Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.02.2010, Blaðsíða 26

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 02 — 2010
kimono needs no introduction to
the casual music fan, but it is al-
ways interesting to hear how bands
describe themselves. In this spirit:
"What is kimono? Where did it
come from? What is its narrative?"
Gylfi: kimono is about the struggle
between the good and evil that mostly
takes place inside our selves and some-
times between our selves. But this
struggle is necessary to achieve the
musical progress that essentially keeps
us going. It's also about adventure and
escapism; sort of a direct line to our fa-
vourite albums and songs.
Alex: Narratives are so last year... here
is a haiku instead:
Plinky and plonky
Not where you think the "1" is
From 3 heads come sound
You lost your bass player, found-
ing member Halldór, and then were
seemingly inactive for a few years.
Did you ever pack it in, or did you
keep on going, developing the
sound that's found on EM4DP? Was
the loss troublesome for you as a
band?
Gylfi: As a matter of fact, we were
very active for the entire time. We used
this time to decide what was best for
us in the situation—it was trial and er-
ror—until we decided on our direction,
to continue as a three-piece. But after
we found our new path, the rest came
pretty easy. It was a very easy album to
make, if there is such a thing.
Of course it's never easy to make an
album, but as opposed to our other al-
bums, this one came most fluidly. It was
hard to get there and we truly missed
our friend from the band, musically and
spiritually. But the loss wasn't trouble-
some like that, friendships are all still
intact, we just had to fine-tune the en-
gine that will take us through this new
phase. Dóri has always been very sup-
portive of us and he and Kjartan still
play together in Seabear.
In concert you perform in a very
concentrated and focused man-
ner—there doesn't seem to be a lot
of room for error or fuckupery in
general. Do you put a lot of empha-
sis in your stage show?
Alex: We fuck up lots, but you can't tell
because we play like ninjas. Actually,
Kjartan never fucks up come to think of
it. He's the über-Ninja.
Kjartan: We put a lot of work into
the stage show. We are only three so
there’s no room for someone not to
be 100%—everyone has to deliver. It
doesn’t always happen. I remember
when I stopped after only half a song
in Berlin because I thought it was over.
What has your most pleasant con-
cert experience thus far, and why?
Gylfi: For me it's usually the latest one
that I favour the most, because it's fresh
in the mind and your performance there
mirrors the shape you are in at present.
Playing concerts is like doing heroin,
it's a powerful thing that can lift you off
your feet, but when the high wears off,
you need another fix.
Have you really done heroin?
Gylfi: No, of course I haven't done
heroin. It's a metaphor, those are some-
what of a hobby to me. I've been told
that my metaphors tend do get weird.
How about the most unpleasant/
worst one? Why?
Alex: We once travelled all the way
across Germany to play to an empty
room, stay in a hotel and we got paid
more than we've ever been paid for a
show. I tell ya, it's lonely at the top.
Our reviewer Bob Cluness thought
your album title—Easy Music for
Difficult People—sounded stupid,
even though he loved the record. Do
you have anything to say to him? Is
this music for difficult people? Are
you guys difficult people?
Alex: Those who live in glasshouses
should not throw stones. What kind of
a name is Cluness?
Kjartan: It would have been worse if
Bobby had liked the title but not the al-
bum. Then I would like to talk to him.
kimono is difficult people, we are very
nice individuals but when we come
together then we can be very difficult,
especially to each other.
Gylfi: The review was pretty positive
and the fact that he didn‘t like the title
just means he doesn‘t understand it or
has little imagination. The title of the al-
bum is a pretty wide concept but you
must be willing to let your mind figure
it out.
EM4DP is a pretty dark record, huh?
Alex: Is it? Hmmm...
Gylfi: One thing all our albums have in
common is the dark shade that hovers
over them, but EM4DP is probably our
lightest and most accessible one. Some
people will probably agree that music
in a minor key can be very uplifting and
enriching. I like to think of our sound as
the one you hear when you're about to
return from a bad dream and wake up
to find that everything is fine.
Where do you see kimono going
over the next five years? Do you
guys have a plan, or are you more
operating on a 'for the fuck of it' ba-
sis?
Gylfi: We'll probably still be making
music together, but at our own pace.
We all have other careers and kids are
popping up everywhere, there are lives
that need to be tended to. But we have
a lot left in us as a band, and we're al-
ready thinking about our next album.
As you get older and you've been do-
ing this for almost 10 years like us, you
learn to use your time much more con-
structively; you get more work done in
less time. We will certainly make the
best out of ours.
Alex: We have plans for all of you. You
want to join my cult "for the fuck of it".
My... but... Grapevine really is a potty
mouth. Those prudish tourists aren't
kidding. It's all fuck this and fuckedy-
fuck fuck with you guys, isn't it? Fuck-
ing hell.
26
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Music | Interview
kimono:
LOWERCASE NINJAS
KEEP PILING IT ON
Mainstay indie-rock outfit kimono released one of 2009’s most criti-
cally lauded albums—Easy Music For Difficult People—four years
after they unleashed the equally critically lauded LP Arctic Death
Ship. The interim saw them move to Berlin, lose a founding member
and... settle down. Often cited as one of underground Reykjavík’s
most consistently influential acts (finding a young scene band that
doesn’t contain a kimono-worshipping guitar player is damn near
impossible), not a lot is known about these part-Canadian tricksters.
So we asked them some questions...
Go to www.kimono.is to learn more about kimono