Reykjavík Grapevine - des. 2020, Síða 18

18The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10— 2020
Ultraflex Just
Wanna Have
Fun
The group talks their debut album,
fashion, and what the future holds
Words: Megan Massey Photo: OKAY KAYA
Album
Stream ‘Visions of Ultraflex’ on all
platforms.
Inspired by Soviet aerobics videos,
Ultraflex’s debut album ‘Visions of
Ultraflex’, is sure to get you up and
moving. You only need to check out
the band’s defining single “Work
Out Tonight” to be lured into their
pop disco world. This track is a
certified bop, with its whirlwind
of techno beats, groovy synths and
dreamy vocals, plus the music vid-
eo increases the amount of upbeat
Soviet energy to a level almost off
the scale. Reminiscent of an 80s
home video, it offers a combination
of cool irony and chic aesthetics,
featuring cycling shorts, vintage
track jackets, gym socks, neon high
heels and blue eyeliner. The band’s
too-cool attitude and detached fa-
cial expressions will make you feel
like you really are at the gym—
you’ve never seen someone swim
sarcastically in a lake until now.
An album to sweat to
Ultraflex is comprised of Katrín
Helga Andrésdóttir (a.k.a. Special
K and a member of Reykjavíkurdæ-
tur) and Kari Jahnsen (a.k.a. Farao).
The dynamic duo broke onto the
scene in May with their dance
debut “Olympic Sweat,” which,
like “Work Out Tonight,” was ac-
companied by an equally dance-y
music vid. This single preced-
ed the release of their debut LP
which came out on October 30th.
“I think our main goal was to
have as much fun as possible,” Kari
says. She’s all smiles, dressed in a
comfy sweater: a toned-down ver-
sion of the moody neon-clad sports
star she portrays on film. “We de-
cided we wanted to make danceable
music, disco, club stuff; and for the
visuals we had this idea to take in-
spiration from soviet aerobic videos
that I was hung up on at the time.”
The pair admit they weren’t re-
ally sure what to expect when they
started this project, but they’re
very pleased with the result. “It’s
much better than we thought
it would be,” Kari says. "It’s go-
ing really well and we’re hav-
ing a lot of fun with the project.”
Working together
The writing and recording pro-
cess for ‘Visions of Ultraflex’ all
happened before the pandemic
hit, but many of the singles were
released while Katrín was in Ice-
land and Kari was in Germany.
“I think we’ve done a really good
job of working together from dif-
ferent countries,” Katrín says.
The pair explains that they hold
daily Skype meetings each morn-
ing. They clearly run a tight ship.
“I think Katrín brings a lot of
the humour, especially in the lyr-
ics,” Kari says. (See the track “Full
of Lust” for reference: “You’re not
really my type but this is your night
/ Can’t find the guy that I like and
you’re the second best.”) Kari also
compliments her bandmate on her
eye for visuals. Katrín has proven
her talent for aesthetics in her solo
projects, as well as with Ultraflex.
“Kari is a producer and a very
successful one,” says Katrín. “She’s
a DJ and she DJs a lot of obscure
disco.” Katrín describes Kari’s pro-
duction as “musical joyfulness”.
Holding a mug of warm oat-milk
matcha in her hands, she adds that
Kari is also the “master of matcha”.
Ultraflex: fashion icons
Collaborating comes easily to Kari
and Katrín, who work together like
spandex and leg-warmers. Speaking
of spandex, fans have probably been
wondering where Ultraflex sourced
the iconic vintage clothes featured
in their music videos. “Oh, we have
done so much shopping,” Katrín
says, naming HUMANA in Berlin
as one of their favourite spots. Ul-
traflex say they also borrowed a lot
of clothes from the band CYBER,
who are good friends of theirs.
Favourite tracks and
future plans
When it comes to their favour-
ite track on the album, Ultraf-
lex ag ree on the a foremen-
t ioned “Work O ut Ton ig ht.”
“Production wise, ‘Work Out
Tonight’ is my favourite,” Kari
says. “The beat and the bass is just
so good. It's just really groovy.”
“If there’s one song that best
describes Ultraf lex it ’s ‘Work
Out Tonight,’” Katrín agrees.
She also names “Man U Sheets”
and “Papaya” as other favourites.
In fact, ‘Visions of Ultraflex’
has so much vision that it’s no sur-
prise the band are already work-
ing on new music. “We have a new
theme for our next album,” Katrín
says. “I don’t know if we are gon-
na—are we gonna reveal it, Kari?”
Kari laughs and shakes her head.
While we wait, fans of Ultraflex
can look forward to more upcoming
music videos from the band, who
will be releasing a video for every
song on ‘Visions of Ultraflex’.
The leopard pu!n in its natural habitat
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“You’ve never seen
someone swim
sarcastically in a
lake until now.”