Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.02.2013, Page 28

THE NUMBER 1 MUSIC STORE
IN EUROPE ACCORDING TO
LONELY PLANET
SKÓLAVÖRÐUSTÍG 15, 101 REYKJAVÍK AND HARPA CONCERT HALL
Oyama Horseback riding with a fast-rising local band
As news broke of them launching
their first EP, ‘I Wanna,’ we decided
it was time to take this hard working
band out for some well-deserved fun
and games. So we took them horse-
back riding. We picked them up the
morning after their EP release concert
at Faktorý and got to know them as
we headed to the stables.
When you formed this band,
did you hope or expect to take
this direction so quickly?
Júlia: I don’t think any of us
thought this would happen, but at the
same time we all worked really hard
and put all our energy into this.
Úlfur: Over a year ago, I realised
that I had been in bands for four years
but none of them played my favourite
kind of music, which is the kind that
Oyama plays. This kind of nineties,
indie, melodic, woozy rock with slow
eerie vocals. Nice stuff like that. I de-
cided I had to form a band that played
what I really like.
Is it all your favourite
kind of music?
Júlía: It’s not my top favourite but
it’s definitely something I find really
fun and that I can perform. I mean, I
really like rap music but I can’t rap,
so… [laughs.]
Rúnar: For me, it has a lot to do
with when I was a teenager and I was
just getting into music; that was the
kind of music I really liked then, so
it kind of shaped how I perceive mu-
sic and how it should be. Now I don’t
listen to this kind of music every day,
but I think it has a lot to do with that.
[Rest of the band agrees.]
Úlfur: I just started writing songs
that I would want My Bloody Valen-
tine, Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr. to
write. Thinking like, if I was in those
bands, what kind of song would I
write, and I worked with that.
Is that not being a
bit derivative?
Úlfur: No, because they are still
our songs. We are still writing our
own melodies. We’re just under the
influence, you could say, but they
would never write the songs we write.
Júlía: For me the most important
thing is not writing “shoegaze” mu-
sic but writing good music, so if they
wrote shoegaze but they were shitty
songs, I wouldn’t have joined the
band. Honestly, when I showed up to
the first practice I only knew Bergur,
and I was really bored and thinking,
“oh shit, maybe they’re terrible mu-
sicians, but I’ll give them a chance!”
[Everyone laughs.]
Bergur: If you’re asked to join a
band that tells you “yeah, we’re do-
ing nineties grunge shoegaze stuff,”
it can be really, really shitty. It’s very
dependent on very good song writ-
ing.
Úlfur: I wouldn’t even call us a
shoegaze band because our new
songs are already starting to go in
another direction. More psychedelic.
Júlía: Yeah, we’re moving a little
bit more into our own thing and the
people who come to our shows seem
to be really into it, so maybe that’s a
sign that we should move a bit fur-
ther.
How does it feel to have had
all these big things happen in
the last few months and to be
on the cusp of more?
Júlía: It’s great, but scary. I’ve
been making music for so long but
more as a hobby and now it’s more
like work.
Rúnar: Extremely overwhelming,
but really enjoyable. I love it. When I
was playing with Me, the Slumber-
ing Napoleon, we were so lazy. It was
just dudes hanging out and making
eccentric music that only we kind of
got. Oyama is so active and it’s so
much fun. We’ve had a lot of success
and it’s like… holy shit. This could be
for real. - REBECCA LOUDER
This time last year, the band Oyama did not exist. By May, the five-piece was playing gigs and having their praises sung by fans and critics alike for
their grungy, gauzy, early ‘90s slow-core tunes. They landed a management deal with Projekta after playing every night of Airwaves in November. Now
they are headed to by:Larm in Oslo in two weeks, followed by SXSW in Austin, Texas this March and The Great Escape in Brighton, England this May.
28The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 2 — 2013
On
A
D
at
e With:
On
A
D
ate
With:
Our trip took place the day after their
EP release concert, which they natural-
ly followed by some serious partying.
After a rousing ninety-minute horse-
back ride through a snowy lava field
outside of Hafnarfjörður, they looked a
little exhausted and three of them were
frozen to the bone (and that’s why you
always wear the coveralls!), but also
invigorated and refreshed. Here’s what
they each had to say about their expe-
rience.
Bergur Anderson
Bass
(also of Sudden Weather Change)
Horse’s name: Embla
Although the excur-
sion was refreshing
enough to cure his
hangover, by the
end he was riding
shotgun with the
tour leader, who
was firmly holding onto his horse’s
reins. “I think it’s because it was very
windy,” he said. “It makes the horses
very tense and mine was freaking out.
She just wanted to run back home.”
Júlía Hermannsdóttir
Vocals and keyboard
(also of We Painted The Walls and
Feather & Folly (NYC))
Horse’s name: Slaufa
Having been a regular
equestrian as a kid,
she was the only ex-
perienced rider of the
bunch and didn’t let a
little flu and fever stop
her from having a nice
day. “She was a very good horse,” she
said. “She just did everything I told her
to so that was nice.”
Kári Einarsson
Guitar
(also of Fist Fokkers)
Horse’s name: Sykur
Seemingly the most
exhausted of the lot,
he bundled up in a
snowsuit and sad-
dled up on a horse
that looked like it had
a bit of an attitude problem. “He’s
okay, but seems to have a really big
head,” he said. “He just kept biting on
the metal thing!”
Rúnar Örn Magnússon
Drums
(also of Me, the Slumbering Napoleon)
Horse’s name: Ísar
Since he had never
ridden a horse
before, he admits
being nervous be-
forehand but con-
cealed it well. “I
was always kind
of afraid of riding and I’m surprised
how it wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “My
favourite part was when my horse
wasn’t running, but I’m really glad we
went. It was great.”
Úlfur Alexander Einarsson
Vocals and guitar
(also of Swords of Chaos, Útidúr and
Fist Fokkers)
Horse’s name: Eldur
Prior to arriving at
the stables, he jok-
ingly maintained that
he had never seen a
horse. He, too, opted
out of the snowsuit
and it made his already bad hangover all
the worse. “It was fun, but I had a pretty
bad headache,” he said. “And it was ex-
tremely cold. We will never forget it.”
Horsing Around
Horseback riding trip provided by Íshestar, located in Hafnarfjörður, 20 minutes from Reykjavík.
For more information about the tours they offer go to www.ishestar.is
This is the first instalment of a new series where we take an interview out on an activ-
ity. Really it’s just a way for us to scam a date with some of the super cool, culturally
relevant and interesting people in town. Lucky us!