Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.07.2019, Qupperneq 40

Dance Parties And
Canadian Spit
Siri, how does one become MSEA?
Words: Maria-Carmela Raso & John Rogers Photo: Art Bicnick
Musician
Listen to MSEA’s music at mseasik.
bandcamp.com, and find out about
her latest shows and exploits on
most social media at @mseasik.
MSEA is a Reykjavík-based Canadian
musician making intriguing, tex-
tural electronica-and-voice music.
Her work often includes collaborative
visuals—her first single, ‘Sex Self,’
was launched with a multi-disciplin-
ary exhibition. Her new EP, ‘Hiding
Under Things,’ is out now. “I’ve al-
ways found it difficult to articulate
my inspirations,” she says, “because
I tend to find it everywhere. This is
more like a quick history of influenc-
ers, and definitely not everything!”
Brainwashing
The secret to becoming an artist
is really just suffering a medium
amount of brainwashing. At one
point you will realize you don’t
want to follow the “word” of any
gospel and you will grow a fond-
ness towards the dark. This one
is from bible camp. I had quite
the religious family. It wasn’t all
bad. There were many singalongs
with my grandfather who re-
ally does sound like bible Elvis.

Dance Parties
I was lucky to grow up in a neigh-
bourhood with children my age
who loved to dance. We would
spend all of our time choreo-
graphing dance routines togeth-
er, usually to Britney, Christina or
Aqua, but I remember stumbling
upon “The Score” by the Fugees
and falling in love. I think I was
eight. The kids weren’t into it so I
kept it for solo dance parties. And
I can’t forget to leave out Elec-
tric Circus—a live dance music
television program that aired on
MuchMusic—my only religion
and probably where I got all of
my awesome dance moves from.
Canadian Spit
I will admit that the first time I
heard Broken Social Scene I was a
little confused. I had never heard
music that broke structure, used
brass, had interlude and, noise,
and used voice as sparingly as they
did (and could still be considered
“accessible” music). I fell into the
abyss of the BSS family (Do Make
Say Think, Metric, Stars, Apostle
of Hustle, etc.) and went through
a couple of years of listening only
to Canadian indie instrumental
music like Godspeed You Black
Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion.
I felt like if I moved to Toronto, I
too could be a part of the fam! It
didn’t really work like that but I
did get to see them live a bunch.
What is a body anyway?
I first saw Antony Gormely’s work
at the MOMA in San Francisco. The
piece was called ‘Quantum Cloud
VII’ and I somehow felt like I was
looking in a mirror. There was a
feeling of the inner self reaching
beyond the skin, energy expanding,
networks connecting. I have had
this experience several times while
meditating and it’s something I
think about now and again. The
boundaries of our bodies, the skin
as a “container of personal space”,
as Gormely would describe it.
Sylvia Plath
Her obsession with death, sexual-
ity and womanhood was famil-
iar and comforting to me. I liked
the candidness in her work, the
imagery of nature, and the fact
that, even though we are from
different eras, her words still
resonate with many people. ‘The
Bell Jar’ is still one of my favou-
rite books. The heaviness of be-
ing a human is real sometimes.
Contrast
I find intrigue in oppositions.
Maybe this is why I enjoy living
in Iceland so much—the darkness
of the winter and the brightness of
the summer. This idea in art is very
important to me. To have beauty
and the grotesque, noise and dis-
comfort while not being afraid of
silence or minimalism. Or may-
be it’s really about balance. Be-
cause we’ll topple over otherwise.
Ambience
This might seem like an obvious
one, but for me it is an immense
influence. The spaces we enter
into to create, perform, and ex-
hibit are a part of the work itself.
This is why I am obsessed with
lighting in my personal space,
as well as on stage. The slightest
dimming or colour change can
have a monumental impact on
the mood. And I like it moody!
This also links to multisensory
experiences and how it is becom-
ing frequently explored. I’m curi-
ous to see how scent, taste, and
touch will develop into a part of
the artistic space in the future.
Moody ‘90s
Speaking of moody. Portishead-
CocteauTwinsNirvanaTwinPeak-
sCranberriesSonicYouthPixies.
Other Humans
EVERYONE AROUND ME! I would
like to give shout outs but it would
take up this whole article. I am
forever inspired by the communi-
ties I have been a part of. They have
offered a safe environment for ex-
ploration, mistakes and collabora-
tion—support systems are every-
thing. I am nothing without you.
40The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 11— 2019Making Of An Artist
MSEA spent a long time on this ambience
“This idea in art
is very important
to me, to have
beauty and the
grotesque, noise
and discomfort.”
Laugavegi 28
537 99 00
sumac@sumac. is
sumac. is