Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.05.2017, Page 29

Afraid Of
The Dark
Iceland’s underground music reaches the surface

Words: Steindór Grétar Jónsson Photos: Ulfar Loga
The word “myrkfælni” translates
as “fear of darkness”—apropos for
the tension-filled music presented
by MYRKFÆLNI, a new under-
ground music organisation cel-
ebrating Iceland’s grittier genres.
The group has announced the
launch of an international maga-
zine of the same name, aimed at
promoting the local underground
scene.
“ We f i r s t g o t
this idea at a black
meta l festiva l in
Portugal,” says Kin-
nat Sóley, one half
of the team behind
t he projec t . “We
went to this record
store and the guy
had a bunch of black
metal fanzines that
some dudes ju st
made themselves.
They’d glued every-
thing copy together by hand—real
DIY.” Then it hit them: they should
start a magazine of their own.
Sólveig Matthildur Kristjáns-
dóttir is the other half of MYRK-
FÆLNI, and a member of synth-
punk trio Kælan Mikla. “There’s
so much great underground music
in Iceland, but the platform for
exporting it is missing,” she says.
They quickly set about rectifying
the situation, starting up a Karoli-
na Fund crowdfunding campaign.
“We’ve been touring with Kælan
Mikla for two weeks all over Eu-
rope,” says Sólveig, “and the whole
time we’ve been on 3G internet in
the car, promoting the campaign
non-stop.”
Unlimited Fernet Branca
The two Berlin-based expats,
dressed in the standard all black,
are fired up about the project
when we meet up at a vegan café
in Berlin’s Neukölln neighbour-
hood. Having released their first
M Y RK FÆLNI compi lation on
Easter Sunday—featuring mu-
sic by bands like Godchilla, Lord
Pusswhip and, of course, Kælan
Mikla—they’re around halfway to
their €3,300 goal for the magazine.
“Our main objective is promot-
ing Icelandic underground mu-
sic abroad, and the MYRKFÆLNI
magazine is a way to do that,” says
Kinnat. The rewards for partici-
pants vary from a
copy of the f irst
issue or compila-
tion, to the one-off
option—priced at
€1500—for a party
with the two found-
ers, who’ l l of fer
their benefactor a
home cooked vegan
meal and as much
Fernet Branca as
they can drink. “Ev-
ery campaign has
one crazy reward,”
says Solveig, “so this is what we
came up with.”
The amount of unorthodox
music coming from an island of
330,000 is teeming, and demand
for it growing, they feel. It fits
with the scene’s inquisitive cul-
ture. “People go to concerts fea-
turing Icelandic bands abroad, and
if there’s someone selling mer-
ch—CDs with Icelandic minimal
wave—people want it,” Sólveig
says. Kinnat agrees that there’s a
niche, but also a substantial mar-
ket for their kind of music. “Some
people just showed up and asked
for one of each CD,” she says. “They
just trust that it’s good. There’s a
practice of supporting the bands
in underground scenes like this.
When we played the more punk
venues, we sold more merch.”
None more dark
The music distributed by MYRK-
FÆLNI, as well as on Sólveig’s own
label Hið Myrka Man (“The Dark
Woman”) is diverse, but shares a
Culture Feature
“The
musicians
from Reykja-
vík all really
do know each
other.”
“There’s an
alternative
scene in
Iceland, but
it’s not just
punk kids
coming to the
shows—it’s
all kinds of
people.”
“There’s a
practice of
supporting
the bands in
underground
scenes. When
we played punk
venues, we sold
more merch.”