Laufey Soffía is the singer for darkwave, synth-punk band Kælan Mikla, who will be embarking on a US tour at the end of August. We caught up with Laufey to find out what her perfect day in Reykjavík would look like.
First thing
When I’m feeling enthusiastic enough to go out early, I always go visit my friends. They live on Ránargata with a manic parrot and a depressed cat. On the way, I stop at Pétursbúð and pick up items for vegan brunch and say hello to my friend Steinnun (dj. flugvél og geimskip) who sometimes works there. At my friends’ place we drink a thousand cups of coffee and make some art together—we’re always plotting spooky things. They let the parrot fly around the apartment so he’s always coming and sitting on your head.
Mid-morning
After brunch I go to the pool—either Vesturbæjarlaug or Sundhöllin—for a swim or a soak in the hot tub at. I find it very meditative to swim, but I swim really slowly, so I always go when there’s just one grandmother there. It’s not really exercise. I like to treat my body like a potato; put it in hot water and let it float around.
In the afternoon
I take the bus to our studio in Höfði, which we share with a bunch of cool black metal dudes. We do some Kælan Mikla business and work on new material and magic then grab a bite to eat. There are so many restaurants around the area, I always go to either Fönix, a great Asian restaurant, or Mathöll Höfða. Fönix has a bunch of crazy good vegan Chinese dishes, which is great as all my friends are vegan.
Dinner
Even though we just ate, we’re having second dinner because I’m always hungry. I meet up with my best friend, Ágústa, and we go to one of our favourite noodle places. It’s either gonna be Núðluskálin or Ramen Momo because no day is complete without a bowl of steaming hot noodle soup and a whole bunch of chillies.
In the heat of the night
If I’m feeling like a party I go to a show at Gaukurinn or R6013. We start with a concert at R6013 where my teenage heart-throb band, The Libertines, will be playing, and I’ll be in the front so they will sing me a song. Pete Doherty is going to sing to me, personally. In Ægir’s basement. Afterwards we do karaoke. Sölvi from Skrattar runs this karaoke night every other Monday. The machine is just his computer, and last time I was there it broke down three times while I was singing. Normally my go-to karaoke song is something screamy, but I had a sore throat so I was trying to sing Amy Winehouse. I gave up because it was getting sad and sang Lana Del Ray instead. My day ends in bed with my cat and Netflix. The cat is actually the mother of the depressed cat my friends have. She’s called Frú Dimmhildur, which translates to ‘Madame Darkness’—but we just call her Dimma for short.
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