I've seen Snorri Helgason playing live on stage a lot of times. Always until recently that was as a member of the excellent band Sprengjuhöllin and in the last year as a solo artist, arriving with a mellow masterpiece of a debut album, "I'm Gonna Put My Name On Your Door". Most recently I saw him open the London version of Iceland Airwaves 2010 preview shows. Snorri has recently moved to London but luckily for Airwaves fans he is heading back to Iceland and is playing a lot of shows (details below) before heading further out over the Atlantic to a Canadian tour.

Hi Snorri, where are you right now and what are you doing?

I'm sitting in my brand new apartment in Hoxton in London, UK drinking coffee and listening to Townes Van Zandt. Life is good. I just moved here about a month ago. I've just been writing and performing and getting to know the city and some really good people and so far it has been really fantastic. I've always loved this city and had this romantic vision of it. It hasn't let me down yet.

Will your Airwaves show be completely solo, like the one at the London Airwaves event recently?

The ones on Wednesday at Venue and on Saturday at Risið, my two main showcase, will be with a band. But I'll do lots of off-venue solo performances. I think 3 so far so there will be plenty of opportunities to see me perform. The band that I'll be performing with is going to be awesome. It will consist of, in my opinion, the best rhythm section in town, Góskar and Axel (of Hjaltalín), Birgir Ísleifur(of Motion Boys & Last Boy) on keys and backing vocals and of course Djásnið (of Ojba Rasta) on guitar. It will be fantastic.

You say that you are in the style of the singer-songwriters of the early 70s – who in particular inspires your music from that, or any other, time?

When I was writing stuff for my debut album (I'm Gonna Put My Name on Your Door) I was listening a lot to that kind of music. Paul Simon's first solo albums, Harry Nilsson, Carol King. Stuff like that. I think that inspired a lot of the arrangements and the general feel of the album.
The stuff I'm writing now is a little different. A little more experimental, I guess.

What's happening with Sprengjuhöllin now – will there be a third album at some time?

Sprengjuhöllin is on hiatus. A third album some day? I don't know. I hope so. But it probably won't happen in the near future. We had a really good run but now we are all doing our own thing. Hopefully we can make some music together again one day.

There will be 5 or more other bands playing at the same time as you at Airwaves – so why should people choose to come to your show?

Because I'll be playing music that doesn't sound like any of the other bands. Not in the "newest, freakiest, most outrageous sound there is!" kind of way but exactly the opposite. I'm not as interested in "new" as I am in "good". I try to write good music. I do not care about anything else. And my band is really really good.

Have you seen the festival line-up? What other bands are you excited to see and could recommend?

Hjaltalín are my favorite Icelandic band and always put on a good show. Go see them. They know how to write good songs. Prins Póló, Sin Fang, Seabear, Retro Stefson, Benni Hemm Hemm, Hjálmar, Lay Low and FM Belfast are all exceptionally good Icelandic bands.

And finally, how about a few local tips for the festival first-timers?

Hmmm. Dress well. It can get pretty cold and shitty and you might have to wait in a queue for some time. Basic.
Make sure you check out the off-venue schedule. That's a very good way to see all the bands you want to see and often in a more fun and intimate setting. You should be up and about and downtown around noon each day. You won't regret it.
The best pizza in town is at Gamla Smiðjan in Lækjargata. Make sure you try the Icelandic "pulsa" (hot-dog). You will love it. Get yourself the best chicken noodle soup I have ever tasted at Noodle Station on Skólavörðustígur. Go swimming at Sundhöllin. Drink lots of beer and talk to locals. They are a friendly bunch.
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See Snorri Helgason play his main shows at Venue on Wednesday at 10:50pm and at Risið on Saturday at 10:30pm. He's also playing off-venue three times, on Thursday at 3pm in Mál og Menning and at 7pm in Bar 11 then on Friday at 5pm in Hemmi og Valdi. No excuse not to catch up with him!