Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.01.2015, Page 35

Amtmannsstíg 1 • 101 Reykjavík • +354 561 3303 • www.torfan.is
experience
classical cuisine
RESTAURANT- BAR
6.990 kr.
Vesturgata 3B | 101 Reykjavík | Tel: 551 2344 | www.tapas.is
Taste the best
of Iceland ...
... in one amazing meal
ICELANDIC GOURMET FEAST
Starts with a shot of the infamous
Icelandic spirit Brennívín
Followed by 7 delicious tapas
Smoked puffin with blueberry “brennivín” sauce
Icelandic sea-trout with peppers-salsa
Lobster tails baked in garlic
Pan-fried line caught blue ling
with lobster-sauce
Grilled Icelandic lamb Samfaina
Minke Whale with cranberry & malt-sauce
And for dessert
White chocolate "Skyr" mousse with passion
fruit coulis
late night dining
Our kitchen is open
until 23:30 on weekdays
and 01:00 on weekends
After reading about all the SAD and dark-
ness in this issue, are you now dreading
the dark and icy stretch of February? Well
don’t shit yourself quite yet, friend, be-
cause the Sónar festival has fixed that for
you.
For the uninitiated, Sónar is an event
franchise that started in the balmy climes
of Barcelona back in 1994. Over the years,
it’s developed a mighty reputation for un-
earthing new electronic music, becoming
a veteran festival brand—today, Sónar has
run festivals and events in over 50 interna-
tional locations, from LA to Buenos Aires
to Frankfurt to Tokyo. In 2015, it’ll once
more swap the shades and flip flops for
some warm extra layers and head to Ice-
land, bringing with it a choice menu of cut-
ting-edge electronica music and all kinds
of assorted cross-genre wonderment.
The three-day party, which runs Feb-
ruary 12th-14th, is once more housed in
the various rooms of the Harpa concert
hall. It has proved something of a hit with
hard-partying techno-tourists over the last
couple of years, eventually selling out in
2014, and tickets are apparently going fast
after the announcement of big names like
Skrillex, TV On The Radio, Todd Terje and
Jamie xx, along with a host of local talents
including Ghostigital, Mugison, Samaris
and Sin Fang.
Grapevine is on board
Because of all this awesomeness, Your
Friends At The Grapevine signed up to be
an official Sónar media partner for 2015.
What does this entail? Well, we’ll be cov-
ering it a bunch. We probably would have
anyway. To celebrate this, we caught up
with the festival manager Björn Steinbekk
for a few words about what’s going on as
the festival draws near.
How is the festival coming along?
What are you guys doing now in the
preparations?
As we are very fortunate to have a close
group of people working now on Sónar
Reykjavik for the third consecutive year,
and as we enjoy the support of the local
music scene and our partners in develop-
ing the festival, it’s kind of business as usu-
al. We’re making sure the artists are tend-
ed to, arranging logistics such as flights,
hotels, and technical riders. We’re talking
to the media people that are coming over
for the festival. In essence this is the time
where the promoter learns whether his
preparations have been good or bad, and
I think we are in a good shape for our 2015
edition.
Are there any new surprises in the
works for the lineup?
The reception to the lineup has been bet-
ter than we could have hoped for. We can
honestly say that we can’t find a 3,300-ca-
pacity festival in Europe offering same
kind of artists, in size and popularity. We
are thrilled and happy on behalf of our au-
dience.
Are there challenges in bringing the
event to a comparatively small coun-
try like Iceland?
The Sónar brand has made all the differ-
ence—that, and us creating a history as
Sónar Reykjavík, creates an attraction that
makes most of the challenges seem insig-
nificant. The support of Icelandair, City of
Reykjavik and other of our partners has
also been vital in getting the festival at the
place where it is now.
Are you guys happy to be partnering
with Grapevine?
It seemed like a natural thing—Grapevine
does a great job in covering music and
cultural activities in Iceland. We just hope
we can bring something interesting to the
paper and its online platform.
Keep an eye on www.sonarreykjavik.com
this week for more exciting news.
Photo
Todd Terje
Words by
John Rogers
After reading about all the SAD and darkness in this issue,
are you now dreading the dark and icy stretch of February?
Well don’t shit yourself quite yet, friend, because the Sónar
festival has fixed that for you.
35The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 1 — 2015 MUSIC
Festival
Season
Forever!
Sónar Reyk jav í k is back !
We talked to them !