Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.07.2018, Side 40

Reaching For
The Moon
Kælan Mikla on being full-time musicians
and having Robert Smith for a fan
Words: Phil Uwe Widiger Photo: Timothée Lambrecq
Artist
Kælan Mikla’s debut album
‘Mánadans’ will be reissued on CD &
vinyl by Artoffact in October. Order at
kaelanmikla.bandcamp.com.
Even though Iceland has been cold
as fuck this year, local alternative
goth trio Kælan Mikla have found
themselves a spot in the sun. When
we sit down with bassist Margrét
Rósa Dóru-Harrysdóttir and lead
vocalist Laufey Soffia (the third
member, keyboardist Sólveig Mat-
thildur Kristjánsdóttir, is out of
the country), they’ve just returned
from playing the Meltdown festi-
val in London, where they opened
for Placebo, and were part of a
line-up featuring Nine Inch Nails,
Mogwai, Deftones, The Libertines
and My Bloody Valentine. Let that
sink in.
The festival was curated by The
Cure’s legendary vocalist Robert
Smith. As big an event as it was,
it turned out to just be the warm
up: Kælan Mikla were also invited
to play at The Cure’s 40th anni-
versary show, alongside Interpol,
Slowdive, Editors and more. There
must be some witchcraft involved.
A day in the life
Imagine opening your emails and
finding an invitation to play Melt-
down Festival in London, with a
personal letter from Robert Smith.
It must be a scam, right? “We sent
it to our booking manager, and
he told us it was not,” Laufey re-
members. What followed were at
least 30 minutes
of screaming and
CA PSLOCK con-
versations on Mes-
senger.
The Cure is what
originally bonded
the band together,
music-w ise, de-
spite each of them
having a very dif-
ferent taste. Robert
Smith had retired
from music, but af-
ter checking out all the new acts at
his Meltdown, he became inspired
again. “It’s like full circle,” says
Margrét. “He inspired us, and now
we are inspiring him!”
From darkness to light
Kælan Mikla’s recent fortunes have
been well earned. They started out
playing dark venues, and winning
a poetry slam in 2014. After years
of unpaid gigs, they’d finally had
enough. “We had to be really strict
with ourselves,” says Laufey. “We
weren’t gonna let people walk over
us anymore.” Margrét agrees: “We
deserve to be paid. It's about hav-
ing respect for yourself and your
work. It’s our job now.”
The new approach paid off.
Kælan Mikla have developed a fan
base all around Europe—and in
South America, where they’ll em-
bark on a tour in October. First,
however, they’ll tour with King
Dude, the master of dark-folk.
“'I’m really excited—it's going to
be a tour bus that we can sleep in,”
Margrét smiles. “We'll live in a bus
for like 20 days.” Like real rock
stars.
Moon dance
As well as working on a new al-
bum, the band is re-releasing their
“long-lost debut,” ‘Mánadans.’
Produced by Ali-
s on Ma cNei l of
K i mono, it w a s
originally released
as a self-f unded
l i m it e d e d it i on
cassette. “I was
so pissed off that
we hadn’t released
it,” says Laufey. “It
was haunting me.
So I ended up tak-
ing money from my
own pocket to pay
for it.” This August—four years
later—a remastered version of the
album is being released by Artof-
fact Records, with a bonus track.
Five years after ‘Mánadans,’ the
band haven’t lost their genuine, al-
most childlike love for what they
do. Getting stage fright is a part
of it. “Even when we play 20 shows
in a row, I still get sick,” Laufey
chuckles. Margrét adds: “It would
be boring if you didn't feel any-
thing. It would be so ingenuine.
You wouldn't be giving anything
from yourself.” Amen.
Music
Diabolical duo
“We deserve
to be paid. It's
about having
respect for
yourself and
your work. It’s
our job now.”
Suðurgata 41
101 Reykjavík
www.thjodminjasafn.is
tel +354 530 22 00
Hverfisgata 15
101 Reykjavík
www.safnahusid.is
tel +354 530 22 10
National Museum of Iceland
The country’s largest
museum of cultural
history from settlement
to present day.
The Culture House
Manuscripts, fine art, natural
specimens, curiosities and
archeaological findings form
the exhibition Points of View.
National
Museum of
Iceland
The
Culture
House
The exhibitions, shops and cafés are open daily 10 - 17 Closed on Mondays 16/9 – 30/4
bergcontemporary.is Klapparstígur 16
101 Reykjavík / Iceland
May 11th — August 3rd 2018
Katrín Elvarsdóttir
The Search for Truth