Iceland review - 2016, Qupperneq 16

14 ICELAND REVIEW
ON FIRE
I meet up with Logi Pedro Stefánsson
in the basement of Hverfisgata 105,
downtown Reykjavík, where he and
co-members of dance pop group Retro
Stefson Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson
(also Logi’s brother) and Hermigervill
have been busy building a recording
studio. Apart from playing bass in Retro
Stefson, Logi has in recent years made
a name for himself as a producer and
pioneer of hip-hop. He is also a DJ,
radio host and music consultant, having
worked for Iceland Airwaves music festi-
val, The Voice Iceland and the Eurovision
Song Contest.
You’re in the process of building
this studio. What can you tell us
about it?
There’ll be three production rooms, one
live room, a lounge and an office for our
company [Les Frères Stefson], which
produces all sorts of stuff [music videos
and, for example, the ‘Les Frères Stefson’
television show on the Bravó music chan-
nel]. We’ll also rent out the production
rooms. We hope that the production
rooms will be ready next week but it will
take two to three weeks to finish the rest.
We’re working on this in collaboration
with Finni [Finnur Karlsson] from Prikið
[cafe/restaurant/music venue] and Sticky
Records [Icelandic hip-hop label].
Retro Stefson celebrates its tenth
anniversary this year. You recent-
ly released ‘Skin’—the band’s first
single since 2013—but it’s been a
while since you’ve toured. What’s
the status of the band?
We’re playing in Germany and Eastern
Europe in mid-October just before
Airwaves. Then, as of next year, we’re
going on a hiatus. We’re not quitting,
but we’ve been playing for a long time.
It’s also really expensive for us to play
abroad with eight or nine members
on stage, and because we’re ten or 11
people all-up when we’re on tour. The
plan was originally to release a few
tracks this year on an EP, Scandinavian
Pain, and then just chill [Logi later
tells me that the band hopes to still
release the EP before Christmas]. But,
we’ll no doubt play again sometime
in the future. Last year I worked way
too much and I’ve been doing a lot of
recording for other people. Now it’s
gotten to the point where I haven’t
really been able to work on anything
since July because we’ve been building
the studio. I’ve had to put a lot of pro-
jects on hold. That’s all waiting for me
when we’re done here.
Was that a difficult decision for
you, to take a step back?
It’s more a question of investing some
money and some months into a work-
space that we’ll hopefully use for the
next decades. If I have to give up three
months of work for that, then it’s defi-
nitely going to be worth it.
You’re a recipient of the Artists’
Salary (a state-funded grant
for people working in the crea-
tive industries in Iceland). How
is the environment for artists
in Iceland? Are there sufficient
opportunities for young artists
and musicians?
I’m really proud to be a recipient of the
Artists’ Salary. I know that there aren’t
many young people who have the expe-
rience or portfolio to be eligible but I
sincerely hope that will change in the
next few years. It really is important for
the cultural scene. ... The environment
[for artists] in Iceland is OK. Sometimes
Iceland is too small, sometimes the
smallness of it brings forth good music
that otherwise wouldn’t get as much
exposure.
RnB/rap outfit Sturla Atlas
has had considerable success in
the year or so since the band
formed. It went on to win Best
Newcomer in the Rock and Pop
category at the Icelandic Music
Awards earlier this year, has
been featured by UK fashion
and music magazine i-D and
opened for Justin Bieber when
he kicked off his European Tour
in Iceland in early September.
Tell us about the band and how
it came about.
We’re a group of three guys [Sigurbjartur
Sturla Atlason aka Sturla Atlas, Jóhann
Kristófer and Logi Pedro], friends—
we’ve actually been friends for 20 years.
We started out after making an EP for
our friend’s birthday. We’ve since gone
on to record two more releases and
we’ve just played our first show abroad,
in London in September, after opening
for Justin Bieber.
Perhaps best known as the bass player of dance pop group Retro Stefson,
Logi Pedro Stefánsson is a young musician, producer, DJ, radio host and music
consultant. Here he talks about some of his current projects, cultural
appropriation, fashion and the parliamentary election.
BY ZOË ROBERT. PHOTOS BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.