My final pre Iceland Airwaves interview for this year is with Tilbury. They are almost certainly going to be the first band I see at the festival unless as they open proceedings in Harpa Silfurberg on Wednesday night. They may be a new band but some things about them might seem familiar - as we find out below the members are all a part of other bands (Skakkamange, Jeff Who?, Valdimar, Sin Fang, Hjaltalin and more) you know from the scene and I know of a lot of people will recognise the genius handiwork of Hugleikur Dagsson behind their album cover and other artwork. Yep, I needed to find out more...
Hi Þorri, where are you right now and what are you doing?
Hi, I´m at the university library preparing my final thesis that I´m hoping to hand in this december.
I love how so many bands in Iceland share members, and Tilbury is one of those bands. Can you tell me who is in Tilbury?
Tilbury is Örn Eldjárn, Kristinn Evertsson, Magnús Trygvason Eliassen, Guðmundur Óskar Guðmundsson and me, Þormóður Dagsson. Last time I checked we are members of 15 other band projects, all combined.
The artwork on your album is awesome, what's the story behind it?
Thanks. It´s actually my brothers work, the cartoonist Hugleikur Dagsson. The basic idea of the drawing comes from an old and weird icelandic mythalogical creature called "Tilberi". The Icelandic writer Þórarinn Eldjárn later wrote a short novel, Tilbury, where he uses this myth and puts it into a love story set during the second world war in Iceland. That´s also where the name of the band comes from.
In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show?
Elton John.
What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year?
I´ve been listening to a lot of the artists that are coming this year and I really excited about nearly all of them. I especially like Blouse and I think we are playing on the same venue on the same night. So that´s going to be exciting. And then there all the local acts. I´m looking forward to seeing Kiriyama Family, Ásgeir Trausti, Cheek Mountain Thief, Ojba Rasta and many more. It´s gonna be a good party.
Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland?
Don´t come too prepared. Leave open slots on your agenda for unexpected experiences.
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How can you not catch Tilbury at Iceland Airwaves 2012? You have the following seven chances!
Wednesday Oct 31st: 2pm at the Inspired By Iceland venue, 5pm at the wonderful Kex Hostel and 8pm at Harpa Silfurberg (see you there!)
Friday November 2nd: 7pm at Hotel MArina and 10:30pm at Deutsche Bar.
Saturday November 3rd: 2pm in Restaurant Reykjavik and 4pm at Kolabrautin Bar.
The annual competition for new bands in Iceland, Músíktilraunir, has an excellent track record of finding talent. Not least the winners from two years ago, a band called Of Monsters & Men, have had a little bit (A LOT) of international success. So it is kind of a big deal. Being the Icelandic music weirdo that I am, I trawl through and listen to all the entries every year and Retrobot very definitely stood out as a likely winner from the start. As is traditional, the winners get to play at Iceland Airwaves. In addition, more often than not, they get the added bonus of an iceblah interview. They are lucky...
Hi Retrobot, where are you right now and what are you doing?
Right now we are in Reykjavík, getting ready for a trip to Norway.
Who is in the band? Daði Freyr Pétursson - Computer, Synths, Percussions, Vocoder and Vocals Gunnlaugur Bjarnason - Lead vocals and synth Kristján Pálmi Ásmundsson - Guitar, Vocoder and Vocals Guðmundur Einar Vilbergsson - Guitar, Synth and Vocals
...and this Airwaves we will have a good friend of ours joining us for some of the songs Hörður Már Bjarnason (from M-Band) on Vocoder and Vocals
Congratulations on winning the Músíktilraunir (new bands) competition, how does it feel to follow bands like Maus, Mínus, Mammút, Jakobínarína and those Of Monsters & Men people? It feels great, it puts some pressure on us to get further and we like it. Now we just have to work on getting people to know us for our music, and not just for being the winners of Músíktilraunir.
