Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.09.2007, Blaðsíða 5

08_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 15_007_INTERVIEW/MUSIC
Few Icelandic musicians remain as active as
former Þeyr, KUKL and Sugarcubes drummer
Sigtryggur Baldursson. Last issue, Sigtryggur
talked a Grapevine journalist through his ca-
reer up to and including the Sugarcubes. This
week, we find out what happened after the
Sugarcubes disbanded.
I remember being in Austria as a small
kid, probably in 1988, and I saw the cover
of the album Birthday by the Sugarcubes
in a storefront window in Vienna. For me
it was probably the first manifestation
that someone from Iceland could actually
become world famous, and that you [The
Sugarcubes] had probably done it. It was
a strange feeling
It was for us as well. Very surrealistic. But still,
we were such a strong group, and we had our
own philosophy, which helped us a lot. We
were pretty determined when it came to ne-
gotiating with companies; obviously we were
working with a very good man in England,
Derek Burkett [founder, One Little Indian], who
had similar ethics when it came to negotiating
with major labels and distribution companies:
just take them as far as you can. The tougher
you are in negotiations, the more they will
respect you. So, we were able to negotiate
for creative control over our work, which was
uncommon in those days. We could just make
music the way we wanted.
Obviously, the pressure on us was sub-
liminal, and eventually it all became a game
between the record industry and us. There
is always the pressure to take it to the next
level, that the next record should sell more
than the previous one, all that bullshit. Sud-
denly we found ourselves listening to lectures
on marketing in America, which we had no
interest in. This was all pretty surreal. But we
tried to laugh it up, for a long time. The clever-
ness of what we decided could probably be
debated in some cases, obviously we learned
a lot. This industry is based on advances. You
get an advance on your publishing; you get
an advance from the label to make your next
album, and so on. You better not take that
money and spend it on houses and cars, cause
then you have no money to make the record.
But we didn’t necessarily realise that, so when
we quit we didn’t have a god damn cent. That
was a lesson.
The Sugarcubes disbanded in 1992, shortly
after the release of Stick Around For Joy,
but since then you have kept quite busy.
I would almost go so far to say that two
musicians could hardly come together
with out you joining them on drums.
Heh, well, it is not that serious. I’ve been a
part of many projects. Most notably probably
is this crooner, the Bogomil Font character that
I have maintained. He is a lounge lizard, and a
mambo dude. It started as a joke really. It was
a part of the art-terrorism concept surrounding
Bad Taste Ltd.. Probably the last art-terrorism
project we did was Kormákur B’s Jazz Band,
which was intended to be a 14-15 people jazz
band that knew nothing about playing jazz. It
was made out of rock musicians around our
own label [Bad Taste] but it was more like a
theatre, so every one dressed up in fine cloth-
ing and played their own character and then
we went on stage and absolutely slaughtered
these famous jazz songs. But it was still sort
of charming, beautiful kind of ugly really. This
was an idea from [former Sugarcubes bass
player] Bragi Ólafsson actually, and it was a
lot of fun, probably the last big project we did
as a group together.
Anyway, the concept was that you gather
a lot of interesting people and each one of
them gets to create their own character to
play, then we rehearse some songs, only not
too much, and eventually we would play these
large dance halls like Hótel Borg. That’s when
Bogomil Font came about He was this crooner,
with a huge Bulgarian moustache. Later, after
the Sugarcubes disbanded, I was broke and
needed money, so I thought I would form
a small pub-band with some friends. First, I
asked Bragi Ólafsson if we should put together
a mini-version of Kormákur B’s Jazz Band so
we could afford some food. He told me he
had given up on music and had decided to
become a writer instead. But he told me to
gather some people who knew how to play
and create a mambo band, which I did, more
as a joke really. But then it became a runaway
hit in 1992.
I had never intended to be a ball king in
Iceland, so when my wife told me she wanted
to go study in the US in ’93, I was just pleased
to leave this behind. But since then, I have
always tried to joke a little with this theatrical
character Bogomil, and I revive him every now
and then to earn me some money, although it
has nothing to do with creative integrity when
it comes to music. Obviously, he only sings
cover version, jazz and mambo, something
that is just fun to croon. But the strange twist
is that people always want to pay money to
listen to him, but when I try to do something
creative, like [percussion duo] Steintryggur,
that is an uphill battle all the way. But luckily,
I still have a humour for this.
So, again, like the Sugarcubes, this starts
out as an art-terrorism project, that be-
comes hugely successful.
Yes.
So, is it entirely possible for you to be a
successful art-terrorist?
