Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.06.2015, Blaðsíða 21

21The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 8 — 2015
to have.”
Such spontaneity is a key compo-
nent of Steinunn’s process, and per-
haps a big part of her music’s appeal.
“I don’t know how people can make
music any other way,” she says, be-
mused. “I’m always thinking, ‘How
do people make all this pop music?’
I’m always trying to make catchy,
poppy music, and I always think
what I’m doing will turn out to be a
catchy song… then I’ll play it to my
boyfriend and he’ll say, ‘This... isn’t...
a song, really, I think.’ It’s funny how
it comes out. I always play my new
songs for people and say, ‘Listen, it’s
a pop song!’ and they’re like, ‘Noooo,
it’s not…’” She breaks into laughter
before continuing: “But, I’m really
happy with it. It’s a really loud mix.
I wanted it that way, so if my song
came on the radio, it would be louder
than everything else, it would be like
‘dum-dee-dum-dee-dum’ and then
‘RAHHHHH!’”
She furrows her brow, pondering
her songwriting process. “I always
get an idea, and feel like I know what
I’m going to do. But it all gets mixed in
with other things inside, then it gets
distorted, and comes out completely dif-
ferent. Like in my new video, I was try-
ing to dance like Beyoncé, but I guess
that’s not really what I was doing…”
Beyoncé dance moves
Of all the things one might expect to
see in a DJ flugvél og geimskip video,
I say, Beyoncé dance moves are not
close to the top of the list.
“Well you see, last night I was
doing a new video, of a live perfor-
mance,” Steinunn explains, excitedly,
“and I decided to DANCE in the vid-
eo! And I never dance, except maybe
when I’m crazy drunk. So I was ask-
ing myself... ‘Can I actually dance?’
Because when I was a kid, my dance
instructor ended up firing me from
the dance lessons. I always just want-
ed to dance my own crazy dances and
never learn any steps... I wasn’t learn-
ing anything.”
The filming took place at Mengi’s
performance space, with Berlin-
based film crew Orange ‘Ear. Late
at night, after most of the shots
were complete, the time came for
the dance sequence. “Ísgerður who
works at Mengi came by with her
friend Sigga,” says Steinunn. “Sigga
is a dance teacher who’d been teach-
ing a Beyoncé-style dance class that
very night! And so of course I was
like, ‘Uhh, can you teach me how to
dance like Beyoncé?’ So she was there
shouting things at me, like ‘GROW
BIGGER! MORE HEAVY IN THE
FEET! DON’T LOOK SO DRUNK!’”
She bursts out laughing, adding: “It
was a big help. It’s actually one of my
biggest fears to see myself dance, so...
it’s going to be interesting.”
Colours are beautiful
Another notable feature of the video
is Steinunn’s DIY light show, which
she also uses to create a spinning con-
stellation of colours on the stage. The
look is carried through various as-
pects of the project, from her dayglo
keyboards and pedals to her outfits
and artwork. But despite a jumbled,
wide-ranging palette, there’s a coher-
ence to it all, helping to foster a feel-
ing of stepping out of the ordinary
and into the world of DJ flugvél og
geimskip.
“Well, I use all the things I love,”
Steinunn explains, “like all the co-
lours, the cute animals and the spar-
kling things. I have tried to make
black and white videos, to ‘be more
cool.’ I take away the colours, and
stop smiling so much… but it doesn’t
work. I’ll just try adding one colour.
Say, green. And then I’m like, ‘WOW!
This green is BEAUTIFUL! Now, I
need pink.’ And in the pink will go,
and I’m like, ‘WOW! This is amaz-
ing!’ I just love colours! Then I’ll be
like, ‘Why should I make a black and
white video when I could have these
colours?’ And then of course I’ll have
a photo of a dog that is SO cute, and
Born in: “I was born in Reykjavík.
But there’s been all this proof ap-
pearing that I might be from At-
lantis, or at least have visited there
in a previous life. Like, people near
me keep mentioning Atlantis, or
some café has pictures of Atlantis,
or someone starts talking about At-
lantis…”
Studied: “I studied visuals arts at
the Icelandic Academy of the Arts.
I was like, I’m going to have a musi-
cal painting or musical sculptures!
My final show was an outer space
zoo. I made life-sized animals. I had
to go and feed them at 3pm each
day, like in a zoo, and people could
come there and watch. I would go
there with the Casio and the violin
and make music for them. Because
they ate music. And when they ate
the music, their eyes would glow be-
cause they were so happy.”
Favourite food: “My favourite food
is toasted bread—ristað brauð! You
know. When you take the bread and
put it in a toaster. Toast!”
Favourite planet: “Jupiter. It
sounds like the most party planet.
It’s colourful. And it’s the biggest.
The most colours, the most party,
and a cool name. And moons that
you can live on! I think you can, at
least.”
Favourite animal: “It is, of course,
a snake, if that counts as an animal.
But I have a new one! It’s called
mantis shrimp. We have three types
of cones in our eyes to see colour,
but the mantis shrimp has sixteen!
And it has antennae, or teeth maybe,
that can move so fast that it makes
electricity, right in the bottom of the
ocean! And it’s so colourful. So it’s
down there, seeing everything in a
scrillion colours, and making light-
ning in the ocean. Oh, and Pomera-
nian dogs. Very small! Very cute!
And they walk like a toy.”
Favourite place in Reykjavík: “I
have a favourite hidden place. It’s
at the top of a building. It’s the best
secret place, because nobody goes
up to the top of a building to see if
you are there. But I’m not telling you
where! It’s a secret!”
Favourite place in Iceland:
“Mjóifjörður. It’s very beautiful.
And… very nice to drive there. And...
very nice people. And… good to be
there in a tent. And… there are not
many tourists there. And… it’s al-
ways sunshine there. And… when I
talk about it to people they have not
been there—it’s like a secret para-
dise.”
Favourite piece of equipment:
“The MPC is my favourite, because
it can do everything. And also the
Casio keyboard, because it makes
the funniest sounds. Sometimes I
just pick the funniest sounds a key-
board can make.”
Continues on P.22