There will be 5 or more other bands playing at the same time as you - so why should people choose your show? Because this is our first gig at Iceland Airwaves and we are going to play full power and give it all we have, we will probably be playing some new songs that we have never played live before. And if you can't come, we are playing 4 off-venue shows at Prikið, Bar 11, Kaffibarinn and Dillon.
Have you seen the festival line-up? What other bands are you excited to see? The line-up this year is amazing. A lot of great Icelandic bands will be playing this year, Agent Fresco, FM Belfast, Sólstafir, Kiriyama Family, Samaris, GusGus, HAM, M-Band, Sin Fang, Sóley and of course Sigur Rós, these are just a few of the amazing icelandic bands. But in the international bands we have Django Django and Dirty Projectors, we can't miss that!
And finally, how about a few local tips for the festival first-timers? Go to the off-venue shows as well, those shows can be just as good, or sometimes even better.
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You have six chances to sample the significant delights of Retrobot at Iceland Airwaves 2012:
Wednesday October 31st : 8:50pm in Gamli Gaukurinn
Thursday November 1st: 9am (IN THE ACTUAL MORNING) for Rock & Bacon at Prikið and then at 8pm at Bar 11.
Friday November 2nd: at 4pm at Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð and at 10pm in Kaffibarinn.
And finally on Saturday 3rd November at 8:45pm in Dillon.
I love Reykjavík! the band nearly as much as I love Reykjavík the city. They are one of those bands who I merrily seek out time after time at Iceland Airwaves. Their live shows are the stuff of Airwaves legend, and you really need to check them out, as it really does need to be seen to be believed. Last year's highlights included passing round vodka to anyone who appeared to know any lyrics, and playing one song, particularly terrifyingly, in almost complete darkness. I'm still not sure whether this was on purpose or not.
Previously they have played Iceland Airwaves gigs in a cupboard - chairs were damaged. On top of some chairs - chairs were damaged. With a trio of choreographed dancing girls (which you can see here) - no idea if any chairs were damaged, but it's definitely possible. They do generally go by the motto, "no audience member left untouched" but be assured that's a good and friendly thing.
And most of them aren't even from Reykjavík - it's all THAT crazy.
I interviewed, or at least I tried to interview, their fresh-faced guitarist Haukur. It didn't entirely go to plan... (just for the avoidance of doubt, my words remain in bold throughout!)
Hello Reykjavík!, where are you and what are you doing?
Hello Mark Ollard! We see it's time for our annual interview! This is very exciting for us, as we love getting interviewed and we are fans of your Iceblah and what you've been doing with it for the longest time now. Sometimes, we feel like we should be the ones interviewing you. Maybe we'll do just that, right now. Seeing as whoever is answering this on behalf of the band probably used to be some sort of journalist. Here's a question:
Hello, Mark Ollard! You've been following the Icelandic scene for a long while now. Is there a band or musician who is no longer performing regularly (or at all) that you find yourself particularly missing?
Yes, of course, loads of them. In fact I'm already panicking that if I start listing them I will leave someone great out and then I'll feel guilty forever. But let's do it, off the top of my head I would like to see a reunion gig featuring Jakobínarína, Skátar, Trabant and headlined by the mighty, mighty Rúnk - the band that pretty much got me into this mess in the first place. That would be fun right? I also am wondering where are Jeff Who these days? and what ever happened to Jan Mayen? Are they STILL working on a new album? They were fun.
Well, that makes a lot of sense, of course. You are probably right! But even though a lot of the bands and musicians that were part of the scene when you first started following it have moved to greener pastures (to that big ol' farmhouse in the sky), the scene itself retains the same sort of spirit and attitude that led you to embrace it in the past, right?
Right.
Why so?
The attitude and spirit has hardly changed at all. Even though every year certain things are different, some venues have closed, beer prices have mutated, record shops have moved on or bands have given up, but the feel of that week in Reykjavík remains pretty much constant. Harpa is an extreme example, I know it was a controversial project and for such a controversial and 'perfect' building to somehow manage to play an authentic part in Iceland Airwaves was a big ask, but it really delivered last year, the festival was different yet felt much the same. It's the same for bands too - every time there a whole bunch of bands with kids that look even younger or a whole bunch of new bands where you can spend the first song working out which 15 other bands these guys are members of.
