From Iceland — Kasper Björke

Kasper Björke

Published October 13, 2009

Kasper Björke! Give us a short introduction of yourself! Why should the uninitiated check out your show?
I’ve been DJ-ing and making music for the past ten years – Icelanders might know me from one of my numerous DJ sets in Reykjavik for the past five years, or my collaboration with FM Belfast, Back & Spine, on my last album.
Its really important to come to my DJ sets this year, ‘cause there’ll be a fire-show and a juggler, and a snow-mountain builder! A sort of Balearic meets the North Pole kinda vibe. Fire and ice… No, but do come on down to Kaffibarinn Friday night or Nasa on Saturday for a heavy dose of techno and disco. No stunts, just great parties.
Next week, you will board a flight from CPH to RVK. We assume you’ll be making an iPod playlist. Give us ten tracks you would put on it and why.
The Drums – I Wanna Go Surfin’ – For my last album in 2007, I was in NYC working on tracks, and I actually tried to get Jonathan Pierce (the singer from The Drums) in the studio to record on a song, but it never happened.
Mathew Jonson – When Love Feels Like Crying (Kasper Björke edit) – Yeah, I made my own edit with a 4/4 beat, to play in my sets.
The XX – Shelter – One of many amazing songs from an amazing album.
Kasper Björke – Young Again – The new single from my next album, feat. Jacob Bellens from I Got You On Tape on vocals. Album’s out in February 2010.
Wareika – Burnin  – Wareika is great and Burnin is an ANTHEM from their forthcoming album on the Danish Tartelet label.
Jarvis Cocker – Discosong (Pilooski edit) – Pilooski makes super edits!
The Antlers – Kettering – So depressing, so good!
Bibio – Abrasion – Another great addition to the Warp catalogue.
Matthew Dear & Seth Troxler – Hurt – Brilliant song from Ghostly International.
Do you plan on catching any shows at Airwaves? Who are you interested in seeing and why?
The Drums – I gotta check out their show. The hype is so big around this band, and I’ve heard so much good stuff about their live show!
Oh Land – My good Danish friend, who I actually discovered back in the day on MySpace, then signed her to Fake Diamond Records (where I do A&R) and since then I’ve been trying to get Airwaves to book her! So now finally she is here and her live performance is stunning! Her next album will be HUGE!
FM Belfast – Always a great experience to catch my Icelandic friends live, and the only chance to see one of my own songs performed live (Back & Spine), where they sing and which they usually include in their sets. Margeir at the Blue Lagoon; usually I’m too hung-over to go, but THIS YEAR I’m going to!
And, oh, GusGus on Sunday evening!
You’ve been to Airwaves a bunch of times. Any favourite memories you wish to share?  
Playing Kaffibarinn and stage diving from the bar with Sexy Lazer (Jón Atli, the Hairdoctor), Prinzhorn Dance School’s live performance, being drunk in the outdoor hot tubs at one of the local swimming pools, following Margeir around on his marathon through Reykjavík, playing between 20 and 75 DJ sets in four days… and a lot of other memories that are x rated, muah!
Your track with FM Belfast was pretty great. Any plans on further collaboration?
Who knows… maybe for a future single or remix? We are all busy people, but it could be fun! I’m just finishing a remix for múm these days, actually… and recently did one for GusGus, but The President never got back to me on that one!

  • Where: NASA
  • When: Saturday 03:00
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