Who are you? What can we expect from your Airwaves appearance, and what can we expect of you in general?
We are Kimono, an Icelandic-Canadian band formed in Reykjavík in 2001.
We’ve been a trio for two years now, but we’ve released three albums so
far as a quartet, mineur-aggressif in 2003, Arctic Death Ship in 2005
and All Music Recorded, a collaboration with Icelandic producer Curver,
in 2007. We’re releasing our fourth, Easy Music For Difficult People,
in November of 2009. It will be our first album as a trio, and our
first album on Kimi Records. Our music sometimes fails description, but
progressive, experimental guitar rock with crazy beats should do the
trick.
At Airwaves we will focus on new material off EM4DP and people can expect to be blown to smithereens. That is all.
What are some of the acts you’ll want to see at this festival, and why?
We are excited to see the Icelandic bands and artists like Nolo, Ólafur
Arnalds, Ben Frost, Ghostigital, Hjaltalín, Mammút, Agent Fresco, DJ
Hero’s Trial, Klink, Me, The Slumbering Napoleon, Sudden Weather Change
and Who Knew, mostly because they are making interesting music and/or
perform good live sets.
Are there any acts missing from the bill that you’d like to see on there?
Singapore Sling will be missed this year, along with Skátar who broke up a couple of months ago.
This year sees fewer ‘large’ international acts on the schedule. Do
you believe this changes anything for the festival in general, and its
spirit?
Yes and no, it probably does have a limited effect on international
guests, but for us this doesn‘t change a thing. We‘ve always been more
interested in the Icelandic bands on Airwaves, and with this wave of
80s synth revival bands in the last couple of festivals taking over the
‘sound’ of the festival; we have generally lost interest in those
international acts.
Looking back, do you have a favourite edition of Iceland Airwaves? And if so, why?
I think it was at Airwaves 3 years ago, when we had bands like
Brazilian Girls over. There was something in the air, some type of
uncertain lunacy… Dragging the bassist from Brazilian Girls out of a
dumpster behind Bæjarins Bestu in the middle of the day, and later that
night seeing him perform at NASA, buck-naked… Priceless.
A lot of our readers are first time Airwaves-visitors. Do you have
any tips for them? What to see, what to do, what to avoid, etc? Where
to buy records? Or a good place to grab a bite or get away from it all
for a while?
We would recommend that people check out some of the off-venue shows as
well. Go to Havarí in Austurstræti 6 and buy their records there. Best
of all, get to know some locals, tag along for a party at someone‘s
house and drink with the natives. Just don’t try to sleep, it breaks up
the day.
Given that most Airwaves-visitors won’t have a lot of time in their
schedule to see the Icelandic countryside, are there any nature-havens
close by that you’d recommend?
Yes, we would recommend that people take the 25-minute drive to
Krýsuvík and bathe in the hot pools there. It‘s close by and there are
no tourists at this time of year. It’s also free.
Has a lot changed in the Icelandic music scene since Airwaves 2008? How about Airwaves 2004?
We are actually surprised at how little has changed. Icelandic bands
tend to stick together, through thick and thin, so we‘re seeing a lot
of the same bands performing this year that also performed in 2004. I
guess that‘s a good thing, as for ourselves, having been at it for 8
years, it definitely is.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