What are you up to these days anyway? Through your site, we get a pretty clear idea of what's going on in Icelandic music and with bands that you favour, but we never really hear about your personal life. What's with that? For instance: following your Twitter we have ascertained that you make semi-frequent trips to Philly, most people never go to Philly at all! Why is that?
I go to Philadelphia because my wife has family there and I love the city and I love the American sports, especially Ice Hockey. I just like stuff that starts with i.c.e. I suppose. If you pay close attention to my twitter account, you will see that I have a little baby boy, an amazing wife and I work at Penguin Books, between these things and the Iceland thing, that's pretty much my personal life solved.
Also, here's an interesting question: do you ever interview bands/musicians for your site that you do not like? All in service of the idea of Icelandic music? Or do you refrain from doing that? Why or why not?
I'm doing it right now! HAHAHAHAHA.
No, obviously that's not true. If I don't like some music I won't talk about it at all. I'm completely independent, by which I mean that this blog is a hobby so I'm not going to spend my spare time writing stuff about bands I don't like, I don't see the point.
Who are you most looking forward to seeing at Iceland Airwaves 2012? Did you know that local rock band Reykjavík! is planning to play a set spanning their entire catalogue, heavy on old faves that haven't been heard in the live setting for a while?
Well, I think I will have to check out the band Reykjavík! as a big priority, I am looking forward to hearing those old classics. For the festival I have my established list of must-see bands that would include FM Belfast, Retro Stefson, HAM, Mugison, Ghostigital and Þórir Georg and then a few newer ones I'm keen to take a look at like Kiriyama Family, Retrobot and especially Legend. And then there will be the ones I haven't even thought of yet that I go home in love with, last year that was Sóley.
Did you furthermore know that they will be playing only ONE set at Airwaves this year? WTF is up with that?
Only one? What's wrong with you guys? Are you getting old or something?
Right, I'm regaining control of this so-called interview now, you're on...
You've just been in Japan - how was that? Did you love it? Did they love you?
Yes! We are back from Japan! We spent a week there along with Lazyblood, putting on THE TICKLING DEATH MACHINE for an art festival called THE KYOTO EXPERIMENT, collaborating with like fifteen Japanese volunteers for the show. It was amazing. Japan is amazing. They really did profess a big affinity for us, love even, but they surely didn't come close to loving us as much as we loved them and the entirety of Japan.
In fact, a couple of us - guitarist Gummi and myself, Haukur, his nephew - had decided to stay an extra two weeks in the Japan, as we had been fantasizing about going there since we were tweens. It was amazing. Go there. It still is amazing. Go there.
Also, here is another clip from Tickling Death Machine. Hopefully, we'll have some video from Kyoto ready soon. You really haven't lived until you've been joined on stage by 15 long-haired and headbanging Japanese girls. You really haven't. We also met a Japanese hXc band called Cycropsu. They were awesome.
Also, at some department store we wandered into, we saw this video by this all girl Japanese post-something band. It's like a Japanese, female version of kimono. Which is just as awesome as it sounds.
Japan is like a big bomb of perspective. Go there.
OK, so you like Japan. Back in the good old UK, we just hosted the Olympics, did you like it? What would Reykjavik! win a gold medal at?
We loved your Olympics, although we were secretly disappointed that the Rothschild/Illuminati/Freemason conspiracy to enslave mankind and instill a New World Order wasn't unleashed during the spectacle. We will probably win an Olympic gold for ping pong at some point. We are always practicing.
I'm very sad that the old NASA venue is gone. You guys played at NASA a lot of times, what's your favourite memory?
