Baggabandið just released their new album ‘Landið mitt’ (“My Country”) and they’re having a party at Gaukurinn! Bellstop will be opening, Baggabandið will steal the show, and there’s going to be a special album purchase deal for attendees!
It’s time for karaoke night at Gaukurinn again! Always wanted to sing on a professional stage? Finally up to owning your of Miley Cyrus’ ‘ Party in the USA’? This is your moment. Shine.
Gaukurinn is hosting another open jam session! New, amazing, magical, musical things happen here, both for audience and performers! Show up in droves, bring all of your friend(s)!
Gaukurinn is hosting a hip hop throwdown featuring 10 Icelandic rap outfits, including Valby Bræður, Alexander Jarl, Átrúnaðargoðin, Nicky J, and many others! They’ll be laying down the law from 22:00 sharp until 4:30 IN THE MORNING. You get in, and you ain’t going nowhere. Don’t stress: you’ll get to see the best of Iceland’s rap and hip hop scene, duking it out to come out on top, in Icelandic AND English. You will leave satisfied, maybe a bit shaken, but in a good way. It’s going to be crazy. Crazy good.
Bangoura Band is hitting Gaukurinn in a beats-packed night, featuring also Þrír & Skúli Mennski!
Come to Gaukurinn, sing any song you like on a professional stage, if you dare!
GravelRoad, an amazing blues band that almost defies genre they’re that good, is hitting Gaukurinn!
Gaukurinn is hosting a poetry night! There’ll be poetry readings (bring your berets and bongos!), and afterwards DJ Frosti Gringo will spin the tunes, saving you from existential nihilistic feels.
Nailbiters unite! 200.000 Naglbítar will be jamming out at Gaukurinn, in two parts!
Nailbiters unite! 200.000 Naglbítar will be jamming out at Gaukurinn, in two parts!
IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN! The GoldenGang is doing open mic standup at Gaukurinn again, and it’s in English! Yay!
This specific edition of Gaukurinn’s bi-weekly open jam session promises to be good. Do you know why? Because YOU are going to be there!
Get ready for the most intense, blood-pumping-est, exciting metal-iest Halloween pre-party this side of the equator (maybe).
Gaukurinn is hosting the annual Halloween Iceland party this year, and it is THE Halloween event to go to. DJ Mobus will be providing you with all the beats, tunes and drops to dance the night away in your heavy costume (not the best choice). Do note, this is a costume party, and you’ll need to be in one to even get admission. The award ceremony is held after midnight, and provided you’re not too fitshaced by then, you can, you can dance all night long. And no, regular muggle clothes with a “Hi, my name is God” sticker doesn’t count as a costume. We think.
Belgian vocal group One Bird Orchestra is doing a show at Gaukirinn! If you’re into amazing vocal harmonies, music for mythical beasts and birds of prey, and generally hanging out and listening to music, you don’t want to miss out!
After playing in London for almost a decade, Katrín Ýr Óskarsdóttir is releasing her first solo album, right here in Iceland! Called ‘Heard it all before’, it shows off her dramatic, poppy sound.
The amazing Ledfoot is playing in Iceland for the third time, and he’s joined by The 59’s! His live shows are apparently life-altering events, so you don’t want to miss out!
Sinmara is a Black Metal band from Reykjavík and Mosfellsbær featuring members of Svartidauði, Wormlust, Rebirth of Nefast and Slidhr. The band was formerly named Chao, and under that name the three track cassette ‘Spiritus Sankti’ was released in 2012 by Norwegian label Terratur Possessions. Musically Sinmara contrast chaotic aggression with haunting melodies and dramatic build-ups, with a focus on musicianship and attention to detail. Sinmara’s debut album, ‘Aphotic Womb’, was released by Terratur Possessions in the fall of 2014 to widespread acclaim. Sinmara is an experienced and respected live band, having played countless shows in Iceland and played their first concert abroad at Beyond the Gates Festival in Bergen, Norway late August 2014. Further live appearances in Iceland and abroad are planned in the near future, and Sinmara has already been booked for Inferno Festival, Nidrosian Black Mass in Belgium and Eistnaflug Festival.
The masked conquerers of the wastelands. After numerous tours and festival appearances following the release of their 2012 monolithic debut, Flesh Cathedral, and the dissonant EP, Synthesis of Whore and Beast, Svartidauði has become a name to be reckoned within Europe’s underground, extreme music scene.The terrifying beauty of their music has made Svartidauði a favourite amongst cultists and hipsters alike.
