Reykjavík Grapevine - júl. 2021, Blaðsíða 8

8 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07— 2021
The Full
Spectrum
Of Life: A
New Day For
Hipsumhaps
Hipsumhaps first made a splash on the
Icelandic music scene in 2019 with their
first album, ‘Best Gleymdu Leyndarmá-
lin’ (‘Best Forgotten Secrets’), bringing
dreamy, guitar-driven indie pop to a scene
that had all but forgotten about the genre.
At the time, the project was comprised of
Fannar Ingi Fri!"jófsson and Jökull Breki
Arnarson. One pandemic (and several other
life-changing events) later, Hipsumhaps
is now solely Fannar and the new album,
‘Lög síns tíma’ (‘Songs of the times’), is in
limbo as he struggles to be released from
his contract with the Record Records label.
In the midst of this, Fannar took the time
to reflect on where the project came from,
where he hopes to take it and the challenges
both personal and professional that have
brought Hipsumhaps to this point.
Big Brother
Fannar readily admits that, as much as he
loves making music, the process has always
been a bit of an uphill battle for him.
"I lacked a background in music,” he tells
us. “I had maybe too high hopes for myself,
and technically I didn't know anything. And
I don't know—still don't know—what I'm
doing on the guitar. I don't know which
chords I'm playing or which notes I'm sing-
ing. But I had been working in film and as a
creative director in advertising. I had a lot
of work experience from there, just in how
to pitch and produce it, and then publish
it. Of course I have a promotional skill set,
but I used the same work ethic to do a song
as to produce an ad. I just switch out the
ingredients. I can go really personal in it,
but I can also go outside of it and look at it
as an observer."
When I point out that many great musi-
cians past and present also lack the tech-
nical and theoretical knowledge of music,
Fannar seems almost relieved to hear it.
"The project started with me and a
friend, who I met when I was his boss at
vinnuskólin in Álftanes in 2013,” he says.
“We decided to make music together. We'd
been friends for many years and I'd been
like a role model to him in a certain way.
Kind of like a big brother to him."
For Fannar, it was a fortuitous pair-
ing, as he needed someone with extensive
production experience to make his music a
reality.
"He had been doing hip hop music, and
he had also been doing some music in his
school, Verzlunarskóli,” Fannar says. “So I
knew he had production talent. We were on
the same page; just trying to slow down our
lives and figure out what we wanted to do. I
had been wanting to do music for so many
years, writing so much music and lyrics
over the years, and then everything just
kind of popped in 2018. We started record-
ing and then a year later we released our
first album."
Best Forgotten
Secrets
Unlike many musicians, Fannar ambitions
weren’t so much taking over the world
as they were just getting the first album
completed.
“I was so happy with just finishing the
first album,” he says. “That was enough for
me. I have pretty basic goals. Like that it
would be awesome to get on the radio with
one song, maybe, and play at Airwaves and
play a full show for my friends. It turned
out we had five songs on the radio, I played
at Airwaves both on- and off-venue to a full
house, we had two release concerts, then we
got the nominations for the music awards.
So I felt really recognised. That exceeded my
expectations ... because I really just wanted
to do stuff that me and Jökull liked."
The album was indeed a hit with the
Icelandic public, who were clearly hungry
for their sound. Again, Fannar downplays
his obvious talent by emphasising his lack
of technical skill.
"I had music and lyrics upfront, so it
was pure production mode when we met,”
he says. “Except for two songs. I have
always been kind of shy playing guitar. I'm
not really good on click tracks. I can't sing
and play guitar at the same time yet. I don't
really have the coordination yet. But I like
to see myself as a frontman; someone who
sings and barely plays an instrument."
Enter the Virus
2019 may have been a banner year for
Hipsumhaps but, as for so many other
creatives, the year that followed changed
everything.
"I started feeling after the first shows
that I wanted to have more songs to play
live,” Fannar recalls. “It was like we played
nine songs, 36 minutes of music, and then
we had to play the first song again. The
people wanted more, because the shows
were always packed. So in February 2020,
we were going to have a show in Gamla Bíó,
it was going to be the cap of the first album
Fannar Ingi Friðþjófsson
talks bombing at stand-up,
struggles with ADHD,
and the importance
of connection
Words: Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photos: Svavar Pétur Eysteinsson