Oh wow, that's hard to pick. Seriously. So many fun times at NASA, even though the club itself was at times kind of douchey and anyone who tells you differently probably never had to pay 500 ISK for a bottled water or whatnot. It was a big and exciting space ad thinking about it now I sort of understand that it was a huge and even formative place for the majority of my twenties. Damn you, Ollard, getting me all weepy-eyed.
SO MANY MEMORIES. One is about when we opened up for Blonde Redhead and they insisted on a separate dressing room, and then we were accidentally put in their dressing room (because they were in our dressing room, it turned out, because of whatever, they are kind of a needy band, Blonde Redhead), and we couldn't believe our luck having such a big and fancy rider with fresh fruit and various types of booze and stuff (mind you, we thought we were situated in the 'support dressing room' and were pretty stunned that since we got such an awesome deal, being in a mid-level alt. band must entail untold riches and luxuries.)
So we went ahead consuming EVERYTHING. And throwing it around. And generally acting like drunk and excited boys (or assholes, if you will). Then, when the guacamole was all over everything and the last grape had been snorted, some dude came down and informed us of the mistake. We got embarrassed and tried to clean up a little. Then we came to the dressing room that had been intended for us and were confronted by an empty bag of Doritos, an ashtray and some bottled water.
So anyway, that's not the favourite memory, but it's a nice memory nonetheless. That bottled water was AMAZING.
You have a song called "INTERNET"? What is the best thing on the whole internet?
Well. It's definitely not our website www.reykjaviktheband.com. It has been hijacked by some sort of Chinese cosmetics manufacturer we think. WEIRD.
Why should people come and see your show at Airwaves?
Do it for the kids!
In your wildest dreams, who would you most love to see in the front row of one of your shows?
Man, I wouldn't mind seeing Mark Ollard and Paul Sullivan there.
Hoping to boost your female audience?
Also, I would personally get a great big kick out of playing for Bob Mould. I saw him earlier this year and he effing blew me away and I would love to attempt a return of the favour.
What other stuff are you hoping to catch at Airwaves this year?
Is 'chlamydia' an amusing answer? I'll go with that.
Yes, it is hilarious. Aside for seeing your show and reading Grapevine, what are your best tips for Airwaves virgins?
Take two aspirin, drink lots of water and call me in the morning if the problem persists.
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You can get Haukur's number from me, should you need to call him about chlamydia or anything else. Otherwise you can see him at the ONE AND ONLY Reykjavik! show of Iceland Airwaves 2012 at 01:20am on Friday night at Þýski barinn / Deutsche bar. Except there may be another show, you never know.
I should also say that he is the boss or something of the wonderful English language newspaper The Reykjavik Grapevine - a copy is essential for a good time in town, and their Iceland Airwaves special minisite is brilliant and will be updated with reviews of every single show (!) and if you don't have their AMAZING BUMPER FREE DOWNLOAD of 65 songs then go here now.
Hey, look at those five cheeky kind of naked guys! That is not how my family behave. Anyway - Kiriyama Family are an electronic band with a freshly released debut album YOU are going to want to own by the end of Iceland Airwaves 2012. Just to make sure, they are going to play six (so far) shows over the course of the festival.
I had a chat with them, and disappointingly learned that they're not really a family!
Where are you right now and what are you doing? We are sitting in our rehearsal studio having a look at some new songs that will be on our second album. We started demoing them a while back and now, after a long summer filled with concerts, we’re finally making time to work on them.
Who is in the band? Are you really a family? We are five members in the band, but when we play live we have a session saxophone player. None of us is related but after spending such a long time together we find our selves acting like brothers all the time. So you could say were a family.
When you play your show there will be at least 4 or 5 other acts playing - why should people come and see you? Because we tend to rock people’s world… Seriously though, it’s really difficult to tell anyone why they should come and see us. We put a lot of effort into our live sound / show and usually people walk out the door with a big smile on their face.
In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show? Our wildest dream gig would be in a South-European castle, it would be filmed and recorded with additional backing vocals from Caroline Polachek and Yukimi Nagano. Front of the crowd… doesn’t really matter any more. Music lovers?
