Junia, December 2010
By: FRIDA FUNEMYR
Photo: FRIDA FUNEMYR, PETER CEDERLING, PÄR WICKHOLM
She has just released an album, playing the blind poetissa at Stockholm City Theatre and will next year play a big role in the film “Simon and the Oaks”, the first one since “As it is in heaven”. The film is based on Marianne Fredriksson’s book of the same name. Helen Sjöholm has the benefit of choosing her jobs and as one of Sweden’s most beloved artists, she feels privileged.
Happy, strong and full of confidence. It is my, and many others, picture of the singer. I meet her a washy, slushy and overcast fall day, surely the most slushy and depressed day of the year. But then she pops up at Universal’s office with her wonderful charisma. “That Helen Sjöholm captures her audience in a way that only she can is not surprising”, I think, when we sit in a flashy place that goes in black and white. The neon-pink chairs can, like the singer herself, brighten up anyone.
Regardless of what Helen Sjöholm takes part in, she will for many people always be Kristina from Duvemala. She began her career with this success and she is not worried, although she probably never will achieve the same success with anything else that she does in the future.
– I was only 25 years old and yes, I will never, ever be part of something like that again. The experience was quite unique, I am perfectly aware of that. Helen explains that she just then probably not really understood what a huge musical venture it was. Media go-around and audience success against all possible records. “The Emigrants” is s such a familiar story set to music by no less than Bjorn and Benny. The role as Kristina was hugely coveted and Helen is very grateful that she had the possibility to play Kristina during the five years the musical was going on.
– I went into my role with an amateur’s heart, and with performances six nights a week I had no time to think about how huge the attention was, but I realize it now in retrospect. I was so in the middle of it then and had not learned to have a distance to my job in the same way as I have today.
– But I’ve done more exciting trips in my career since then, and although it has not been the same success as with Kristina, I have challenged myself and relived the same passion for the challenges I have taken, Helen says. She crawls up in the not-too-comfortable chair and takes a sip of the coffee that one of her colleagues at the record company just served.
15 years have passed, and Helen says she personally has changed enormously since those days.
– For example, I trust more in myself than I did then. I have walked into my career as a singer with the “We do like this so we’ll see how it goes”. Singing was always my dream and if I hadn´t worked and earned my salary by singing, so I had still been singing. Music is my passion and desire in life. When Helen is doing a job, she walks into its commitment to 100 percent.
– In a role on stage I engage myself strongly, but it isn´t hard to cut those emotions and turn off the job when I get off the stage. It’s about having a distance. Helen has had the benefit of receiving many inquiries and she feels privileged that in an industry like this be able to make choices. She is seldom idle.
– Sometimes, when I think of a longer, already fully booked period that lies ahead, the job seems overwhelming. Since I like to have control, it´s important not to think too far ahead, I live in the moment and grab one project at a time, explains Helen.
Helen has been fortunate to be able to choose roles that rarely received bad reviews.
– I am privileged to have had the opportunity to make choices all the time. I want to take care of my audience and of course I want them to like me, but I’m more worried about my lust. My gut feeling and passion are far greater than the fear that I’ll make a fool of myself. When I don´t have my lust remained at the stage, then I’m not fun to watch or listen to. Although Helen, now that she has a son to support, thinks that she probably should be more worried about the future, she feels that she was more worried before.
– Today I think more easily, that there is always a solution.
In connection with the Stockholm City Theatre celebrates fifty years, Harry Martinson’s space epic Aniara is set up. It’s a revue of man in space and time in which Helen plays the blind poetissa, a woman who received the word’s and the song’s gift.
– Harry Martinsson’s text is superb. It´s unusal that a poetic work is staged like this. On stage 22 actors are involved, including Sven Wollter, Helge Skoog and Dan Ekborg. I wonder if there can be messy in the rehearsals for a show with so many actors?
– Haha, yes indeed. It was very messy at times, and all of us found it hard to be on the rehearsals at the same time, said Helen, laughing. She says that before you see the show you should buy a bag of consolation candy; the performance can certainly be perceived as quite sad. Moreover, she believes that it can be useful to pre-read a bit of the story.
