Heri Joensen (; born 21 February 1973) is a Faroese musician, notable for being the vocalist for the heavy metal band

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology, a valorous and powerful member of the and patron of warriors and mythological heroes. In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, ...

. Heri was born in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

capital of

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

which has had an influence on his song writing. As well as Týr, he has recently recorded a solo album titled ''Heljareyga''.

Early life

Heri Joensen was born in the Faroese capital

on 21 February 1973, but grew up in

Toftir Toftir ( da, Tofte) is a village in Nes Municipality on the island of Eysturoy, in the Faroe Islands. It is part of a chain of villages stretching over a distance of 10 kilometres on the east side of Skálafjørður (fjord) on Eysturoy island. Th ...

, and later his family moved to the small village of Lamba. At the age of fourteen Heri began playing guitar and by the age of seventeen was playing in local bands. By this time he had relocated to the well-populated fishing port of

Runavík Runavík is a comparatively urbanised village in Runavík Municipality, Faroe Islands. It lies on the south half of the isle of Eysturoy. Port Founded in 1916, Runavík has an important port, originally used predominantly by fishing boats but no ...

. Like many Faroese, Heri moved to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

for further education. There he met up with former bandmate Kári Streymoy and they started forming Týr. Heri's initial plan had been to pursue a degree in Indo-European Comparative Linguistics. However, since he spent most of his time playing guitar and failing classes, he decided to switch careers and attend the

music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

in Copenhagen: Det Alternative Rytmiske Konservatorium (D.A.R.K.). Between 2000 and 2003 he studied at D.A.R.K., majoring in Guitar, Vocals and later

Music Theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

. In 2013, Heri matriculated to the

University of the Faroe Islands The University of the Faroe Islands ( fo, Fróðskaparsetur Føroya) is a state-run university located in Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands. It consists of five faculties: Faculty of Faroese Language and Literature, Faculty of Social Sc ...

studying the

Faroese language Faroese ( ; ''føroyskt mál'' ) is a North Germanic language spoken as a first language by about 72,000 Faroe Islanders, around 53,000 of whom reside on the Faroe Islands and 23,000 in other areas, mainly Denmark. It is one of five languages de ...

and its

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. Heri was raised

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

but became critical of Christianity and is now an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, although he is an admirer of pagan mythology.

Equipment

Heri is known for playing a

7-string guitar The seven-string guitar adds one additional string to the more common six-string guitar, commonly used to extend the bass range (usually a low B) or also to extend the treble range. The additional string is added in one of two different ways: by ...

, onstage he uses a unique Mahogany style guitar designed by Bjarnastein, a Faroese company.

Other work

In April 2012, Joensen was involved in an online video debate with

Captain Paul Watson Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism. Th ...

for the

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...

series ''

Whale Wars ''Whale Wars'' is a weekly American Reality television#Documentary-style, documentary-style reality television series that premiered on November 7, 2008 on the Animal Planet cable channel. The program followed Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shep ...

''. Heri defended

whaling in the Faroe Islands Whaling in the Faroe Islands, or (from the Faroese terms , meaning pilot whale, and , meaning killing), is a type of drive hunting that involves herding various species of whales and dolphins, but primarily pilot whales, into shallow bays ...

. As of September 2016, Joensen was still actively engaging in the hunting of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands. Because of ongoing public conflicts with Paul Watson of Sea Shepard, Týr gigs have been canceled at various European venues. Joensen is also known for his language skills. He speaks Faroese, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, English, and German. He made a few guest appearances, including a guitar solo in

Alestorm Alestorm are a Scottish heavy metal band formed in Perth, Scotland. Their music is characterised by a pirate theme, and as a result, they have been dubbed a "pirate metal" band by many critics and their fanbase. The group currently consists o ...

's "Barrett's Privateers" and vocals in

Ensiferum Ensiferum (Latin: , n adj., meaning "sword bearing") is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal." History Formation, demos and ''Ensiferum'' (1995−2002) ''Ensiferum'' was founde ...

's cover in the album "From afar" of the song "Vandraren", originally a Nordman song. Joensen has made regular appearances on a discussion panel show by local radio station R7 called Tvístøða ("Dilemma") where he discusses received questions in Faroese on a panel with two others. He has also composed the jingle appearing in the beginning and between questions of Tvístøða.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Hairy 1973 births Living people Faroese male singers Heavy metal singers Faroese guitarists Seven-string guitarists Progressive metal guitarists Faroese atheists Former Lutherans 21st-century Danish male singers 21st-century guitarists