What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year? Purity Ring, Philco Fiction, Policia (BOOOO!), Dirty Projectors would be a great catch along with Ghostpoet and Phantogram. Really just anything with a “p” in it.
Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland? Bring a warm jacket, woolen socks and be there on time. It might get cold… Also, harðfiskur!
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Oh yes, please go for the harðfiskur.
Right, deep breath, you can see Kiriyama Family at Iceland Airwaves in these numerous ways:
Wednesday (Oct 31st) at 3pm in lovely old Hressó bar and then at 8:50pm in Harpa Silfurberg (see you there).
Thursday (Nov 1st) at 12:40pm at Munnharpen (with a coffee) and 12:15am (Friday morning) back at Hressó.
Friday (Nov 2nd) at 9:20pm at Harpa Silfurberg.
Saturday (Nov 3rd) at 5:30pm in bookshop Eymundsson.
Mammút are one of the regulars of Iceland Airwaves despite still appearing to be teenagers and, as you are about to read, still going to school. Sigh. They have two excellent albums behind them and are always good to see live. Typically they work really hard at Airwaves, seeming to be playing off-venue shows pretty much all of the time. I'm kind of addicted to Kata's voice backed by a kind of choppy indie guitar backing that reminds me of early Bloc Party.
It seems like they are going to be playing us a whole bunch of brand new material at Iceland Airwaves 2012, but for now hit play below on an old favourite of mine, and have a read of what they had to say...
Mammút! Where are you right now and what are you doing?
We are all in Reykjavík at the moment, super busy recording our upcoming album. As individuals we are also working, going to school, partying, playing sports and loads of stuff.
You are always one of the busiest bands at Airwaves, how many shows are you planning this year?
At the moment we have 4 gigs planned. That's not a lot though compared to last year. Maybe we'll add some more!
Whenever you play at Iceland Airwaves there will be at least 4 or 5 other acts playing at the same time - why should people come and see you?
This year we'll be playing only new songs and some of them for the first time ever. So people should come and be the first ones to hear them!
In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show?
It's probably very different for each one of us but for me I think I'd have to say Dave Grohl. To have him at the front of the crowd slamming would be perfection.
How is the recording going for your 3rd album? What should we expect from it?
It's going well. Slowly but well. We thought we'd just finish it off in 2 or 3 weeks but we can see now that we need much more time. Each song just has to have its time. You should expect a much heavier and more dramatic album than the last one. And of course MUCH better!
What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year?
I really wanna see Django Django but usually I don't check the bands out before the festival. It's much more fun to stumble into something great when you not expecting it.
Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland?
I'd suggest to see as many Icelandic bands as you can. Even though there are many internationally famous bands playing I'd still rather check the local ones out since there are so many good ones who never play abroad.
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Check out Mammút at Harpa Silfurberg on Wednesday 31st October at 10:30pm then twice on Friday November 2nd - at the Downtown Hostel at 3pm and then at Reykjavik Art Museum at 11pm.
And I'm afraid I have no idea when or where the 4th gig they talked about is!
Legend are one of the bands I am most looking forward to seeing at Iceland Airwaves next week. I absolutely love their debut album but I haven't ever seen them play before. Songs like City, Runaway Train and Sister especially have been part of the soundtrack to my 2012. They are fronted by Krummi Bjorgvins who has been a key part of the Icelandic music scene for a long time, most famously in the band Mínus. I was pretty excited when he agreed to a quick pre-Airwaves chat...
Hi Krummi, where are you right now and what are you doing?
I´m at home preparing for a Dieter Roth art opening where I´m doing a music piece. I combine all kinds of music by other artists and combine it with my own sounds. I will also do some live vocals over it to tie it all together.
Legend is very different from your bands Minus and Esja. Are you a personality who always wants to do something new and different?
Yes I have always been very versatile and I love the challenge. I can´t keep doing the same thing over and over again. As an artist I like to evolve and push myself. There are so many things out there to explore. Especially the mind!
