What started out as a one-man project in the eastfjord town Egilsstaðir some two years back has quickly transformed into the more engrossing acts of the Icelandic music scene. Raggi, one of three siblings, took the computer he had used as his key instrument out of the closet and got his younger sister Lilja and her Faroese boyfriend Janus to back him up. The third and oldest family member, Hallur, didn’t want to be left out of the party and soon joined the group. They called themselves Bloodgroup.
Bloodgroup plays powerful and funky rockinfluenced electro-dance-pop. Over the past two years, their music has evolved, the sound developed and more instruments, synths and samples added to the mix. They recently included a fifth member, DJ Benni B-Ruff, which they say spices things up even more.
The five-piece had just returned back from Berlin, where they performed twice at the Popkomm festival, when the Grapevine caught up with them. “These were some great gigs. First we played a rather small venue and the place was almost packed,” says singer Lilja. Hallur continues: “We were really surprised about the turn-out as we haven’t released an album yet.” “We also played at a gay-club,” adds Lilja. “That was a crazy gig. Jens took his shirt of and some mad girls started groping him. That was just insane.”
Up until now, their party-thirsty fan base has had to settle for listening to songs on the band’s Myspace site or attending their awesome live concerts, but that is all about to change. Bloodgroop’s debut album, ‘Sticky Situation’, is finally ready and will hopefully be released by the end of the month. “The album contains 11 songs, both old ones from the time we had just started writing music together mixed with new ones,” says Hallur. “We wrote most of these songs this summer and recorded them ourselves.”
The band’s intense live gigs have earned them quite a reputation. “I just want to have fun and flip out on stage,” explains über-energetic frontman Lilja. “I never really thought that we would become something, let alone release an album, so my goal was always just to have fun and make every single show be the best concert we had ever played. That hasn’t and will not change.”
Bloodgroup will play the Iceland Airwaves festival this year and promise a kick-ass performance. To warm up for the festival, two gigs are already lined up. On October 5 they will perform at NASA and open up for Skátar at Organ the next day.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
