Iceland Airwaves 2017 – Mammút
- By : Iceblah
- Category : Icelandic Music
- Comment : 0
It’s the night before Iceland Airwaves 2017. The last band to feature here this year is one that has been there from very near the start of my own Iceland Airwaves adventure and genuinely seem to be getting better and better and more essential as every year has gone by. Mammút are a gang that has grown up in front of the Airwaves audience over the last 13 years, the poor things have been interviewed on this site four times now. Over the last couple of years they’ve signed to the excellent Bella Union label and started writing and recording in English. More recently they’ve toured extensively in North and South America and Europe, and right now they’re heading back home, for Iceland Airwaves
We first played it in 2005 so we’ve been doing it almost since you started going. At the time we were 16 and 17 years old an none of us were nearly old enough to legally enter the bars we played at. But that’s just Iceland for you.
How has it changed for artists since then?
I guess the audience is bigger these days since the festival has gradually gotten more and more popular. Also there is probably more press who attends so there’s more exposure. Besides that it hasn’t really changed much.
Do you have a favourite Airwaves memory?
Once we were getting ready for a show at a long gone place called Organ. During all the excitement Arnar did some crazy gymnastics movement and ripped his jeans wide open. There was no time to change so he had to play the concert pretty much with his family jewels hanging out. It was an interesting experience both for us and the crowd.
So this year saw your first album release in English with Bella Union (I know there was the EP in 2015). Was the move to writing in English the band’s decision or something the label really wanted you to try?
The decision was entirely ours. We are extremely happy about Bella Union since the let us decide on the artistic side of things. That is freedom many signed bands do not have and we are grateful for.
On that EP back in 2015 there were re-recorded English versions of “Salt” & “Bakkus”. How hard was that to do having already written and recorded in Icelandic? Did you feel that the songs changed in meaning at all?
It was an interesting process. We tried our best to keep true to the original meaning and we think we did a good job there. Even so we think it’s more natural to write in one language so instead of doing both Icelandic and English on our newest album, Kinder Versions, like we thought of we decided to do it just in English.
So who had the genius idea that you should record a Cher song?
Back to Airwaves 2017, which shows are you going to make sure you get to see?
