Mammút are always one of the hardest working (and best!) bands at Iceland Airwaves. This must be their 8^th or 9^th festival but they somehow still feel like a newish band. They were already a popular choice for a lot of people year after year but then, last year, they released the magnificent record “Komdu Til Mín Svarta Systir” which topped most end of year polls in Iceland but just missed out on the iceblah public vote in a titanic two-way struggle.

Luckily I seem to have been forgiven and Kata agreed to talk to me ahead of another busy Airwaves schedule next week.

Hi Kata! Where are you right now? and what are you doing?

I am having some troubles with my dripping nose.

Oh dear. Congratulations on the huge success of your fantastic album, Komdu Til Mín Svarta Systir, last year. You topped a lot of newspaper lists for record of the year, but on this website you were voted in second place. Are you still talking to me?

Yes I am.

Good. You seem to have been busy touring with that record over the last year. What's the best place you've visited in the last 12 months?

We had the greatest time in Borgarfjörður Eystri, which is a foggy place in the east.

Are there any plans already for a follow-up record?

We are spending time in a small windowless room, experimenting by playing

You have played at a lot of Iceland Airwaves festivals now. Is it enjoyable still? Is there a pressure of being one of the bigger local bands these days?

This is a local festival and almost the only competition or after effects of it is one small review that every band gets in the local magazine, Grapevine and after a few of praising ones and a few of negative nancy ones you kind of start not to care about pressure or the thought of the festival as anything else then just another concert, which we always put our heart into.

Have you had a good look at the Airwaves schedule? What else are you really excited to see?

I don't feel the urge to discover new music when Airwaves is on. I think it is because of playing so much you get to caught up in your own energy and you're own shows kind of get more than enough.
So almost every year I just go and see local music I love and have seen many times before.
to name a few… Dj. flugvél og geimskip, Kælan Mikla, Samaris, Börn, Muck, Hjaltalín and more.

Mammút will be ready to entertain you four times next week,

Wednesday 5^th, Gamla Bíó @ 23:20

Thursday 6^th, KEX Hostel @ 18:00

Friday 7^th, Laundromat Cafe @ 14:30

Saturday 8^th, Reykjavík Art Museum @ 21:00