Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.07.2016, Síða 42

Music Debut
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In the space of just a year, Glowie
has become one of Iceland’s most
famous pop stars. Her debut sin-
gle, “No More,” was the most pop-
ular song of 2015 on radio station
FM957, and she was the opening
act when Jessie J played here in
September. Since then she’s been
on the rise, releasing three sin-
gles, most recently “No Lie.”
After winning a national song
contest in 2014, Glowie started
creating music in collaboration
with StopWaitGo. “I was offered a
lot of different projects after the
contest, so many in fact it became
overwhelming,” she says. “Pálmi
from StopWaitGo contacted me,
and we recorded ‘No More.’”
It’s been a long road to this mo-
ment. Glowie has been singing
since she was nine years old, us-
ing her dad’s home studio to re-
cord her own music. She practiced
a lot, improving with time, and
took every chance she got to per-
form. “I had big dreams as a child
but became impatient because I
felt nothing was really happen-
ing,” she says. “After I released ‘No
More,’ everything just took off.”

The Glowie craze
Glowie’s real name is Sara Péturs-
dóttir. She decided to record un-
der a less common name, one that
was hers completely. The name
came out of the blue, but felt fit-
ting. Asked if there is any differ-
ence between Glowie and Sara, she
answers: “No, but I do get into a
certain feeling when performing.
I’m a lot shyer in real life.”
At just nineteen years of age,
Glowie has already become ex-
tremely popular. Asked if she feels
any pressure to maintain some
kind of image, she explains that a
big part of her fanbase is made up
of young girls who see her as a role
model. “I like doing edgy stuff,”
she says, “but at the same time I’m
realising how much of an influ-
ence my work has on these young
girls. I’m learning how to balance
this, because it’s definitely some-
thing that matters to me.”
Glowie has most recently been
busy working on a new music
video. She says she loves all the be-
hind-the-scenes work that comes
with being a musician, and has
strong ideas about how she wants
to be portrayed. The video for
“No Lie” was directed by Saga Sig,
filmed by Elli Cassata and edited
by Glowie’s boyfriend. “I’ve worked
so hard on this video, and I’m so
happy with the outcome,” Glowie
says. “It shows exactly who I am,
and what my style is.”
“I’ve worked so hard on this video, and
I’m so happy with the outcome, it shows
exactly who I am, and what my style is.”
Words & Photo HREFNA BJÖRG GYLFADÓTTIR
Glowie’s Next
Chapter