{"id":12894,"date":"2022-11-20T11:14:24","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T09:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/?page_id=12894"},"modified":"2022-11-20T11:56:14","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T09:56:14","slug":"helen-sjoholm-and-anna-stadling-have-been-friends-for-40-years-celerbrating-with-new-album-and-christmas-tour","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/press-clips\/interviews-2022\/helen-sjoholm-and-anna-stadling-have-been-friends-for-40-years-celerbrating-with-new-album-and-christmas-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Helen Sj\u00f6holm and Anna Stadling have been friends for 40 years \u2013 celerbrating with new album and Christmas tour"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Helen

Photo & \u00a9 Theresia K\u00f6hlin<\/p><\/div>\n

Allas 2022-09-29<\/strong><\/p>\n

By: ANNA<\/span> OLOFSSON
\nPhoto: TERESIA K\u00d6HLIN<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps it was fate that brought the singers Helen Sj\u00f6holm and Anna Stadling together. As newborns, they were in the same nursery, and later a long, common love for both music and each other would emerge. This year they celebrate 40 years of friendship by standing on stage together again, with the album and the Christmas tour Sn\u00f6 och marschaller (Snow and marshals)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Warmth, friendship, humour, laughter, humility, trust and love for life and music \u2013 these are some words that characterize the friends Anna Stadling and Helen Sj\u00f6holm. Two singers who touch with their voices, and sing in unison where it\u00b4s sometimes difficult to distinguish who is who.<\/p>\n

Their journey of friendship began in elementary school in Sundsvall. Or as Anna tells, that they actually met for the first time at BB in Sundsvall in 1970. Helen and Anna were born just one day apart, then unaware that in the future they would be on stage together.<\/p>\n

\n

This is Helen Sj\u00f6holm and Anna Stadling<\/h4>\n

Name:<\/strong> Anna Stadling and Helen Sj\u00f6holm<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> Both are 52 years old.<\/p>\n

Lives:<\/strong> Stockholm.<\/p>\n

Family<\/strong>: Anna is married to Pecka and has one child, Helen is married to David and has three children.<\/p>\n

Instagram:<\/strong> @annastadling and @helensjoholmofficial<\/p>\n

Websites:<\/strong> annastadling.com and helensjoholm.nu<\/p>\n

Current with:<\/strong> The Christmas album Sn\u00f6 & Marschaller,<\/em> which will be released on October 28, and a Sweden tour of the same name between 19\/11\u201320\/12 (…)<\/p>\n

\n

Both describe the friendship as inspiring, enriching and valuable, where they have always been able and dared to be themselves.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006With you, Helen, I’ve always been able to be who I am, no matter what situation I’ve been in in life, says Anna.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006The same for me, I feel the same way, counters Helen.<\/p>\n

Never felt competition or jealousy<\/h4>\n

We meet at a cafe in Stockholm. Anna is the first to arrive, and a few minutes later Helen arrives. Anna orders a cappuccino and Helen a pot of tea. The first thing that strikes you when you meet them both together is their warm, deep and open personalities.<\/p>\n

And there is no mistaking that they know each other well. They fill in each other’s sentences when a word, year or an important event in their history is missing. When one of them makes a humorous comment, the other bursts into laughter.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006It is so valuable to have a friend like Anna, Helen says.<\/p>\n

Despite both being in the music business for the past thirty years, there has rarely been competition or jealousy. Instead, they have supported and learned from each other. Helen takes a sip of tea and looks towards her friend.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006I\u00b4ve always admired you Anna, how you write your own songs and lyrics based on your life, and how you deliver them. I\u00b4ve often wished I could.<\/p>\n

Anna meets Helen’s gaze and answers:<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006I\u00b4ve always been fascinated by your voice, your enormous musical breadth and not least by your delivery of lyrics. I always remember my dad saying, “Oh, Helen can sing the words like no one else can.”<\/p>\n

Anna Stadling and Helen Sj\u00f6holm showed together<\/h4>\n

They both have a strong love for their hometown, where it all started 40 years ago.<\/p>\n

Anna, then 12 years old, moved with her family from Klockarberget in Njurunda to Sk\u00f6nsmon in the center and started in the same school as Helen. They went to parallel classes and got to know each other more when they started in the same choir in Culture School.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006When we were 14 years old, we started doing shows together. We went to my house after the choir, sat in my room and talked about music, Helen says.<\/p>\n

Anna fills in:<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006We found each other through music, you could say. Helen inspired me a lot even then. Over time, a strong friendship developed between us.<\/p>\n

Both have grown up in families where music meant a lot. Anna’s father was a famous singer in Sundsvall and in Helen’s family it has been about live music and theatre.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006Our families have been committed and supportive throughout our journey, although in different ways I would say, Helen says.<\/p>\n

Hanging out around the clock, talking about life<\/h4>\n

Their paths diverged when Anna decided to study music in H\u00e4rn\u00f6sand. She was 16 years old then.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006You\u00b4ve been clear all along with what you longed for, you have known that “this is what I should invest in”, I\u00b4ve envied you for that, Helen says.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006But at the same time, I’ve been groping my way and trying to understand which genre I belong in, Anna says, falls silent and thinks for a while.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006I remember so well when I heard your voice. Your unique tone and voice was something out of the ordinary, she tells Helen.<\/p>\n

When they were 17 years old, they were selected to perform and represent the municipality of Sundsvall in Pori, Finland.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006We hung out around the clock and talked about life at night. We talked about who we wanted to be and what we wanted with the music. Think Anna, that back then we dreamed of being able to live on music, and we can both do that today, it’s fantastic, Helen says.<\/p>\n

