Pamyua Double Album: A Soundscape of Identity

Courtesy of Pamyua. alaskapublic.org

Pamyua has a new album. The group, made up of three Yup’ik men and one Inuit woman from Greenland have been performing together since the 90s.

Their music is based on traditional chants and drum songs.

Their new double album “Side A Side B” offers traditional songs on one side mirrored by modern versions on the other.

Pamyua’s soulful harmonies would not be complete without the voice of Karina Moeller.

“I think what’s specials about this album is that there is a side A and a side B,” Moeller said. “And side A that’s done just with the voices and the drum and this other side we have all kinds of amazing musicians.”

Moeller began performing with Pamyua shortly after it formed, in 1996. “Side A Side B” is their fifth album. Art imitates the artists on this Album – who live in two worlds – celebrating and practicing their

Native traditions while embracing and incorporating sounds from the urban, international city in which they live. Moeller’s favorite song on the new album is a Yup’ik song called “Pulling.”

“We’ve been singing that song for years in many different ways. It’s a…when you sing it it’s almost like a prayer,” Moeller said. “The song pulling J’ai oo loq u nu, it means pulling from within.”

The whole double album follows this dualistic pattern; same songs – traditional drums and chant versions on one side, with electric guitar and keyboard on the other.

“Pulling” was passed on to them by the mother of two other members of Pamyua – Steven and Phillip Blanchett – their Yup’ik mother. But, as Steven Blanchett explains, the group is also influenced by the brothers’ African-American father.

“Growing up with my dad listening to R&B records, listening to Stevie Wonder and all these old jazz musicians and gospel music and we mixed that with our traditional,” Blanchett said.

{youtube}d7IUUbS3GkE{/youtube}

Steven says the song he’s most proud of on the new Album is called Halibut. It is based on a traditional song from the Unnangan people of the Aleutian Islands.

“Unnangan people were formally known as Aleut, the language is Ununguk and their people and called Unnangan,” Blanchett said.

The Song is about Halibut fishing.

“A lot of 60s and 70s style keyboards from like old clavinets. There’s a lot of Hammond organ, b3, leslie and very simple recordings. And when we were mixing it. They key word was the brown sound. We wanted the brown sound. We wanted the brown sound, just kind of retro sepia,” Steven’s brother Phillip said.

Phillip says the group collaborated with around 20 musicians to get those sounds. He says he most relished the opportunity to incorporate horns on the song “Drum I Carry.”

Phillip credits the fourth member of Pamyua for composing several the songs on the album. His name is Ossie Kairaiuik.

He most likes a song he composed, called “Bubblegum.” He got the idea for the song from a kid who was chewing gum in his traditional dance class.

“While we were doing our dance class and he thought he was sneaky but I caught him and he got embarrassed and that’s what I put into the song,” he said.

Pamyua is a Yup’ik word that refers to the tail end of a dance. An alternate meaning is encore; or, do it again. Something listeners will be asking after they hear ‘Side A Side B’.

To listen to the full KSKA report, click here:  {play}/media/jukebox/news-20121121-01.

Related Links:

Pamyua website

Pamyua Youtube Channel

Pamyua performs ‘Drum I Carry’, Anchorage Daily News

Pamyua Facebook Page

For more stories from Alaska Public Radio Network, click here

 

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

Leave a Reply

Note: By submitting your comments, you acknowledge that Radio Canada International has the right to reproduce, broadcast and publicize those comments or any part thereof in any manner whatsoever. Radio Canada International does not endorse any of the views posted. Your comments will be pre-moderated and published if they meet netiquette guidelines.
Netiquette »

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *