Irina’s Thursday Iceland Airwaves Diary: Guitars of all Shapes and Sizes

Occasional predictions signposting the disappearance of guitar bands have been pervading the music landscape since the late 60s. One who attends Iceland Airwaves on Thursday is assured the format is alive and kicking. Guitar collectives thrive in Iceland where craving for the music of the past will never cease.

Powerful Guild

“Could you hold this for me?”, Dr. Gunni asks this writer while packing his equipment after the show at 12 Tónar. The instrument given to me is Guild, an impressively light vintage hollow body guitar from the Stateside brand. Just a few minutes earlier, Gunnar Lárus Hjálmarsson aka Dr. Gunni and his band (guitarist Guðmundur Birgir Halldórsson, bassist Grímur Atlason and drummer Kristján Freyr Halldórsson) finished their smashing (literally and figuratively) set at the festival’s off-venue. With the final “Ástandið”, a track from their latest album Er Ekki Bara Búið Að Vera Gaman?, the quartet nailed it. Angular riffs and pummelling drums delivered unstoppable energy. In the heat of the moment, Halldórsson nearly destroyed his kit while the rest and (the audience) were grinning.

Fender Jaguar In Natural Habitat

Joana Fontinha/The Reykjavík Grapevine

On the way to Iðnó, this writer has a sneak peek at Smekkleysa where Skrattar and Spacestation hold an intimate show. Running beyond both the on and off-venue narrative, it is a nice alternative to the official programme of the festival. While it is clear where Spacestation are coming from musically (the 60s West Coast jingle-jangle, C86 do-it-yourself aesthetics and nihilist stance of The Velvet Underground), their songs have an individual quality which they deliver with potency, appeal and playfulness. Impressively, drummer Davíð Þór Hlynsson performs most of the songs with a winter hat pulled over his eyes. Equipped with three guitars (including fantastic-sounding Fender Jaguar) and bass, Spacestation is a solid unit capable of sonic time-travelling.

Mild Distortion and Melting Icicles

The comeback show of Icelandic collective Oyama is one of the festival’s highlights. Considering the crowded space of Iðnó, one can tell this event is a long-awaited one.

With two original members Úlfur Alexander Einarsson and Júlía Hermannsdóttir, the line-up at Airwaves features kimono’s Alison McNeil on guitar, bassist Jón Þorsteinsson, drummer Ragnar Jón Hrólfsson. The resulting sound, a water column of mild guitar distortion and transparent keyboard wash, casts a spell, particularly on “Satisfy”, a track from Oyama’s latest album Everyone Left. There, an evolving fingerpicking solo of McNeil, conjures up drops from a melting icicle. Spring can arrive in autumn.

More Guitars In the Heat

A long queue (as always) to Gaukurinn makes us divert from the original plan to see Britain’s Mary In The Junkyard. Instead, this writer heads to Kolaport where Austrian producer and vocalist Uche Yara kicks off her set with an unprecedented degree of heat.

Equipped with two guitars, one bass and a drum kit, Yara and her band fuse the high-octane energy of highlife, hip hop and new wave. A few people in the crowd mention the singer’s idiosyncratic vocals and, indeed, her velvety voice feels like a breath of fresh (yet hot) air.

Check out The Reykjavík Grapevine’s Iceland Airwaves Diaries, publishing daily throughout the festival to bring you all the good times.

Get in the festival spirit or take a stroll down memory lane. Follow along with the Grapevine’s Iceland Airwaves coverage.