With WOMEX opening just one day away, our Musical Road to WOMEX reaches Finland: its far north, where voice, silence, and landscape converge. From Utsjoki to Helsinki, Hildá Länsman & Tuomas Norvio connect two sonic worlds: her Sámi joik, drawn from ancestral memory, and his electronic architecture, shaped by Helsinki’s experimental underground. The result is music that breathes and hums: elemental, electric, and alive.

Hildá, from Utsjoki in Sápmi, continues the joik tradition, an ancient Sámi form where sound becomes memory and emotion takes shape through voice. Tuomas, based in Helsinki, is a sound designer and producer whose work spans electronic composition and performance art. Together they reimagine joik through synthesisers, sampling, and field recordings, building soundscapes that shift between ceremony and circuitry.

In this episode, they reflect on how tundra, technology, and improvisation define their dialogue; what it means to bring Sámi music into a global space like WOMEX; and how their live sets dissolve the borders between ritual and rave. They also share a playlist mapping their shared sound world — from Arctic horizons to urban static — ahead of their Tampere showcase.

How would you introduce your collaboration to someone hearing it for the first time?

Hildá: We are a duo that blends the ancient Sámi vocal tradition of luohti (joik) with modern electronic soundscapes. Our music lives somewhere between past and future, between the tundra and the dance floor.

I come from a long line of Sámi singers and joikers. For me, the voice carries stories, memories, and emotions that words cannot express. Listeners have described my voice as ethereal, buzzing, growling, and translucent — qualities that intertwine with Tuomas Norvio’s dense, cinematic electronics and rhythms to create a sound that feels both ancient and new.

Tuomas is a sound designer, composer, and producer whose work moves between experimental electronic music, performance art, and sound design. Together we explore how tradition and technology can meet, clash, and harmonise.

Our concerts are energetic, intense, emotional, and unpredictable — sometimes you dance, sometimes you cry, and sometimes both happen at once. Every performance is a journey through voice, rhythm, and atmosphere.

Tuomas: The duo Hildá Länsman & Tuomas Norvio mixes the ancient Sámi vocal tradition of luohti (joik) with modern electronic music. The aim in the electronic production is to use Hildá’s voice and lyrics as the basis for the songs, and also as sound material in combination with layered synths and electronic drums. In a live context this means a lot of live sampling and play between the real and sampled vocals.

What kind of dialogue takes place between Hildá’s joik and Tuomas’s live electronics, and how do those traditions and techniques influence one another?

Hildá: The dialogue between my joik and Tuomas’s electronics is alive — it’s a meeting of breath and pulse. The joik carries ancient stories and emotions, while the electronics create space, rhythm, and movement around them. Sometimes the voice leads and the sound follows; other times the machines take over and pull the joik somewhere new. It’s an ongoing conversation between tradition and technology, human and machine, earth and electricity.

You come from very different musical backgrounds — Hildá from Utsjoki and the Sámi oral tradition, Tuomas from Helsinki’s experimental and electronic production scene. What first brought you together, and how has your creative relationship evolved since you began working as a duo?

Hildá: Our collaboration started in 2017 at the Baltic Circle Festival. We did a commissioned concert for the festival that was based on improvisation. Starting from this kind of improvisation-based performance felt very inspiring. My strange voice and kooky taste, and Tuomas’s organically moving electronics, felt very natural and fitting for my songwriting methods. In this project we both get to express ourselves authentically, and our aesthetic differences seem to complement each other.

Tuomas: Artistic directors Pauliina Feodoroff and Hanna Parry from the Baltic Circle Festival asked us to play together in 2017 for the festival club. We first started improvising almost entirely, but in recent years we have begun to make songs and spend more time developing the music we create.

WOMEX 2025 arrives in Tampere, a city known for its strong connection to Finland’s contemporary, experimental, and folk scenes. How does it feel to perform there, within an international showcase that also reflects the Finnish sound ecosystem you’re part of?

Hildá: We might be a bit of outsiders in the Finnish music scene. Most of our work takes place in the Sámi regions across the borders of the Nordic countries, and we often perform in Norway or elsewhere in the North.

That’s why it feels special to perform at WOMEX in Tampere — to bring the sounds, stories, and energy from Sápmi into an international setting. It feels meaningful to connect these worlds — the local and the global, the traditional and the experimental — on a stage like WOMEX.

