Reykjavík Grapevine - jan. 2020, Blaðsíða 15

Reykjavík Grapevine - jan. 2020, Blaðsíða 15
15 The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 01— 2020 For his 2018 Sónar Reykajvík set, Bjarki reached out to friends Daníel Heimis- son and Baldvin Vernhar!sson to collaborate on the audio-visual aspects of the performance. The result of this fateful partnership was a true feast for the senses. It also resulted in Daníel and Baldvin teaming up to form a new video art duo, Video1. The two would later reconnect with Bjarki to direct and produce the music video for ‘ANa5,’ from the electronic kingpin’s February release ‘Happy Earthday’. That video has been crowned the Grapevine’s Music Video Of The Year. SPINNING HEADS & WEIRD FACES Bjarki originally approached just Daníel for help with his Sónar set. “I got Baldvin involved and it really kicked-off from there. The two of us have worked together for years in film- making,” Daníel explains. “We came up with this idea of using mannequins onstage, replacing their heads with tube TVs showing videos of spinning heads and weird faces.” The visuals were memorable, and Bjarki subsequently gave Video1 a lot of creative freedom when they recon- vened for ‘ANa5.’ The video was shot over a period of three days preceding a lengthy post-production period in collaboration with motion-designer Gabríel Bachmann and cinematogra- pher Bryngeir Vattnes. “I told Daniel what I was thinking and he made it reality,” Bjarki says of the process. “He is the kind of guy that when he doesn’t know how to do some- thing, he’ll use the opportunity to learn how to do it.” PLANTING SEEDS For Bjarki, the song is meant to reflect on environmental issues, but the video adds another dimension to that theme. “There are so many added layers in this video that I notice with every watch,” he explains. In the video, mannequins zoom across Icelandic nature to get to a cave where they are reunited with their offspring. They then take part in a mating ritual to plant seeds for a new generation. “It’s about us, the human race, fuck- ing up the environment and being total screen-junkies,” Baldvin explains. “But, without delving too deeply into politi- cal narrative, we mainly wanted it to be fun to watch.” Daníel agrees. “We were inspired by classic sci-fi films,” he adds. “We wanted it to be glitchy, weird and have DIY style effects meant to appear a bit unrealistic.” EVERYTHING CAN HAPPEN Bjarki was not expecting the ‘ANa5’ video to receive an award. “The main reward for me is to be able to work with my friends and enjoy our imagination together,” he says. “It got less attention than we expected, but the reaction has been really good,” Daníel adds. Currently, Bjarki has no official plans for any events or parties in Iceland anytime soon, but, as he says, “Everything can happen!” On the Video1 front, Daníel explains they are always looking to do some- thing new. “Working with Bjarki is always exciting. We would like to do something with other artists if they are ready to take on bold creative projects of any kind,” concludes Baldvín. “As long as it’s fun!” BEST VIDEO: BJARKI " ‘ANA5’ PRODUCED BY VIDEO1 YOU SHOULD HAVE HEARD THIS: K.ÓLA Words: Freya Dinesen Katrín Helga Ólafsdóttir has a natural flair. Her ineffable style and irrefutable talents traverse a vast array of influ- ences to create an intriguing amalga- mation of structures, instrumentations and tones, with candid and perceptive lyrics at their foundation. Already an underground icon as the lead singer of dream-punk band Milkhouse, Katrín wanted to explore new territories with her solo project, and it seemed only natural to extend her short-hand artist signature as a moniker for her music: K.óla. WATER GLASSES & LANGUAGES From playing water glasses to compos- ing for strings, Katrín is known for her exploratory approach to music, although her composition studies at the Iceland University of the Arts don’t necessarily confine her to traditional methods. “It’s interesting to know how to do a lot of stuff, even if you don’t use it every day,” she explains. “It’s like learning a language and never speaking it, but you still know it. It can help you sometimes when you need it—if you’re lost and need directions.” CREATIVE POLITICS K.óla’s most recent record, ‘Allt ver!ur alltílæ’, showcases this experimental pop prowess. The album is a heartfelt, catchy, seven song melange of genres that took the Icelandic indie scene by storm in 2019, culminating in her winning a Kraumur award at the end of the year. Picking up where her album left off, her new single, ‘Plastprinsessan vaknar’, is a slow-burning ballad encom- passed with sustained bells and strings, poised to explore the negative spectrum of human impact and emotion as ‘the plastic princess awakens.’ “I think it’s more political… the lyrics of being a plastic princess,” Katrín reflects. “It’s from the perspec- tive of feeling like a super-villain by being a human because we’re destroy- ing everything around us, and you can’t do anything but take part in it.” It’s a serious topic, but one that Katrín hopes to keep entertaining. “I think you can tell the most important stuff with humour. People will listen more if they’re laughing,” she contin- ues. “What I want to do in the future, I guess, is a mixture of both being silly and still having a point.” FOLLOW THE FUN Despite achieving one goal after another, and having a new album on the horizon, Katrín is hard on herself, and her thoughts often veer to the self- critical. "Just when I’m finishing [some- thing]—in the final 10 metres of the marathon—I start to doubt everything and think ‘Why should I release this? Is this good enough? Why was I doing this?’” she explains. “It is weird to be making this new album that is very different, and the only thing I can do is just hope people will like it because it’s not what they would expect.” To navigate these challenges and find her confidence, Katrín focuses on having fun. “There are so many pres- sures, from being in school or being in a group of friends,” she says. “Everybody is doing this and that and you kind of feel like you have to be able to do it. It’s nice to think ‘this is fun, I’m going to do it.’ I really want to do more of that: follow the fun.” “It’s nice to think ‘this is fun, I’m !oin! to do it.’ I want to do more of that: follow the fun.” “It’s about us, the human race, fuckin! up the envi- ronment and bein! total screen-junkies. But, with- out delvin! too deeply into political narrative, we mainly wanted it to be fun to watch.” Words: Alexander Jean de Fontenay 2 20

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