Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.11.2017, Qupperneq 34

Alien Electro
Volruptus joins Nina Kraviz’s трип label
Words: Steindór Grétar Jónsson
‘Hessdalen’ EP
Out now
Electro—the hip hop-influenced,
techno-adjacent dance music gen-
re—is enjoying a major revival in
clubs across the globe. One of the
rising stars of this genre is Vol-
ruptus (real name Bjargmundur
Ingi Kjartansson), whose modu-
lar-synth-heavy tracks are being
played by major DJs in venues such
as Berlin’s infamous Berghain.
Volruptus’ newest EP ‘Hess-
dalen’ is out on the label трип, run
by Russian DJ and producer Nina
Kraviz, one of techno’s leading
figures. She’s taken a particular
shine to Icelandic artists, having
previously released music by Bjarki,
Exos and the late Biogen. Kraviz
has called ‘Hessdalen’ her favourite
electro record of 2017.
Climbing the fence
“Since I was a kid, I’ve listened to
everything from gabber to classical
music,” says Bjargmundur. “Back
in the day, house, hardcore, break-
beat, techno, and electro were all
mixed up in the scene and that has
started to happen again. I’m influ-
enced by all of it.”
Bjargmundur has released on
Bjarki’s bbbbbb label and his own
Sweaty Records, but his big break
came when friend Árni Skeng of
the Plútó DJ collective played his
track to Kraviz when she was in
Iceland for her annual трип par-
ty. “Árni has done so much to get
my music out there,” Bjargmundur
says. “He played it for Nina in the
car on the way to the party and she
liked the ‘Hessdalen’ track. Then
she played it at the party hours
later! Árni kept telling me that
Nina wanted to release it, which
sounded too good to be true.”
Growing up in downtown Rey-
kjavík, Bjargmundur’s interests
included graffiti and skateboard-
ing. “Hip hop was the first type
of music I connected to,” he says.
“When I started DJing, I was a hip
hop guy in oversized
jeans, scratching
at home. I used to
want to win the
DMC World DJ Championship, even
before I started making music.”
As a teenager he was introduced
to electro through the local Robot
Disco DJ crew and soon started
sneaking into dance music events.
“After a while, I got tired of lis-
tening to rappers telling me how
cool they are,” he jokes. “I would
go to Jacobsen early for Breakbeat
nights, before the bouncer got to
work. I’d climb the fence of the
smoking area at Faktorý. I really
found myself on the dance floor.”
Times Square UFO
The stage name Volruptus was
developed slowly over time. “It’s
real tricky to find an artist name,”
Bjargmundur confesses. “I made
up the word. People relate it to vol-
canic eruption and volume. And the
word voluptuous! Which makes it a
sexy and powerful name.”
A self-proclaimed ‘Trekkie,’
many of Bjargmundur’s tracks re-
fer to life in outer space. The mu-
sic video for ‘Alien Transmissions’
features him dancing hypnotically
in extraterrestrial make-up, and
he has named recent tracks ‘Alien
People’ and ‘Fermi Paradox.’
“The Fermi Paradox is an in-
teresting theory,” Bjargmundur
explains. “If the universe is this
big and old and mankind is already
close to discovering intergalac-
tic travel—if we stay alive—then
why hasn’t anyone
dropped by to say
hello? Why hasn’t
a UFO landed in
Times Square? Hessdalen is a val-
ley in Norway, where they have un-
explained lights in the sky. People
there claim to have seen UFOs. I’d
rather believe Norwegians when
they say they saw a UFO than
Americans!”
Music 34The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 20 — 2017
gpv.is/music
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