Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.01.2008, Qupperneq 31

Interview | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 01 2008 | B15
Cappuccino + bagle + yoghurt = 650 kr.
If anyone knows how to please their fans it’s the
electro maniacs in GusGus. The group’s catchy
beats and eclectic vibe have been a huge draw
among clubbers of all nationalities for years and
at the same time have made the band a notori-
ous live act across the globe. When performing
on their home ground, at club NASA, things tend
to be a little too hot for the crowd to handle and
when the band played the packed venue on De-
cember 29 last year, it was no exception.
With one club hit after another the atmo-
sphere soon became aggressive to say the least.
Total mayhem in fact. Fights broke out between
a few intoxicated “fans” but the more peaceful
and appreciative masses couldn’t have cared less
about the drunken’ party-poopers and danced
until their feet couldn’t carry them anymore. The
sweaty crowd later rushed outside at the crack of
dawn and left the floor at NASA resembling a post-
combat scene.
GusGus members were in the mood to party.
This was the last show of a successful Forever tour,
(to support the band’s latest release) and they and
their followers were to say a proper goodbye to
their vocalist Earth (Urður Hákonardóttir), a key
member of the family for the past seven years.
Urður has left GusGus and plans to pursue a solo
career, leaving only two of the founding members,
President Bongo and Biggi Veira, to keep the torch
burning.
A few days into the New Year, I sit down with
Urður at a much quieter location, the coffeehouse
10 Dropar. In between spoon-feeding her one-
and-a-half-year-old daughter Kría with an appetis-
ing meat-soup, she discusses how it feels to say
goodbye to the successful teamwork and what the
future holds for her as soloist.
Flying Solo
“I had a blast and the feedback was great. I really
couldn’t have been more satisfied with the night,”
Urður says of her last GusGus show. Since its foun-
dation in 1995, GusGus’s line-up has scaled down
a great deal and when Urður came to the rescue
she entered a new band. Several members had left
but she injected a lot of energy into the band with
her unique voice and vivid stage presence and
has released two hyped records with the seem-
ingly immortal party-troop. So why leave now?
“For me and my music career it’s a next step.
It’s like moving away from home and now I want
to try to create something on my own. Our col-
laboration had come to an end and I’m leaving
on good terms. [Biggi and President Bongo] will
continue to do their music and we will continue to
be friends and love each other, forever.”
The past years have seen extensive touring
around the world. “That’s probably what I’ll miss
the most because we put on super live shows to-
gether. In my view, [GusGus] is the best live band
there is,” she says, and plenty of concertgoers
would easily agree. The concerts are more like
happenings; visually engaging and always inter-
esting to witness. “We’ve played countries that I
would have been unlikely to visit otherwise, like
Singapore, Russia, Turkey, Croatia, Montenegro
and the Middle East. To get the chance to travel
and play in front of a huge audience is a privi-
lege.”
Once Urður’s daughter Kría was old enough,
she and a babysitter came along on tour, which
Urður tells me was no problem at all. “I find it quite
funny when I hear people say that the reason I’m
leaving GusGus is to focus on being a mother. I
don’t find it an insult to me personally but rather
an insult to women in general – this concept that
you need to drop everything you are doing to be a
parent. I, at least, don’t see it that way. I’m a good
mother and it hasn’t stopped me from doing the
same things as before she was born.”
Urður says she has no clear picture of how
things will evolve in terms of her solo career and
the musical direction in which she is moving, but
admits that she is influenced by the dance scene
that has been such a big part of her life. “The
songs I’ve written up until now are both soothing
melodies and danceable tunes. The album will
probably be house oriented but without as much
techno as Biggi produces. I want to experiment
with instruments and make an album people can
play at home anytime of the week, not just as a
warm up before partying.”
By now, Kría is getting tired of me interrupt-
ing their lunch-time and demands some more
attention from her Mum, so I conclude by asking
Urður how she sees the next months, free from
touring and tackling crazy crowds at NASA and
beyond. “What I know is that this will be a great
year! I’ll put the emphasis on my album, which I
plan to finish in 2008. Then we’ll just see what hap-
pens”.
Text by Steinunn Jakobsdóttir
Earth Waves Goodbye to GusGus
Earth’s final hour.
Photo by GAS
“I had a blast and the
feedback was great. I re-
ally couldn’t have been
more satisfied with the
night,” Urður says of her
last GusGus show.