Reykjavík Grapevine - 17.10.2008, Síða 20

For those that don’t know a lot about your shows, what can we expect at Airwaves
this year?
Árni V: We may have up to 11 people on stage at this festival. We have made
some friends, and maybe they will join us. It’s going to be a big party and we’re
expecting a bear on stage.
Sounds like The Flaming Lips.
Lóa: The Flaming Belfast! I like shows and props.
Árni H: The little bear will be inside a bubble.
You’re making quite a number of appearances aren’t you?
Árni H: We are playing five shows but we also have to get the album out.
Árni V: We have a lot to do but we have been ill.
Lóa: Árni V has had pneumonia and the other Árni had a fever.
I hope you have recovered in time.
Árni H: We like being in limbo and the uncertainty of knowing if we’re gonna
be sick or not.
The new album is called ‘How To Make Friends,’ how is this significant?
Árni V: We have been making songs and travelling and we made some friends
along the way.
Árni H: It should really be called ‘How We Made Friends’ instead.
But it’s kind of nice as a ‘user guide’ perhaps?
Lóa: I actually made a user guide for ‘How To Make Friends’ at summer camp
once. It was a comic strip of how to approach other kids that are cool without look-
ing too desperate.
Árni H: I stole the name. It’s supposed to be positive.
Regarding the lyrics in the new track ‘Tropical’: who is this Nelson you speak
about?
Lóa: There are three people on this tropical island. Pedro is a monkey that plays
keyboard and Nelson is the boyfriend.
Árni H: The song is about the Faroe Islands.
Lóa: We played a concert in a cave in the Faroe Islands and we wanted to make
a tropical song about something that’s completely not tropical. That was our first
ever show.
But you played your first official show at Airwaves 2006 right?
Árni H: Yes. We were all in denial that we were not stressed. All our stomachs
were really bad.
Wow, are you always ill for Airwaves?
Árni H: We were just really stressed out because it was our first show.
Lóa: It was bizarre.
Árni V: There was this young kid that said if we were to puke onstage we should
just ‘do the dragon’. Just hold out our hands...
Lóa: ... and vomit, like breathing out fire.
That would have topped The Flaming Lips for a spectacle! How has the band
progressed since back then?
Árni H: We are more secure on stage but are still in denial though. We get
stomach problems still of course.
Do you feel this is good timing for the shows and the album, like an anniver-
sary?
Árni V: Yes. The band was conceived at Christmas but born at Airwaves 2006.
What else can we expect from you?
Árni H: A lot of new songs.
Songs that are not on the album?
Everyone: Yes
Do you have plans for a new record already?
Árni H: Not when to release it, but there are about twenty or thirty ideas for the
next one. This is only our first album and focuses on the past.
Where did the band’s name come from?
Árni H: FM Belfast sounded like a cool name.
And you sound better than the radio stations in Northern Ireland.
Árni V: We are really fond of Ireland and Belfast. It feels like it’s our home
town.
Árni H: We would really like to go there.
Lóa: We actually got an email from a woman who had just moved to Belfast ask-
ing us what we recommended to do there!
Árni V: Have a taste of the haggis there! It’s unbelievably good. A pint and a
punt!
FM
BELFAST
HAVE JUST RELEASED THEIR DEBUT ALBUM ‘HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS’
JUST IN TIME FOR AIRWAVES. THEIR ELECTRONICA IS GAINING A STRONG
REPUTATION BOTH AT HOME IN ICELAND AND ABROAD. HERE, THREE OF
THE CORE MEMBERS TALK ABOUT LITTLE BEARS, TROPICAL ISLANDS AND
BREATHING OUT FIRE.
wOrDS bY MarKuS waLSh
PhOTOgraPhY baLDur KriSTJÁnS