Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.10.2017, Blaðsíða 56

The message was clear as the protesters talked to the local security. The man to the
right is Gylfi Ægisson, a well-known Icelandic musician and vocal homophobe.
SAGA SPOTS
56 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 18 — 2017
Once You Go
Analogue You
Never Go Back
Irish musician Vinny Wood on touring Iceland,
and how he’s building the first analogue
recording studio in the country
Words: Alice Demurtas Photo: Lu Lowe
Besides Icelandic artists and en-
tertainers, it’s almost impossible
to find musicians who decide to
tour Iceland. It just doesn’t hap-
pen. That’s why, when we found
out that an Irish surf-pop musi-
cian and a punk rock band were
organising concerts all around the
country, we were both curious and
excited at the prospect.
All along the ring road
“I think the concept comes from
the fact that for many years my
brother and I, when we were in
our band called Vamos, used to do
quite a lot of tours of Ireland, the
UK, and mainland Europe,” Vinny
Wood says. “So I basically decided
to bring this other band over, this
guy I grew up with called Eoin
Dolan, who is a producer, musician
and songwriter.”
Eoin and Vinny couldn’t be
more different, when it comes to
their creative endeavours. Eoin’s
soft melodies have a retro feeling
that transports you back to the
‘50s, with a slight nod to the ear-
ly Beatles. Vinny and his brother
Tom, instead, hit their drums hard
and will have you
jumping wildly
on the dancefloor
in no time at all.
Together, they’ll
charm your socks
off, starting with
a concert in Reyk-
javík on Saturday
October 6, then
hitting hostels
al l around Ice-
land, including the Freezer Hostel
in Rif.
While Vinny lives with his
girlfriend Una Sigurðardóttir in
Stöðvarfjörður, in the East of Ice-
land, Eoin will be flying over from
Ireland just for the tour. “When
you go through that effort to go
to another country then you try
and do as many gigs as you can in
the time that we have,” Vinny ex-
plains.
Exciting times ahead
Even though Vinny is about to go
on tour, his exciting long-term
project takes most of his time on a
day-to-day basis. For the past three
years, in fact, he and his girlfriend
have been working on building a
state-of-the-art analogue record
studio in an old fish factory—the
first one in Iceland to record music
on tape instead of on computers.
Surrounded by the beautiful scen-
ery of Stöðvarfjörður, the studio
would not only be a place to record
albums, but also an opportunity to
connect with one’s deepest emo-
tions and fuel creativity.
Besides the cost of the tape,
which is has be-
come increasingly
harder to find, re-
cording analogue
isn’t as expensive
as one thinks. But
the main benefit
one gets from em-
ploying this tech-
nique is the feel-
ing of being there,
in the moment.
“There is much
more focus on the
performance of
the music rather
than on the tiny
details,” Vinny ex-
plains excitedly. “It’s human, it’s
organic and I think that’s what
translates most of all from doing
an album this way.”
To help with this endeavour,
Vinny and Una have partnered up
with one of the best acoustic de-
signers in the world. John Brandt,
who’s worked with Fleetwood Mac
and Eddie Kramer, the producer
of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin,
has designed hundreds of record-
ing studios in the world and he’s
pushing the team to get the best
out of their project. With such a
hard-working team and a prom-
ising enterprise, Vinny and Una
have everything to look forward to.
“There’s much
more focus
on the perfor-
mance rather
than on the
tiny details…
it’s human and
organic.”
Vinny in his natural habitat
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