Words by

Anna Andersen

@nnaandersen

There are 220 bands playing Iceland Airwaves this year. That’s a lot of bands to keep track of. And some of their names aren’t exactly doing us any favours…

Okay, So You Basically Have The Same Name

East India Youth
East Of My Youth

Note: East India Youth are the band from the UK. East Of My Youth is the Icelandic one.

Una Stef
Uni Stefson

They’re both from Iceland. They’re both in their early twenties. The former is apparently sometimes referred to as the “Icelandic Alicia Keys.” The latter you might recognize from a band called Retro Stefson.

Kaleo
Kelela

The former band is from Iceland, and we hear they might become one of Iceland’s breakout bands of year. So perhaps you’ll see them in the States, where the latter musician lives.

Sykur
Gervisykur

By the way, Sykur means sugar. Gervisykur means “fake sugar” like Sweet’n Low or other artificial sweeteners.

Christ, Your Name Is Long!

T.V. Thoranna Björnsdóttir & Valtyr Björn Thors

Maybe it’s easier to remember TVTB&VBT? Maybe not.

Your Name Is Pretty Long Too!

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizzard

But at least it’s fun to say.

If We Didn’t Know Better We Would Think You Were Icelandic

Lindy Vopnfjörð

He’s from Canada. But he’s sort of Icelandic. He’s what we call a “Western Icelander.”

And You Pronounce That How?

Nguzunguzu

Tip: We hear it’s like En-goo-zoo en-goo-zoo.

Also: Don’t mistake them for the band coming all the way from South Africa. These guys are from Los Angeles. The band from South Africa is called John Wizards. Go figure.

We Speak Icelandic, But We Still Trip Over Your Name

AmabAdamA

Why is this so hard?? It’s like “Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.” Or: “A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.”

If it helps, AmabAdamA means Amoeba Lady.

You All Have Three-Letter Names That Start With V

VAR
Vio
Vök

Interestingly enough, Vio won this year’s annual Icelandic battle of the bands (Músíktilraunir) and Vök won it the year before. Coincidence? I think so.

 So Your Name Is A Little Bit Misleading

Adult Jazz
Ballet School

Yeah, nope, not what you think.

But You’re Actually A Boy Band?

Girl Band

Yeah, so this is that noise rock band from Ireland. It’s four dudes.

Oh, You Aren’t A Singer Songwriter?

Elín Helena

This band from Selfoss is made up of six guys. They claim to play “punk punk,” or “two times as much punk as regular punk.” Fooled you too?

Wizard What?

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizzard
John Wizards

Are wizards some Trans-Tasman thing?

Moses Who?

Moses Hightower
Moses Sumney

The former is a four-piece band from Iceland. The Grapevine voted their track “Háa C” best song of the year in 2013. The latter Moses is a singer-songwriter from the States.

An Orchestra?

Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Orchestra of Spheres

The first one on the list is the only real orchestra here.

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See Also:

Making Airwaves Flow