Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.07.2008, Blaðsíða 20

20 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 09—2008
Mammút
THE GRAPEVINE: Since the first record came
out in 2006, you’ve had a change in your line-up,
switching out your bassist for Ása. Other than the
logistics, or perhaps because of them, have there
been any other changes within the band?
ALExANDRA: Maybe just that when we started
we were more just like acquaintances, we didn’t
know each other extremely well. Since then we’ve
travelled overseas and been together a significant
amount of time, so we’ve become more like best
friends.
ÁSA: More like a whole.
ALExANDRA: So we’re also maybe more honest
and forthright with each other when we’re writing
songs.
ÁSA: We can fight and still be O.K.
kATA: I think that really comes out on this new
record. We’ve become a lot closer and I think the
music has changed because of it. Also this new re-
cord has all these crazy pop-speculations. I think
it’s very poppy, or at least, much more poppy than
the first one.
ALExANDRA: Right before we went into the stu-
dio we were really thinking that the record would
be too heavy, too hard, because there were some
melodies that weren’t completely finished and
such. But that changed really quickly as soon as
we started recording.
THE GRAPEVINE: You hadn’t planned to make it
lighter when you entered the studio, it just sort of
evolved that way?
kATA: Yes.
ÁSA: In a completely positive way.
kATA: We had somehow decided that this record
would be really heavy but then somehow our
minds changed mid-process and it just started
getting more and more poppy.
THE GRAPEVINE: Since you formed the band
right before Músíktilraunir 2004, and since you
released your first record 2006, how have your ex-
pectations as a band changed?
ALExANDRA: It’s always somehow been just one
step at a time. We started with trying to win some
song competition, and then that was the biggest
feat we could imagine, and then it turned into
competing in Músíktilraunir.
kATA: And when we competed in Músíktilraunir
and won, you know, we hadn’t even started dream-
ing of giving out a record, and then once we did
that, then that was the absolute best we could
ever do, we couldn’t go any higher than that. Now
we’ve topped ourselves again, and we’re giving
out another record, but now maybe we’re allow-
ing ourselves slightly higher expectations, it just
comes with the territory I think.
ALExANDRA: We’ve been such a luck band, or
at least I feel like we’ve achieved a lot compard
to how we...
ÁSA: Suck?
ALExANDRA: Compared to how incredibly un-
diligent we are at promoting ourselves. There has
been a lot that just sort of fell into our hands and
people have had contact with us...
THE GRAPEVINE: Well you’ve had some experi-
ence playing abroad and with foreign journalists
who have received you well. Are you not thinking
in terms of exporting yourselves or your music?
ÁSA: We really want to go on tour, just something
small. Maybe around Europe or the States.
ALExANDRA: Either way really, I mean if it was
offered to us, of course.
ÁSA: We want just as much to tour Iceland, I think
that would be hugely fun. Like at first, we were go-
ing to have the record in English, and then all of a
sudden we realised, no, we speak Icelandic, we’ll
sing in Icelandic.
kATA: And also it just wasn’t coming out natu-
rally in English.
ÁSA: We were just thinking of how it could be re-
ceived abroad, and of course you shouldn’t think
that way.
THE GRAPEVINE: So you trust in the scene here,
in Reykjavík, as far as the reception and all that?
It is enough?
ÁSA: Yeah, except of course there’s not a lot of
money in it.
kATA: Also, with playing just forever in Reykjavík,
especially when you’ve been playing here a lot...
because you’re not usually playing some fancy
concert with good sound, you’re playing at Bar
11 where you can’t hear anyone and everything
is really sketchy and there are guys on speed try-
ing to head-butt you and stuff. So you know, that’s
maybe also something that tickles you, as far as
going abroad, that you want to sort of...
ÁSA: Try something new.
kATA: Yeah, get fresh ears to listen, you know.
ALExANDRA: That was exactly the case with a
concert we played at Organ last week, because
our single [Svefnsýkt] has been in frequent play
on The X, and we played this concert, and we
hadn’t played in a long time, and all of a sudden
we were seeing these new faces. The majority of
the people there were people that we had never
seen before, just people who listen to The X at
work or something.
ÁSA: It was so funny because they sort of didn’t
know how to act, like when everyone was getting
a beer before the concert started, they were just
standing there,
ALExANDRA: You could kind of tell apart the
people who frequent concerts and the people
who don’t.
ÁSA: Not the usual concert rats.
ALExANDRA: Which was a lot of fun.
ÁSA: Crazy fun.
THE GRAPEVINE: I think it’s interesting that you
have a majority of girls in your band, that there
are three of you considering how few women
there are generally in bands here, especially rock
bands. There are women in the pop and elec-
tronica scene a little bit, but in rock bands there
are very few. What are your thoughts as to why
that is?
ÁSA: Maybe just shyness or something. It’s such
like, a sausage fest.
kATA: Yeah I think it’s something like that.
ÁSA: But I mean, I think every girl wants to be in
a band.
ALExANDRA: It’s much easier than it looks.
kATA: When we formed our band we were just
three girls starting out and we weren’t thinking
of ourselves as a rock band more than anything
else, but then we started thinking why girls aren’t
more in rock bands. That’s just something really
strange, why that isn’t the case.
ALExANDRA: I don’t know if it plays into it at all,
but in the scene that we’re playing in there is of
course a lot of mess and a lot of partying and a lot
of hassle. Like the way it is in Reykjavík you have
to be your own roadie and you’re essentially just
paying to be in a band. Paying for rehearsal space
and equipment and all that. It’s a lot of...
ÁSA: Hassle.
THE GRAPEVINE: And girls are less interested in
hassle than boys?
ÁSA: Yeah (laughs)
ALExANDRA: Yeah, maybe it’s just that some girls
don’t want to bother dealing with the hassle of this
penis-rock scene. And I mean you don’t necessar-
ily get a lot more out of playing than maybe you
know, three beers at the bar, or something.
ÁSA: Or not.
ALExANDRA: Or not. Mostly not.
The Sweaty
Musical Armpit
INTERVIEWS By valgerÐur ÞÓroddSdÓttir — pHoto By gaS
WHO
Mammút
MEMBERS
Alexandra Baldursdóttir (Guitar)
Vilborg Ása Dýradóttir (Bass Guitar)
Andri Jakobson (Drums)
Katrína Mogensen (Vocals, keyboard)
Arnar Pétursson (Guitar)
ACTIVE
Since 2003
DISCOGRAPHY
Mammút (debut, 2006)