Monday, May 10, 2010

FM Belfast interview for Calle 20 Spain

This will be translated to Espanyol, but I think some of these answers are too funny to miss :) check: www.myspace.com/fmbelfast for full tour dates! They are SOSOSOSO ace live. Next level.

























1. Where are you now and what are you up to today? Good mood?

Hey, we are in Prague and I finally found internet and time and coffee all at the same place. So, I´m very very happy.
2. How is your European tour going so far? Any funny story you can share with us?

So far it´s been wonderful. We´ve only been on the road for a few days so we´ve got the whole tour ahead of us. We had a really great show at NOD in Prague last night and a crazy show in Magnet in Berlin on Tuesday. Before we went on tour we played at Núna Now festival in Winnipeg and Gimli in Manitoba Canada. We travelled for 31 hours to get to Berlin. I´m kind of tired right now so I can only think of some monumental farting and I dropped my sunglasses in a toilet yesterday because I was too tired to think. I´m really glad it wasn´t my passport and that the toilet was pee free.
3.Why did you name your band FM Belfast?

I don´t know. It sounded right when we thought of it. The name actually got us to Belfast and we made really wonderful friends from the city so it must have been the right name for the band.


4. You started as a three piece and then you grew. How many of you are coming to Spain (names and instruments please)?

We actually started as a two piece and then we grew. I´m not sure how many of us are coming to Spain. I think we will be at least 4 Árni R.(vocals, synths, computer, midi controllers) Árni V. (vocals, falsetto) Lóa (Vocals), Unnsteinn(vocals and electric guitar)

5. It’s been a while since you first resealed the How to Make Friends album. How does it feel having to play all those ‘old’ songs live now?

It´s been a year and a half since we first released the album but that was only in Iceland. It´s only coming out now in Europe and America. We don´t see the songs as old because they are never exactly the same live. Sometimes we make them longer or shorter or more complicated. Sometimes we find new lyrics while we are performing them. It´s kind of like playing Tetris, it´s the same but different every time. I don´t know how to explain it better....


6.You must have some new material ready to be listened to in your shows. Is there a new album coming soon? Has your initial sound/style evolved somehow?

Yes we have and we try to mix them with our older songs during our shows. We have a new album but it´s not ready. We have all the songs but not all the proper recordings and we have to mix and master it. I don´t know if the sound has evolved or not... I don´t think of it like that.

7.What was the last idea/concept that inspired you for writing a song?

Arni R. was at home making music while I was at a bar meeting friends. When I got back he had made a song on the computer. He was playing it to me and I was kind of making fun of him and singing Pump up the jam over his song. We thought it worked well and recorded it. That recording is on the album. We gave our friends Inga and Boas the song as a christmas present. This was before we started the band.

8.Have you ever tried singing in your own native tongue? Will you ever do that?

We have tried but it usually ends up like some kind of jokes. We´ve made some actual christmas songs in Icelandic but they are very silly. I´m not sure if we´ll do it. Maybe and maybe not. We want to make music that will be also be understood by people from other nationalities than Icelandic.

9. When was the last time you were running down the street in your underwear (and why)?

I wasn´t running down the street in my underwear but I was running down a road and ended up running into a very cold lake.I thought it was a good idea at the time. It was last summer, our summers aren´t very warm.

10. How did you happen to do these Techntronic and R.A.T.M. tributes? Will you perform any other cover versions in your Music Day gig in Spain?

I already told you about the Technotronic song but the R.A.T.M. cover came about when a friend heard the Pump up the jam song we made. He suggested we would do something with R.A.T.M. and we thought it was a very good idea. We will probably do some covers in Spain. We really like covering the song Nicole by the Teenagers. It is one of our favorites to cover.

11.How do you expect the Spanish audience to react in front of your music?

Oh, I really don´t know. I hope the will dance and be happy. I´ve never been to Spain but we have met Spanish people at our shows and they are really nice and friendly.

12. This event line-up includes The Popopopopos (FR) and the Dutch trio Daily Bread. Are you aware of their music? Do you like them?

No I wasn´t aware of them but Im going to look them up. I think I´ve heard the names before but I´m really bad with band names.

13. Which band would you pick to share the stage with?

"Flaming Lips." I know it´s very unrealistic but I would love it to death. Or "Think about life", we actually played on the same stage in Paris and I would love to do it again. They are so cool.

14. What would you like to do with your free time while being in Spain?

Walk around and try to see as much as I can. I´ve never been to Spain and I can´t wait.

15. Any Spanish band you really like (please be honest. don’t google it)?

When I was younger I really liked Manu Chau, like everyone I guess. I don´t know many Spanish bands, I´m sorry. Now I have to google some.

16. Top 5 bands that have inspired you and still into your iPod these days. Top 5 bands you have just discovered this year.

Old Ipod favorites:
1. Smog
2. Flaming Lips
3. Cat Power
4. Papa M
5. Pavement

New Ipod favorites:
1.Tune Yards from USA
2. DVA from Chech
3. Nolo from Iceland
4. Jaakko and Jay from Finland
5. Ebony Bones from England



17. Don’t you feel Björk and Sigur Rós success put Icelandic bands in the shade sometimes?

Nope, I think they have probably helped the other bands. People are more willing to listen to other bands from Iceland because they like Björk and Sigurrós.

18. A population of hardly 320,000 and so many dancepop/indietronic bands... Why is that?

We have long winters and then you have time to work on art and music. We also need something to make us happy when there is long days of darkness. Dancepop and indietronic bands can help you with that.

19.What do you think of tourists walking Reykjavík’s city center with hiking boots and north face raincoats (in august)?

It doesn´t bother me at all. I´m just glad someone wants to visit us. They can wear whatever they want.

20. Ugliest Icelandic animal: puffin or wolf fish?

I don´t know what a wolf fish is but I think puffins are adorable like little fat men. So I think I have to say wolf fish.

21.Latest movie/record/book you've enjoyed?

The latest movie I enjoyed was Kick Ass. I like well choreographed movie fights. I really like the Tune Yards album Bird Brains. The last book I enjoyed was Daniel Clowe´s newest book Wilson. I had been waiting for a new book from him for a few years.

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