Frímann Andrésson wears many hats. He’s a family man, and occasionally volunteers for the rescue service, locating lost tourists. But most of the time, you’ll find him running services for his undertaker business, consoling grieving relatives and sending off the dead respectfully. He wears a suit and tie and assumes a solemn tone to comfort crying relatives and celebrate the lives of the deceased.
But Frímann has one more hat. Around two nights a month, he sheds his sombre attire and heads for Kaffibarinn, leaving behind the stresses and strains of parenting, saving tourists and burying bodies. His mood is upbeat and he’s ready to party. Because on these fateful nights, he’s not Frímann Andrésson of Frímann and Hálfdán funeral services; he’s DJ Frímann, and things are about to get funky.
“I try not to think about my day job while I am DJing,” says Frímann, who is charismatic and confident—surely useful qualities for a DJ-come-undertaker. “But it can get emotional at work and it’s good to be able to shake off the stress from the day.”
Frímann started DJing at college, around the same time he began working in a graveyard, clearing away leaves and keeping the grounds tidy. He originally played under the alias DJ Psycho, but, unlike the folks he works with during the day, was reborn as DJ Frímann when he made the shift away from drum & bass and towards techno and house.
“People are often surprised when they find out about my work,” says Frímann, who notes that, frankly, there aren’t many similarities between his two jobs. “The best thing about what I do is that I get to see the full spectrum of human emotion—from grief to euphoria.”
Of course, Frímann does his best to keep these two facets of his life separate. But Reykjavík is a small place and sometimes people he’s worked with at the funeral home recently turn up at his gigs, necessitating a swift change of subject. “Sometimes people try to talk to me about the service while I’m DJing,” he says, “So instead I’ll try and ask them, ‘Isn’t the track great?’”
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