Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.03.2009, Page 28

Socialist fun for the whole family
“This festival has always been like some weird
Biblical fable of folks coming together to make a
good thing,” he continues, “and I think that reflects
in the event itself, all the good spirit that goes into
creating it makes up the joyful and celebratory at-
mosphere that guests and performers alike revel in.
People sometimes call it ‘Mugison’s party’, and that
is one misconception I’d like to correct. AFS and
the ideals behind it are much bigger than myself:
it’s a socialist endeavour that consists of everyone
who lends a hand, the bands that come to have a
good time and play their 20 minute sets for free and
every single audience member that shows up and
contributes to the spirit.”
Putting together each festival’s line up is al-
ways a feat. In booking acts, festival organisers
put tremendous effort to bring together a carefully
proportioned mix of veteran pop superstars, local
Westfjords talent and eclectic indie darlings; it’s
probably the only festival in the world where trou-
badours and bar-bands play alongside experimen-
tal ambient techno artists and growling deathrock-
ers. The crowd cheers on every single act equally.
“This really contributes to the spirit of the whole
thing—people stay and take in artists they’ve may-
be never heard of playing music they wouldn’t nor-
mally give five seconds. Grandmothers get in the
groove of Kippi Kanínus and hipsters rock out to
Siggi Björns and Villi Valli. It breaks barriers and
brings people together.”
“I guess our biggest problem has always been
saying no,” Mugison continues. “Almost every good
band in Iceland approaches us to play. Even after
expanding AFS to a two-day event we still can’t fit
in everyone. But we try our darnedest.” The festi-
val’s track record of featuring everyone from Kira
Kira and Sigur Rós (in country mode) to Megas to
SSSól to everyone in between supports that indeed
almost every musician in Iceland has played there
at some point.
The Aldrei Fór Ég Suður Festival will take
place in an undisclosed Ísafjörður location on
April 10th and 11th, from around 2pm ‘til late. At the
time of writing, the following acts were confirmed
to appear: múm, Dr. Spock, Reykjavík!, Kraftlyft-
ing, Hemmi Gunn, Sin Fang Bous, Agent Fresco,
Sökudólgarnir, Sudden Weather Change, Stórsveit
Vestfjarða, Klikkhausarnir and Fjallabræður. Close
to 30 acts will perform at the festival in all, so stay
tuned to www.aldrei.is for up to date info.
Trip provided by: Air Iceland
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28 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 3—2009
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DESTINATION By HAUkUr S mAGNÚSSON — PHOTO By Jói kJArTANS
Never Let Down: Aldrei Fór Ég Suður
Gearing up for its fifth year, Europe’s biggest little music festival just plain refuses to quit
For a free two-day event that involves airlifting the
better part (in every sense of the word) of Iceland’s
musicians to a remote part of the country and
keeping them stocked on beer, food and blankets
for two days, during the economically ravaged
2009 shouldn’t bode too well. The days of cash-
bloated corporations throwing money at anything
that moves in an artful manner are behind us, and
most corporate sponsored events are now forced
to dramatically scale down—lest they shut down
completely.
Not Ísafjörður’s Aldrei fór ég suður.
“The first time we did the festival, we just en-
thusiastically asked a bunch of bands we liked to
come,” AFS honcho Mugison tells me over tea and
scones in his Súðavík flat. It’s a beautiful day in the
northwest corner of Iceland and the burning sun
sparkles off the ocean through his windows. “We
didn’t have any idea how we’d pull it off; no money
for airfares or lodging. But we managed to hustle
in some sponsors and it somehow worked. Since
then, we’ve been doing that, pretty much. Making
it happen, for better or worse—it always winds up
working like a miracle. Right now we’re in the pro-
cess of securing financial sponsors for the upcom-
ing bash, and things seem to be coming together
nicely.”
Every Easter since 2004, the cream of Ice-
land’s musical crop has collectively made its way
to the Westfjords town of Ísafjörður (pop. 3.000),
where they join local artists to revel in the pure,
unabashed joy of music. A celebration of local tal-
ent and rural heritage along with the best of what’s
happening in the capital, the ‘Aldrei fór ég suður’
festival is the brainchild of Ísafjörður’s own Mugi-
son and his father, local harbourmaster Guðmun-
dur M. Kristjánsson (Muggi or PapaMug).
Mugison waxes on, emphasising the nature
of AFS as one big group effort of modern-day barn
raising. “A lot of people pitch in and help out, and
that’s what’s important. AFS really wouldn’t be any-
thing were it not for the awesome folks that put in
tremendous work each year to ensure we have a
festival. Some of them, like Ísafjörður’s son-in-law
Jón Þór Þorleifsson, reel in sponsors and funding
relentlessly and creatively, while others build our
stage or man the soundboards.”
MUGISON AND HIS LONELY MOUNTAIN VIEW