Are those bands over now? Or can we look forward to hearing new stuff from them too?
No not at all. Mínus recorded an album 2 years ago which will be released early next year under the name KOL. Esja is a project that me and Daníel Ágúst from Gus Gus do when we have the time. We have already written some songs for the next Esja album we just don´t know when we are going to record them and release a record. There´s no pressure so we are taking our time with it.
Better journalists than me (!) have tried and failed to define Legend's sound and I'm not going to try, but it really feels like great late night music. I'm interested to know whether a lot of it was written and recorded at night?
Funny you should say that because most of the album is written and recorded at night. We are a pretty dark bunch of people so we loved being creative while the night creatures were out and about. It´s an ominous album!
In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show?
I can´t say. We are just glad that people show up and enjoy our shows. Even better if they get the lyrics and the whole concept behind the band.
What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year?
Swans are one of my favorite bands so that is something I´m not going to miss. I also really like I Break Horses! But I try to see many Icelandic bands because they are so good!
Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland?
Yes! "Gangið Hægt Um Gleðinnar Dyr"
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I think Legend's shows are going to be amongst the highlights of Iceland Airwaves 2012. Catch them...
Wednesday October 31st at 11:20pm in Gamli Gaukurinn.
Saturday November 3rd at 10:30pm upstairs at Faktory.
My Bubba & Mi are two ladies called Bubba and My (not Mi) who make gentle, sweet and irresistible songs and have been getting a load of ecstatic reviewers going crazy. I haven't ever seen them perform but I'm aiming to put that right next week. I am totally in love with their cover of Bob Dylan's You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.
They talked to me from their jungle hideout, deep in preparation for Iceland Airwaves 2012.
Very nice. Who is in the band and how did you come to be together?
Bubba moved in to My's apartment in Copenhagen four years ago. We started singing together over the dishes and in the evening. Then we played two songs in a bar when an Italian café owner biked by. He invited us to come and tour in Italy and so we did. We have been touring a whole lot ever since.
My and Bubba are the steady members in the band but we often bring other musicians along when we tour. We have one lady in each harbour, just like the sailors like it.
In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show?
What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year?
Boogie trouble, Valdimar & Ólöf Arnalds.
Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland?
Try the lamb!
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Yes, do try the lamb. It's all good. You have 4 (FOUR!) chances to catch My Bubba & Mi at Airwaves. Here goes...
Thursday 1st November at 3:20pm in Kolabrautin Bar, Friday 2nd at 3:00pm at The Nordic House, Saturday 3rd at 8pm in Iðnó and Sunday 4th at 1pm at Kex Hostel.
I've seen Endless Dark live twice. Once was their full plugged in, right on the front edge of the stage, bare-chested rock show. The other was on bar stools at the back of a half-full bar doing gentle, acoustic versions of their songs. I really couldn't pick which one I preferred, they were clearly happier being the loud band but the other show proved a couple of things - the singing is excellent and the songs can take the exposure. They will be in full plugged in mode next week, see if you can find space in your schedule to see them.
We're in Reykjavík writing for our new album and getting ready for Iceland Airwaves.
I loved your acoustic show last year. You seemed really relaxed, but did it make you nervous to strip so much away from your normal show? Or did you love it?
We're not big fans of doing acoustic shows so I think we won't do a show like that for many years. If we have to play acoustic we just wanna have guitars and vocals, not the whole band.
What can we expect from your show this year?
You can expect a bunch of new songs, mosh pits, stage dives and a lot of sweat.
In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show?
Luis Guzman and James Quall.
What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year?
Agent Fresco, Kiriyama Family, Of Monsters & Men and a lot of other great bands!
Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland?
Bring a jacket it might be cold. Ha Ha!
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That's pretty good advice folks. Endless Dark play on Friday night (Saturday morning) in Gamli Gaukurinn at 1:10am.
