a renowned storyteller, a traditional Sámi healer, and had a valuable knowledge of yoiking. His mother, who was raised in a Christian tradition of psalm singing, was a natural choice as the lead singer at the local church. She rarely had to use a psalm book, as she knew most psalms by heart. Like her husband, she also had the ability to cure people in the traditional Sámi manner.

 

As a child, Ailloš lived in a goahti (a traditional cylindrical tent covered with fabric). His family built their first house when Ailloš was seven years old, but all summer they still lived in goahtis on their coastal summer land. Today, reindeer herders no longer live all year round in goahtis, so Ailloš belongs to the last generation that had the privilege of growing  up in this way. His early childhood connection to the land has grown with him throughout his life, and the energy, beauty and joy of this deep relationship infuses his yoiking. His voice, the yoiking voice, is a timeless call from Sápmi which, when truly heard, transforms and heals our relationships with ourselves, each other, and the living earth that is our shared and precious home. 

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ALBUMS

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1977: LP Jávrráš Ivnniiguin

1990: I Took Up The Runes

1992. Sápmi Lottažan

2001: Fri Flyt

2007: Yoikur

2017: Ánte

2021: Juoiggas

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AWARDS 

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1999: Áillohaš musikkpris. A Sámi music award to honor the significant contributions the recipient has made to the diverse world of Sámi music.

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2003: Nordlysprisen. Awarded to a performing musician or composer, whose work in Northern Norway has excelled at a high artistic level.

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2005: Nominated for Edvard-prisen together with Kristin Mellem and Svein Schultz. An award

in Norwegian music to strengthen the music scene and increase the awareness of

Norwegian artists.