Electric Dreams: Russian.Girls On Creativity And Friendship

Mystery shrouds russian.girls. Guðlaugur Halldór Einarsson’s project formed some years ago, initially as a creative outlet for his solo experiments. Two diverse albums were released under its name last year—the wry and pulsating ’Sisters & Brothers, Vol. 2’ and cynically gloomy ‘To the Bone’. Both include shared music credits and guest contributions. In the interest of clarity, I decided to ask Guðlaugur some questions about the band’s state of affairs.

“Although russian.girls started out as a solo project it soon became a platform for me and my friends who like making good music,” Guðlaugur explains. Today, he defines russian.girls as a trio, with Tatjana Dís and Gylfi Sigurðsson, for the most part. But that can vary—he frequently collaborates with various other musicians and creatives. “Our connection comes from our former studio on Skúlagata,” says Guðlaugur, “where we spent a lot of time together making music, sharing knowledge and chilling.”

“Our sound has never been pre-defined and is the combination of multiple ideas.”

When asked about their creative process, he explains: “We make music together or apart, at the studio or at home and sometimes guest contributions create moments of genius by accident.”

The band intentionally avoids being pigeonholed in a specific genre of music, which makes one release different from the next. “Our sound has never been pre-defined and is the combination of multiple ideas,” says Guðlaugur. He states that their aim is simply to create an atmosphere that leaves people wanting more.

Being a member of kraut-techno trio Rafiðn as well as rock bands Skrattar and Fufanu—which evolved from techno duo Captain Fufanu—makes Guðlaugur no stranger to collaboration. Perhaps with russian.girls, and his involvement in these varied projects, he has reached a creative autonomy, aiming to honour individual creativity in like-minded collaborators and friends who express themselves with freedom, and without restraint.

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Electric Dreams explores the realm of Icelandic electronic music—something for your mind, body and soul. Alexander Jean de Fontenay is an Icelandic music enthusiast, DJ and student of culture.