About

In the summer of 2010, we (Kai and Marcel) travelled to Iceland. Our aim was to meet as many musicians as possible, talk to them and find out what makes Icelandic music so special. Kai shot many pictures, and Marcel filled a notebook with the impressions of Reykjavik and Iceland. We then combined these three things, interviews, pictures and accompanying texts into a website: Sonic Iceland.

This tells the story of our trip, and also forms a one-stop platform for everything about contemporary Icelandic music.

We did everything for ourselves. As we are no professional journalists, we approached every step on our way to Iceland with open eyes and some naivety, but this only adds to the DIY-approach we have. This is our idea, our project and our motto is “let’s do it.”

During the course of our stay we:

- Consumed 83 traditional Icelandic Hot Dogs (Kai: 4 / Marcel: 79)
- Drank about 100 litres of Viking Beer
- Drank even more coffee
- Interviewed 26 bands, musicians and artists
- Drank beer with about 200 more
- Attended about 60 concerts and shows
- Drove 1084 kilometres on gravel roads in 3 days
- Shot over 5000 pictures
- Used up 12 Waterman ink cartridges
- Recorded 30 hours of interviews
- Lost weight: Kai (5 kilos)
- Gained weight: Marcel (3 kilos)

We would have never been able to realise our project without the help of our friends. Sonic Iceland says thank you to: IMX (Anna, Kamilla, Paul), The Reykjavík Grapevine, Reykjavík Tourism, Iceland Express, Leica, Havari, Hildur, Harpa, Erased Tapes Records, Ólafur Arnalds, Maggi, Dominique, This is Iceland, Margret, Kristin, Kaffibarinn, Bakkus, Viking Beer, Brennivin, Gogoyoko, Bloodgroup, Sykur, Reykjavík!, FM Belfast, Helgi Jonsson, Arngrímur Vídalín, Dead Gallery, Retro Stefson, Brak Records, Svavar Knútur, Mugison, Jónsvaka Festival, Hjálmar, For A Minor Reflection, Manslaughter, Menn Ársins, Sudden Wheather Change, Ben Frost, Bedroom Community / Mio, Solstafir, Kimi Records, Iceland Airwaves Festival and Myrra Rós.