Imagine a plumber, a farmer, a buddhist, a programmer, a hermit and an apothecary and throw them onto a steam engine without brakes rolling frantically down a gravel covered mountain road heading straight into the discourse of Iceland with 500 kg’s of dynamite, spite, sarcasm, wit, fury and lunacy strapped to the front and you’ll get an idea of what an Elín Helena spectacle is all about.
Bárujárn was founded in 2008 after members met at a industrial showcase for corrugated iron and related suplies in Hafnir city on the wind barren south coast of Iceland. The music was to represent the black sands and waves that is the heart and life of the booming Icelandic surfer culture. Determined to succeed in a world full of tears the band went on to wither in the ashes of their poorly rolled cigarettes through relentless unprofessionalism, constant poverty and petty crime. They released an EP in 2010 commonly mistaken for the crushed remnants of a grilled sandwich due to its luxurious aluminum foil wrapping. This packaging failure resulted in the frequent discarding of the EP to the trash bin at local radio stations and hence no airplay. Theraminist Hekla Magnúsdóttir quit the band in 2011 partly because of an artistic misunderstanding but mostly due to frequent sexist remarks and the general decadence of the remaining members. As of this writing their main accomplishments subsists of a failed make it or break it tour through the neighboring Farao islands, supporting local child star turned hot-shot Brandur Enni and getting to the semi finals in the unofficial battle of the bands. After years of procrastination their debut album was released in 2013. They are currently working on their second and third efforts.
Earthquakes, waterfalls, volcanoes – the music of Toneron is undeniably THE sound reflection of these Icelandic nature phenomena. Their songs are boiling up and explode to an emotional beauty – the soul of Iceland is within your grasp. Super tight drums like a rolling thunder combined with frenetic saxophone mix up with an inexhaustible source of melodies. Pushed forward by the insistent and clear voice of the singer and creative mind Gísli Brynjarsson they form a wide soundscape – and that one needs width and space, just like at their home – just like in Iceland. Far from any musical conventions, this band presents themselves so taking and confident just one year after their start – you can not help to be fascinated get by them and their Toneron world. On stage they are full of enthusiasm and get the most out of their instruments and present their songs with big passion for details – they know how to get the audience from the very first second and thrill them. That talent brought Toneron the attention of Músíktilraunir, a competition where previously bands like Of Monsters and Men, Agent Fresco, Samaris and VÖK came from. Because of that they got their first gigs in Germany as part of Stage Europe Network. And these performances led to more, led to enthusiasm and now into their first EP – ready to infect the world with the exceptional Toneron sound.
Dad Rocks! is a band from Denmark, fronted by Icelandic-born songwriter Snævar Njáll Albertsson. Albertsson writes songs that are always sincere, often related to aspects of modernity but seldom without an element of humour and tongue-in-cheek lyrics. The music is inspired by a diversity of artists such as Bill Callahan, Why?, Sigur Rós, Sparklehorse and Do Make Say Think. The unique mix of folk and pop combines complex guitar work with piano, trumpets, violin and sometimes even an entire brass band or a girls choir. The band uses acoustic instruments to create a beautifully orchestrated sound but also tend to deconstruct such organic landscapes with the use of noise rock and electronics. The name itself, Dad Rocks!, is more than just a pun on the ‘dad rock’ genre: it’s a tribute to his kids, acknowledging that they are his primary source of inspiration. When describing the world around him, he is essentially reflecting on the world that his son and daughter will grow up in.
Kælan Mikla is a three-piece poetry-punk band from Reykjavík that is becoming darker and more refined, delving into the no-wave genre and adding more instruments to their sound. The band consists of three close friends that perform original poetry any way they please, breathing a fresh breeze of avant-garde into the Icelandic music scene. The band was formed after winning first place in a poetry slam competition held by the Reykjavík City Library in January 2013. They have since made the local festival circuit, as well as gone on European tours of their own. Kælan Mikla’s style is best characterised by a dark melancholic sound, filled with heavy thumping bass, loud drums, melodic synth segments, and mercurial vocals that go from spoken poetry to full-on screams. Their lyrics focus on topics such as inner turmoil, and their stage presence is at times intimidating to newcomers, but brings regulars into an introspective and melancholic trance.
Having only released one EP and playing live as a band for little over a year, Weaves has quickly become an internationally buzzed about band. They were recently chosen as Rolling Stone’s “Band To Watch”, and have shared the stage with Constantines, Tune-Yards and Austra, playing such venues as Massey Hall and The Phoenix. Having been tagged as pop eclectics, seductive art-rockers and musicians with a delirious swirl, Weaves make bent-out-of-shape pop music that’s catchy and unpredictable. Formed by lead singer Jasmyn Burke and guitarist Morgan Waters, Weaves is a violent collision of soul, punk and pop. The tension between Burke’s affinity for topsy-turvy tunes and Waters’ ear for buoyant pop hooks makes for music that revels in fun, arty, noisy weirdness yet still maintain a level of accessibility. With the addition of a virtuosic rhythm section made up of Spencer Cole and Zach Bines, and you’ve got a band that’s slick yet slimy, backwards yet forward thinking, perhaps on the tip of collapsing.