– We have received mixed reviews. Some don´t understand anything, while some think it is absolutely fantastic. But myself, I must admit that I find the result awesome. The text, music and stage make up a whole new language. Helen describes how she has a tremendous sense of pleasure when she is working on this piece, just because it feels so strong.
Previously, Helen has worked with Benny a few times. But now she has joined forces with Kleerup, which may seem like a great contrast and an unbacked mix.
– Andreas Kleerup is a genius at what he does, just like Benny. When I first heard the music, I felt that this was never going to work. But then I listened to it a few times and found my own input on the melodies. So collaboration with Kleerup feels very natural.
The role of poetissa has got Helen to ponder life’s big questions. We are going into the difficult subject, the meaning of life.
– To be with those I love and try to be as good human being as possible. For me, life is also about taking care of other people. I can certainly run over people sometimes, so it´s important to be aware that both giving and taking of others, she says humbly.
Helen says that she often wonders about existential questions. She thinks that it´s good to believe, but she also thinks of how little we really know about the future. Helen is concerned, for example, about the major threat to the environment.
– Suddenly, everything can be upside down. Nothing can be taken for granted.
Helen believes that it´s good to decide what you believe in yourself, but also to have an open mind to other beliefs.
– I envy people who have a strong faith, it would probably be really nice sometimes, the singer says.
It’s been eight years since Helen released an album on her own.
– Actually I am not a recording artist, I am absolutely best on stage. Helen says that her clear voice is best suited for melodies.
– Pop, for example, is not my genre, says Helen, who says that the desire to release an album, however, grew stronger in the end.
– Yes, now I felt hungry. The former consisted of songs, now I interpret songs of Billy Joel. It´s filled with strong melodies and I sing in Swedish. On the last album I had a string quartet, now I’ve recorded the music with a band, it’s a big difference, says Helen, who explains that it took her about half a year to complete the CD.
– With other things in life, I am not such a perfectionist. I can for example be careless when it comes to keeping a time and things like that, but when it comes to my job and the music, I am extremely careful, focused and targeted. I can be fairly difficult and challenging to work with, said Helen, laughing. She is lovely, nice relaxed but purposeful and awesome.
Helen’s family is what has meant most to her in life, but she is proud to say that the job is almost as important.
– In my profession, I express my different emotions and I find myself constantly in a creative process. It´s simply therapeutic for me, says the singer who has been dedicated to singing and music since she was a child.
Helen is married since 2006. She describes her and her husband, sound engineer David Granditskys, marriage as very equal.
– We show each other mutual respect. For Helen, it´s precisely the respect that is the essence of a loving relationship. And to be best friends but still have a weak spot for each other.
– I believe in lifelong love and I have seen it close to me, but I don´t think it´s without setbacks along the way, says Helen who along with David has the son Reuben 3,5 years.
How are you as a mother?
– I´m not very principled, but I will try to establish good routines for my son. We have fun together, I want Ruben to have fun. One day you feel like a pretty good mother, and other days you feel just lousy, admits Helen. Then she had children, she feels that her emotions become stronger. A big change has happened with me since I became a mother. I´m more easily moved, what I read in the newspapers and see on the news affects me much stronger than before. I also think that I am happier and more able to live in the present.
Helen thinks that she since she has a son who is waiting at home after a workday, she has easier to press the “off button” and turn off the job thoughts.
– Moreover, you´re of course always tired when you have children, says Helen, but considering that this didn´t make her particularly surprised. It was expected. However, there is one thing that was a surprise when Ruben came to the world: – He amazes me constantly. I thought that when he was lying there in my stomach and came out he would be a replica of me. Or at least that I would know the little man, because he came from me. But it’s so awesome that he is in fact an unique creature that takes time to get to know, exclaims Helen. When asked if she wants a sibling to Ruben, she replies: – Yes, we’ll see.
The image of a frisky, singing woman from north of Sweden who is always happy Helen doesn´t recognize.
– I can be anything but up. I am a thinking person, and absolutely no jollier at all times.
Have you gone through a crisis?
– I have forsaken very much because of a lot of work, which sometimes feels hard. For instance, I have never had a routine life and have often worked weekends when others are free. You don´t have time socializing with those who have “day jobs”. Now and then I have wondered if it´s really worth it. But the desire and passion has always been bigger, says Helen, and lit up with her lively, green eyes.