They started doing musical performances together. They rented churches around Sundsvall and put together Christmas concerts, a time that both remember fondly.<\/p>\n

(\u2026)<\/p>\n

Helen Sj\u00f6holm went to Kulturama<\/h4>\n

When Anna had completed the music course, she moved to the USA for a year, and stopped over in Sundsvall for a period before moving to Stockholm as a 20-year-old to study at the Academy of Music and devote herself wholeheartedly to music. She wrote songs, sang and performed.<\/p>\n

Helen went to high school in Sundsvall, she had been told by her parents that she should invest in an education so that she could then take up music again.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006And I understand what they meant, they wanted me to have a foundation to stand on, and an education to lean on.<\/p>\n

When Helen was 18, she was contacted by the former theater manager in V\u00e4sternorrland county.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006He wrote lyrics and songs and wanted me, him and another musician to try a collaboration.<\/p>\n

During the next 18 months, Helen understood that it was music she wanted to work with.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006We toured intensively and I learned so much. My colleagues encouraged me to dare to take the plunge, not to lose the music in my life. They made me believe in myself. Right then and there I decided to apply for a three-month course at Kulturama (a culture school) in Stockholm, and the moving package went to the capital, Helen says and continues:<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006I studied three hours a day and worked cleaning toilets and classrooms the other half of the time. I needed to earn money, I remember my accommodation was super expensive, she says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Important to each other both in friendship and careers<\/h4>\n

After the short education, it was ten years in Malm\u00f6. Helen started working with musicals, film and music.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006Here we drifted apart \u2013 not as friends, but our meetings didn\u00b4t become as frequent. Now we had contact via SMS and letters, in those days there was no email in the same way, Anna says.<\/p>\n

Helen returns to the strength of their friendship. How they\u00b4ve been able to talk to each other freely about everything, been open with all doubts and concerns.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006We\u00b4ve simply been important to each other both in friendship and for our careers. Not to mention the support we had when love challenged, Helen says.<\/p>\n

Anna adds:<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006Yes, it’s wonderful that I’ve always had you Helen, you’ve been there, in both small and big events in life.<\/p>\n

Anna Stadling got cancer at the same time as her husband<\/h4>\n

Anna falls silent and talks about the tough time she went through when she and her husband Pecka got cancer at the same time in the middle of life, and no one knew how it would turn out. Then Helen was there.<\/p>\n

It was in the fall of 2015 that Anna learned after a mammogram that she had calcified areas in her left breast \u2013 which required surgery and radiation therapy \u2013 just a couple of weeks after her husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The entire breast had to be removed, and samples were taken to see if the cancer had spread to the lymphatic system.<\/p>\n

While family and friends cared for Anna and Pecka’s then five-year-old son, they underwent surgery in January and February 2016, respectively. Thanks to early detection of Pecka’s cancer, the operation went well, and when Anna woke up from her anesthesia, she learned that the cancer had neither spread nor a developed tumor been found.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006Today both my husband and I are declared healthy and we are humbly grateful for that. It\u00b4s an art to dare to be in it and enjoy life, Anna says.<\/p>\n

Do a Christmas tour with the album Sn\u00f6 & Marschaller<\/em><\/h4>\n

In 2018, Helen and Anna did the Christmas tour S\u00e5nger i vintertid (Songs in winter time)<\/em> together, and in 2021 they released the single Julen kan hj\u00e4lpa (Christmas can help)<\/em>. In connection with that, they played three exclusive gigs in Visby and Vara.<\/p>\n

This year, they release the Christmas album Sn\u00f6 & Marschaller<\/em> and set out again on a Christmas tour through Sweden in November and December. Helen and Anna tell us that they interpret songs and make them their own, and for both of them it’s a process where they get to create and use their creative sides.<\/p>\n

\u2013 It’s wonderful and enriching to work with Helen, it’s so easy . We never have to think about how the other thinks, here we are so alike, says Anna.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006Yes, sometimes when we make a playlist, then we don’t need to discuss. If I move a song, you immediately agree, it’s like we read each other’s thoughts, Helen says.<\/p>\n

(\u2026)<\/p>\n

Their similarities are many and easy for both to describe, where, among other things, the key words are creativity, joy of life and curiosity about life. But when I ask about their differences, it stops.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006We have to think about what we are different about, we have to be able to find something, Helen says.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006Well, I’ll come up with something. You\u00b4re structured, I\u00b4m not, Anna says. You\u00b4ve total control at home. I myself need to start creating more order in the home.<\/p>\n

Helen laughs and fills in:<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006Chaos can express itself in different ways, my time optimism for example?<\/p>\n

Friendship is about supporting each other<\/h4>\n

So how do you keep a friendship alive for this long?<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006It’s about supporting each other, but giving each other air and not getting stuck with anyone. It wouldn’t work if I felt someone was holding me down, Anna says and Helen agrees.<\/p>\n

Something that characterizes both Anna and Helen is their exuberant joie de vivre, which shines through in both the music and their attitude to life.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006Life has so much to give. I’ve probably come to terms with the fact that things go up and down. It\u00b4s both easy and difficult to exist and live here, but every day is unique, Anna says.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2006Yes, really, life is here and now. It feels as if we are being reminded more and more not to take anything for granted, Helen says.<\/p>\n

(The entire interview isn\u00b4t reproduced for copyright reasons)<\/em><\/p>\n

Back<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Allas 2022-09-29 By: ANNA OLOFSSON Photo: TERESIA K\u00d6HLIN Perhaps it was fate that brought the singers Helen Sj\u00f6holm and Anna Stadling together. As newborns, they were Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":12059,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12894","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12894\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}