Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.04.2008, Blaðsíða 6

Kraumur is a newly established fund that is fi-
nanced by the Aurora Foundation, which will as-
sist musicians financially in an effort to bring their
art to the masses. The first recipients from the
fund were recently introduced. The fund aims to
support established artists with generous dona-
tions. The first musicians who received direct sup-
port were: Mugison (4,000,000), Víkingur Heiðar
(1,500,000), Amiina (1,200,000) Celestine, Dikta,
Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir, FM Belfast, Skakkamanage
and Ólöf Arnalds (500,000 each). In addition, the
fund will support projects that will give musicians
an opportunity to tour the country and to finance
recording sessions.
Tell me a little about this new fund.
The Aurora Foundation is a charity fund that was
set up by Ólafur Ólafsson and his wife Ingibjörg
Kristjánsdóttir one year ago. It focuses on support-
ing charity work and cultural projects, and Krau-
mur is a fund that was set up as part of the Aurora
Foundation, to support musicians. The idea was
to establish a fund that would directly support
young musicians financially. We started this work
at the end of last year, trying to figure out how and
where the money would be put to the best use,
and how we could make sure it would benefit the
artists. Our goal is to support exciting projects and
exciting artists who are currently doing interest-
ing things.
The funding system for musicians and artists
in Iceland has been criticised for supporting
too many acts and donating too little money
to each act. But that is not the way Kraumur is
run. Mugison for example received four mil-
lion ISK to go on tour.
Yes, we decided to do this differently. I’m not even
sure if ‘fund’ is the right word for this, it is more of
an operation centre because we intend to partake
in the projects and work with the artists on their
projects. Of course, it will be up to the artists what
comes out of it. We will carefully select projects
to sponsor, not just projects that apply, but also
artists that we see and think are doing good things
and would like to sponsor. We are not just going to
wait for the artists to apply; we will also seek them
out. It would be a lot easier for us to sponsor 30
or 40 acts with a small amount; the need is such
among musicians that we could easily do that,
and it would change a lot for many musicians. But
we would rather carefully select ambitious proj-
ects and fund them properly, and trust the artists
to take it to the next level. Mugison for example
has a new album out and he has very ambitious
plans to go on tour through Europe, the US and
Canada and this financial support allows him to
take his whole band and pay them a salary, which
enables him to do the tour. Instead of supporting
ten bands to buy plane tickets to Amsterdam or
Copenhagen to play one show or one festival, we
want to support this tour properly. I would like to
stress that there are other very good funds that
support musicians, and we don’t want to follow in
their footsteps. We want to find where there is a
need for more support to take things to the next
level. Take Celestine for example, a hardcore band
that would probably be happy to receive 100,000,
but we choose to support them with 500,000 to re-
cord a new album, which is the same amount that
we give to Ólöf Arnalds and Dikta. (Amiina got a
little more than this.) Our goal is primarily to sup-
port established artists who need funding to take
the next step, rather than to reach out to young
and promising artists who are just starting out.
The list of artists the fund supports is quite
varied, from classical pianist Víkingur Heiðar
to hardcore bands like Celestine.
Yes, we would rather support quality than link the
fund to a certain type of music.
But why music? Why not something else?
I’m probably not the right person to ask that
question; it was not my decision really. I was just
brought in to manage the fund. But there is a lot of
need for financial support for musicians. There is
a very lively scene here but it is a small market and
so it’s very difficult for musicians to finance their
art by selling records or playing live.
This makes you one of the most influential
players, the king really, in the Icelandic mu-
sic industry, doesn’t it? You manage this fund
and you manage the Iceland Airwaves music
festival. Does this affect your relationship
with musicians?
I don’t know. That is a very fair question, but it
would probably be better for someone else to
answer whether I am becoming too influential.
In this case I think these two responsibilities fit
very nicely together. I am not alone in making
these decisions; not with Kraumur and nor with
Iceland Airwaves. Of course there is always a lot
of speculation and talk over who is going to play
where and when during the Iceland Airwaves fes-
tival, but I think that is positive. People care and
it shows that the festival is important. By the same
token, I think it is normal that people disagree on
which artists Kraumur should sponsor. We are se-
lecting a few projects to support substantially, and
I realise that our selection is always going to be
debateable. I think that’s natural. But I am certain
that I am the right person to manage both proj-
ects. I have both my feet on the ground and I think
I have proven that. And I have not felt any animos-
ity from musicians...
How do you select the projects to fund? And
how many applications for funding did you
receive?
We’ve received a great number of both formal and
more informal applications and enquiries. The
formal ones number well over 100. The criteria
is simply quality. We want to support ambitious,
quality projects that are realistic and we want to
support artists who have established themselves
as such.
There was one project that was supported
that surprised me a bit. ‘Rokkað hringinn’
with Rás 2 (a project organised by Rás 2 radio
station of the state-owned National Broad-
casting Service where three bands tour the
country and play in various locations). I ques-
tion whether it is right for a private sponsor-
ship fund like this one to support a project
that is set up by a public company such as the
National Broadcasting Service.
I think we have to make a clear distinction here.
We are not supporting the company; we are di-
rectly supporting the artists who are taking part
in the project. This is part of an effort to try to sup-
port artists who want to tour Iceland. It has been
easier for musicians to get funding to tour abroad
than to tour Iceland. We want to make it possible
for musicians to play outside Reykjavík. Rás 2 has
organised this project, but we are supporting the
artists financially so they can take a week off work
to be a part of this project. This is not money that
is intended to finance the tour, or the PR aspect,
this is intended for artists exclusively.
But shouldn’t this be the responsibility of the
radio station?
It is not really for me to answer that question, but
there is not a lot of money involved in that project
on behalf of Rás 2. The artists are not receiving
much, so we decided to support them. This is a
good and ambitious project that matches our
goals.

By Sveinn Birkir Björnsson
Wanted: Musicans to Support
“I think it is normal that
people disagree on which
artists Kraumur should
sponsor. We are selecting
a few projects to support
substantially, and I rea-
lise that our selection is
always going to be de-
bateable.”
As manager of the Iceland Airwaves music festival
and the Kraumur music fund, Eldar Ástþórsson is
one of the most influential players in the Icelandic
music scene. Photo by GAS
06 | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 04 2008 | Interview