Reykjavík Grapevine - jan. 2023, Síða 10

10 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 1— 2023
ShOUT OUT:
Árni Hjörvar
& Sigtryggur
Baldursson
It should be noted that for this category,
two of the panellists each have close
personal or professional links to one of the
award winners — kind of an occupational
hazard of working in the arts in Iceland,
but important to point out nonetheless.
Each took a step back in the decision-
making process when it came to their
respective “vested interest” in the name
of fairness.
Sometimes, no matter how much
debating and deliberation takes place,
it’s just impossible to pick one winner.
For our Shout Out award this year —
which seeks to celebrate those who have
made an outstanding contribution to
the music scene in Iceland — our panel
quickly realised that there were two indi-
viduals clearly deserving recognition.
The first is Árni Hjörvar: “Árni is one
of these people that if you don’t already
know who he is, you’ll almost be embar-
rassed when you find out you didn’t,”
said one judge. For those who are maybe
feeling a creeping sense of shame, here’s
the lowdown: Árni started out as a local
Reykjavík musician, playing in legendary
2000s bands such as Kimono and Future
Future, before moving to the UK to join
English indie-rock outfit The Vaccines.
Which is, you know, kind of a big deal.
But even though playing with a huge,
NME award-winning band is pretty
commendable stuff, our panel is choos-
ing to recognise Árni for a completely
different strand of his work. Since
returning to Iceland in 2020, Árni has
been working predominantly as a music
producer and his name came up again
and again as we discussed our favourite
releases from the past twelve months.
From Kvikindi to BSÍ, Ólafur Kram to
Hekla — and many more in between — it
turns out Árni is a common denominator
linking them all.
“Árni deserves a shout out for his
admirable work in the scene, work
that’s already affected the sound of this
generation of local indie rock,” said one
panellist.
The rest agreed. “His depth of experi-
ence working at a world-class level as an
artist, paired with his incredible enthu-
siasm for the craft, is bringing a level of
sophistication to the grassroots record-
ing scene here in Iceland one could argue
we haven’t seen before,” a second judge
added.
Our second winner of the 2023
Shout Out award goes to a man who has
decades of experience of the Icelandic
music scene under his belt. A founding
member of the iconic Sugarcubes (that’s
Björk’s first band, for those who don’t
know), Sigtryggur Baldursson was one of
the most significant figures in the punk
rock scene of the 80s and 90s. He even
appeared in the cult documentary film
“Rokk í Reykjavík.”
The list of bands and artists Sigtryg-
gur has collaborated with would take up
half of this article, but includes, to name
but a few, Þeyr, Kukl, Emiliana Torrini
and Ben Frost. Over the years his career
has spanned genres and continents. A
recording artist, performer, broadcaster,
musical director, composer, project
manager and producer: there seems no
end to the number of strings in Sigtryg-
gur’s bow. Since 2012 he has held the
position of manager of the ÚTÓN, the
Icelandic music export office, providing
support for home grown talent to make
their own debuts abroad.
“One could make the argument that
Icelandic music export is synonymous
with Sigtryggur Baldursson,” said our
panellist. “Not only can we say that the
entire indie scene stands on the shoul-
ders of giants called the Sugarcubes, but
in 2022 he celebrated his 10 year tenure
at the Iceland Music export office.”
They continued:
“Given the plans
announced by the
Icelandic govern-
ment for a new
music office, we
know that ÚTÓN in
its current forma-
tion is being phased
out. As such it’s
important to take
this moment to
acknowledge this
absolute legend for
his contribution to
Icelandic music.”
2023: the panellists
Josie Anne Gaitens
Josie Anne is the Culture Editor
of the Reykjavík Grapevine, as
well as a musician and commu-
nity organiser. She has worked
in numerous roles in the music
industry, from large scale fes-
tivals to booking tours in rural,

30-seater venues. Originally from
the Scottish Highlands, she first
moved to Iceland in 2019 and has
been hooked ever since. She is
a member of the arts collective
Kvæðakórinn, as well as board
member of the Icelandic chapter
of shesaid.so.
Hrefna (Habbi) Helgadóttir
Hrefna Helgadóttir joined ÚTÓN/
Iceland Music during the pan-
demic after working in music/
tech in London for 10 years. Her
expertise is using data to create
effective strategies to promote
music and artists, which in her
current role she utilises to pro-
mote Icelandic music abroad and
also actively sharing that knowl-
edge with the local community.
She also co-hosts the Make-
WorkWork podcast on creative
work which has reached #1 on
the careers chart in Iceland and
has listeners in over 60 countries.
Ása Dýradóttir
Ása Dýradóttir is the bassist of
MAMMÚT and head of Reykjavík
Music City. She’s played with
and participated in work by a big
range of local artists throughout
the years, project managed the
last two Reykjavík Arts Festival
and was a part of the Battle of
the Bands jury for years. Her heart
beats with the Reykjavík music
and arts scene.
Ægir Sindri Bjarnason
Ægir Sindri Bjarnason is musi-
cian as well as the founder of the
(literally) underground DIY venue
R6013 and Why not? Records.
R6013 is operated on a pay-
what-you-can model and aims to
provide a safe, accessible and fun
performance and recording space
for artists and concert-goers.
Ægir has been part of the Rey-
kjavik music scene since his early
teens, and performs with a num-
ber of bands, as well as recording
and releasing his own music.
2022: Judging the Year
It’s cliché to say, but judging these categories is extremely hard. Our
panellists spent weeks researching, listening, debating and sending
late night emails insisting that this or that track just had to win a cat-
egory. Through our time deliberating and deciding, certain themes
emerged. The first is that 2022 can be classified as the year of the
Icelandic album. The Album of the Year category was by far the most
challenging to decide: there were just too many goddamn great re-
leases over the past 12 months. Clearly, all of the writing and recording
time unexpectedly gifted to artists in the previous two years has been
put to good use. Notable, too, is the quality and production value of
these products. Icelandic music has never been sleeker, cooler, or
more put-together.
The second notable feature of the 2023 Grapevine Music Awards
is that we are sadly handing out our first posthumous award. It was a
unanimous decision on behalf of the judging committee that Svavar
Pétur Eysteinsson — Prins Póló to his fans — should be named Artist
of the Year. Svavar’s contribution to art, music, photography and per-
formance — to name but a few of his many areas of influence — will
be felt for years to come. We were lucky enough to speak to some
of his closest friends and loved ones about the impact Svavar had on
the creative scene in Iceland.
Sævar
SigtryggurÁrni
Best Newcomer*
Book a table on brut.is
Best Seafood*
Best Brunch*
Pósthússtræti 2
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eykjavik - Grapevine
2022
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