Þórir Georg is one of my absolute favourite artists of the last decade. He first came to my attention when I bought his album from him at the till of 12 Tónar without realising he was the artist until he picked up his guitar and played an in store set moments later.
That intimate set, with the audience collected around him cross-legged on the floor (photo below), was one of the defining moments of my first Iceland Airwaves that has kept me coming back year after year after year ever since.
That album, I Belive In This, (no typo) was a wonder. The brilliant Outkast cover got a lot of the attention of course, but the album and all of its successors have lived up to the initial talent. His records are charming, varied, affecting and through it all his incredible fragile voice is the constant.
So hit play on this track below from his brand new album out any moment now and have a read of my chat with Þórir.
Where are you right now and what are you doing? Right now I´m sitting on the floor in my living room answering these questions and listening to Asva.
Who is in the band? and how did you come to be together? Right now its just me. On my own. Maybe at some point there will be others but I play in other bands as well so I kinda like just doing this by myself for the time being.
When you play your show there will be at least 4 or 5 other actsplaying - why should people come and see you? Well, honestly? Because I´m good.
In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show? Fyodor Dostoyevsky because I´m right in the middle of re-reading Crime and Punishment and I would like to tell him I think he did a fantastic job with that one.
What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year? Swans are probably the band that I´ve been the most excited about seeing as far back as I can remember. An of course there are a lot of Icelandic acts that are always great.
Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland? Take it easy, have a good time and don´t worry about it.. Icelanders are like that to everyone.
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You can see Þórir as follows:
Friday 2nd November at 5pm in the 12 Tonar store inside Harpa.
Saturday 3rd at 3pm in the Icewear store on Þingholtsstræti.
Saturday 3rd at 5:30pm in Bar 11.
and his main festival show, also on Saturday 3rd at 9:40pm in Amsterdam.
He has the beard of a freedom fighter and a fine line in Bobby McFerrin quotes. Oh, and talent, and charm...
Borko, or Björn Kristjánsson as he can also be known is one of those figures on the Icelandic music scene he is likely to turn up at any point, He has played and toured with múm, Seabear and FM Belfast and he was a member of my favourite Icelandic band of them all, the ones who started this whole passion, the wonderful Rúnk.
So yes, I love him. On stage he is charming, skillful and engaging - his just released second solo record is all of those things too, I listen to it over and over. It is happy and it is sad, and it is definitely fun. You should definitely see him at Iceland Airwaves. Anyway, hit play on the title track below, and have a read...
I'm at Bær in Trékyllisvík, my family in law's farm. I just came back from gathering sheep, rounding them up and weighing them. Now it's time to eat good food and relax.
Who is in the band? and how did you come to be together?
Myself, Maggi, Gummi, Gylfi, Robbi, Ingi Garðar, Áki, Eiki, Torfi and probably some more people are all in the infamous Borko band. Some of them all the time and some of the some of the time.
When you play your show there will be at least 4 or 5 other acts playing - why should people come and see you?
It's the only show where you can enjoy good music, watch the beard of a freedom fighter, learn new dance moves and inhale emotional hedonism, all at the same time.
In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show?
All four of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year?
I'm very excited to see Monotown. I've heard one song from their album and it's great. Skúli Sverrisson is an all time favorite and has never let me down. I'm also very excited to see Ásgeir Trausti with his band. I've seen him play solo twice and that was amazing and I hope the full band experience won't let me down.
Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland?
Don't worry. Be happy.
You can catch the Borko show on Friday November 2nd at 2pm in Restaurant Reykjavik, and at 9:40pm in Deutsche Bar and then on Saturday 3rd at 5pm in Kex Hostel. And look out for his new record, it looks like this --->
Every year I go through every single band playing at Iceland Airwaves and make sure I've listened to them all. As I've said before this is largely pointless as given the choice I will generally head straight for the nearest bunch of Icelandic musicians. For Iceland Airwaves 2012 I have listened to them all, I've read all the other great hints and tips and I've read the bios in the Iceland Airwaves booklet and website.
