About

Ramo Teder and Marko Veisson formed Puuluup in 2014 around a shared obsession: the talharpa, an ancient bowed lyre once played almost exclusively on Estonia’s Swedish-speaking Vormsi Island, and all but extinct by the twentieth century. They call their own sound “zombie folk” — routing the instrument’s horsehair strings through loopers and effects pedals until the resurrected instrument sounds like nothing else in folk music. One critic put it well: if Wes Anderson invented an Estonian folk duo, it would be Puuluup.

Their songs — sung in Estonian, in invented languages, in whatever the moment calls for — pair absurd storytelling with deadpan, gloriously awkward choreography, turning tradition into something closer to performance art. That combination has carried them to festival stages in over 40 countries, from WOMAD to Sziget to Colours of Ostrava, and even into the Eurovision Song Contest finals.

Two dead-straight faces and a near-dead instrument, making zombie folk that slaps!

Artist Links: Website  |  Facebook  |  Spotify  |  Instagram  | YouTube |  Bandcamp

Areas of Representation: North America

Biography

Puuluup was formed in 2014 by two talharpa enthusiasts Ramo Teder and Marko Veisson. Ramo Teder is a multi-instrumentalist and has been known for his long solo project Pastacas. He is also a looping pioneer in Estonia and has mastered these skills for twenty years already. Marko Veisson has a background in anthropology and his fieldwork in Northern Ghana as well as his love for West-African music have definitely influenced Puuluup’s style.

They play their own compositions on Talharpas – a traditional bowed lyre, popular in Northern Europe since the early Middle Ages and played on Western Estonian islands until the beginning of 20th century. Puuluup directs the vibrations of Talharpa’s horsehair strings through effect blocks and looper, uses alternative bowing and drumming techniques and sounds. The mellow sighs of talharpa are paired with electronically amplified echoes, knocks, creaks and crackles, while still maintaining the instrument’s natural sound.

They play with music as they play with words, sometimes creating their own language. As the band states: “We draw inspiration from Vormsi nights, trams in November, junkies in love, criminals from Odessa and Antonio Vivaldi”. As a side dish, when giving live concerts they also offer choreographic flittering which emerged on its own during the numerous days these two man spent in the rehearsal rooms. Their humor and warm charisma flows generously from the stage, drawing the audience in.

Because of their unique approach to this traditional instrument Puuluup received several music awards in Estonia including the best Band, the best Ensemble, for the best Album. Their popularity in Estonia and abroad is rapidly growing. The band performed in Canada, USA, China, Chile, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Macedonia, Hungary, Slovenia, Ukraine, Taiwan among others.

Lineup:
Ramo Teder – talharpa, vocal, looper and effects pedals
Marko Veisson – talharpa, vocal, effects pedal board

Puuluup about themselves:
Two men in midlife crisis who have decided to start living rock & roll lifestyle with the help of their instruments, talharpas.

What inspires them:
All kinds of random sources of inspiration are similarly important for their music – unexpected excerpts from Polish TV series, old Estonian punk, klezmer, African gospel, Sahel music, hip-hop, Antonio Vivaldi even R&B, even windmills and wires forgotten in the car…

Who inspires them:
Buena Vista Social Club – they make them feel still rather young and give hope that they have a long career ahead.

Their performance:
The lyrics are to set the mood. Mostly they are rather abstract and are open to different interpretations. Puuluup always wear black suits on the stage which may mean that they are taking themselves very seriously.

Tour Dates

Videos

News

• Estonian group Puuluup highlights the lyre on NPR
  “Marco Werman, host of The World, introduces us to the duo from Estonia known as Puuluup, embracing a musical folk tradition in their country that elevates the sound of a lyre called the talharpa. Puuluup sits in an awkward space in which tradition is not always comfortable in the present day, and they make that ...

Press

“Puuluup are true originals with a cult following. They are doing something pretty unusual, pushing obscure folk material towards the mainstream with a whole lot of panache.”   – SONGLINES – Simon Broughton, editor in chief

“The Estonian duo Puuluup is a perfect example that the expression ”Less is More” sometmes really works. Both Marko Veisson and Ramo Teder play the four-stringed bowed lyre from northern Europe, a very old instrument, with a rather limited range. With these instruments and their voices they create a astonishingly wide tonal range, especially when they combine it with electronics.”  – LIRA – Rasmus Klockljung

“Another highlight from the early days of the [Tallinn Music Week] festival was a traditional hiiu kannel duo Puuluup, who combined playing and plucking the ancient harp instrument with loop pedals, electrifying and adding percussive elements, with harmonic singing and a lively serving of humour and wit. Whilst on one hand classical, traditional, sincere and serious, they played not only with the instruments, but with the audience as they sent laughter throughout during the moments between songs. Upon completion of their intense, classical- sounding opening track, they said after the applause died down: “Thank you, this song was about…skiing”. After a round of laughter: “No, seriously, a lot of our songs are about sports.”  – RHYTHM PASSPORT – Sophia Darling

“Thursday evening is ushered in by Puuluup, an Estonian duo that self-identify as “neo- zombie-post-folk.” They wring the most bewildering array of sounds from their talharpas, a form of Northern European lyre, whether by drumming, bowing, plucking, or brushing them. From such seemingly rudimental equipment, the rhythms that they loop and the melodies that they harmonize are immediate crowd-pleasers; by the time they demonstrate the two-step dance-along for one of their closers, the growing audience need no convincing. It’s folk, it’s contemporary, it’s funny, and it’s danceable. It’s a perfect launching pad for the weekend. [Tallinn Music Week]”  – UNDER THE RADAR – Web exclusive. Max Pilley

“…und gegen Mitternacht will das Publikum im Kleist Forum das estnische Duo Puuluup nicht mehr von der Bühne lassen. Mit Händen und Füßen lechzt es nach Zugaben von Ramo Teder und Marko Veisson, hingerissen von dieser musikalischen Perfektion des Absurden, der verbalen Verwegenheit, die man nur erahnt ob der wahnwitzigen Erklärungsversuche der beiden. Puuluup sind das “Liebesleben der Windräder”, der “Angezündete Schnee”, die “Zombies, die den Kapitalismus in Schönheit ins Grab bringen”. Fragen Sie nicht! Besorgen Sie sich die Debüt-CD oder bemühen Sie YouTube! Puuluup und die Talharpa, eine wundersame Streichleier, sind die schönste Bekanntschaft der 16. Transvocale, derenResumé bruchstückhaft bleiben muss.”  – “Transvocale”  – MOZ.DE – Silvia Fichtner

Downloads/Media

Technical Riders:

Artist Rider: Download (pdf)