Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.07.2019, Side 21

still a bar. That’s almost the only place
you can play music except for R6013,
which is an all-ages inclusive place.”
Throw a party
While Reykjaík is a hard city to play in
these days, Post-dreifing have been
able to put on their annual countryside
Hátíðni festival with remarkable ease.
Happening for the second time over
July 5-7, with 32 bands playing over
two days, the festival sprung from a
hairbrained party plan from one Post-
dreifing member.
“I went to Happy Fest a few years
ago and I was so deeply inspired by
the super crazy party that they were
having,” says Snæbjörn. “I used to
have parties at my place all the time,
but now I live in a tiny little cellar and
I couldn’t have any parties. I decided,
I’m gonna have a party and I’m just
gonna rent a county community centre
and I’m just gonna invite all my friends
to come there. It was set for the first
weekend of January 2017.”
He invited bands to play–many of
them current Post-dreifing members–
he rented a PA and truck from his own
pocket, and he
ended up deeply in debt.
However, with the collec-
tive’s help, they were later
able to transform this party concept
into the first Hátíðni festival.
“When Post-dreifing started, it
sort of came up that it was some-
thing we wanted to do again, but now
I had a lot of help and I didn’t have to
rent the gear,” says Snæbjörn. “We
just borrowed all the gear and it went
really great. We broke even last time. It
was perfect. It went so well that we’re
gonna do it again in an abandoned
primary school building of the tiny
hamlet Borðeyri.”
Borrow, barter and debt
In order to throw the festival again
without sinking into debt, the collec-
tive relies on a do-it-together model
of lending, borrowing and volunteer-
ing. “When we go out to do this we try
to keep all the money to a minimum,”
says Snæbjörn. “We keep the ticket
price to a minimum but we of course
accept generous donations. We’re
expecting about 200 people to come
so we’re expecting to break even, but
then if there’s any extra money it just
goes towards having the next one or
releasing more records, having more
awesome shows in Reykjavík.”
They apply this same principle to
the financial structure of their releas-
ing platform, as well. They have to be
willing to take one for the team. “We
started out by all pitching in some
money to make our first compilation,
Drullumall 1, and we got some pretty
okay money from that,” says Atli.
“That’s just been used to fund releases
and gigs. Another thing is that anyone
who releases through Post-dreifing
can decide if they just want to donate
the money to Post-dreifing. I think
some of the bands do that.”
This non-profit recycling system
has been very effective for them so far
and they believe that if they continue
this way, it will be sustainable.
“If we keep doing it the way we’re
doing now and we stick to the same core
values, then it’s always going to keep
going, no matter what,” says Auðunn.
“I think we can go broke, I think we
could go into debt, and none of that
would matter because we would still
be making music. We’re not recording
this is fancy studios. We’re doing this
on very simple, self-sufficient ways,
which means that we’re never gonna
have to stop this while we still hold the
same core values we do now.”
The need to generate some money
in order to fund their endeavours can
come into conflict with their values,
however.
“It’s very difficult being anti-capi-
talist and advertis-
ing it, because we live
in a capitalist society,
so we have to take part
in it of course,” says
Auðunn. “We can’t spend
money to make music, give
everyone the music and then
spend money to make music
and give everyone the music.
Cause we don’t give anyone a salary. No
one in Post-dreifing has ever received
a dollar for their work. And nobody
expects it.”
Bright ideals
Yet they remain very optimistic about
what the future holds for them. They
hope to have their own physical head-
quarters soon and many members
hope to someday own and operate
their own venue. They want to bridge
connections with similar communi-
ties and collectives in other cities and
countries and book tours using the
same financial principles. They would
simply like to be able to live off their
work.
“Post-dreifing is kind of a regenera-
tive system,” says Jóhannes. “Because
if someone cannot work on a project,
they can always say, ‘Hey, I can’t do this’
and somebody steps in for them. It’s
kind of like a relay race.”
Their biggest asset is their strength
in numbers. Forming Post-dreifing as a
group allowed them to build a network
of friends who were creating music
and art, which in turn allowed them to
host more diverse events, which inevi-
tably led to more projects and collabo-
rations. It has grown organically from
friendship, kindness, enthusiasm,
consensus and gumption. They have
created and continue to grow a unique,
vibrant, ambitious and open-hearted
community, where human connection
is the greatest currency.
