Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.06.2014, Blaðsíða 33

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07 — 2014
3 m/s - electricity generation begins 15 m/s 28 m/s 34 m/s - turbine shutdownOptimal conditions for electricity generation
MUSIC33
ANDREA
Andrea was born in 1949, the
same year as Iceland joined
NATO.
She's been DJing at Dillon "for
over ten years."
She plays there every Friday and
Saturday until 3 AM.
She'll play "Hit Me Baby One
More Time."
She likes punk for the rockabilly
and disco for the arrangements.
She is "not the cocktail type."
are; the nouveau-riche maybe, they want
to build hotels but it’s like they’ve never
experienced anything in the city. I don’t
know where they come from. I feel like
they’re driving away the forces that make
this city attractive.
There’s a hole next to
Harpa. They can put
a hotel there. That
should be enough.
They should can-
cel their plans for
NASA. I really miss that
place. We haven’t seen
the effects of its clo-
sure yet, but young
bands have fewer op-
portunities to perform
now. Not everyone
can afford to play in
Harpa, you know. I
think the large num-
ber of bands from
Reykjavík is in part
due to the number of
great venues we had.
What other plac-
es do you miss?
I miss Sirkus. It was to
be torn down in a fit of
greed, but the house
is still standing. I like
places that are—I don’t
want to say shabby—
but cabinesque. Un-
pretentious. Not to say
that I don’t want the
toilets to be clean and
tidy. But places that don’t pretend.
Places that don’t redecorate every few
months and think they can blame poor
attendance on the décor.
Like Prikið, it’s beautiful. And
Rósenberg is a great live venue. But
it’s pretty small and no replacement for
NASA. I like Kaffibarinn, too. I’ve enjoyed
a few concerts at Ellefan. And I mustn’t
forget Boston! I used to DJ there and it’s
like the sister-bar to Dillon; we borrow ice
from there.
See, I understand and respect
the old Independence Party, but I
can’t understand nor forgive them for
letting libertarians take the reins. Why
didn’t they just found their own party?
With libertarianism, certain ideas were
suddenly presented as unquestionable
truths. For example, why can’t the State
run anything anymore? So they can
pocket profits! They don’t care for the
people.
I feel that the people are entitled
to at least one State-run bank. The
bank shouldn’t speculate or dabble in
finance. This should be mandatory in a
democracy. Then the others can just do
whatever they feel like without us taking
responsibility. This is the least they could
do.
The State should run the things
that matter. Like telecommunications,
banking and public transport. If these
things are privately owned there is
always a group of shareholders who
get paid while the staff makes minimum
wage. Do we call this ethical?
I think we should take a few steps
back. A State should
never do speculative
business. But we must
sit down and decide
exactly what we want
the government to
take care of. And who-
ever wants to improve
on that or develop it is
free to do so—on his
own terms.
I don’t like it when
the hippie generation
is blamed for our
bankruptcy. I don’t re-
member [former Prime
Minister] Davíð Odds-
son being a hippie. I
don’t have anything
against him; he’s just
a funny guy who I
went to high school
with, but he probably
should’ve taken the
arts route instead of
politics. I think he
would have been a
popular writer. I was
happy to hear that
[former city counsellor]
Gísli Marteinn had
quit politics. I told him:
You’re not the type.
You’re just a cheerful
guy who loves to ride bikes and do
good deeds.
Okay, let’s switch gears. When did
you start going out in Reykjavík?
Before the eighties, people would mostly
attend dances or concerts. We didn’t
have many bars. There was a gay café on
Laugavegur called Kaffi gestur that I liked.
It was sort of like the predecessor of 22
[legendary gay bar at Laugavegur 22]. It
wasn’t only attended by gay people, but
arty and liberal people in general.
Did the gay scene help develop the
bar scene? Were you involved?
I think so. The gay men in particular. Where
you don’t have gays you have less colour
because they tend to be very creative and
imaginative. Rock’n’roll and queers.
Now, it’s generally acknowledged
that people are different. I think that’s
great. I was on a radio programme 20
years ago where my sexual orientation
was discussed among other things. Once
I was off the air I realised I had never
talked about it with my parents. So I called
my sister and said, “Don’t mom and dad
definitely know that I’m a lesbian?” She
said she thought so. So I called my mother
and told her about the programme and the
lesbian thing and she said, “that’s fine.”
And I asked her if dad knew and then
she called me back and said he had said,
“Why is she asking us? It’s her life.” They
were both born in 1919, very left wing and
liberal.
So I never really came out. I never
announced anything. Contrary to what
young people are told today, sex isn’t the
only thing in the world. Sex is just a part
of you. The notion that everything revolves
around sex is horseshit. Some people
want a lot of it, others less. You’re not
obliged to be interested in sex.
So the bar scene didn’t get pump-
ing until we legalised beer in
1989?
When beer was legalised, some people
said we’d drink less. But it’s obvious that
we drink more. However, our drinking
is more relaxed. I don’t know about the
rates for alcoholism, but I definitely prefer
it this way. I’m lucky because I’ve never
liked getting hammered. But drug use has
increased. It seems to come in waves.
When do you remember taking
note of drug use for the first time?
There weren’t really any drugs until punk
arrived. They existed of course, but I never
would have thought that it would become
an industry to grow and sell marijuana in
Iceland. I went to London in 1970, but only
ever fell asleep when I smoked hash so I
haven’t developed an interest in that. I’ve
never learned to smoke cigarettes either.
Some drugs are hard to see or notice.
People may have been using ecstasy or
mushrooms but you’d only think they were
crazy or drunk on vodka.
What’s your drink of choice?
Sometimes I tell people that drinking is
my job. And if I’m to be completely honest
I don’t think I would bother DJing sober.
But you can’t get too drunk. That’s when
you stop paying attention to where you
put back the CDs and then you won’t find
anything at the next gig. I like to have a
gin and tonic early in the evening. But I try
not to drink a lot of soda because it’s not
good for your teeth. I like white wine too
or whiskey or an apple schnapps. Or just
brennivín. I can be extremely social when
I’m playing. But as soon as my shift is over
I want to go home and be by myself. I’ll still
listen to music, though. For me, the silence
gets too loud after a while.
For how long will you keep on
DJing?
I said that I’d do it while I could make my
way up onto the shelf where I sit and DJ.
But they just said, “Don’t worry, we’ll lift
you up there!” I don’t know. I enjoy my
work. Sometimes I feel like I should’ve
become a teacher. See, often there’s
a common thread, a musical context
or personal connection. Maybe this is
bragging, but I feel like I’m teaching rock
history. Especially early in the evening.
Later on, everyone just wants to hear
something like Bonnie Tyler’s “Total
Eclipse of the Heart.”
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