Tuomas: As we’ve mostly performed in Sápmi, it almost feels like being abroad in Tampere. Naturally, I’m part of the Finnish music scene and background, but with this duo I still feel a little like an outsider in Tampere.

The two of you combine ancient and contemporary musical elements in a way that feels rooted yet forward-looking. Within WOMEX’s global setting, what do you think defines your sound, and what do you hope international audiences will experience through it?

Hildá: Our sound combines ancient Sámi vocal tradition with electronics that can be both organic and experimental. My voice — ethereal, buzzing, growling, translucent — weaves with Tuomas’s dense, avant-garde, science-fiction-like textures, creating a dialogue between tradition and innovation. We hope international audiences experience something grounding, original, and healing — a human, living connection in a world increasingly shaped by AI and digital noise.

Tuomas: I hope the combination of our backgrounds comes through in the music, not as opposites or counterparts, but as connections that link people and move both body and mind.

WOMEX always sparks new connections between artists. Are there particular performers or showcases this year that you’re curious to see, or that resonate with your own artistic path?

Hildá: This is my first time attending WOMEX at the same time as my mother, UllaPirttijärvi, who will be performing with her band Áššu. It’s really exciting to share this experience with her and see how our paths intersect. I’m curious to discover other artists who explore the intersections of tradition and experimentation, and I hope to be inspired by the ways performers from around the world bring their own cultures and stories to life.

Tuomas: Many for sure — I need some time to check it more precisely!

Tampere’s venues are known for their close proximity between performer and audience. How does that kind of setting affect your live performance, especially when balancing voice, technology, and improvisation?

Hildá: I love getting into the audience, dancing and singing together — sharing the musical world with them. In more intimate venues, mixing our worlds with the audience feels even easier, and it makes improvisation more alive because we can sense and react to each other and the crowd. The proximity creates a direct, almost physical connection, making every performance unique and immersive.

Tuomas: As we aim to move people, intimate venues with good sound help deliver the energy and communication between the audience and stage. Happy accidents are part of the performance, so proximity can reveal these more easily.

Much of your music evokes the landscapes, languages, and silences of the North. How do those surroundings shape the way you compose or translate sound for live performance, and does performing in a city like Tampere — further south and more urban — influence that process in any way?

Hildá: While much of our music is inspired by the landscapes, languages, and silences of the North, it’s also very urban at the same time. Tuomas has a special touch with his electronics, and I like to explore vocals in modern ways — mixing traditional joiking with contemporary singing and even rapping. Performing in a city like Tampere lets us bring these northern roots into an urban space, creating a dialogue between tradition and the energy of the city.

Tuomas: Landscapes are a big part of my sound production, trying to touch the memories of panoramas and details in the soundscapes and spaces. Then I try to deliver these feelings in the live setting. Even when every venue is different, sound can hold and communicate these. Voice and language do this even more naturally.

WOMEX gathers artists whose music often carries social or cultural weight. For you, how does performing Sámi-rooted work in that international context connect with wider conversations about land, climate, and cultural autonomy?

Hildá: Our music embodies the resilience of Sápmi, where traditional practices like reindeer herding, Sámi languages, and joik are closely tied to the land. These connections highlight the importance of protecting Indigenous territories and cultural heritage. Through our performances, we aim to amplify Indigenous voices and advocate for the preservation of our environment and culture, sharing both the beauty and the struggles of our homelands with international audiences.

Beyond WOMEX, what lies ahead for your collaboration? Are there new recordings, cross-disciplinary works, or projects in development that you can share?

Hildá: We’re currently preparing new music for release next year, continuing our exploration of Sámi vocal tradition and experimental electronics. At the same time, we’re looking forward to connecting with other Indigenous artists and collaborators internationally — exploring shared stories, sounds, and experiences. It’s still early, so we can’t reveal details yet.

Tuomas: I hope for a lot of new music and performances! We’re in the middle of writing a new album now.

If you could write a short personal invitation for WOMEX attendees and locals in Tampere to experience your set, what would it say?

Hildá: Experience Sámi tradition and modern electronics in dialogue — a live performance that’s both unexpectedly touching and irresistibly danceable. Join us and feel the connection!

Tuomas: Please come to feel and dance for a moment with an open mind.