Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.03.2018, Blaðsíða 34

Step Your
Pusswhip Up
Lord Pusswhip on trying to be somebody

Words: Rex Beckett Photos: Timothée Lambrecq
Live at Sónar Reykjavík
Lucky Records on March 14th, Húrra
on 15th, and Sónar on 16th
Since his humble beginnings as DJ
Pusswhip in 2012, Þórður Ingi Jóns-
son, aka Lord Pusswhip, has carved
out a reputation for his particular
brand of cool weirdo post-emo hip-
hop. The past twelve months have
been particularly
kind to his Lordship,
paying off with his
recent signing to
Bjarki’s bbbbbb la-
bel and the release
of his debut EP, “The
Hand of Glory”, col-
laborations with the
equally iconoclas-
tic Countesse Ma-
laise, and a coveted
spot on Sónar Rey-
kjavík’s Red Bull Academy stage.
So what’s going on over there?
Lord Pusswhip: I’m just chill-
ing in New York. I’m going to Seat-
tle in the morning to play a crazy
house show, then LA and then back
to New York. This trip has kind of a
punk vibe, DIY feel to it, with house
shows and smalls venues like that.
That’s awesome. Things really
seem to be rolling for you.
LP: It’s very exciting, I’m really
happy. I kind of knew it would be
this year. Before 2017 I was like,
“2017 is gonna be my year!” and
obviously it wasn’t (laughs). But
that’s fine. Good shit takes time.
Definitely. How
long has it been in
the works about
getting signed on
bbbbbb?
LP: I got wind
of it last autumn
when I was sti l l
l iv ing in Berl in.
It took a couple of
months for it to be
finalised. It was re-
ally great getting validation from
Nina Kraviz when I started mak-
ing this more clubby shit, and she
just put five or six of my tracks on
a mixtape. I was really geeking
from that. Bjarki has been sort of
like a patron to me, which is some-
thing I’ve been desperately waiting
for since I started making music.
How did you transition to
making this more clubby stuff?
LP: It was definitely just living
in Berlin and being surrounded by
techno constantly. I had this weird
relationship with techno and house
because, even though I’m a total
music nerd, I kind of had a prejudice
towards it. I had some weird idea of
what it was because of what the DJs
played in Iceland, like at Kaffibarinn
and stuff like that. I thought house
was just some lounge coffeehouse
music. I didn’t even realise that I
had listened to techno and house
and I had even made stuff like that.
I just started playing around with
it. It kind of happened simultane-
ously as I stepped up my game and
studied EQing and mixing and all
this shit that I’m not very techni-
cally skilled at. I feel like I came into
my own in terms of production.
Are we gonna hear this at
Sónar?
LP: Yeah! That’s basically it. I’m
kind of showcasing this new stuff.
I think in Reykjavík they know me
more for the rap shit which is not
exactly reflective of what I do day
to day. I always saw myself more
as a producer than a rapper after
I started producing. It’s just more
fun to rap onstage, so I’ve done that
more. Now I’m more focusing on
just playing the beats. If I’m DJing,
it’s kind of a mix of everything—I
play my own stuff and mash it up
with other songs and do all this
crazy shit. I’m very hyped for it.
Music
Now In New Flavors
“They know me
more for the
rap shit which
is not exactly
reflective of
what I do day
to day.”
Suðurgata 41
101 Reykjavík
www.thjodminjasafn.is
tel +354 530 22 00
Hverfisgata 15
101 Reykjavík
www.safnahusid.is
tel +354 530 22 10
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