Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.06.2016, Page 42

Music 42The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 8 — 2016
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Dunkin
From Harpa to Hitt Húsið, Arnar
Eggert Thoroddsen knows his way
around Reykjavík’s music scene.
As Arnar describes it, Iceland’s
music community is “like a vil-
lage,” and on his new guided walk-
ing tour he’s introducing people to
its characters and history.
The Reykjavík Music Walk,
which had its first tour last
Wednesday, guides people through
some of the most important sites
for the city’s long line of musi-
cians. Along the way, walkers are
treated to anecdotes from Arnar
about the biggest names in Icelan-
dic music, from Þursaflokkurinn
to Björk to Sigur Rós.
“People are not here
for grey hotels”
Beginning at Harpa, the walk
makes its way along the harbour
front, passing Björk’s old apart-
ment and the Sugarcubes’ old jam
space along the way. Pink ukulele
in hand, Arnar points at buildings
that once housed shows for rising
talent. Now, many of these build-
ings have either been turned into
hotels or torn down.
“We’re seeing a lot of hotels rising
here and people are a bit worried
about it,” he explains. “They’re saying,
‘Hey, people are coming here because
of [the music scene] and if there are
only grey hotels, that’s not really a
place you want to visit.'”
The tour snakes its way into
the Vesturbær neighbourhood be-
fore walking down Austurstræti,
where Arnar stops in front of Hitt
Húsið, the organizer of Musiktil-
raunir, a competition for young
musicians in Iceland. “That com-
petition is really the only one of
its kind here in Iceland—almost
anyone who has done anything
abroad, as of late, has competed in
that competition,” he says. “Be it
Jónsi or Björk or Of Monsters and
Men.”
Sigur Rós at Fríkirkjan
From there, Arnar guides walk-
ers to Fríkirkjan, the green-roofed
church by Tjörnin, where Sigur
Rós played a show at Iceland Air-
waves in 2001. After the show,
which was attended by represen-
tatives from many major labels,
the band was promptly signed to
MCA.
The tour wraps up with visits to
newer landmarks in the city’s music
community, such as Mengi, before
ending at one of the many record
stores in Reykjavík’s downtown.
Arnar says that starting the
Reykjavík Music Walk seemed like
an obvious idea. “Seeing the inter-
est in Icelandic music, I thought,
‘Wow, not having a Reykjavík mu-
sic walk is kind of weird. It’s like
going to Liverpool and there’s not
a Beatles walk.’”
Admission to the walk is free (but
donations are accepted), and
walks leave at 11:30 every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday from the
Harpa Concert Hall.
Walk This Way: Music
History on Display
Icelandic popular music scholar reveals hidden
rock n' roll secrets around Reykjavík
Words & Photo ISAAC WÜRMANN