The Viba Bondebrass youth band from Norway will break a new genre barrier for brass banding following the news that they are to be featured on a forthcoming hip-hop single entitled 'Aeren fra Jodd', led by Stavanger artist VIXXN.

The band is a collaborative ensemble made up of youth bands in the rural farming district of Jaeren Bondebrass — with their name translating as 'Farmer Brass'.

New genre

Following the success of their first recording and music video released last year, the musical directors of the group, Arfon Owen and Birgitte Nja decided to embark on something a little more adventurous, by taking the brass band into a completely new genre — and the connection with hip hop.

The genre was first heard in the USA in the Bronx area of New York early 1970s, with stylised rhythmic speech patterns defining part of the emerging hip hop sub-culture which exploded in worldwide popularity by the mid 1990s.

Genuine

Speaking about the brass band connection, Arfon told 4BR: "After a lot of brainstorming, Birgitte and I landed on making a hip-hop/rap video. However, we wanted it to be as genuine as possible, so we of course needed to get some expert help!"

That saw them turn to the talents of Nikey Vital (aka VIXXN), and producer Dan Lesler, with Arfron explaining. "Nikey is a well known Stavanger based artist who I first met during a collaboration with Stavanger Band at SIDDIS Brass, and subsequently Brass In Concert a few years ago. Since meeting him I've been an avid listener of his and Dan's music."

He continued: "I actually thought this project was the first time I had met Dan, but we later found out together that I had actually played organ at their wedding a few years earlier!

Everyone was eager to be part of the project and it was important that members of the band were involved in the creation of the song."

Workshop

That saw VIXXN and Dan lead an online rap workshop with the young players, where they came up with the ideas they wanted to incorporate, with VIXXN developing them into rap lyrics.

Speaking about his delight at being involved, Nikey Vital, (aka VIXXN) said: "When I was asked by Arfon to join this project, I was excited from the jump!

I'm always trying to challenge myself and do new things, and this was definitely something new for me. But the vibe was right, so I think it worked out. We had a blast working with so many young, talented people together. It was a great experience!"

Curious

Meanwhile, Dan Lesler added: "I was curious to how we were going to approach this in the beginning.

But as soon as we met, everything just came together naturally, and the final product is g unique and something we all can be proud of."

The project idea was important for us, to show exactly what youth brass bands can actually doBirgitte Nja

Inspirational

In response, Birgitte Nja, added: "The project idea was important for us, to show exactly what youth brass bands can actually do.

Arfon and I both think it's important that our young musicians have the opportunity to learn about this music and how much work talented people have to do to produce just 3 minutes of music that catches the ears of listeners.

VIXXN and Dan are inspirational figures and included our youngsters in the whole process. It was a fantastic experience for them and us!"

Release

The track and music video is being released on Viba Bondebrass Facebook page, Vimeo, as well as the streaming service, Spotify in early July.