Hjálmar: 'Órar is supposed to be a bit hard to digest..,'

Hjálmar, the Icelandic reggae band that everyone is talking about, recently released Órar, their fifth studio album. The band, which features the skills of well known Icelandic musicians including trombone maestro Samúel Jón Samúelsson, formed in 2004 and are now reaching new heights with their one-off blend of Nordic sensibilities and skanking Jamaican heat. They're a darn busy enterprise these days but, just for you, we pinned them down, shone a light in their eyes and interrogated them in our own unique IMX way.

So, Hjálmar! You have been doing your thing as a reggae band since 2004 (you probably already knew this) but do you still find, after all this time, that people are super-curious about the idea of an Icelandic reggae band?

YES - it seems to be a concept that always sparks curiosity amongst people no matter where we go. But it's also because Hjalmar add this twist to the reggae - it's not about white boys trying to look and sound like someone from Jamaica. It's about taking the reggae and making it our own. There are plenty of Scandinavian reggae groups for example that are quite typical. Hjalmar are nothing like that - and that's why we continue to surprise people.

Do you ever get bored of having to answer the same questions about what inspired you to turn to the tropical sounds of Jamaica and start making them your own?

No.
 
In that case, may we ask what inspired you to turn to the tropical sounds of Jamaica and start making them your own?

Reggae is really interesting because there's a lot of space in the music - the roots reggae usually has a nice and warm sound with hammond organ, tape echos and easy guitar parts with few chords. We found this sound field to be an interesting one to work with - it doesn't hurt that it's a feel-good music with positive vibes and you never get bored of playing it even though you have to play it often...which is often the case with us. A song can last for 3 minutes during one concert and 15 minutes during another.

And did you find that there were more people in Iceland who were interested in reggae than you thought, or was it hard to find musical kindred spirits at first?

When we first started out we didn't even know much about reggae and the only reggae artist the general public in Iceland knew at that time was Bob Marley.  But nonetheless the audience was very embracing from the beginning. When we started playing in 2004 we very quickly became the talk of the town and we filled every show. It was a great time with lots of sweaty gigs. Our first CD (like the rest of them) was also well received - it took it only 6 months to go gold. The hesitation was more to be found with the record companies because no one really was keen on releasing our album in the beginning - they simply didn't believe in the concept of Icelandic reggae. They thought no one would listen to it but it didn’t take us long to prove them wrong.
 
When you recorded in Jamaica in 2009 at the Harry J and Tuff Gong studios (for the album 'IV'), what was that like? What was the perception there of Nordic reggae musicians?

We had a great time while in Jamaica. Of course we spent most of our time locked away in the studios where we worked with many legendary local musicians that have worked with all the big reggae names. These people are used to some “white” bands coming to record reggae and don’t have high hopes of the reggae to be good. So when we first met them they were withdrawn and didn’t mingle with us too much but we could see their faces light up when we started playing and it didn’t take them long to accept us and start growing to the music. They actually liked our music very much and have kept in touch - something we didn't necessarily expect.

You certainly have an abundant output - and now you have released 'Orar' into the world. Tell us a bit about what we can expect from this new release?

Órar is our 5th studio album and we thought that this was the right time to take a bit of a leap in developing our sound further. The roots reggae had become too simple for us and not challenging enough. When you are young you always think that you are discovering something or doing something that no one has done before. Then you find out that the Beatles or some other bands back in the 70's and onwards were doing exactly the same thing. So you have to move on - try out new things, experiment and with Órar we are challenging both ourselves and our audience. We are using synthesizers, completely new sounds and just playing with electronic sound in general. Some people would say it's more upbeat and aggressive then our previous albums. Only time can tell if this "move" has been successful or not. Based on the reaction to the album we think we are on the right track. We are doing something new and challenging and some of our fans love it and some don't...which is good and just what we wanted. Órar is supposed to be a bit hard to digest.
 
Have you sparked a wave of reggae in Iceland, are there new reggae bands snapping at your heels?

There's definitely a reggae wave in Iceland right now (although small) with a group of young people organizing reggae nights with DJ's and making reggae music - Reykjavík Soundsystem and Ojbarasta to name a few. Still these bands have not yet released any albums. We definitely hope they will. But right now - it's still 6 - 0 for us.

You've woven in other influences into your work over the years, such as folk and Icelandic traditional music. Are there other directions you would like to branch out into in the future? Do you have any surprises up your sleeves?

Like we've said before we've been trying out new things with Órar but we have no idea what we will do next. Our experience is that we enter a studio with a clear idea about where we are heading and then by the end of the day we find our selves somewhere else then we had planned. We've talked about it for a while now to move into dub and of course continue with the electronic and more upbeat feel we've started with Órar. So maybe that's the next step.
 
When we came to your excellent listening party in Reykjavik last month, we noticed that there was a very nice dog, called Dylan, who seemed very involved in the proceedings. Is he part of the management? Is he even the band's Svengali?

He's the studio dog we thought would sleep by our feet while we are working but he's more into sleeping in "his" couch, farting and snoring and asking for food every once in a while. He also keeps Njudni company but he's the ghost that lives in our studio (Hljóðriti) - there are stories of him from way back in the 70's.
 
Are you looking forward to Eurosonic? What other live dates do you have coming up that we can spread the word about?

Yes very much so. We've recently played in Finland, Russia, Denmark and Sweden. Eurosonic is the next big thing and then we are planning a small trip to Denmark, Sweden and Norway in February / March.

Finally, what is the best thing about being in Hjalmar?

Hjálmar is an established band that gets a lot of opportunities to play and it's just nice to travel with your friends and play good music. What more can one ask for?

Indeed! Thank you Hjálmar!