“My grandfather came from the north to Copenhagen and then west from there,” sings Simon Kvamm in the title track “Hugget i sten” (Carved in Stone) on the new album from his band, Hugorm. The song is the opening track on the record, setting the tone for an album that is deeply personal to Kvamm, who grew up in Silkeborg, Jutland. The songs are personal, raw, and, to use Kvamm’s own words, “almost bloody.” He discussed this as a guest on the Faroese radio show Norðurljóð.
Beneath all the grand questions about faith, heritage, identity, authority, and the society in which we were raised, lies a highly personal inquiry: Where do we come from, and what do we stand for? Simon Kvamm’s grandfather, Óli, was originally from the Faroese village of Norðragøta. He took the surname Kvamm from the local place name “Í Hvammi.” The word *hvammur* translates to a small valley, and this specific valley lies up toward Mount Tyril, just above the roundabout in Gøtudalur.
“Now, I was not in the Faroe Islands much as a child, and I do not understand Faroese, nor can I speak Faroese, unfortunately,” Simon Kvamm stated in an interview with Ragnar A. Jacobsen on Norðurljóð. “But I remember my grandfather very well, who used to tell stories about the *huldufólk* (hidden people) who lived in large rocks in the Faroe Islands. I fully believed everything he told me, and to some extent, I still do,” Kvamm added with a laugh.
Kvamm has never hidden the fact that he feels a strong connection to the Faroe Islands, despite the geographical and linguistic gaps. He famously uttered the widely known words, “My name is Simon Kvamm, and my grandfather is a Gøta man,” when he first stood on stage in the Faroe Islands with his former rock band Nephew at the G! Festival in 2005. “It has felt very special to play at the G! Festival, which is held in Gøta where my grandfather is from, and I would love to pass the story of my ancestry on to my children,” he says.
Although most Faroese people know Simon Kvamm from the immensely popular Danish rock band Nephew, his new band, Hugorm, has achieved similar levels of mainstream success. The other members of Hugorm are Árni Bergmann and Morten Gorm. Interestingly, Árni Bergmann also has a connection to the Faroe Islands, having mixed the 2004 album “Meðan vit nærkast jørðini” by the legendary Faroese band Enekk.
“Hugget i sten” is the fourth release from Hugorm, which has recently played sold-out concerts at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, headlined the popular Grøn concerts this summer, and appeared on almost all major Danish festival stages. Tickets for the band’s upcoming tour early next year also sold out rapidly. However, Simon Kvamm maintains a down-to-earth attitude and is not letting the recent wave of success get to his head, as he explains during his appearance on Norðurljóð, which broadcasts on Kringvarp Føroya.
The deep connection between lineage and landscape highlighted in Kvamm’s music reflects a broader cultural phenomenon in the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Faroese naming tradition, where surnames are historically derived from specific physical landmarks like “Í Hvammi,” underscores the profound bond between the islanders and their dramatic geography. Norðragøta, situated on the island of Eysturoy, is not only a historical settlement but also the home of the globally acclaimed G! Festival. This annual event transforms a quiet fishing village into an international musical stage, serving as a critical bridge between Faroese heritage and global modern culture. Furthermore, the migration of Kvamm’s grandfather to Denmark represents a common mid-20th-century economic pattern of Faroese citizens moving to Danish urban centers like Copenhagen for education and labor. This historical diaspora has created a unique class of bicultural descendants who, despite language barriers, navigate their identities through the preservation of Faroese folklore—such as tales of the mystical, rock-dwelling *huldufólk*—and a shared Nordic legacy that remains carved in stone.
Source: kvf.fo