About the band
The story starts in 2002. At that time, Joakim and his cousin Runar was jamming in a barn, up in the woods, far, far away from all urban civilization. It was their ants’ barn, one barn out of thousands, located in their beautiful hometown, Toten. Runar was hitting the cauldrons while Joakim was playing on an old bass his uncle had given to him. They were singing from the deepest of their lungs. Singing songs of love. The barn was filled with music, joy and laughter. Melodies were being composed, and lyrics written down. The flow of creativity had no limits, no end. They were in their element. Days and years went by, and the boys kept on coming back, day after day, to that same old barn. And guess what, they still do. This is the story of the band Humming People. The jam on the barn soon became a band with a name, and Krota it was (2003). Krota is a Russian word meaning “Cool”, exotic enough. Besides Joakim on the bass and Runar on stew pans, a guy called Daniel played the guitar, but not for long. Joakim and Runar wanted to go in a different musical direction than Daniel, so after a while they ended up quitting the band and go separate ways. So, Krota was now history, but also a start of something new and fresh. Joakim and Runar was still jamming in the barn, but needed badly a new guitar player to make the sound a bit more melodically. Jo Rune, a man from the guys’ church was playing guitar in the church worship team. He was way older then these two youngsters. This man was a grown up redneck, but still he knew how to play a guitar. They needed a player badly, so they ended up taking him in, showed him the barn, showed him the songs and all of a sudden a new jam was rolling, a new band was about to come alive. This was maybe the smartest thing in this bands history. Jo Rune was a man of God, a man who always placed God first and lived every day to serve Him. He taught the young guys a lot about God. How it was possible to serve God through music. Even with music played on old basses out of tune and cauldrons. All this became the fundament of the new band, Sullivan. (2004) Joakim was singing the lead vocals and playing bass, while Jo Rune and Runar was punching the strings and pans. After a lot of time, doing rehearsals on the songs they had written, they decided to do some recording. Lewi, - Joakim and Runars’ uncle was a professional musician and had a home studio. The guys got in there and recorded their first songs, with great help from their talented uncle. The songs were “Homecoming son” and “How wonderful”. The result turned out pretty nice, and not too long after, the guys played their first gig in Kapp church, which also went pretty nice! After being a trio for a while, the band started looking for a second guitar player, to make the sound ever fatter. Joakim met John, a clever and hysterical funny young fellow from their neighbour town, Gjövik. It turned out that he was a music lover as well, and when Joakim told him that he was in a band, and in need of a new guitarist, John picked up a guitar at the local music shop and started practicing. After a short period of hard work, John knew how to play some basic chords, and “bam”, - John became a member of the barn band, Sullivan. Sullivan was now complete. They played and wrote music together to honour God with the talents He had given them. Local churches found interest in the band that was playing so loud the whole town could hear it, and gigs started coming. Unfortunately, Jo Rune was a busy man. He had a family, work and a lot of stuff to take care of, so it became hard for him to follow up with the rehearsals and concerts that come with being in a band. The rest of the guys had to make a choice. Did they have to change Jo Rune with someone new, or just continue the way it was? After some time of thinking they decided that the best thing was to go back to the trio, but this time John was going to be a part of the group. Jo Rune became a step in, when needed, along with two other guitar players. Anders Nesset and Joachim Ruud. This new trio decided to change the name especially after finding out that the name Sullivan was already been taken by another band. In lack of good fantasy they changed it into “Sullivan Blistering” and “On the mall” was also the band name for a short period. (2005) Things started to get a bit more serious. More gigs came up, and their band started to get known in the local areas. They got back in the studio, only this time in a bigger one. They recorded songs like “Girls”, “The way I am”, “Love instead of hate” and “Thank you”. These songs were supposed to be released as an EP, but the boys never managed to pull that off. The same year the guys got the opportunity to travel all the way to Russia and play concerts there. The musical career for the young cowboys started to look bright. Time went on and the guys kept working hard with their music. Their only wish was to get a permanent second guitar player, but it was hard to find a Christian guitarist. There are not too many of them in Toten. After going sick of the band name, they decided once again to change it, and this time for good. It ended up being Humming People, founded by some help from great uncle Lewi. (2006) They got back in the studio to record some new stuff to promote the new band name. The songs were: “Show me a smile” and “Your power”. While the guys was promoting the new band name and looking for a new guitar player, they were asked by the Norwegian Christian management Palsman to be a part of the Roadservice program. A tour special designed to bring the gospel out to Norwegian youngsters. For Humming People that meant being on the road, playing over one hundred concerts and telling young people about God, through their music that was once made in a barn, so deep in the woods, you couldn’t imagine. It was like a dream coming true. All they really needed now was a guitar player who could join them. Uncle Lewi had played with a young talented guitar player from the capital of Norway, Oslo. Lewi recommended the boys to contact him, and ask if he was willing to join the band and the upcoming tour. Joakim got on the case and connected with the guitar player. One thing leads to another, and suddenly they were all gathered in a church in down town Oslo, having a band rehearsal. Christer, the guitar player said yes to join them and the band became complete. He taught the guys from the barn some more chords then the three they already knew... And now the tour could begin. (2007) During the tour the guys got in contact with the American record label Red Hammer Records. The founder of the label, Darren Bowls came to Norway and heard the guys play at a showcase at John Dee in Oslo. The band profile matched with the profile the label had, so it was like a fairytale for the guys in Humming People, getting signed by an American christian label. After the Roadservice tour, the band went to Portland, OR in the US to start working on their debut record. After a hardworking session the guys got back home to get on with a new tour, arranged by the same management who did the Roadservice tour, (Palsman management) but this time the tour was different. They were supposed to travel around, playing in high schools and in churches. And that’s exactly what the Humming People are doing now a days. They’re in the middle of the tour as a part of the Team Humming program, playing approximately 120 concerts through out the fall, winter, spring and early summer. Humming People, compared to their age, have played quite many concerts and eaten whole lot of hot dogs. The Music style can be described as pop/rock “with a twist of” many different things. All the lyrics it about goodness and the bands’ main goal is to “advertise” Jesus name on earth. The band consists of Joakim Hansen (bass/lead vocals), Runar Hellum (drums), and John Hjeldsbakken (guitar) and Christer Slaaen (guitar). You are mostly welcome to their concerts. There you will experience power, good energy and catchy music! The band would love to make your body-hair rise while listening to the high tunes and guitar solos, and your feet tap to the rhythm. If you start to sing along on the chorus, they will smile sincerely.
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