music. At the same time he was also into swing jazz, and his father who also played bass, played standard tunes with him.
When he was 15 he started to play electric guitar in a rock band. After a while he started to get back the interest for jazz again, and formed a trio with some local artists. He lived as a freelancer a year or so and then he began to study in the conservatory in Trondheim, jazz department with the guitar as a main instrument. During his two years of study in Trondheim (91-93) he formed the group Farmers Market. Farmers Market was originally a free jazz quintet, until they one day found a note with a Bulgarian folk tune in 11/16. This was a great experience for the boys,and they practiced day and night to be able to play this asymmetrical music.
After a while Stian bought a ticket to Bulgaria, and went around in the villages there to collect, and study the folk music there. The result of the tour was a live record with singers & musicians from the famous “Le mysteres des voix bulgares” recorded at Molde international jazz festival in Norway. After this Stian was totally dedicated to the Bulgarian music. He toured a lot with musicians from Bulgaria, and Romania, and learned a lot from them.
Besides of being dedicated to this kind of music,he also took lessons in Composition, learned to play the 5-string banjo in bluegrass style, played with various jazz groups (be-bop, and experimental) with Jon Christensen and Bendik Hofseth to mention some.
In 97 Farmers Market made their second album with saxophonist Trifon Trifonov from Bulgaria. This was an extreme album with elements of many different styles and ideas from bluegrass in odd meters, To metallica like versions of