FM Belfast, Helgi, and some angry birds
Day seven of Sonic Iceland yesterday, and the first day I did not cut myself while shaving. Maybe the liver (and connected physical) damage from the weekend has finally subsided. In any way, it was a very sunny day in Reykjavik, so we set off to our first interview with the nice people of FM Belfast in a splendid mood.
Árni and Lóa welcomed us in their backyard, where both were sorting through the merchandise for the upcoming tour (see their website for upcoming confirmed dates & locations), and answered all our questions.
Árni even took the time to show us the set-up of his live-gear, and (very very interesting) showed us a couple scenes from the documentary “Backyard“, a film about himself and his friends, setting up and playing a free concert in the very backyard we were sitting in. Árni’s friends happen to be in some of Reykjaviks’s most influential bands, like Reykjavik!, Borkó and múm, so the film shines a very accurate spotlight on the current scene in Iceland’s capital.
After that, we took the bus to the quite suburb of Seltjarnarnes, to visit Helgi Hrafn Jónsson in his little garage-studio. Helgi took us on a walk through the neighbourhood directly on the seaside and near a small lake, where we managed to upset the birds nesting there.
“Ah look! Now he’s going to get his friends and they will attack us.”, local expert Helgi said when the first bird bursted from the undergrowth, screeching angrily, and we soon fund us encircled by about a hundred swallows and other birds, who took turns in sweeping down on our heads. Only a quick sprint to the nearest outpost of civilization (a road in this case) saved us from the wrath of the birds. Wild Iceland for you, tourists. Only a 10-minute bus ride from town.
Pictured above: the author trying to escape the beaks of the winged beasts.
To sooth our nerves, Helgi drove us back to town, where our nerves and stomachs were further soothed by an invitation to Icelandic icecream, courtesy of the lovely Kamilla from IMX.
We were also treated to a trip to Reyjkaviks only trouble hotspot, Breiðholt. It does look like your average run-down suburb all over Europe, minus the burned-out cars and heroin-addicts in tracksuits. We did see a drunken man though, carefully carrying a half-empty pint glass over a zebra crossing.
Funnily, the next beautiful spot is just a short drive around the corner: Lake Elliðavatn. Amidst grass-roofed houses we saw our first Icelandic horses and got a glimpse of what the countryside looks like once you leave the city behind you. Stunning.
