Interview with Haukur of Reykjavík!

Cold Rock

Interview by Birkir Fjalar Vidarsson (of I Adapt fame) with Haukur S. Magnússon of the band Reykjavik! @ Birkir's blog Halifax Collect Blogspot
Most of the times Haukur is interviewing people himself for Grapevine Magazine.
Nice part about the new "Cats" single & Icelandic music:
The "Cats" single is getting a lot of love. One of it's main parts is quite sweet, soft and calm by your standards. Is it a shock to you when I say it reminds me of later day Maus a little bit? Not that you were taking away from that well of inspiration, but it brings back memories of that band, which I loved dearly.
"Hey! It's great to hear that "Cats" is getting love. We love love. It's one of the reasons we're in this whole thing (we are here to help one another get through this thing, whatever it is).
No I am not shocked that it reminds you of Maus. I don't think anyone in the band would be shocked by that! We all love Maus a lot (we shared a rehearsal space with them once, briefly, before they broke up finally).
Especially Bóas and I, when we were first starting playing together, we bonded over our love of Maus and other early '90s Icelandic music (like Botnleðja, Yucatan, Curver, Kolrassa, etc). We are kind of the same age, him and I, and both of us come from small towns where we would spend the days reading about the music scene in Reykjavík and dreaming of being able to participate. And guess what - now we are!"
Cats - Reykjavík! by Reykjavík!
"I love Maus, and I urge everyone to check out their stuff. But only the first three albums. Those are legend (my personal favourite: "Ghostsongs"!). There's a sorta 'Icelandic' sound going on there - the sound that I identify as Icelandic. You can hear it in Þeyr and in Sigur Rós and in some of the Sugarcubes work. And with Grafík, and on the Björk track "Joga" (for instance). It's somehow kinda foreboding and cold. Cold rock. Kuldarokk."

Photographs by Wim Van Hooste @ Aldrei Festival, April 2010