My instinct is to dislike (not really!) those Brits lucky enough to have settled in Iceland, especially when they end up "in bands", "with girls" or "working at grapevine", but they always turn out to be such lovely people. So I must wholeheartedly recommend that you see and befriend the half British, half Icelandic, all excellent four-piece Porquesi during iceland Airwaves 2011. You will have plenty of opportunity (see below), for Porquesi are one of those bands who seem to be trying to play more shows than any other. I managed to squeeze myself into their insanely busy schedule of gigging and social networking...
Hello PORQUESÍ! Where are you and what are you doing right now?
Good evening! We have just come back from a “hard day” at the office, taking photos with the awesome Matt Eisman of musicinfocus.net and we’re now just relaxing at Skúli’s place with some pizza and beer, just going over a mix for a radio programme we recorded last week. All in all, just working hard and playing hard.
Who's in the band?
Two Vikings: Skúli Jónsson (Guitar, Vocals, Piano), and Egill Jónsson (Bass Guitar) and two Anglo Saxons: Russell Harmon (Guitar), and Jonathan Baker (Drums).
I like your name (I told you this would be unprofessional)! Why did you choose it?
The name? Just because. Haha, nah, well “porque si” means “just because” in Spanish. Skúli and Egill lived in Spain for a year when they were younger, so the Spanish influence came from there. But we chose the name one night when we were all drunk on San Miguel and just thought that taking a Spanish name would be appropriate. And yeh, basically, just because.
So you are half from the UK and half Icelandic? A very nice mixture? How did you meet then? Are some of you Brits that are lucky enough to live in Iceland?
Yeah, that is right. We are a nice blend of England and Iceland. Russell moved here for his girlfriend, and then Jonathan came over for an internship at The Reykjavík Grapevine, and also met a girl. From there, we all just met through mutual friends, and mutual musical interests. One thing lead to another and here we are. Now we are BFF!
Porquesi - Obvious Harmony from Jack Hussey on Vimeo.
When you play at Airwaves there will be 5 or 6 other shows happening - so why should people come and see you guys?
There are lots of great bands and artists playing over Airwaves at the same time, so it is definitely a difficult decision; one that we are facing ourselves. However, if there is anyone out there into intense, emotive, live rock music, then they should check us out. We like to think we put on a good show, so why not?
Have you seen the festival line-up? What are you really excited to see?
Phewww, there are so many bands that we all want to go check out. Probably too many to mention, but for instance Liturgy, Deathcrush, Reykjavík!, For a Minor Reflection, Agent Fresco, Swords of Chaos, and Dope D.O.D are all on our to see list. We also highly recommend the Icelandic bands Gang Related, Vigri, Andvari, and Musik Zoo.
Any tips for first-timers at Iceland Airwaves?
See as many bands as possible, drink as much as possible, and just have a good time basically. The festival is always amazing, so just enjoy the experience.
So, yes, you ought to check these nice guys out, here are your chances...
October 12th at 4pm in Reykjavík Backpackers.
October 13th at 2pm in Reykjavík Downtown Hostel then again at 8:50pm in Amsterdam.
October 15th at 3pm on the street at Hringa on Laugavegur and at 4pm at Macyard (Sirkus)
And finally, phew, on October 16th at 8:30pm in Dillon.
After all of that you are going to want to get to know them even better, so you buy the debut album from gogoyoko or at all the great record stores of Reykjavik 101. You can make follow, stalk and "poke" them on twitter, facebook, bandcamp, myspace (yes!), soundcloud and gogoyoko. Phew - how do they get the time?
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