Atlantica - 01.10.2006, Page 59

AT L A N T I CA 57
ARTIST
Top Brass
When Benni Hemm Hemm released their epony-
mous twelve-track album last September, found-
er and singer-guitarist Benedikt H. Hermannsson
hoped to sell 200 copies in the Reykjavík area.
After all, he’d made a mere 30 copies of his first
solo EP Summer Plate in 2003. (He and his wife
made the elaborate wooden covers by hand.)
But six months later, Benedikt (a.k.a. Benni),
26, found himself live and on stage accepting
two glass sculptures at the 2006 Icelandic Music
Awards for Best New Album and Best Newcomer.
The band, which includes the usual assortment
of drums and bass as well as a glockenspiel and
a robust horn section, was jubilant in its humble
kind of way. Not long after winning, his wife
accidentally placed the Best New Album award
atop the washing machine. The spin cycle got a
little overeager and now the thick wedge of glass
stands at a quarter of its former height. “But it
looks cooler this way,” he says. “Neither look that
interesting.”
Benni Hemm Hemm, all 12 of them, started
playing together two years ago. They’re now one
of the most anticipated acts in Iceland and have
begun making a name for themselves abroad.
Their album was released in Japan in January,
Europe this summer, and will hit the United
States this September. They even made Rolling
Stone’s David Fricke gush at last year’s Airwaves
music festival, who wrote on rollingstone.com,
“The eccentric big band Benni Hemm Hemm got
a hero’s welcome at Grand Rokk, then repaid the
cheers with a shambolic romanticism – hearty
brass sugared with glockenspiel and Hawaiian-
whine guitar – that evoked both the ragged
glories of Broken Social Scene and the sunshine
prospect of Brian Wilson conducting a troupe of
Salvation Army horns at a 1967 Smile session.”
It’s a wonder that their sound is so light, pre-
cise, and finely tuned considering the 12 musi-
cians can rarely find a break in their individual
schedules to practice collectively aside from orga-
nized performances. Rare, by the way, means
almost never. “There was one rehearsal when we
started two years ago and I think one this spring.
It’s 100 percent about meeting ten minutes before
we play,” Benni says. “We get right to the point.”
Preparation includes writing out chords for
the songs beforehand, which he disseminates to
everyone. Everyone practices on their own time
and by the time they come together, they’ve prac-
ticed and perfected their notes, often changing
some of what he’s written to improve it, Benni
adds. “Somehow it all comes together. Everyone
individually is such a good musician and can
make it work this way. I’m not sure if I could just
start playing myself with so little information.”
Benni, who’s in his third and final year in the
music department at Reykjavík’s Academy of the
Arts, is hard-pressed to cite any musical influenc-
es though he does admit to a current “obsession”
with Bob Dylan. Sufjan Stevens is also at the top
of his list. But if anything’s certain, it’s that he’s a
vinyl hound. Hundreds of old school black discs
occupy the shelves below his sleek record player,
which somehow seems fitting with Benni’s vin-
tage, laid-back, all-is-cool vibe. He’s tried using an
iPod, but said it wasn’t “fun enough.”
Benni Hemm Hemm’s second album, which
has already been recorded but the title of which
remains a secret, will be released in Iceland at the
end of this year, and in Europe and the States in
early 2007. “I look at some of the songs I’ve done
recently and they’re precisely, exactly, as they’re
supposed to be.”
With two rehearsals in the bag, Benedikt H. Hermannsson is leading
Reykjavík’s big band Benni Hemm Hemm straight to the top.
By Sara Blask.
See following pages for Atlantica’s 2006 Airwaves picks >
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