– Largest crisis I experienced must have been the time after “Kristina from Duvemala”. After five years, with performances six nights a week I was in a feeling of great emptiness. Many questions arose. Am I able to do something else than this, who am I now and what will happen next?
Helen felt bad, but as always after a crisis, Helen began to renovate her home.
– I´m a doer. Sure, I tried to go into counseling, but for me it works best to act. But above all, I have a sense of security in my family in Alnö. I stand my family very close and they are like one big parachute for me. Helen says that for those who are close to her success has never been important.
Do you have a motto in life?
– Yes, that when I do something, it just must work. I am a long-distance runner and I don´t give up until I get there and have reached my goal. And I always give 100 percent.
2004 Helen had a major role in Kay Pollak’s Oscar-nominated film “As it is in heaven”. In that movie she also sang the theme “Gabriella’s Song”. Next year it´s time for a new movie. Helen has a major role in the film “Simon and the Oaks” which is based on Marianne Fredriksson’s book. Here she plays Karin Larsson, mother of Bill Skarsgård’s character.
– It was a great challenge to say yes to that role, but I don´t regret a second, says Helen. To challenge herself, is typical of Helen. She is not afraid to try new territories.
Actor or singer, what do you prefer?
– I prefer not to choose. But primarily I´m a singer. If I hadn´t worked with any of those two, I would certainly worked on renovation projects. The festive with the renovation is that things don´t have to be permanent, if you are not satisfied, you can do it over again. If you have released an album, you can not do it all over again a few years later, whether you want this or not. But even if singing hadn´t become my profession, I would have still been singing.
Is there anything that scares you?
– In my private life I can be afraid that anyone around me will become sick or die. Career-wise, I don´t want to be too narrowly conceived of my audience in the things I do.
How do you stay in shape?
– I have never been doing fitness training or things like that, and I don´t like to run on a treadmill for 10 minutes here and there. My training consists of long runs, then I get a nice long flow. Whether I run or go for long walks.
What are you most proud of in your life?
– In my private life I´m of course most proud of my son. When I look at what I have accomplished in terms of job I’m very proud that I got through the period with Kristina from Duvemala. It´s great that I could be on stage every night during all those years. But I´m still happy and warm in the body when I sing the music from that musical, exclaims Helen.
Do you have a future dream?
– My wish is to continue to work with exciting, very different projects, just as I do now. To be part of something completely newly written on CD or on stage would also be fun.
HELEN’S CHRISTMAS
What does Christmas mean to you?
– Christmas is a wonderful time, because then you get time to just relax with the family, to recovery simply. It´s the most important! Nothing that haunts outside. I can even appreciate the darkness.
What do you want for Christmas?
– We are trying to cut back on Christmas presents and I have no wish on that front – no more stuff now, thanks!
Which is, in your opinion, the most beautiful Christmas song?
– “Jul, jul, strålande jul (Christmas, Christmas, shining Christmas) and “O helga natt” (O Holy Night) are my favorite Christmas songs. I always listen to Mahalia Jackson’s Christmas CD around Christmas.
An absolute must for Christmas dinner?
– At Christmas dinner, there must be herring salad and ribs.
HELEN SJÖHOLM
Name: Helen Sjöholm Granditsky
Age: 40 years
Lives: In Nacka, Stockholm
Family: Husband David (sound engineer) and my son Ruben 3,5 years
Occupation: Singer with the hint of drama
Interests: My job, family and renovation
Current project: Aniara at Stockholm City Theatre, CD Euforia – Billy Joel songs translated by Tomas Andersson Wij. As well as having a role in the film “Simon and the Oaks”, with premiere next fall.
Favourite food: A lot of everything, I’m really fond of food.
Likes to travel to: To Alnö outside Sundsvall, where I have my parents, siblings and several close friends.
Likes to drink: Water
Listening to right now: My son. I like silence and rarely listen to music actually.
Likes to watch at TV: TV series, we have started to buy DVD boxes. One episode is enough, nowadays I go to sleep before I´ve seen a full movie.
My best feature: My sensitivity
My worst quality: That I´m impatient
Main model: Strong women in my family
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