Sitting around the table, sharing
cookies and coffee with these friends
that go above and beyond to inspire
each other’s art and bring it to fruition,
one feels a true wealth.
“We’re all young, we’re all idealistic,”
says Hjálmar. “We want to do a lot of
things. We say a lot of things and put
things out. How it’s been and how it
probably will be for some time is just,
why the fuck would you do all this work
by yourself when we can do this with
twenty, thirty or fifty people? Whatever
we do or whatever impact, we’re just
making friends along the way.”
Post-dreifing’s Hátíðni festival takes
place July 5-7th in Borðeyri, northwest
Iceland. Tickets are 3,000 ISK. For more
information about the collective, visit
post-dreifing.is
21 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 11— 2019
The A-Z of
Post-dreifing
The Post-dreifing scene has so much going on, it can
be hard to find your bearings. To get you started, here’s
a rough guide to the main players, bands, venues and
events that make up the collective.
asdfhg.
A keyboard-mashing lo-fi
trio, and Kraumur Music
Awards winner. Their album
‘Örvæntið Ekki!,’ or ‘Don’t
Despair!’, came out in 2018
bagdad brothers
The breakthrough indie
band from the Post-
dreifing scene. This duo is
the current holder of the
‘Best Live Band’ Grapevine
Music Award.
Bandcamp
The collective’s primary
outlet for selling music is
post-dreifing.bandcamp.com
D.I.T.
Levelling up from
Do It Yourself, the
modus operandi of
Post-dreifing is Do It
Together. More hands
make light work.
DRULLUMALL
Compilation series of
Post-dreifing artists and
collaborators. The third
edition is expected soon.
GRÓA
Lo-fi all-girl indie-rock
trio who were named
the ‘One To Watch’
at the Grapevine
Music Awards
earlier this year.
A new album, ‘Í
Glimmerheimi,’ came
out recently
Gyðjan Uxi
Every indie label needs
a weird Casio-core chip-
tune/auto-tune alt-pop
star. Right?
Hátíðni
The Post-dreifing
collective’s annual
countryside festival,
happening each July in
different rural locations.
IDK IDA
One-to-watch. IDK IDA is
an impressive, fast-rising
electronica-and-voice
musician who uses found
sounds in her productions.
Karja
A poet who has published
three books as part of the
collective. She has done
readings at notable events
like the Women’s Strike.
K.óla
Solo project of Milkhouse
frontwoman Katrín Helga
Ólafsdóttir. Synthy indie
pop with cute emo feels
and quirky melodies.
Korter í flog
Thrashy, trashy, sludgy
rock ‘n’ roll band with a big
live reputation. Released
albums in 2017 and 2019.
Kosmonatka
A visual artist who works
on Post-dreifing’s visuals,
among other things.
Lovely Great Time
The one-day festival from
which the collective was
born.
Milkhouse
Dreamy, soaring indie rock
five-piece pre-dating the
collective by a few years,
bringing back 2009 krútt
vibes in a big way.
Póstdreifing
The name of the mail
distribution company from
which the Post-dreifing
world-play was born.
Lawsuit pending, probably.
R6013
The not-for-profit
downtown venue that’s
a touchstone of this
insurgent scene. You can
find many Post-dreifing
bands playing there from
week to week.
sideproject
High-energy, adrenalised,
mashed-up, genre-defying
act that sounds like Atari
Teenage Riot’s energy-
drink-swilling runaway
child.
Skoffín
The first act to be released
by Post-dreifing. Released
an album, ‘Skoffín bjargar
heiminum,’ or “Skoffín saves
the world,” in early 2019.
Spaðabani
In-your-face feminist
art-punk band who
are shouting down the
patriarchy and giving zero
fucks. Still waiting on a first
release, so catch them live.
stirnir
Shoegazey bedroom
chamber pop that feels like
The Durutti Column and The
Dream Academy smashed
together. Should definitely
score a movie.
Susan_creamcheese
Banging, explosive, playful
sequencer experiments
and noisy beats. Their
first release, ‘Bamboozle
Gobbledygook’, features
collabs with a bunch of
Post-dreifing mates.
Tucker Carlson’s Jonestown
Massacre
A prolific but reclusive
artist releasing a steady
stream of interesting
and diverse new music,
including a 15-track album
in 2018, and a 14-track
follow-up, ‘1989,’ earlier this
year.