Chastity Belt is a rock band consisting of four friends – guitarists Julia Shapiro and Lydia Lund, bassist Annie Truscott, and drummer Gretchen Grimm. They met in a tiny college town in Eastern Washington, but their story begins for real in Seattle, that celebrated home of Macklemore and the Twelfth Man. Following a post-grad summer apart, a handful of shows and enthusiastic responses from the city’s DIY community led them, as it has countless others, into a cramped practice space. They emerged with a debut album, No Regerts, sold it out faster than anyone involved thought possible, and toured America, a country that embraced them with open-ish arms. Now they’re back and the tab is settled, the lights are out, the birds are making noise even though the sun isn’t really up yet: it’s Time to Go Home, their second long-player and first for Hardly Art. In the outside world, they realized something crucial: they didn’t have to play party songs now that their audience didn’t consist exclusively of inebriated 18-22 year olds, as it did in that college town. Though still built on a foundation of post-post-punk energy, jagged rhythms, and instrumental moves that couldn’t be anyone else’s, the songs they grew into in the months that followed are equal parts street-level takedown and gray-skied melancholy. They embody the sensation of being caught in the center of a moment while floating directly above it; Shapiro’s world spins around her on “On The Floor,” grounded by Grimm and Truscott’s most commanding playing committed to tape. They pay tribute to writer Sheila Heti on “Drone” and John Carpenter with “The Thing,” and deliver a parallel-universe stoner anthem influenced by Electrelane with “Joke.” Recorded by José Díaz Rohena at the Unknown, a deconsecrated church and former sail factory in Anacortes, and mixed with a cathedral’s worth of reverb by Matthew Simms (guitarist for legendary British post-punks and one-time tourmates Wire), Time to Go Home sees Chastity Belt take the nights out and bad parties of their past to their stretching points, watch the world around them break apart in anticipatory haze, and rebuild it in their own image with stunning clarity before anyone gets hungover.
DÖPUR started out is a one man music project conceived and created by Krummi Björgvinsson dedicated to the extreme side of power electronics, post-punk, blackmetal, drone, noise and beyond. Known for leading bands like Mínus, Legend, Esja, KRUMMI and many more.. Krummi´s fiancé Linnea later joined the band on keyboards and other instruments. Since then the DÖPUR sound has developed into a more song oriented material with big hints of post-punk, coldwave and noise rock. DÖPUR just finished recording their first 7” which is due in late August on Hið Myrka Man label owned by Sólveig from Kælan Mikla.
The OBGMs (The oOohh Baby Gimme Mores) are a Canadian punk rock quartet based out of Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 2007, by Densil McFarlane (Lead Vocals and Guitar) and Colanthony Humphrey (Percussion), the band fully formed their unique sound with additions Jemuel Roberts (Keyboard, Vocals) and Joseph Brosnan (Bass, Vocals). Featured in Budweiser’s: “Dreams Are Made” commercial, the four are known for their energetic performances that involve syncopated audience movement. The lead single Beat Up Kids off their freshman self titled debut album (Sept 2014) was broadcast on such outlets such as Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs’ REVOLT TV, Ebony Magazine, Vimeo’s Staff Pick, and AUX TV. They have shared the stage with notable artists such as Janelle Monae, Living Colour and Saul Williams. Showcased at music festivals including The AfroPunk Festival, Indie Week (Finalists), North by North East and Budweiser Made In America (2014); this band oozes pure energy and truly starts the party.
Soffía Björg hails from Borgarfjörður, a fjord in the west of Iceland. Although the waters of Borgarfjörður appear calm, the fjord has significant undercurrents and shallows. Soffía studied classical singing, swifted over to jazz & has fiddled with bluegrass & americana. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Composition. Soffía is currently working through a set of songs for her first album scheduled for release in 2016. As a warm up for the album she has now made available online the single ‘Back & Back Again’ where; “The music drifts along beautifully in a classic, dark hued setting while Soffía’s rough cut, yet warm voice, infuses it with a strange blend of innocence and danger.”
Mani Orrason is an Icelandic singer-songwriter and multi instrumentalist born in Reykjavík on the
24th of December 1997. The 7th child of his parents and later to be one of 10 brothers and sisters.