Hjalti Kaftu—an Icelandic play on words meaning “shut up”—is the musical-alter-ego of Pétur Eggertsson of noise-rock/punk band Skelkur í bringu and violin-techno-duo Geigen. His debut release, ‘Ég elska drasl’ (‘I Love Rubbish’), is a delightful collection of carefully-composed electronic dance-bangers, which are well worth a listen.
Wild child
Pétur currently lives in Oakland, California, where he’s finishing a master’s degree in Music Composition. “There is a huge subculture of free improvisation and experimental composition here,” he explains. “Be it electronic or instrumental, there is a show almost every night with some wild sounds.”
One of the composer’s chief passions has been electronic dance music. “I grew up in rave-era England as a young kid and became a DJ during my college-years,” he explains. “I made a lot of dance music, which nobody ever really heard. I think I’m making up for that now.”
Sound and movement
For ‘Ég elska drasl,’ Pétur felt inspired by his experiences with dance music as a whole. “I look at the tracks as homages to certain genres of dance music,” he says. “Dance music is just an incredible way to bring people together, to get lost in sound and movement.”
Pétur likes to play with the boundaries of music in his performances. “I use non-electronic objects—loaves of bread, coffee mugs and newspapers—as controllers for activating sounds or interacting with effects,” he says. “It’s me seeing electronics being integrated so much into our everyday lives and finding ways to turn that around.”
Future beach balls
Currently, Pétur is working on a two-track single and making plans for future concerts. “I’ll be in Reykjavík around the holidays and would like to play a show then.” Pétur explains. “I’m working on equipment that will give some control to the audience. So, expect some interactive beach-balls or something at my next performance!”
Purchase or listen to Hjalti Kaftu’s debut EP ‘Ég elska drasl’ out now on Post-dreifing at post-dreifing.bandcamp.com/album/g-elska-drasl or stream at will on Spotify.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