And so here is a list of the 10 overseas acts I may well seek out 2 weeks from now...
Purity Ring - just love finetime, brilliant tune. Plus they're on right before some band called Of Monsters & Men so it will probably be pretty quiet. Right?
DIIV - bit of a brooklyn underground super group, I can be a sucker for that stuff. Can't we all?
Jesuslesfilles - More Canadians at Iceland Airwaves, this time French speaking ones playing garage rock. I like everything about this!
Thee Attacks - excellent fuzzy rock songs by Danes. Really good album, and fabulous Rolling Stone magazine backed live performances. Worth seeking out their wonderful Christmas tune too, when the time comes.
BOOM! As they say over at the official Iceland Airwaves website, the off venue programme has indeed dropped. This is exciting news, the final piece in the jigsaw.
If, somehow, you have arrived here as an Airwaves newbie, still unsure of what an 'off venue programme' might be, then be happy. It means several things - it means there is music, loads of lovely live music, all day as well as all night, it means bands in expected places like bars, cafes & record shops, but also in hotels, hostels, hairdressers, harbours, streets, private flats and even once, an actual broom cupboard. It's also the chance to solve some horrible line-up clashes - many more chances to see all those bands you want to see. Sometimes they'll play different sets, with different line-ups or instruments and they are generally more intimate.
Basically, it's all good. I've had a really quick scan (a much more detailed one will obviously follow!) and some initial highlights look to be Futuregrapher at the Backpackers Hostel on Wednesday, everything at Nordic House (always fun and worth the relatively long trek to get there for the artist Q&As after the shows), I love everything at Hressó and 12 Tonar (right) - my two traditional favourites for off-venue viewing and I'm intrigued by Inspired By Iceland's session at the self-proclaimed "smallest Iceland Airwaves Off-Venue".
History has taught me that Canadian Blast (Thursday) and M for Montreal (Friday) are well worth looking in on, they're both happening at Hressó. Also on Friday, at the Bio Paradis cinema, Hjaltalin perform live their soundtrack to the silent movie, Days Of Gray - should be very cool. Essential on Friday is the Dr Gunni event at the Mál og menning bookstore, featuring "some of Iceland's best known musicians" - I don't know what that means, but I'll be there to find out.
Finally, the biggest cheer from me (internal obviously, I was on a train in London) was to see Mugison's name on the line-up - the one big one missing from the main venues. His show at Netagerðin is unmissable.
So, basically, have fun and walk round town - you'll hear music, so just follow your ears. Never a dull moment at Iceland Airwaves.
We're a week into October, and just over 3 weeks away from Iceland Airwaves 2012 the greatest music festival in the world, so the preview starts here. This blog will shortly leap into full swing. The interviewing season is well under way, a little slower than some years but I'm into double figures now - they will start appearing in the next week.
It's also the time when I start doing, inevitably, 2 mainly pointless things:
I go over the timetable (on-venue and off-venue) in meticulous detail. There's no point, plans go out of the window, something else happens and it will probably be better. The best advice ever for Iceland Airwaves is to go with the flow. Sure, have those 3 or so bands you MUST see, but don't worry too much about the rest. You'll find the good stuff.
I listen to every single overseas act booked to play. Now, this isn't a total waste of time. Iceland Airwaves has a very fine track record in booking some interesting acts from all over the place, but when it comes to a choice I'm probably going to pick those Icelandic teenagers in bow ties over the bunch of Brooklyn dudes. It's served me well over the years.
So, yeah, a lot more soon - interviews and advice for Iceland Airwaves 2012 from me and the bands and of course a load of reviews and more instant thoughts on twitter. For now, last year's advice is here and last year's main review is here.
My first advice, always, is to get a copy of the fabulous Reykjavik Grapevine and their excellent festival guide. They seem to have made the very sound decision to give Mr Bob Cluness more column inches this year, the man knows his music as well as he knows his beer.
The festival guide, with full timetables and artist profiles can be found here...
