101rvk

The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 6 — 2013
Music 28
The Mess Is Back!
by John Rogers
Reykjavík Music Mess is a DIY music festival held annually in a couple of the city's downtown venues. The festival started in 2011 and has consistently brought together
the finest acts on the Reykjavík scene for a series of almighty parties, topped off with sets by overseas visitors like Deerhunter (USA), Jarse (FI), Fossils (DK) and Laura J
Martin (UK). This weekend (May 24–26), Reykjavík Music Mess takes over Volta and KEX with a choice menu of live music including sets by DZ Deathrays, Bloodgroup,
Oyama, Mammút and Muck, as well as an exhibition of adapted band portraits and a daytime off-venue programme. With the third festival bearing down fast, we caught
up with two of the acts playing—homegrown electro stars Sykur and Anglo-Australian experimenters PVT—to find out what they have in store for us.
24 26
MAY
MAY
Volta
Tryggvagata 22
KEX Hostel
Skúlagata 28
www.reykjavikmusicmess.com 4.990
Sykur by Guðný Hrönn Antonsdóttir
PVT by Julia Mai Linnéa Maria
Guðný Hrönn graduated from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2011 and went on to study photography
and fashion, which are her main areas of interest. Fashion photography is usually the biggest
influence in her artwork, but not so with her illustration of electro-pop group Sykur. “When I saw the
picture of them I wanted to do something different,” she says. “Recently I have been finding myself
drawing weird, defaced Mickey Mouse characters, so I decided to use that as inspiration. The background
had to be colourful, of course, because they are a colourful band.”
Julia Mai is a freelance illustrator from Sweden who has lived in Iceland for the past seven years
and has no intentions of leaving. This autodidact skipped art school altogether, opting instead to
hone her craft independently. Her illustration of Australian band PVT came from free-flow simplicity.
“I can't really put my finger on what I was thinking,” she says. “The drawing just appeared on the
paper while I was listening to their music. They’re really interesting and dreamy so I guess I wanted
to connect their music to something visual.”
Hello Sykur. Could you introduce yourselves
and tell us how you met
Hi Grapevine! We are Sykur! We are (in alphabetical
order) Agnes, Halldór, Kristján and Stefán.
Halldór and Stefán started making electro while
playing together in a marching band and somehow
Agnes and Kristján got entangled along the
way. We all live on the same street and we have
pancakes together on Sunday mornings.
Tell us about your sound and setup. What are
the sounds you're attracted to, and what's the
aesthetic
Our music is mostly synth-driven and we have a
geeky fascination for all things analogue. That
being said, we have been incorporating more
and more other instruments as well, guitar and
vibes, for example. When we play live, you can
expect to see three smartly clad lads stroking
their music-making machines (does that sound
dirty) and a girl with copious amounts of stage
presence making up for the geekiness of the former.
Do you see yourselves as a pop band, or a
dance music act, or is it something you never
think of
This is not something that we think about a lot.
We just make the music that we want to make
and leave it up to others to interpret the results.
When we're working in the studio we think of
ourselves as producers, but when we play live
we want people to forget about these labels and
just have fun, regardless of musical taste.
Do you see yourselves as part of an Icelandic
scene, or an international electro scene, or
both
The Icelandic scene is fundamentally different
from the international scene. Here, all the
bands are good friends and help each other out;
there's very little competition. This is something
we feel is largely missing from the international
scene. When we're playing abroad we see
ourselves as a part of the international scene,
but we still try to bring with us some of the good
nature of the Icelandic scene.
Are you aware of the visiting bands, PVT,
DZ Deathrays and Withered Hand What
do you think
We listened, we like.
Any Icelandic acts playing at Reykjavík Music
Mess that you're looking forward to, or anything
brand new that you'd recommend
Oyama are an amazing new act; their EP is fantastic.
We're looking forward to hearing Mammút's
new stuff; it's going to be great if their
new single is any indication. Bloodgroup just
released a great new record and their stage performance
is fantastic.
Hey PVT, nice to virtually meet you. Could
you introduce yrselves please and tell us how
your AUS/UK long-distance-relationship came
about
Three Australians, one of which currently lives
in London, two of which have British passports,
one of which used to live in London, two of
which are brothers.
Tell us about ‘Homosapien’—was it a long time
in the making How did the writing, recording,
release go
We made it over the course of about nine
months, with most of the recording being done
over a month in an old haunted mansion in the
Australian countryside. It was mixed by Ben
Hillier in London and was released on a few different
labels across the world, but mainly a new
one from Brooklyn called Felte.
Are you excited to take it on the road Have
you any European gigs lined up that you're are
especially excited about
We've been playing it for a while now, but it's
good to play it to people who have finally heard
it. We've done an Australian tour and are in the
middle of a European one now.
You're playing the Reykjavík Music Mess. Have
you been to Iceland before, and if not, what's
your impression of the place
I've only stopped by in the airport, but it's always
been on my to-do list, so I'm glad we're
getting the opportunity to do so. I'm expecting
to see a country like no other.
Iceland has a famously prolific music scene. Is
there a buzz about Icelandic music in Australia
do you think
If a new group from Iceland puts a record out,
they generally get a bit more attention than if
they'd come from other countries, yeah. Iceland
is a long, long way away from Australia in many
ways.
Have you any Icelandic favourites
Björk of course. We also played some shows
with Sigur Rós a few years ago too.
You're playing with some of the best new
bands on the scene, have you had a chance to
check out the RMM line-up
I know our buds DZ Deathrays are playing, which
is always fun.
Are you planning on any trips out into the
countryside while you're here, or is there anything
you'd like to check out
Yes! But need to do more research....
What should people expect from your set
Energy. Emotion. Electronics.
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