Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.11.2018, Síða 33

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Berghaim is a character that is
half-hidden and half-visible.
The only thing that can be seen
is his face, protruding from
the ground. Having spent most
of his life in solitude, he was
shaped by the sounds around
him, to which he is constantly
listening. His two best friends
are ducks that come to hang out
with him regularly, and to lis-
ten to him sing. They also study
camouflage. When one duck
disappears because it was al-
ready better at camouflage than
the other duck, an epic search
for “the ghost duck” ensues.
Welcome to the fantastical
world of Berghaim.
A face in the earth
Bergur Thomas Anderson is the
mastermind behind Berghaim.
After playing in bands such as
Grísalappalísa and Oyama, he
has been focusing on perfor-
mance art for the past few years.
“When I moved to the Nether-
lands, all of a sudden I had no-
body to make music with,” he re-
members. “So I started writing
music on my own, which evolved
into making music for perfor-
mance pieces.”
Berg ha i m—“a cha rac ter
who is essentially a face in the
earth”—came into existence
about a year ago when Bergur
began researching camouflage
theories. “I’ve always thought
about him as a younger, more in-
nocent earth, related to Iceland
being a relatively recent geo-
graphical phenomena compared
to the rest of the world,” Bergur
explains. “By constantly listen-
ing to all the sounds around
him, he has acquired knowledge
and ideas about society and cul-
ture.”
After spending all those years
since the formation of Iceland in
solitude, Berghaim learned how
to speak and sing on his own.
Operating a pirate radio station
that broadcasts a mix of sounds,
he became the world’s first ever
sound collage artist.
A voice in progress
This summer, Bergur had the
opportunity to go record in a
music studio in Rotterdam, us-
ing mainly the old synth and
keyboard equipment available
at the studio. The evolution of
the songs was spontaneous, as
Bergur was learning how to use
the instruments at the same
time he was recording. “With
this project I was able to free
myself from the burden of per-
fection, which is dominant in
the making of a pop album,” he
explains. Berghaim is a voice in
progress, finding perfection in
imperfection.
The hermit and
the magician
The theme of the concept album,
inspired by the practice of tarot,
revolves around the epic journey
of regaining something lost and
growing through the journey
itself. In Berghaim’s case, it is
the search for one of his duck
friends that disappeared. Along
the way, the protagonists also
meet “the hermit’s friend,” who
is a magician and the gatekeep-
er to the underworld. He has the
powers to make things disap-
pear. Is the hermit’s friend the
reason for the ghost duck’s dis-
appearance?
Berg u r a i m s to relea se
Berghaim’s debut album “Songs
From The Young Earth” before
his performance at this year’s
Iceland Airwaves music festival.
Will the ghost duck be found?
We’ll find out this November.
BERGHAIM
THU 8th, 23:30, Hressingarskálinn
“With this
project I
was able to
free myself
from the
burden of
perfection,
which is
dominant in
the making
of a pop
album.”
The epic journey of Berghaim’s concept album “Songs From The Young Earth”
Words: Phil Uwe Widiger Photo: Video Still
The
Search
For The
Ghost Duck