#ceasetone

Day 18/100 – Day 2 #Airwaves18

Well today started early! Given that in past years off-venue usually starts around lunch time, we’d planned our music walking tour of Reykjavik by 12 Tonarin order to not miss any bands. It turns out we could’ve opted for a early afternoon slot instead of the 10:30 one we chose – however it turned out to be a good choice as for a start there were only 4 of us being taken around the city by Larus,…

Airwaves is not your typical music festival, so why not starting the day off at one of the 25 wonders of the world? The Blue Lagoon is a natural pool fed by hot springs with healing powers. A couple of hours of relaxation time, because we were up for a fantastic line up in the evening.

At Gamla Bíó, a beautiful event space, CeaseTone opened the night. The band around singer/guitarist Haffstein Þráinsson does catchy dream rock soundscapes.

Next up on the same stage was Dream Wife, a U.K./Icelandic three-piece. While name and lineup suggests some sort of semi-serious punk outfit, the three women (plus drummer) are up to something else: the fierce guitar-driven indie rock would be exciting even without their outstanding singer Rakel Mjöll, who is blessed with the ability to charm an entire room of people with a single smile.

After that we were heading over to Harpa which runs shows in four venues. This time it was packed with festival attendants and felt finally more rock’n’roll than classical music. At Silfurberg Icelandian band Singapore Sling was on. The six to seven piece band plays intense, loud alternative rock. Extra points for the backdrop: during the show a sculpture of a bull’s head grew invisibly from a tiny spot to a menacing monster.

The next band, Fufanu, topped Elke’s must see list, so the excitement was big when singer Kaktus Einarsson and guitarist Guðlaugur Einarsson took the stage backed by a bassist and a drummer. Kaktus made it official (after Dream Wife has proven it earlier that day): a dedicated singer rocks. His bad boy rock show fit perfectly to Fufanu’s dark alt rock and drove the crowd close to insanity.

And there was no winding down from here: Californian duo Go Dark’s heavy electronic beats left a packed Gaukurínn breathless. They brought life-sized neon colored figures to the stage for a weirded-out future hippie vibe.

New Post has been published on http://glamglare.com/music/2016/09/09/offstage-qa-with-ceasetone/

OFFSTAGE: Q&A with CeaseTone

CeaseTone are an electro-indie-rock band from Reykjavik, Iceland that originated from the solo project of Hafsteinn Þráinsson. I no longer remember how and when exactly I came across their debut album “Two Strangers” which I got instantly enamored with, but when I decided to head to this year’s Iceland Airwaves festival, CeaseTone was the first band I actively sought out and contacted.

Much to my delight, Hafsteinn Þráinsson took the time to take part in our Q&A series. Before we jump right into the Q&A chat, listen to the debut single “Full Circle” to set the mood:

Listening to the entire album, it becomes soon apparent that a master guitar player is behind the alluring songs, and the more surprising is Hafsteinn’s answer in regards to which instrument he chose. Without taking anything further away, let’s dive into the interview:

Q: What was the last song that got stuck in your head? A: Roro by Gísli Pálmi

Q: What was the first album you have ever bought? Digital, vinyl, CD or cassette tape? A: Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water – Limp Bizkit was the first album I remember owning but Ride The Lightning – Metallica was the first I bought

Q: Do you still possess this album? A: Amazingly yes, got it when I was 7 years old so 16 years ago.

Q: Is there a song you’d like to cover? A: A ton of them, I like taking songs and turning them on their head, picking songs as far from my own style and make them my own, would be pretty cool covering some Kendrick Lamar since he’s my favourite rap act, maybe “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” or “How Much A Dollar Cost”

Q: What’s your songwriting process like? What comes first, melody or lyrics? A: It’s quite chaotic and depends on what I’m aiming for sound-wise but usually there is some single idea, rhythm, sound or melodic motif that sparks everything, sometimes it’s like the songs are writing themselves and i finish them in a day and sometimes it takes ages. When it comes to lyrics I usually write them afterwards and they get written in the same way, I’m writing the melody and just start babbling words and write lyrics from the words that sounded good in the melody. In other cases the song in a whole comes from a single sentence that pops up in my head and sometimes I write “poems” that turn into song when I got something burning on my chest…but yes basically it can happen in any way possible

Q: If you could have any musical instrument in the world, which one would it be and why? A: An original moog synthesizer from the 1970s would be really neat, I’m mostly a gearhead when it comes to synthesizers though I’m mainly a guitarist, I just don’t find guitars that interesting really, the guitar pedals are way more fun.

Q: Where would you take me to see/hear great live music in Reykjavik? I will be there for Iceland Airwaves ’16 but if I came at another time what would you recommend? A: Húrra is always the solid choice since most of the Icelandic music scene plays there and they have gigs almost every night and always something good. Although now they are remaking the Nasa venue and that will probably become a huge part of the scene, it’s a bigger venue though so probably more big acts and less up-and-coming underground stuff from the music scene.

Q: Any misconception that people seem to have about Iceland or Icelandic music that you would like to comment on? A: There is this one statistic that keeps popping up in even official media which just baffles me how it became so spread out and that is the “research” that show that half of all Icelanders believe in elves, like for real, and that is just such nonsense and just bugs me because it puts a specific stupid image on Iceland. This whole image also bleeds into the way people think about Icelandic music thinking that all our influences come from nature and all that BS.

Q: If you could choose to live in a decade (music, style, etc.) which one would it be? A: The 1970’s had soo much going on, being in the middle of all that would have been awesome..but the 2010’s I also pretty awesome to be a part of with all its diversity

Thanks so much Hafsteinn for your thoughts and your wonderful insights. Honestly, I didn’t even know about the elves and I obviously still have a lot to learn before my trip to Iceland, or better yet not to learn. In any case, I am very much looking forward to seeing all of CeaseTone live: Sólrún Mjöll Kjartansdóttir (drums, drumpad), Steinar Karlsson (bass, synth) Jökull Brynjarsson (synth, sampler, piano) and  Hafsteinn Þráinsson (vocals, guitar, synth). Only two more months!

Follow CaeseTone on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and SoundCloud. Get “Two Strangers” on iTunes.

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