Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.10.2014, Qupperneq 26

Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.10.2014, Qupperneq 26
26 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 16 — 2014MUSIC www.elding.is Elding Whale Watching schedule * From 15 May to 15 September ** From 15 June to 31 July Make sureit’s Elding! WHALES & DOLPHINS from Reykjavik all year round Call us on +354 519 5000 or visit www.elding.is Jan-Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov-Dec EL-01 / EL-02 / EL-03 13:00 13:00 9:00 9:00 13:00 9:00 13:00 9:00 13:00 9:00 13:00 9:00 13:00 9:00 13:00 9:00 13:00 17:00* 17:00 17:00 17:00 17:00* 10:00 14:00 10:00 14:00 10:00 14:00 13:00 20:30** 20:30 NORTHERN LIGHTS CRUISE Call us on +354 519 5000 or visit www.elding.is Daily departures from 15 September Make sureit’s Elding! The Mengi Set In the heart of Reykjavík, an exciting new venue is carving itself a niche One of the people behind Mengi is bassist, guitarist and composer Skúli Sverrisson. Having lived in New York for over two de- cades, Skúli had recently moved back to Reykjavík when the project began. “I had been living in a very big city for 25 years,” he says. “In New York there were so many venues for music, but there was always one space that would focus on cre- ative music, improvised music, electronic music, contemporary music, and that one space would have an incredible impact on the music of that city. I wanted to replicate that in Reykjavík.” In typical Reykja- vík style, the founding group came together quite naturally. “There were four of us in the beginning—me, Bjarni Gaukur Sigurðsson, his wife Elizabeth, and Ólöf Arnalds. After Bjarni, who had been living in Holland, moved back to Iceland, we became friends and started a small label. That was the beginning of Mengi,” Skúli explains. “A space was just an idea we were talk- ing about, because for this kind of activity, you’d need somewhere very specific, right in the centre of town. And then Ólöf Ar- nalds, who has an interest in real estate, found the perfect place, and we decided to just go ahead and do it.” Mengi has a different atmosphere from most of Reykjavík’s bustling music venues. Its light walls have more in com- mon with an art gallery than a bar environ- ment (although a small selection of beer and wine is available to gig-goers at the entrance). The stage is almost bare, but for a couple of armchairs, standing lamps, bric-a-brac and furniture—an intentionally sparse design that creates gives the room its calm “culture-space” feeling. “We wanted the space to be function- al,” Skúli says, “to have the feeling we could have a dance performance, a lecture, or a music performance, or an exhibit of con- temporary art. We’ve hosted all of those things, and the design creates the framework for that. We didn’t want to start a bar or a music club, there are many of those in Reykjavík who are doing a great job.” N e v e r t h e l e s s , Mengi will join the Air- waves party this year by staging a series of off-venue shows in collaboration with Bed- room Community, Morr Music and the artists of the Mengi label. Like everything about this intriguing enterprise, there’s a feeling of natural flow about the collaboration. “When we began, we sort of wanted the space itself to define the direction,” Skúli says. “We didn’t have a specific di- rection in mind—we opened the doors, set the tone by booking the first month, and then slowly it evolved into a community that was in some ways directed by us but also, just happened.” And much like the connection of three indie labels for Mengi’s Airwaves pro- gramme, new musical projects and collab- orations regularly take place on the room’s diminutive stage. “There are many spaces and events in Reykjavík that present fully realised proj- ects,” Skúli says. “In some ways we wanted to encourage experiments, and be a space where people can try things out. I have al- ways felt that this is an important part of musical activity—it’s very interesting to see things that are not fully realised, and to see people take chances.” It’s an approach that’s paid off, with a vital community of artists forming and often joining forces to perform outside of their usual music practise. And with every show priced at 2,000 ISK, the perform- ers are always paid for their shows—not a given in the current live music climate. “This payment model was based on the simple fact that it has become increas- ingly difficult for artists to generate income through new creative music,” says Skúli. “Mengi is our attempt to somehow correct this system, and motivate artists to present original music whilst being well compen- sated.” For local and visiting performers alike, Mengi is a unique, artist-friendly space in which to try out new things, whilst for gig- goers, it offers the chance to engage with their favourite musicians in an exploratory, playful mode. “I like the idea that artists with ideas sitting on the back burner can bring them out for Mengi,” says Skúli. “It’s something I consider to be an important part of being a musician, and it’s very sat- isfying and interesting to watch that grow.” Amongst the fast-changing merry-go-round of music venues in Reykjavík’s city centre, something unusual sprang up around last Christmas: a small, homely, unassuming per- formance space on Oðinsgata, called Mengi. It appeared quite suddenly, passed around initially only by word of mouth, but quickly become a well-liked venue hosting three shows a week for an intimate, fifty-strong audience. Photos Axel Sigurðarson Words John Rogers “I like the idea that art- ists with ideas sitting on the back burner can bring them out for Mengi.”
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Reykjavík Grapevine

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