Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.07.2004, Blaðsíða 11

Rokk í Reykjavík band: Purrkur Pillnikk
Best known for: Standing immobile on stage while Einar
Örn rolled around on the floor
Rokk í Reykjavík band: Fræbbblarnir
Best known for: Bringing punk rock to Iceland
Fræbbblarnir had two songs featured on RíR, both blistering. They re-
formed and have continued to record and perform to this day in slightly
modified form. They attached little value to social commentary in their
music. Was the scene in Iceland divided along class lines?
“We were from the wrong class for Punk, people felt...we weren´t poor
enough. Many people were into Punk for political reasons...this was not
appealing to us. We felt it was much more fun to say something out of
line than make a social statement.”
Do you think that Punk changed anything in your eyes?
“It made Rock fun again, it brought back the aggression and intensity,
like the early days of Rock and Roll twenty years before. But, as for
society, I don’t see that it changed anything.” Out of the original mebers
shown in RíR the drummer Stefán is the only one who remains in the
band. Steinþór died, Tryggvi went back to school and Kristinn opened
up a restaurant. Current profession: Software engineer
Rokk í Reykjavík band: Sjálfsfróun
Best known for: Trying to keep the beat while
string instruments are being trashed at the front of
the stage
Sjálfsfróun, meaning masturbation in English, were
the lost boys of the early 80’s punk scene in Reykjavík. With an average
age of 14 years of age, the leather jacketed mohican crew played the role
to the glue-sniffing trouble-making hilt. If many of the other bands had
artistic tendencies, Sjálfsfróun adopted the image and attitude of Brit-
ish bands like the U.K. Subs and the Exploited. Street Punk was their
medium and their message.
“What can I say? That was how it was. It’s not as if this was an act. We
were being ourselves completely. Either you were punk or you were
disco. Bubbi, the Pollocks, Einar Örn, they started everything, we were
the little brothers...no one wanted to talk to us.”
Of the band members, Bjarni móhíkani became a sailor. He could often
be seen playing around Reykjavík, but is currently living in Denmark.
Siggi resides at the Reykjavík mental asylumn. Pési the bass player, who
was fired from the band shortly before the film was made, od´d in Am-
sterdam. Jónbi works in construction these days.
Current profession: Rock and Roller
Rokk í
Reykjavík band: Bodies
Best known for: Having fistfights with his
brother on stage when the latter tried to
trash guitars
Danny Pollock was around from the begin-
ning of Icelandic Punk, guitarist for Utan-
garðsmenn, the biggest band on the scene,
and then Bodies, the band that appeared in
Rokk í Reykjavík.
“When we were in Utangarðsmenn we
went to the manager of Hótel Borg and
asked if we could play on Thursday nights
as there was nothing happening then. We
advertised and 800 people showed up...
that got the ball rolling right there. Me
and Einar Örn went out and found all these
garage bands to play with us.”
How would you explain the popularity the
movement here had, whereas in America for
instance punk was a very marginal movement?
“Mostly because of it’s size. I mean if you fart in this corner over here they’re gonna smell
it over there. It had a tremendous impact on the society. What we sang about began to be
discussed in the newspapers and analyzed in the University.” Mike Pollock, Danny’s brother
and fellow guitarist, is still a working musician. Maggi, Bodies drummer has recently
joined up with a newly formed Ego and has also found God and has been working with the
church. Danny has dedicated his life to rock and roll and is currently running a rehearsal
space for bands located in an old fish factory.
Current profession: Rehearsal space manager
Rokk í Reykjavík band: Tappi Tíkarrass
Best known for: Playing the cello bare chested
Part performance art group, part punk band,
Tappi Tíkarass’s performance in Rokk í Reykjavík
shows a very young Björk dressed and painted as a living
doll banging on a drum. The man who sang duet with
her in the film is Eyþór.
“Icelandic punk was not a copy, it was a very authentic scene. Tappi
Tíkarrass was a good example of this. We had all the energy England
had but the art was purely Icelandic. Icelandic history also I think af-
fected the sound. We were a colony of Denmark, then for a long time
even after independence, things were very strict, like Eastern Europe
almost. There was a special tension building, the punk scene here was a
release of that tension.”
