Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.05.2017, Síða 36

Music
Festival Special!

As the time draws
nigh, many of Iceland’s
summer music and arts
festivals are releas-
ing their lineups and
putting tickets on sale.
First up, the Secret
Solstice festival added
some names—along-
side cutting-edge
headliners Foo Fight-
ers, Richard Ashcroft
and The Prodigy—including Tappi
Tíkarrass, XXX Rottweiler, Kiasmos, Rick
Ross, Big Sean, Agent Fresco, Sturla
Atlas, and The Warehouse Project,
who’ll take over the festival’s “Hel”
club area. Over on the east coast,
and on the other side of the musical
spectrum, metal festival Eistnaflug
have added Hatari to the lineup, which
also includes Atari Teenage Riot, Max &
Iggor Cavalera, Neurosis, Mysþyrming,
Auðn and Ham. It takes place between
July 5-8 in Neskaupstaðir.
Two new festivals have also reared
their heads. Night & Day, curated by UK
pop band The xx, appeared on the ra-
dar suddenly, promising three days of
outdoor fun at the feet of Skógafoss.
The xx will be joined by artists includ-
ing Earl Sweatshirt, Warpaint, Sampha,
Jagwar Ma, Högni, Bjarki, Gilles Peter-
son and JFDR. Another newbie is Norður
og Niður—a Sigur rós-curated event to
be held at Harpa between December
26–31 2017. Details are scant, but the
festival promises music, art, dance,
film, spoken word and impromptu
happenings by “the extended network
of friends and collaborators that they
have met and worked with throughout
their career.”
Finally, the Bedroom Community-affili-
ated Breiðholt Festival has announced
their third edition. The festival will take
place on June 11, in various locations
surrounding Greenhouse Studios, the
Bedroom Community HQ, including
a nearby sculpture garden, a small
swimming pool, and various interest-
ing buildings in the neighbourhood.
The initial announcement includes a
workshops and arts programme, and
performances from sóley, Ólöf Arnalds,
Batucada (Samúel Jón Samúelsson’s
street band), 2016 Músiktilraunir win-
ners RuGl, Marteinn Sindri, Rex Pistols
and Academy Award winner Marketa
Irglova. The festival is free of charge,
and all are welcome.
MUSIC
NEWS
‘Figure’ Skating
Vök test the waters
Words: Steindór Grétar Jónsson Photo: Sigga Ella
Vök – 'Figure'
Album released on April 28
What does a dream-pop band from
Hafnarfjörður do to celebrate the
release of their new album? “We
went rollerblading!” says Einar
Stef, the drummer and newest
member of Vök, whose LP ‘Figure’
was released on April 28.
“It was our day off on the tour,”
Einar continues, video-chatting
with the Grapevine from the
band’s tour bus in Poznan, Poland.
“We went to a square in Berlin and
rollerbladed for a few hours. It was
the first time I’ve done it since I
was eight. It’s a relief nobody got
injured—it would’ve been a shame
to cancel the tour because some-
one broke a leg.”
Vök—whose name translates
roughly as “hole in the ice”—rose
to prominence in 2013, following
the annual battle of the bands
Músíktilraunir, where their ethe-
real sound won them first place.
Founded by singer Margrét Rán
and saxophonist Andri Már, they
soon added guitarist Ólafur Al-
exander, releasing a couple of
EPs before sound engineer and
d r u m mer Ei n a r
joined full time. “I
got more and more
i nvolve d i n t he
creative process,”
says Einar, “so it
was a comfortable
transition into full
b a n d m e m b e r.”
Self-
conscious
crowds
When we speak, the
band are midway
through a Euro-
pean tour through
A m s t e r d a m ,
Cent ra l Eu rop e,
France, and the UK.
The band feel par-
ticularly welcome
in Poland, where their shows are
often sold out. “It feels surreal,”
says Einar. “After our first show
here we stayed behind for an hour,
chatting to people and signing
merch. We’re not a big-name band,
so we’re very grateful for this kind
of reception. People are passion-
ate.”
Vök will play at Gamla Bíó on
June 8, presenting their album in
Iceland for the first time. “Some-
times it feels like you’re always
playing to the same crowd in Reyk-
javík,” Einar explains. “When you
know most of the audience, they can
be a bit stiff—it’s not often that you
see people just letting loose, danc-
ing, or even crying, like at the Po-
land shows. One girl bawled her eyes
out when we played our last song.”
The boat that rocked
For the new album, Vök enlisted
the help of producer Brett Cox,
who helped redefine their sound to
some extent. “It’s a new approach,”
says Einar of ‘Figure’. “We record-
ed acoustic drums, which Vök
hasn’t really done before. It was
difficult at first—people thought
it was strange—but eventually it
became a big part of the record’s
sound. We did field recordings to
round it out, add colour, and build
a certain atmosphere.”
In February they signed a re-
cord deal with Nettwerk, following
discussions with a number of la-
bels. “We liked Net-
twerk and heard good
things,” says Einar.
“They’re enthusias-
tic about music and
feel like honest, good
people. I don’t wanna
generalise, but there
are a lot of sharks in
this business, so it’s
nice to work with
genuine people.”
Some of the re-
cording took place
on a converted boat
o n t h e T h a m e s .
“Rent is too high in
London so nobody
can afford operating
a studio,” explains
Einar. “Someone
got the idea to buy a
boat to house a stu-
dio, because the docking fees are
more manageable. Andri, the sax-
aphone player, gets a little seasick,
so every time the tide came in he
had to escape onto the shore. He
was relieved when we continued
our sessions in Reykjavík.”
Close quarters
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“The studio
was on a
boat. Andri
gets a little
seasick—
when the
tide came
in he had to
escape onto
the shore.”