Reykjavík Grapevine


Reykjavík Grapevine - 18.05.2018, Blaðsíða 35

Reykjavík Grapevine - 18.05.2018, Blaðsíða 35
Cracking Harry Knuckles Check out his Soundcloud in the puffin stores Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photo: Art Bicnick “I’m in a conceptual black met- al band right now,” says Frímann Frímannsson, a.k.a. Harry Knuck- les. “You’ve probably never seen us because we don’t play live, or make music. It’s just conceptual, just ideas, you know.” He’s completely deadpan, but finally breaks down into a smirk, then laughs. Conversations like this are pret- ty much the norm with Frímann. A noise musician, DJ, founder of the Skeleton Horse zine, and co-founder of Lady Boy Records, he’s both the funniest person and most prolific troll you’ll ever meet. Give him any topic and he’ll riff with thoughts that sound like seasoned bits of stand-up. Catchy tin cans Frímann started DJing as Harry Knuckles in 2010, and did his first live noise show at Eistnaflug’s “May- hemisphere” only months later. “I had this tin can that I filled with coins and I had a mic that I con- nected to a distortion pedal and just shook the can,” he says. “Wow, saying I started playing in an abandoned herring factory in the East fjords of Iceland makes me sound very exotic, right?” He’s being facetious. But if you think tin can tunes are unusual, you’re still barely at the tip of the Harry Knuckles ice- berg. Since his first gig, Mr. Knuck- les has created soundscapes that take loops, samples, and beats, and morph them into something equal- ly mind-blowing and mind-bend- ing. His music seeps into his DJing, and vice versa, but de- spite his noise roots, Frímann’s sound is groovy, catchy, and com- pletely unpre- dictable. “I think noise is one of those things that it’s weird to listen to at home alone, but when it’s in a live session, it makes sense,” he says. “You can hear the vibrations and all of that stuff. My philosophy has always been to not cater or read people either when DJing or playing live. Most people have requests and it’s just some top 40 they could listen to at home." No keychains Frímann’s affinity for weird art led him to start the Skeleton Horse zine in 2012 and co-found Lady Boy Records a year later. “It’s funny, ‘cause people are releasing albums every day, but then it’s just a link to a Soundcloud,” he says. “There’s something about the process of making something physical, and going to a store to buy it. I mean, what happens if you don’t have internet? What do you do then?” Again, facetious. The Lady Boy label has kept up its dedication to the underground ever since. “We purposely don’t sell our stuff at Eymundsson or Mál og Menning,” Frímann says. “Have you been to these bookstores? They’re more like gift s h o p s . A n d I don’t k now about you, but I don’t go to a gift shop to find the new music.” He laughs. “I go to a record store where there are no keychains.” But what’s next? Frímann’s re- luctant to say. “If you have so many ideas and you tell some- one, and get their reaction, then you just feel like you’ve already done it. You’re like “check,” and then you don’t even need to do it anymore. So I don’t like talking about that.” He stops and smirks, before changing his voice into what can only be com- pared to the cockiest morning radio host ever. “I guess you guys will just have to wait and see.” Share this: gpv.is/music Harry Knuckles, shredding “Wow, saying I started playing in an abandoned herring factory in East Iceland makes me sound very exotic, right?” 35The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 08 — 2018 handknitted.is t +354 552 1890 Skólavörðustígur 19 • Borgartún 31 BUY DIRECTLY FROM THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THEM 21.04.– 12.08.2018 Innrás I I Invasion I I Ásmundarsafn Sigtún +354 411 6430 artmuseum.is Open Oct.–April 13h00–17h00 Open May–Sept. 10h00–17h00 Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir Shoplifter
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