No, you just have to keep the teeth sharp. It
helped me a lot when the band Flís approached
Bogomil to do a calypso record with them. That
allowed me to revive this concept with him, to
do a calypso record with sharp, straight cut-
ting lyrics. I was getting a little tired of being
stuck in this family entertainer role. Even if I
had humour for it, and it created money, it still
needs a blood transfusion every now and then
to stay fun. The record Bogomil made with Flís
is a cross-over. I am not singing Fly Me To The
Moon anymore. We wrote our own lyrics, and
that changed the whole concept. It became a
bit political, calypso music is so much fun, it is
very jolly music, but it always has this politi-
cal undercurrent and very sharp lyrics. That’s
where I found a new path for Bogomil, and
was able to do something that I felt mattered.
I was able to reconnect him with myself when
I started writing lyrics for him.
So are you more willing to be accepted
as a political musician then you were be-
fore?
Yes, I am doing this consciously now. When I
was in KUKL, I never expressed myself much
politically. My politics was more on a personal
level. I was trying to create revolutionary music.
That was my politics back then. Now I am not
trying to create political music, with [Bogomil
Font], but I regard Steintryggur, Parabola, and
these other projects as an extension of what I
was doing in KUKL. I am trying to create music
that I don’t hear anywhere else. Something
that is unique to me, which is something I
believe every creative artist tries to do, to cre-
ate something they think matters, something
that is an original creation. This sounds very
formal, but I think that it is still true.
But you’ve been a part of many differ-
ent projects lately, apart from Bogomil,
Parabola, and Steintryggur?
Yes, I enjoy playing with young musicians. I
have been playing with Sammi’s Big Band;
Ben Frost, a very avant-garde musician; and
Pétur Ben. These are all different things, but
I have such a wide musical palette, I enjoy
the variation, I need to stay busy with many
different things.
Do young musicians seek advice from
your experience?
I try not to give much advice. I am not sure I am
the right person for that. But I enjoy working
with young musicians and I am very happy to
have had that opportunity. Usually they have
come to me, but if you are open and seek out
new things in what you are doing, that will
happen. I’ve been lucky in that aspect. But I
have no grand master plan at work. I just try
to stay open to new things and to keep busy.
I am very happy with my career, and I think it
has been very colourful and varied.
I read somewhere that you were a part of
a project with [Type O Negative frontman]
Peter Steele, something called Icelandic
Ancestry?
Did you see this on Wikipedia? I have seen
this on Wikipedia also, and I have no idea
what this is. I found some guy on Wikipedia
called Peter Steele and I have no idea who he
is. I have been associated with many projects
on the web that I have no idea what it is. But
I have a likely explanation. When I lived in
the US, when my wife was studying there,
I was working in some studios there. One
of the things I did was to release three CDs
with beats. I know that people have used the
beats from these CDs in their music, but this
was sold as copyrighted material and used
with loop programs like Acid. I have found
people that have credited me as a drummer
in their projects when they have used these
CDs. Maybe they knew who I was, or enjoyed
the Sugarcubes or something. But even if they
use my beats, that is not the same thing. I was
also working as a session player in a studio
called Smart, which is owned by Butch Vig. I
recorded albums with many musicians there.
That’s how I think I became associated with
these different projects.
Since we are on US turf, it is probably best
to ask you about a consistent rumour that
you were offered a position as a drummer
in Pearl Jam.
I knew Eddie Vedder before he was a rock star
(Eddie Vedder roadied for the Sugarcubes), and
I met him again after he became a rock star
when we played a festival with them. He had
changed a bit; he became a very artsy reclusive
type, instead of the happy bouncy kid he used
to be. This is just when they are becoming
famous, back in ’92. He was already into that
part he plays with Pearl Jam, the serious wor-
ried type, a character that he has cultivated
very well. But they had some problems with
drummers in the beginning. Dave Abbruzzese
played with them on the first album, but quit
the band in ’94 or ’95. At that point, they were
looking for a drummer, and I get a call from
their agent’s office and some woman tells me
that Eddie had mentioned me as a possible
replacement and asked if I was interested in
auditioning. But I knew Eddie, and I thought
this was just so much bullshit, so I told her I
was ready to audition and said she could tell
Eddie to call me himself if he wanted me to
come in. But he was very sheltered, and kind
of paranoid, so I never expected him to call me.
Which he never did, this was just hyperbole.
This is probably just as good. I am not sure I
would have fit into that group, I mean, they
were playing grunge music, I would have had
to get an all-new wardrobe.
Confessions of an Art-Terrorist, Part II
Text by Sveinn Birkir Björnsson Photo by Gulli
“First, I asked Bragi
Ólafsson if we should put
together a mini-version of
Kormákur B’s Jazz Band
so we could afford some
food. He told me he had
given up on music and
had decided to become a
writer instead...”
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