Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.04.2014, Blaðsíða 24

Icelandic Rock And Roll
In The Land Of Lordi
24The Reykjavík Grapevine
So how did you first get involved
with Icelandic music?
The first band I knew to be Icelandic
was The Sugarcubes back in the late
‘80s. ‘Life's Too Good’ and ‘Here To-
day Tomorrow Next Week’ were pop-
ular albums in Finland in those days.
I must also have heard Mezzoforte's
“Garden Party” very early, but I didn't
know they were Icelanders until later.
Before starting to work as a journal-
ist, I used to DJ and was involved
with the Turku city festival which
brought over acts like Sveinbjörn
Beinteinsson [poet and formed head
of the pagan society] and Unun.
What are the most famous Icelan-
dic bands in Finland?
It depends on whom you ask. If you
poll people at a shopping mall or
street corner, everybody will know
Björk. Sigur Rós is recognised as
is perhaps Emilíana Torrini. For the
heavier taste, Sólstafir is the biggest
name and Skálmöld and Vintage
Caravan are quite famous as well.
Hjálmar has been here a few times
and recorded with Jimi Tenor, so
they also have a niche audience. Of
course múm must be mentioned and
not only due to the Finnish connec-
tion. Serious music lovers also know
HAM, Hjaltalín, Ólafur Arnalds and
Of Monsters and Men.
What are the differences and simi-
larities between Icelandic and
Finnish music and between Iceland
and Finland in general?
I'd say the most stunning similar-
ity lies in the evolution of popular
culture, as I noted in my and Petri
Leppänen’s book ‘The Sun of the
Underground Rose in the West’ and
in the TV-documentary ‘Ruisrock
1970–2010.’ Both countries have felt
the pros and cons of being a small
Nordic country with a strange and
distinct language. A main difference
is how well Icelanders have used
their former position as a military
base for British and American forces
to push their culture all over via these
connections. It’s also impressive how
Icelanders have been able to turn the
picture of isolation upside down: to-
day Iceland is in the middle of every-
thing instead of being a remote rock
far from civilization in the northern
Atlantic.
Tell us a little bit about what’s on
display at the exhibit and where you
found this stuff.
Most of the items and albums are
from my own collection that I've ac-
cumulated through the years. Mar-
grét Halldórsdóttir and Kari Sammo,
music enthusiasts living in Finland,
also loaned material, everything
from vintage vinyl albums by Bubbi
to a fridge magnet with a picture of
Megas and Halldór Laxness. Juho
Koli shared selected pieces from
his vast collection of Sólstafir music
and other memorabilia like Icelandic
volcanic ash and hand-tuned Lego-
Sólstafir.
You will also be screening films,
which films did you pick and why?
We'll have six to seven films, music
documentaries like ‘Rokk í Reyk-
javík,’ ‘Backyard’ and ‘Everything
Everywhere All the Time’ plus the
connected concert film ‘The Whale
Watching Tour.’ In addition, we're
screening feature films with inter-
esting soundtracks, for example ‘Of
Horses and Men.’ They give some
idea of how Icelandic popular music
has made it from the underground
to worldwide culture, and how it's
connected to many other art forms.
Some of these I’ve known from the
past and some I was lucky to see
during your wonderful RIFF [Reyk-
javík International Film Festival] last
autumn. A tradition of storytelling
lives today in music and movies and I
see that as a continuation of ancient
oral tradition, the Sagas and Eddas.
Words by
Valur Gunnarsson
A little bit like Liverpool in the ‘60s, Reykjavík is a small coastal town that managed
to turn local music into a major export, putting a previously distant outpost firmly on
the musical map. Finnish journalist Matti Komulainen has kept an eye on things since
the ‘80s when it all began and has put together the first exhibition of Icelandic music
abroad at the prestigious Sibelius Museum in Turku, Finland. The exhibit includes old vi-
nyl records and fridge magnets, scores from classical composers and photos of current
bands, as well as performances and screenings of music related films. We paid a visit to
the exhibit and grabbed Matti for a chat.
Music
Matti Komulainen
“Today Iceland is in the
middle of everything
instead of being a remote
rock far from civilization
in the northern Atlantic.”
When: February 6 and runs until April 30.
Where: Sibelius Museum in Turku, Finland
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