Atlantica - 01.06.2011, Side 42

40 A t L A n t i c A
gusgusa
and the occasional GusGus collaboration. When
the single ‘Moss’ written and sung by Haraldsson
(Forever, 2007) became a hit, it was time to return
to the fold.
Perhaps surprisingly for dance music,
Haraldsson’s song writing begins with language.
“I am constantly writing down words and phrases
that attract me. Then the music weaves itself into
the words. I like languages and words and playing
with words, they are nice toys to play with,” he says.
“I’m not a story teller in the classic sense. Music has
to bring some sensual or emotional energy which I
then try to tame and put into words.”
When writing music with GusGus, “Biggi veira
usually comes up with chord combinations and
President Bongo with different moods and arrange-
ments. I put my melodies and lyrics on top of that
and Biggi then finishes the mix”, he explains. “Each
of us has a quality that we can bounce off each
other; we have a chemistry that works.”
On Arabian Horse, Haraldsson sings alongside
Högni Egilsson and Urdur Hákonardóttir, one new
and one familiar face. “On each album, we have
tried to do something new and different, and
thereby evolve musically. Changes also come with
new people. They bring different flavors to the
dish,” he says. “I have performed with GusGus as
the only singer on stage. But when they come in,
it goes up a couple of levels.”
Acknowledged as one of the best singers in
the country, to Haraldsson “[singing is] a power-
ful place, it is like having a connection with the
inexplicable. Especially when I sing on stage, I get
sucked in. It is like being abducted by aliens, just
disappearing into the moment, swept by a current
where you can either control the direction or just
float along with it.”
This fall, Daniel ágúst will be working on a film for artist
gabríela Fridriksdóttir’s exhibition at Schirn Kunsthalle in
Frankfurt, germany.
“Good writer of lyrics. Great singer. A top, top
singer.” –Högni Egilsson
“One of the best and most experienced singers in
the country. Really professional, spot-on every time.
He is also very giving. When performing live, if there
is ever a moment of difficulty, he is the first one to
be there to help and support. Sometimes I just stand
back and listen to what he is doing, he is that good.
He just gets lost in the music, creates new melodies;
goes crazy.” –Urdur Hákonardóttir
.
The Princess
URDUR HÁkONARDóTTIR
“I had always wanted to become a singer, and
somehow one thing just lead to another,” says
Urdur Hákonardóttir, 30, wearing burgundy velvet
trousers, a pair of small slippers, vest with colorful
patterns and decorations, and black nail polish
peeling off her fingernails. Cat’s eyes lined with soft
black, her face framed with dark curly hair—she
is the picture of an exotic princess whose some-
times angelic, sometimes husky voice adds an air
of mystery to the GusGus sound. At 9 a.m. in a
Reykjavík café, she’s greeted like a family member
by staff and regulars. “I come here every morning,”
she smiles.
Born and bred in the vesturbaer area of Reykjavík,
Hákonardóttir started touring with GusGus at 19,
singing vocals and acting as M.C. to their DJ sets,
after having met the band members at Kaffibarinn.
“It was an adventurous lifestyle to enter at that age.
We travelled a lot—I was abroad for the better part
of 2000 to 2006. It was really fun, a privilege to be
able to do it, to visit all the countries that you would
never go to and experience things that you would
never experience otherwise,” says Hákonardóttir—
or Earth. “Urd means soil in Icelandic so it fits. We
went touring in America and everybody mispro-
nounced my name so horribly I just couldn’t bare
it!” Her first name is also a fitting one with respect
to her non-music interests: “I am really into alterna-
tive medicine. When I am older and done with all
the touring, I will probably just go study homeopa-
thy,” she says, jewelry clinking on her arms.
In 2007, Hákonardóttir stepped off of the GusGus
wagon and focused on her daughter Kría, now
aged 5, switching the glitter and the glory for a job
The Original
DANíEL ÁgúST HARALDSSON
“I sang Purple Rain by Prince at a school dance,”
says Daniel Ágúst Haraldsson of the start of
his singing career, which thus began when he
was thirteen. Wearing a head-to-toe black suit,
sunglasses and a pair of Havaianas flip-flops,
Haraldsson looks the rock star in the kitchen of
his house. Yellow and orange poppies grow in the
garden, the living room wall is lined with bright
pink princess gear: “We had a birthday party here
yesterday,” he explains. Haraldsson, 42, has two
daughters and one 4-year-old granddaughter,
yesterday’s birthday girl.
After his precocious debut, Haraldsson took a
five-year break before forming, at age 18, Nýdönsk,
which went on to become one of Iceland’s most
popular rock bands of all time. In 1995, Haraldsson
continued his successful streak by co-forming
what was to become the nation’s most popular
dance act: GusGus. “It all started as a film venture,
making a short film,” he says. “The filmmakers had
recruited a group of people who all had some kind
of musical background. We had to postpone the
shoot, so meanwhile, I decided with Siggi Kinski
[of film director duo Arni & Kinski] to make an
album.” The first, eponymous album (later revised
and re-released in 1997 on 4AD as Polydistortion)
was released the same year.
From 2000 to 2008, Haraldsson stepped out of
the disco lights, living abroad and working on a
broad canvas of projects, from the venice Biennale
to films to a solo career with albums Swallowed a
Star (2005) and Drift (2011). Somehow he also
found time to form another successful band,
Esja, together with metal man Krummi of Mínus,
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