Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.06.2014, Qupperneq 36

36 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 08 — 2014MUSIC
Desperate, Drunk
And Love Sick
Grísalappalísa on the new record,
performing live and shouting at the sea.
I met the two of them in the latter’s
smoke-filled basement apartment on
Nýlendugata, stacked full to the ceiling
with books and obscure DVDs. We sipped
beers, listened to cult icon Warren Zevon
(whose name Baldur has tattooed on
his arm) and talked about productivity,
desperation and love letters among other
things.
How did you guys come together?
Gunnar: We had often made plans when
we were drunk to form a rock band
with very particular lyrics. Finally we
decided on a time and a place for the first
rehearsal. At that point Baldur was only
meant to write the words, and the idea
was that I would perform them.
Baldur: I’d never considered being on
stage in front of a room full of people
and… just never—it was unimaginable.
Gunnar: We showed up with fifteen
pages of lyrics and didn’t really know what
to do. It was sort of awkward, actually.
Then Sigurður, our drummer, said he’d
been listening to a lot of krautrock [a sub-
genre of rock associated with the German
experimental scene of the early seventies,
characterised by an insistent, propulsive
groove, the use of synthesizers, and
minimal or no chord changes] so the guys
started ‘krauting out.’ There were two
microphones in the room and I stepped
up to one of them. But nothing happened.
It was like I had developed sudden stage
fright. Everything sounded so different
from the pop I was used to play with my
former band, Jakobínarína. But before I
knew it Baldur had seized the other mic
and was performing slam poetry to the
groove.
What are the lyrics all about?
Gunnar: In part we’re mythologizing our
own lives. The lyrics are very personal.
There is a level of sincerity to creating
rock’n’roll images out of the everyday
world. But you try to deal with something
larger like society or a certain sense of
romance.
Baldur: For example, “Sambýlis-
mannablús” [Roommate Blues] is a song
to my roommate Ívar, the guy who lives
in the dirtier room. And there is another
song on the new record simply about
walking towards Grótta. I’ve always
thought about thinking for thought’s sake.
Like a philosopher with way too many
questions and way too many answers.
We’re not answering any questions, we
just mix it all up in this sort of cocktail. I
don’t care what it means or what it’s for.
I’m just a selfish artist. I just take a walk
because I’m feeling romantic. I’m only
looking for inspiration.
Baldur: No. I won’t publish a book or
anything. All of this just started when
I was working at this pizza place and
listening to a bunch of blues. So I started
writing some of my own blues lyrics. I
didn’t really listen to music until I was
like twenty years old. And I didn’t really
even listen to the music but only what the
singers were saying and if they’d sing it
in an interesting or odd manner. So the
melody was always overshadowed by the
lyrics. We’re talking Bob Dylan, Leonard
Cohen, Warren Zevon…
Gunnar: I’d say Bob Dylan formed the
connection between the two of us. And
Megas of course [Icelandic rock and folk
singer, often called “the Icelandic Bob
Dylan”].
Baldur: Megas is the king. The blues,
the rock’n’roll. When I started listening to
Megas I thought it would be great to write
cool lyrics in Icelandic. I didn’t feel like
there was anything like that going on. But
I didn’t really know either way and wasn’t
paying any attention to Icelandic music at
the time.
It seems like there is quite a lot of
stuff coming out these days with am-
bitious Icelandic lyrics. Ojba Rasta
and Samaris spring to mind. What do
you guys look for in good lyrics?
Baldur: It’s always nice to have a little
rhyming scheme. Or not. Oh, you mean
content? Despair. Emotion. It’s good to be
assured that whatever I write, Gunnar will
perform it with gusto.
I finally caught indie supergroup Grísalappalísa live a few weeks ago and it’s safe to say I was
enthralled. The post-punk grooves are tight like a rope and the commanding stage presence
of frontman duo Gunnar Ragnarsson and Baldur Baldursson is unparalleled on the current
Reykjavík scene. Gunnar’s stage persona is equal parts glam-era Bowie and Mark E. Smith
while Baldur evokes Sjón circa The Sugarcubes’ classic B-Side ‘Lúftgítar’ (“Air Guitar”).
Photo
Hörður Sveinsson
Words
Atli Bollason
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