Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.06.2016, Qupperneq 44

Music 47The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 7 — 2016
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Three years ago, the nominees for
the Icelandic Music Awards were
only about 10% female. It was very
clear that this gender imbalance
didn’t represent the Icelandic mu-
sic scene at all. It got female musi-
cians talking, and a movement was
born: Konur í Tónlist, or “Women
in Music.”
The purpose of KÍTÓN was to
create a dialogue and foster soli-
darity among women in the Ice-
landic music scene. Their method
was to promote greater visibility
through events and a constant con-
versation between female artists
in Iceland.
Three years later, the organi-
zation has grown to include 248
women—a number that’s still
steadily increasing. Now, they’ve
ganged up with KEX Hostel for a
monthly KÍTON concert by some
of their members, which include
many of Iceland’s most prominent
female artists. To find out more, I
sat down with Lára Rúnarsdóttir,
along with with fellow musicians
Þórunn Antonía Magnusdóttir
and Hildur Kristín Stefánsdóttir,
to talk about their experiences,
both as musicians, as as a part of
KÍTON.
“To me, feminism is liberating,
empowering and extremely enjoy-
able,” says Lára, one of the found-
ers of KÍTON. “It opened up my
eyes for so much more than just
gender and status and it made me
respect the complexity of life and
nature.”

How does the music business
approach you as female artists?
Þórunn Antonía: It is a very male-
dominated scene. As a woman, you
have to really stand out as a mu-
sician to get noticed. When they
are putting together gigs, they’ll
more often think of lesser-known
men than lesser-known women.
I have literally had cases where I
was asked to play at the exact same
show and got offered less.
Hildur: People are like, “Oh,
woman are obviously in the music
scene, we see them”—but we’re
not getting the same money, and
the same opportunities. Of all roy-
alties here in Iceland, for example,
only 10% goes to women. It is crazy
that 90% goes to men. I don’t think
people realize this.

How do you experience men’s
reaction to this underrepresentation
of women?
Þórunn Antonía: I’ve had all kind
of reactions. There are always a
few that think that because you’re
a girl and blonde, dress up in pink
clothes or whatever, that you’re
stupid and they know best. It’s a
constant struggle between being
respected and being a considerate,
valuable artist.
Hildur: Björk recently talked
about this in an interview where
she said that she has to say an idea
three times, but a guy only has to
say it once. When people then say
we’re just whining, I mean—if
even Björk says so, then it’s pretty
obvious it’s still a problem. […]
The way people sometimes talk
to female musicians is also weird.
I write my music myself and I so
often get someone that asks me,
”Who wrote the song?” or “Who
helped you to write the song?”
They assume it’s a guy and I’m just
the singer. We have endless exam-
ples of this at KÍTÓN. […] Or when
you’re sound checking and the
sound guys talk to you like you’re
a five-year-old that doesn’t know
how to plug their own gear.

Watch out for KÍTÓN’s book of musi-
cal notes on songs by women, and the
ongoing KÍTÓN + KEX concert series.
SHARE: gpv.is/kiton
Presenting KÍTÓN:
Women In Music
“To me, feminism is liberating, empowering
and extremely enjoyable. It opened up my
eyes for so much more than just gender and
status and it made me respect the complexity
of life and nature.”
Words & Photos JÓHANNA PÉTURSDÓTTIR