Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.10.2016, Blaðsíða 26

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26The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 16 — 2016
The album that track was
released on, ‘Myrkra-
makt II’, is a follow-up to
‘Myrkramakt I’, released
in June 2015. It is a genre-spanning
compilation featuring sounds from
Icelandic artists such as Kaðlín,
ROHR, Lord Pusswhip, and IDK/
IDA, amongst a darkly themed cast
of others.
Iceland is known for its dynamism.
You’ve heard the one about “if you
don’t like the weather…” by now.
Seems the same principles apply to
the nation’s biggest music festival,
Iceland Airwaves, which just
announced that British grime
headliner Stormzy won’t be turning
up after all. But before we had a
chance to moan too much, the
London winds blew in Dizzee Rascal
to replace him. Stormzy is one of the
biggest names in the game right now
in grime and rap, and his absence
“due to reasons out of [his] control”
will be felt. I’m not crying, I think it’s
just raining out…
But while we’re on the topic of bring-
ing in the greats,
THIS JUST IN: Björk announces an
exclusive show at Harpa during Air-
waves this year!
THIS JUST IN: Björk show sells out
less than 24 hours after pre-sale
tickets are made available.
THIS JUST IN: Björk announces SEC-
OND ALSO VERY EXCLUSIVE show
at Harpa during Airwaves this year!
Like we said, it’s all about dynamism.
Forging your own way doesn’t always
take you down the most comfortable
path, but it’s always a scenic one. DJ
Gunni Ewok has seen a lot. In 2002 he
stood out at the forefront of drum &
bass music in Iceland as one part of
Breakbeat.is, a crew that ran a popular
website and forum, a radio show and
scene-defining club nights. Through
breakbeat.is, Gunni was among the
first to introduce dubstep in its ear-
lier forms, and the first to put grime
on Iceland’s radio stations. In 2013
he called it quits and formed a sub-
sequent and current project, Plútó.
We’ve caught up with Ewok at this
point along the path to ask him about
what he’s seen on the scene so far, and
where he hopes to go from here.
How (or when, or where, or with
who) did techno begin for you?
Hard to say, there was no “eureka mo-
ment.” I have two brothers, nine and ten
years older than me, so I got exposed to a
lot of music through them.
Things started really to click with me
when my brothers let me hear stuff like
M|A|R|R|S – “Pump Up The Volume,” Yel-
lo – “Oh Yeah,” KLF – ‘The White Room’,
Technotronic – “Pump Up The Jam” and
Snap! – ‘World Power’. From there I start-
ed to discover things from friends and
radio and got into the UK hardcore sound
via The Prodigy, 4hero, 2 Bad Mice and so
on. That morphed into jungle which is
still my biggest influence in music.
Describe your style.
I like to try and introduce people to
something a little bit different from
what they are used to, but I try to do
it in a context they know and under-
stand. Context is everything thing
when you are DJing. The right context
can make a good song great and vice
versa. Always try to push the boundar-
ies while still keeping the party going.
How does your music fuel your life-
style, and vice versa?
Music has been such a big part of my
life for so long it’s just melded into
one really. It mostly affects my wallet
since I still try to buy most of my mu-
sic on vinyl which has become really
expensive here in Iceland.
What words would you use to de-
scribe Iceland’s techno scene—
when you began DJing?
When I first started DJing it was
mostly with Breakbeat.is which was at
that time a drum & bass crew that had
a weekly radio show and a monthly
club night. At that time, back in 2002,
techno and dance music was at an all-
time low here in Iceland. Most places
didn’t want to have anything to do
with house music, and especially not
techno and drum & bass.
And now?
You can jump much more between
genres then you could back in the day
just as long as you know how to keep a
good context. Now I can play a set in a
dance club that spans music from the
last 40 years and no one questions it.
The radio show I have now with my
Plútó crew on FM Xtra is a good exam-
ple of this. It’s so many different styles
of music—old and new—but still I feel
people can tell almost right away that
they are listening to Plútó.
What is one of your proudest mo-
ments as a DJ/musician in Reykjavík?
It’s kind of hard to pick just one mo-
ment. I would say I’m most proud to
have been able to contribute and influ-
ence the scene as much as I think and
hope I have.
What are some of the biggest chang-
es you have been witness to, for bet-
ter or worse?
Well since I started to DJ at a time
when dance music was looked down
upon I’ll have to say they are much bet-
ter now. But things could always be
better and they can always get worse.
When you live in such a small place
like Iceland you can’t really expect too
much. I think it’s a miracle what has
been done here and is still being done
when you understand just how small
Iceland is.
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DJ OF THE ISSUE
Charting New
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Gunni Ewok