Reykjavík Grapevine - Dec 2023, Page 28

The Reykjavík Grapevine 17/ 23 28Music
WORDS Rex Beckett
IMAGE Joana Fontinha
It was twelve years ago tonight
(Halloween) that I sat alone by the
bar — then known as Bakkus —
dressed up as Catwoman and met
my now ex-husband. Five years later,
we would be a few metres away —
now known as Húrra — standing in
the doorway leading to the dance
floor, where that relationship would
crumble beyond repair.
Falling in love and losing it all. That’s
all that happened in that place, in
multitudes of iterations, while we
danced and drank and smashed into
the smoking area and bruised our
legs on the stage and cut the line by
knowing “someone” and stayed way
after “allir út!” had been cried too
many times. Where we spilled into
Naustin and the sunlight at 05:00,
where we would stay sipping our
to-go beers until the last straggler
not getting invited to the afterparty
would concede and stumble home.
Was it somehow different in Húrra?
Didn’t this happen at every bar?
Was it the ghost in the basement
— the one I encountered weekly
while opening the happy hour shift
in 2018, lighting candles down-
stairs and seeing the shadow pass
me in the mirror — whose chaotic
presence fed the joyful misrule and
oft questionable mayhem in that
space? Was it the bookers who
knew exactly how to curate a perfect
calendar of concerts and DJs? Was
it all just the hipsters and booze and
drugs?
After it was closed by geniuses who
attempted to turn it into a high-end
sports bar, Húrra’s post-lockdown
redux was not anything like it was
before. That appealing greasy sheen
it once had, like the iridescence of
water and oil pooling together in a
gutter, was gone.
It’s all a blur, but I remember it all.
Every night that started and ended
there. Every trúnó with a stranger,
every pre-gig backstage panic at-
tack, every concussion I sustained,
every circle of friends I danced in,
every lime I chopped, every Air-
waves show I saw, every bucketful
of toilet sludge I scooped up, every
shot, every bump, every kiss, every
fuck.
I miss it all yet I don’t want it back.
We just never know when it will be
our last hurrah.
About
Last Night One Last
Húrra
Eulogising an icon of Reykjavík nightlife
It’s all a blur, but I remember it
all. Every night that started and
ended there.
WORDS Irina Shtreis
IMAGE Lea Kampmann
Each year the connection
between the artistic communities of
Iceland and the Faroe Islands grows
stronger. Through personal and
professional connections between
the two countries, the confluence
of both places seems increasingly
prevalent. Some even go as far to
make Reykjavík their home, like Far-
oese musicians Janus Rasmussen,
Sakaris, Guðrið Hansdóttir and Eivør
Pálsdóttir. Although those last two
later returned to the native islands,
both Guðrið and Eivør have main-
tained a spiritual and creative bond
with the Icelandic capital.
LONG-TIME VISITOR, FIRST
TIME PERFORMER

With its inception in 2019, the Faroe
Music Export ensures the islands’
presence at Iceland Airwaves. This
year’s edition features four artists
revealing different facets of the
archipelago’s contemporary mu-
sic. Among these acts is Elinborg
Pálsdóttir, a songwriter who travelled
to Iceland for the first time at the
age of eight and has long dreamt
about performing at Airwaves. Now,
on a visit to her mother’s house in
Syðrugøta (also the home of Faro-
ese open-air G! Festival), Elinborg
brims with excitement about her
upcoming shows at Iðnó and Kex
Hostel.
“I stayed in Iceland for a few months
earlier this year,” she recalls. “Every-
one was so nice to me so I felt as if
I was home. I had never felt it any-
where abroad. I don’t why, but even
when Icelanders come to the Faroe
Islands they have a homey feeling
somehow. It makes you want to
come back.”

From the start, Iceland felt wel-
coming. One of Elínborg memo-
ries of visiting Iceland for the first
time is of a TV show on RÚV that
was featuring her big sister Eivør.
For Elinborg, those ventures were
a chance to hone her skills as a
performer. “Every time Eivør played
a show there, I would go along. I was
also performing with her in the early
days. We played together at Harpa
which was an unforgettable experi-
ence. As I got older, I decided to go
on my own and eventually got my
own gigs.”
STALWART PATRON OF FAR-
OESE MUSIC
Collaboration with Icelandic mu-
sic industry professionals became
essential for Elinborg, who has been
working with FOH engineer Hallur
Jonsson. As her debut album grad-
ually takes shape, the artist hopes
to get more Icelanders involved.
Talking about the artistic community
here, Elinborg exudes gratitude.
“Iceland has played such a big role.
Airwaves, for example, opened
doors to many Faroese artists. The
Faroese scene wouldn’t be as di-
verse as it is now without the sup-
port of the music industry there and
collaboration with Icelandic artists.”

That said, it is the support of the
Faroe Music Export that really made
things happen for the artists of the
archipelago. Elinborg admits that
the launch of the Faroese export
office in 2019 was game-changing.
Although somewhat younger than
Iceland Music Export, a vanguard
of local talent since 2006, the FMX
reshapes the artistic landscape of
the archipelago.
“The Faroese music industry has
blossomed since the Faroe Is-
lands music export was founded
four years ago. It’s such a gift for us
Faroese artists to have a platform
such as FMX to turn to. It gives us
more opportunities for collaboration
and helps us get our music out to a
broader audience. [Founder of FMX]
Glenn Larsen has such a fiery soul
and has done a tremendous amount
of work for the Faroese music in-
dustry.”

Still, Iceland casts a spell. “I recent-
ly played with Lea Kampmann and
Icelandic artist K.óla, and that was a
really beautiful experience. We went
to a summer house together, wrote a
few songs and then performed them
at Kex a few days later. We were
standing on stage together and it
felt very safe. That’s the memory I’ll
always treasure.”
Catch Faroese artists Aggrasop-
par, Marianna Winter, Jazzygold,
and Elinborg perform at IA 2023.
More details are available on
icelandairwaves.is
Musical
Connections No Man Is An Island
Faroese artist Elinborg Pálsdóttir on the creative bond between Ice-
land and the Faroe Islands.
We were standing on stage
together and it felt very safe.
That’s the memory I’ll always
treasure.
Iceland has played such a
big role. Airwaves [...] opened
doors to many Faroese artists.