Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.11.2018, Blaðsíða 21

21 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 20— 2018
first tours were so extremely hard,”
says Margrét. “We just wanted to get
it done. We just wanted to play.” Adds
Laufey: “The first tour we travelled by
train and on busses—even though it
was only ten days or something, my
body was ruined after it.”
“But you learn from your mistakes!”
says Sólveig, optimistically. “The next
two tours, our friends drove us, and
we had off-days when we were just
hanging in our Airbnb in the middle of
nowhere in Slovakia. We went to water-
parks and played about eight shows.
We were always getting better and
better at doing things ourselves. It’s
also super nice that we booked our own
tours abroad for three years. We got to
know a lot of people—it’s a really good
network. That’s how you survive as a
musician. You have to know people.”
INDUCTION
These musician survival instincts paid
off in a big way in 2017, when Kælan
Mikla were booked to open for cold-
wave/dream-pop darlings Drab Majesty
in Porto. “It was a really good show,
and we talked a lot with them and we
instantly got along,” says Laufey. The
Drab Majesty guys pitched Kælan Mikla
to their bookers as a warm up act on a
leg of their European tour in January
2018, which led to them being added to
the Swamp Booking agency roster.
“After six years of hard work, it was
an extreme relief to have someone to
deal with this for us,” says Margrét.
Laufey adds: “It was just perfect timing
for us to get to know this booking
agency—because we couldn’t handle it
anymore. It wasn’t like we tried to be
DIY. It was just the only thing we had,
and then we worked our way up from
there. Now we’re getting more help,
which is great.”
“We wanted to experience this,”
Sólveig continues, about the value of
those DIY touring years. “We never
started out as a band that wanted to
go to the top or something. Doing this
on your own can be super difficult
and super sucky sometimes but all the
mistakes that we made are all worth it.
I personally like them.”
PURE LUXURY
At the time of interview, the band
describe themselves as being on a
“week-long hibernation”, following a
seventeen day tour opening for King
Dude in Europe. “I’m not really tired
after,” says Laufey. After the years of
self-booked tours—schlepping around
their instruments and getting lost
on trains in Germany—spending two
weeks with fourteen people on a bus
was pure luxury to them.
“It was just so nice to get access to
showers, sleep and food,” says Margrét.
“It’s stuff we were missing out on a
lot on the DIY tours—normal basic
human needs that were hard to fulfill.”
Sólveig also emphasises the impor-
tance of self-care and relaxation. “Now
we’re better at chilling,” she says. “Like
waking up early and going to see the
city we’re playing in, or really enjoying
the day instead. It’s important to try to
stay kind of healthy.”
THE TOP
This year proved to be an extremely
busy one for the trio. After securing
their booking agents, Kælan Mikla were
contacted by Canadian label Artof-
fact Records, who offered to release
a formal vinyl release to their long-
lost first album, ‘Mánadans,’ available
previously only on cassette.
“When we made it, we just didn’t
get signed,” says Margrét. “We were
so young and so poor, and we couldn’t
afford to release it in any way.” Laufey
grew so frustrated with the album
being unreleased—their only record-
ing made in a studio, engineered by
Alison MacNeil—that she put up the
money for them to self-release the 200
cassette copies. This cassette led to
Artoffact picking them up.
The year took an extremely unex-
pected and exciting turn when Sólveig
opened the band’s email one day to
a personal invitation from The Cure
frontman Robert Smith—written in
all-caps—for Kælan Mikla to open
for Placebo at the Meltdown Festival
in London. “This was the highlight of
the year for me,” says Laufey. “It was
so great to play with Placebo, and the
Southbank Centre is such a beautiful
venue. It holds 2,500 people and it was
sold out. I think that was the biggest
show we’ve ever played.”
The band was able to bring some
of their family members and partners
along for this landmark gig, and while
it elevated their exposure and fanbase,
their biggest takeaway was seeing their
teen angst dreams become reality. “I
listened to Placebo so much as a teen-
ager,” says Margrét. “Fourteen-year-
old me would never believe that I would
be chilling with them in a few years. If
I went back and told teenage-me this,
I’d be like, ‘Nah.’ Brian Molko wished us
good luck and watched our show. They
were extremely nice.”
THE WITCHES DANCE
The events of this incredible past year,
and all the hard-working years that
preceded it, have landed Kælan Mikla
firmly in the international resurgence
of the gothic/coldwave scene, along-
side bands like Xeno & Oaklander, Cold
Cave, Boy Harsher, and The Soft Moon.
“We were never trying to be goth, or
post-punk, or whatever,” says Margrét.
“But still, I really enjoy this genre. Not
that I want to label myself, but the goth
scene is pretty fun.”
“You get to dress cool and stuff,”
Laufey agrees. “But I don’t like when
people take it seriously. We’ve been
trying recently to make people see that
we are not super-serious. Like with our
new video for ‘Draumadís.’” The video,
which had a premiere screening at
Gamla Bío on October 20th, finds the
three cast as space witches, zooming
around a lava field in a diamond space-
ship.
NIGHT AFTER NIGHT
Next up for Kælan Mikla is the release
of their third full-length album, ‘Nótt
eftir nótt,’ which largely revolves
around the themes of homesickness,
insomnia, fairytales, shadows, witches,
and “the darkest hours of the night.”
“For me personally, I feel that
the album is really about the things
between being asleep and being
awake,” says Sólveig. They released
the first single “Nornalagið” (“Witch-
song”) on October 16th, and the second
single, “Næturblóm,” (“Nightflower”)
was picked as a must-listen track by
Revolver Mag and Louder Audio.
While they rarely have more than a
few days off in a row anymore, there’s
nothing any of them would rather be
doing than to be Kælan Mikla. “We put
this in the front of everything in our
lives,” says Laufey. “It was Kælan Mikla
ahead of everything for us. People say,
‘Ah, you’re so lucky.’ And we’re like, ‘We
really worked hard for this!’”
“We worked really hard to get where
we are,” Margrét continues. “I think
it’s important to have done that work,
because we can see it from a good
perspective and you can really value
what you have. I think as you grow up,
you mature, and I feel like we’re deeper
now. We’re not just angry teenagers
going on stage screaming and banging
stuff and fucking shit up.”
As tenacious, industrious and dedi-
cated as they are, cynicism remains.
“We’ve just accepted that life sucks
and you have to deal with it,” Sólveig
shrugs, revealing the darkness at their
core that keeps them colder and colder,
night after night.
“W
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“..
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