Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.12.2017, Qupperneq 33

Music
TRACK BY TRACK
‘The Bug’ by IDK IDA
A powerful debut LP that samples the world
Words: IDA IDK & John Rogers Photo: Art Bicnick
LP
Download ‘The Bug’ at
idkida.bandcamp.com
IDK IDA is a Reykjavík-based Dane
who’s just self released her debut
album. “‘The Bug’ is a highly per-
sonal album and I’ve played with
the friction between the mechanic
and organic,” she says. “I built webs
with sixty tracks of digitally driven
instruments and field recordings.
I've found a lot of joy in being aware
of my surroundings and recording
things throughout the day.”
Longing
I was asked by the amazing art-
ist Wiola Ujazdowska to create a
soundscape for a performance
about loss and longing. I recorded
the whole thing in 20 minutes. I
improvised three takes and only
changed the recording a little. I
just felt it. Longing is such a fun-
damental emotion, and my songs
contain exactly this topic.
Wires
It shouldn’t be a secret: I’ve dealt
with depression, anxiety and eat-
ing disorders for years. In the peri-
od I wrote this song I was obsessed
with the idea of a human as a ma-
chine that has to function. If you’re
broken, you’re unable to live the life
you’re supposed to. But you also
have a chance to plug your wires
into a new system.
BTM/Temporary
This song is about wishing for
change when you’re holding your-
self back. It feels like being split
into two people. But which voice
is the right one to listen to? Is one
of them sane, is the other not? The
track happened after I recorded
a staircase at Roskilde. I would go
to bed early and wake up before
everyone else, suffering from anxi-
ety. The song is built around the
staircase beat, and my situation
became something powerful.
Bees riot
I was inspired by an article about
bees and how the chemistry of
beeswax can change and make
the bees go from living in order to
chaos. It’s sort of a dystopia where
they kill each other. We’re “doing
time,” dealing with the codes of so-
ciety, but just like with these bees,
the chemistry changes, and ugly
tendencies reveals themselves.
Clint Eastwood
This is the first song I ever pro-
duced. I wrote it in a very boring
class in art school. It’s about con-
taining good, bad and ugly and
having to accept that. A lot of the
elements in the track are created
from a men’s choir chanting. One
sound source can become many
things.
Sea Creature
The only song I ever wrote about
love is a heartbroken one—some-
one broke my heart, and I couldn’t
forget her. I was a sea creature
on land. The song came to me in
a beautiful valley in Vietnam. It’s
the first track I started to produce
when I arrived in Iceland, on the
floor of Sveinbjörn Thorarensen’s
studio space. Without his encour-
agement my creative adventure
would have been way lonelier.
Game of Tag
This one is a take on a creepy fu-
ture. When I wrote the song there
were gloomy prospects of very bad
political decisions being made.
What amazes me is that we keep
on crowning yet another fool.
I Want To
This song points towards the fu-
ture, both in content and sound.
92% of this track is made from field
recordings. I went to Reykjadalur
with my friend and collaborator,
Therese Precht Vadum. There’s a
field with geothermal steam and a
pumping mechanism that creates
a clunking and hissing sound that I
recorded by chance. I had had the
idea for the song in my head. It had
to be intimate, longing, powerful
and yearning. But also optimistic.
Grab a bite at Dunkin’ Donuts. We’re open every day.
BAGELS FROM 599 ISK
Kringlan Hagasmári 9 Fitjar KEF Airport
gpv.is/tbt
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IDK IDA preparing for a performance at Húrra
33The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 21 — 2017
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten -
- and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten -
- and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

LOVE
THE LAUNDROMAT CREW :)
MERRY
CHRISTMAS !
&
PEACE TO ALL