Björk, of course, ascended to the heavens after the film. Jakob the bass-
ist has been playing with Bubbi for many years and has joined Ego’s
reunion. Eyjólfur the guitarist, imports hi-fi equipment for television
and radio.
Eyþór soon quit TT and went to study cello and classical composing.
Upon graduating he forms the band Todmobile, which becomes one of
the biggest bands in Iceland. When the band quits he becomes direc-
tor of the phone company Íslandssími and runs for the town council for
the independence party. He is still a businessman, but Todmobile had a
reunion and made an album with the Icelandic Symphony orchestra.
Current profession: Businessman
Rokk í Reykjavík band: Þeyr
Best known for: Playing the guitar on Killer Boogie until his fingertips bled
I spoke with God Christ in an art museum in the center of town. He was,
and is, one the most groundbreaking guitarists that Iceland has produced.
God Christ produced a fold-out pamphlet that accompanied Þeyrs first 7”
release. On the second page is an incredibly intricate electronic schematic.
“It’s the quantum mechanics of music,” he says, “I had Einstein and Jimi
Hendrix for my heroes. We were basically fed up with the crap
on the radio, all of it with at most 3 chords, with only slightly
different lyrics, it was brainwashing people. If you always hear
the same sounds, the brain can not form new thoughts. We
wanted to revolutionize people. Every society needs a hippie
and a punk revolution. It may do other parts of the world
good to have theirs.”
Guðlaugur was a founding member of Sugarcubes predeces-
sor Kukl. After its demise, he turned his attention to quantum
mechanics relating to thermal electric discover-
ies, and has been a sessionist on many albums by
other artists, notably Megas.

Current profession: Punk rock scientist, musician
GUÐLAUGURKRISTINN ÓTTARSSON
GOD CHRIST
JÓNBJÖRN ÓTTARSSON
DANNY POLLOCK
VALGARÐUR GUÐJÓNSSON
Purrkur Pillnikk was one of the most popular and influential bands from
this period. Three members of Purrkur, Einar Örn, Friðrik and Bragi would
later go on to join the Sugarcubes.
“Einar came back from London with God Save the Queen and played it for
us. This changed everything. We formed Purrkur Pillnikk to play a concert
at a local high school, we slapped together nine songs the night before and
just did it. This was in March of ‘81. On April 1st we went into a studio and
recorded an entire album in one day. That was the feeling of the time. Like
Einar was known to say “It’s not what your able to, but what you actually
do that matters.” It was music for the moment, music for now.” Einar Örn,
Purrkur’s singer continues to blow minds and speakers with his creation
Ghostigital. Bragi, the groups archivist went on to be a writer and poet.
Ásgeir the bands drummer was last heard of training dogs in Norway. Friðrik
went on to work for an advertising agency and write books. His best known
book is the children´s book Benjamín Dúfa, which has also been made into
a film. He´s also written the script for Iceland´s first CGI cartoon, Litla ljóta
lirfan.
Current profession: Writer
FRIÐRIK ERLINGSSON
EYÞÓR ARNALDS
Rokk í Reykjavík band: Þeyr
Best known for: Bringing Icelandic punk to the world
Þeyrs´ music was frenetic and dramatic in a distinct way. The
band boasted some of the best musicians in the land.
“We started as a bar band, then we became influenced by
post-punk bands like Joy Division, Siouxise and the Banshees,
of course the Sex pistols as well...but our sound was very dis-
tinct, we were thought to be very left field for the time. Here
it was more of an art movement than a punk movement...
it was more about energy. Everyone felt like they could do
SOMETHING... be a part of SOMETHING. We were
all very inexperienced, but we were being clumsy in a
special way.”
Sigtryggur played in the bands Kukl and Sugar-
cubes after Þeyr and conquered the world.
After the Sugarcubes came to an end he
formed the crooner persona Bogomil
Font, which became a huge success in Iceland. He moved along with his wife to the US
and then Holland, but has recently returned to Iceland. His current projects include the
world music band Steintryggur and producing a Kurt Weill opera this summer.
Current profession: Musician, producer, (as Bogomil Font) crooner
SIGTRYGGURBALDURSSON