Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.10.2007, Qupperneq 12

You’ve been getting decent press abroad, notably in magazines such
as Bon, BPM, and Missbehave, but do you think you’re better known
for the “look” than the sound?
Svala: We’ve always had an interest in clothes. We’re clothes fanatics, and
have been since we were kids, but the music is naturally just number one. The
rest is just decoration.
Einar: I don’t think it’s changed a whole lot. The music and this style if you can
call it that, just however we dress, it’s all happening around the same time. I’m
really inspired when I’m making music by the old rave stuff that we were into
when we were like ten or twelve years old.
Svala: Yeah, I’m thirty so in ’94, ’93 I was a teenager.
Einar: We were actually at the raves back in the day... we’re that old.
Svala: Of course you sort of carry that with you. It’s just a sort of nostalgia. We
design a lot of our own clothes and have an interest in that.
Einar: But we’re just happy that there is action in the clubs again. In the mid-
90’s dance music was just... well there was so much of it that it just became
worn-out.
Svala: It was horrible. And then it all went underground somehow.
Einar: Until quite recently. Like when we were playing in Amsterdam with
some rave-punkers, where the kids dress, like, more insane than we do, we
felt just like, woah! The scene is back! The same vibe that was in ’95, ’94 when
you were 13 or 14 trying to get into some club. And the old breaks are back in
the music. Although the beats are tighter and cooler, all this new dance music
is just referencing this old rave-stuff.
Svala: You can’t just reinvent the wheel and make completely new music. It’s
all been done before, somehow.
But what is it then that you add? What is your input in this musical
rehashing?
Svala: We of course write everything from scratch, all the melodies are origi-
nal, and we’re not doing any cover songs, not any.
Einar: We’re just inspired by all kinds of stuff. It’s clichéd to say it but we’re just
as inspired by a mountain as we are by Grace Jones. There is some sound and
some music and you make it and it’s magic, an you have fun.
Svala: We can name some names like Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Herbie
Hancock...
Erling: And then all the way into something completely different, west-coast
hardcore gangster rap. That’s how it mixes together and becomes so unique.
What about a record? It’s been rumoured to be on the horizon.
Einar: We plan to release it in Iceland in February. First we’re releasing an
EP, abroad and here at home, and we’re doing that first because we’ve never
released anything, and it’s time we did, just because we want to test it out,
abroad and such.
Svala: It’ll be nice also just to have the album in our hands. Just to be able to
start writing new music, it’s good to get it out there.
Einar: Yeah we have to get this out. We’ve been playing so much this year
and it’s been delayed a little bit. Everything is constantly changing and there’s
always something new, so that you’re like “hey shit!” and your whole day
changes.
Erling: Like what’s happening right now.
Einar: (laughs) Yeah, and there’s always something crazy fun going on, and
the world is getting so ridiculously small. But the record, we plan to finish it in
November after Airwaves and mix it before Christmas. But first the EP.
And still no record deal?
Einar: No, we plan to release it ourselves.
But are you hoping for one?
Einar: We’re just checking things out.
Svala: We really want to do it ourselves and have our own label.
Eðvarð: We’ve been doing everything ourselves anyhow.
Svala: I’ve had a lot of experience because I was signed in the States with a
big label and there was a lot of money and all that but in the end I didn’t get
to decide anything.
Einar: The music business has changed so incredibly much. Now you can
release your music, you can sell it yourself and you just need a distribution
partner, whom you pay some cost for selling your music. You don’t need to go
through a label. But if some great label comes around and wants to do some-
thing good for us then we’ll totally go for it.
This year you’ll be playing Gaukurinn, which is a bit larger than (the
late) Pravda where you played last year, but maybe not too big?
Erling: The size of the club doesn’t really matter at all. I like doing small clubs,
where there’s a good atmosphere and it’s hot and people take off their shirts.
Svala: The second time we ever played together we played a concert in the
Naked Ape.
Einar: Inside the store
Svala: And it was absolutely crazy. It was packed full of people and it was so
hot and people just started getting undressed. It’s totally fun playing for 2,000
people but sometimes it’s harder to connect [with the crowd] when there’s
such a big space between you. People can actually touch you when you’re in a
small venue, you can just be with the people.
Einar: Yeah, sweating with the people. That’s the real deal.
Words by Valgerður Þóroddsdóttir
Steed Lord
Interview
Kali, M.E.G.A., Demo and A.C. Banana$, a.k.a. Svala, Einar, Eðvarð and Erling, are a next-
generation family-band. Three brothers, and one girlfriend. As well as recently designing a line
for H&M, the electro-crunk-house foursome has gained a cult following abroad with their
prolific Myspace page, which has received over 280,000 hits to date. And they have yet to
release a thing..
Steed Lord play at Gaukurinn tonight at 22:15
Photo by Jói Kjartans