Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.07.2013, Blaðsíða 40

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Snæfellsjökull Healing
The spirit of Extreme Chill Festival 2013
Armed only with rumours that I would most likely encoun-
ter cold weather and people doing A LOT of drugs, I head-
ed for the fourth annual Extreme Chill Festival bundled
up in my warmest gear, haunted by visions of neon booty
shorts and glowsticks. What I didn’t expect to find was a
warm and welcoming group of electronic musicians and
fans communing with nature under Hellissandur’s mysti-
cal glacier, Snæfellsjökull.
Calm before the storm
We set up camp in a grassy field near a corral of friendly
Icelandic horses that came right up to the fence to watch
the first tents pop up. A group had already established it-
self at the far end of the site, with eight smaller tents sur-
rounding a covered communal area complete with a voo-
doo skull planted on a stake. Despite the skull, the group
was incredibly welcoming and explained they had come
together to honour the memory of a recently passed friend
who had brought them all together. As the campsite began
to fill up, car stereos pumped muffled beats and a small
colony of nomads formed and spread out along the banks
of a small stream.
Up the street from the campsite, a few Extreme Chill
posters pasted to covered windows identified Röst, a mod-
est venue with all the necessary amenities including a siz-
able stage, a projection booth and acoustic wood panel-
ling. Inside, electronic music pulsed along to visualizations
from the surrounding environment: snowy roads, rushing
waves, craggy rocks and grassy fields. Tea candles and
incense burned on tabletops surrounded by chairs. The
overall effect was more calming than raving. Throughout
the festival it was common for the crowd to sit or lay-down,
some even practiced yoga near the front of the stage.
According to Árni Grétar, a.k.a. Futuregrapher, Extreme
Chill is unlike any other electronic music festival because
of this spiritual element. While violent fights are common
at many Icelandic festivals, Árni maintained Extreme Chill
attendees “don’t want to destroy themselves or others.”
Which is an atmosphere the controlled number of attend-
ees, purposefully capped at 400, helps maintain.
However, this is not to say the festival was lacking in
moments of intensity. The second day in particular fea-
tured the eerie stylings of father-son duo, Stefán Finnboga
Péturs; the heavy beats of the Swiss artist Mimetic, and the
hardcore dance rhythms of 101 Reykjavík’s Future grapher
and Maggi Lego.
Beyond the MacBook
I talked with one of Extreme Chill’s organisers, Andri Már
Arnlaugsson, at Kaffi Sif, where performers and attend-
ees congregated over beers and hamburgers. As we sat
on the outdoor deck, he explained the festival’s rigorous
selection process: “We seek out performers with a stage
presence. Nobody wants to see a guy standing behind a
MacBook. Enough of that already.”
Acts like Úlfur, Modesart and Samaris featured live in-
strumentals, most unconventionally with Tumi Árnason
on saxophone. My only criticism would be that with the
exception of Jófríður Ákadóttir and Áslaug Rún Magnús-
dóttir of Samaris, the festival’s line-up was overwhelming-
ly male. Overall, the festival successfully highlighted some
of the best experimental electronic music in Iceland while
attracting big foreign names. Unfortunately, Le Sherifs
from Egypt were unable to make it due to political unrest
in Cairo.
Techno teepee
After the official sets ended at around 3:00, the party con-
tinued at the campsite. Local kids took matters into their
own hands, appearing over a ridge shuffling under the
weight of large speakers. On Friday night the biggest tarp
I’d ever seen was turned into a pop-up techno teepee with
the help of a few pieces of wood. The party continued well
into the wee hours until the wind ripped the tarp off the
ground and the structure collapsed.
Strangely enough, sleeping through this 24-hour dance
party was easier than you would expect. It was only when
the music stopped around 8:00 in the morning that I would
wake up with a start. At Extreme Chill your body becomes
accustomed to a constant, persistent beat and without it,
you become suddenly lost. Luckily it usually wasn’t long
before someone else’s stereo would take over the metro-
nomic duties.
Clouded in mystery
On Sunday a blue sky peeked through the clouds and I
hoped to get a better look at Snæfellsjökull, but the winds
were not in my favour. Until my next journey, this glacier
will remain clouded in mystery. But as Futuregrapher said,
“It is beyond man to understand, but for man to feel,”
which sums up most of my experiences at Extreme Chill
this year.
By Adrienne Blaine
Read an extended version of this article
on www.grapevine.is!
“Nobody wants
to see a guy
standing be-
hind a MacBook.
Enough of that
already.”
Music
Magnús Andersen
Bus trip to Extreme Chill festival provided by
Sterna. Visit Sterna.is for more information.