Atlantica - 01.02.2002, Side 44

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Tell us about the new album?
What kind of sound has it got
and who have you been
working with?
Our album Jinx has definitely
got the most energetic sound
of the albums Quarashi has
done so far. It should definitely
give the serial killer inspiration
as well as the party-goers. I
tried to give the mixes a vio-
lent sound.
As to the people we’ve been
working with...there’s Brendan
O’Brien, who’s worked with
the Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Soundgarden and Limp Bizkit.
He mixed our opening track
and the first single, ‘Stick ‘em
Up’. We also collaborated with
Cypress Hill’s Muggs in LA –
he worked on a track called
‘Catch 22’, but it’s not on the
album.
Where do you buy music in
Reykjavík?
I try not to buy music in the
big record stores because they
take advantage of their
monopoly situation here and
overprice the music. But
there are some other places
like Gódi Hirdirinn and
Safnarabúdin that are
always useful when in
need of some good
music.
An old Icelandic saying states
that ‘it's better to go barefoot
than without books’.
Do you agree?
Yes, to a certain extent.
Obviously, this saying shows
that literature has always
played a significant part in
people’s everyday lives here.
Are you patriotic?
I would like to think so, even
though the word might have a
different meaning today than it
had a hundred years ago.
Quarashi recently collaborated
for a live event with the
Icelandic Symphony
Orchestra. Do you think
Icelanders are particularly
open-minded where music's
concerned?
Yes. It’s in the nature of small
nations to be very open-mind-
ed. They have to be, and
Iceland is no exception to that.
This is also one of
our strongest quali-
ties. In Iceland, no
band
wants be
like
another, and so we’ve got all
kinds of music. Individualism
is very strong and that comes
from our forefathers... the
Australians.
Imagine you have a ‘holodeck’
at home, like on the Starship
Enterprise, and you can beam
in six characters, dead or alive,
for a party at your place.
Who's on the guest list?
That’s a hard one... Fidel
Castro, John F. Kennedy,
Chuck D, Igor Stravinsky, Flea
and Hemingway.
Fidel, Hemingway and JFK
would take care of the party. I
would lay down some beats
and have Flea do some
grooves. Stravinsky would add
the melodies and Chuck would
bust some rhymes. What more
could you ask for?
Are you more productive in
the winter or summer
months?
Definitely in the win-
ter. There’s nothing
much else to do
except work dur-
ing winter
here...you get
so angry at
the weather
and that
produces
the best
music.
Where do you take visitors for
wining and dining?
Nonnabiti...great place with
great service and it’s open all
night.
If heaven and hell were places
in Iceland, where would
they be?
I always figured hell would be
Akureyri. After all, it’s
Reykjavík’s main rival. And
heaven is, of course, my
favourite spot in the country,
the disappearing
Snæfellsjökull glacier.
Reykjavík aside, which cities
do you most enjoy and why?
Buenos Aires, the capital of
Argentina, because the best
people in the world live there.
Then New York City, both
before and after the 11th of
September. There’s no city in
the world that has so much to
offer everybody. And finally, La
Paz, the capital of Bolivia. I’ve
got some really crazy
memories from that
city, but it’s also
really hard to
breathe there, so
that’s why La
Paz comes in
third.
42 A T L A N T I C A
Punk-rock-rooted rap outfit Quarashi are releasing their first single from
the forthcoming album Jinx worldwide in February. The band’s producer
and songwriter, Sölvi Blöndal, took some time out to face the Atlantica
firing squad. Interview by Jennifer McCormack.
The Atlantica
INQUISITION
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