At Iceland Airwaves last year, a band called Yunioshi arrived determined to have fun, make friends and entertain. They succeeded brilliantly and I know I'm not the only person delighted to see them back in town again for Iceland Airwaves 2011. I don't spend a whole load of my Airwaves time watching acts from outside Iceland, but this lovely bunch will be on that short list for the second year in a row. Good work them. Here's the story...
Hi again! I'm excited that you're going to be around again this year in Reykjavik - how has your year been?
We've been quite nicely busy so far this year. Plenty of festivals both in the UK and abroad. A couple of highlights have been playing in Toronto for Canadian Music Week back in February and then the amazing Dot to Dot festival in the UK. We managed to pack out the venues and get people dancing. The venue we played in Toronto was burlesque themed - the topless bartop dancing ladies were a little distracting during the set - but something we should encourage more at our gigs we think!
So, Yunisohi, what did you enjoy so much about Airwaves 2010 that you want to do it all over again in 2011? (see also their awesome video diary from last year below)
Airwaves is such an awesome festival. I think we might even go so far as to say our favourite festival to play. Last year we met some amazing people, played to the best crowds who just got involved, played some amazing venues from half-pipes to cosey cafés. Whats not to like!? We're so lucky to have made some really good links with Reykjavik over the last few years - it feels like our home from home. I think the crammed gig at Kaffibarinn, the crazyness of Bakkus and the shear oddity of playing in a hairdressers will long stay in my mind as unforgettable moments!
You don't appear on the official line-up, so what are you up to?
We're semi-official! Airwaves don't tend to book international artists year on year, but such is our love for the festival and Iceland we've booked some great off venue shows - Barbara on Wednesday at 9pm, Bar 11 as part of the Gogoyoko line up on Thursday at 8pm so far - and maybe one more to be confirmed!?
We're also arriving a week early to tour with our good pals Bloodgroup which we're really looking forward to. We'll be playing their hometown on one night so it will be a real honour to play with them there. We're playing The Green Hat in Akureryi on Saturday 7th followed by The Slaughterhouse in Egilsstaðir on Sunday 8th before a few of us take a slow drive back to Reykjavik along the South Coast. Its gonna be amazing exploring more of Iceland.
Have you had a chance to look at the line-up? Anything you're particular keen to see?
There are some great bands as usual. International ones like Beach House, Yacht, Niki & the Dove and SBTRKT will be great to see - but for me I really want to see some of my favourite Icelandic bands like Hjaltalin, Lay Low and Utidur. We're bound to catch up with Svavar Knutur in Hemmi & Valdi at some point and if we could bump into Bjork that would be pretty amazing! Of course, we'll be watching Bloodgroup every chance that we get too!
What are your tips for bands playing this year? and for Airwaves punters?
Simply, just enjoy it! We've always had the best experiences in Reykjavik. The crowds are truly amazing and the music that you get to see is just astonishing. You can find it anywhere and everywhere. You'll grow to love the eggy water too!
Do you have any new music coming out? And please tell us how we can buy your wonderful tunes...
We've released a new single this year "Invisible" available at bandcamp where you can also find other tunes as well as some free downloads. We're also working on tracks for the new release and hope to have at least one extra new tune in the set for October. We may also have something extra up our sleeves for the Icelandic crowds - we just hope we have the time to pull it off! Everything else is available on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon as well as through RVKs very own Gogoyoko.
So, yes, please, go and make friends with and listen to and dance with Yunioshi in Reykajvik this week. And after that befriend them further on facebook & twitter.
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