This is the fifth year of Festisvall festival and it is our ambition to celebrate this birthday with an art- and music extravaganza, by touring with a poster exhibition and concerts to 4 cities; Reykjavík, Leipzig, Berlin and Amsterdam.
Along with each art opening, we have confirmed at least three Icelandic bands to play a show in each city. Most importantly, we want you to join us and help us make this celebration as nice as possible!
http://https://youtu.be/_pKuzdMFE8k
Combining disparate elements of electronics, clarinet and enchanting voice, Samaris mix glacial electronica and pulse-like beats with haunting chanted vocals – the lyrics culled from nineteenth century Icelandic poems. The overall effect is simultaneously ancient and modern – a sensual sound filled with dark spaces and alien atmosphere. Samaris had won both the Icelandic Músíktilraunir and Kraumur Award, before the international release of their two Icelandic EPs as the eponymous ‘Samaris’ further expanded horizons.
“We want people to experience something they haven’t experienced before,” they told a curious Dazed & Confused while glowing reviews of the album appeared everywhere. Very quickly the original aspiration of “just wearing funny costumes and thinking maybe we could get a gig in a bar in Reykjavik” seemed distant as Samaris moved into the international scene, playing European festivals like Sonar, Berlin Music Week, Electric Picnic and a sold out JaJaJa show in London.
httpv://https://youtu.be/tTBPZWBkYdo
Red-bearded pop auteur Berndsen mines the 1980s as inspiration for his fun, retro music. Synth bass, programmed drums, retro-futurist aesthetics and dramatic vocals make for an intoxicating, atmospheric, analogue-feeling sound remiscent of everything from Michael Jackson to Kraftwerk to The Eurythmics to fellow revivalists like Glass Candy, Dreamtrak and Chromeo. Infinite amounts of fun live.
httpv://https://youtu.be/9NXO3h0CbuM
Good Moon Deer is an experimental electronic music project spearheaded by Guðmundur Ingi Úlfarsson. Having recently emerged from his bedroom to play live shows with friend and drummer Ívar Pétur Kjartansson (Miri, FM Belfast, Benni Hemm Hemm) the shows consist of atmospheric filled soundscapes punctuated by live percussion.
Having played some successful off venue shows during Iceland Airwaves 2011 Good Moon Deer have further developed their sound into richer territories which range from anything from a slight jazz fuzz to a distorted Four Tet vibe filled with an intriguing array of programmed beats and samples.
http://https://youtu.be/bEso-wdZlZw
M-Band is the solo-project of the multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist Hörður Már Bjarnason. His music combines beat-driven nu-electronica with his heart wrenching tenor vocals, and has been described by many as atmospheric, captivating and dreamy. He works with a wide variety of influences, ranging from house and R’nB, to Arabian and Eastern-European world and folk music, but in the end his music is more than anything distinctively his own.
M-Band has had a prolific and diverse musical carreer. A classically trained pianist, he started his alternative music career playing with various bands. Aside from performing as M-Band, he also collaborates with the electronic musician Tonik. M-Band’s debut LP, Haust. Be it an empty freeway, a crowded dance floor, or a rooftop out under the stars, Haust presents a series of engrossing and affecting nocturnal atmospheres.
Festisvall Fünf w/ Samaris, Berndsen, Good Moon Deer, M-Band
Wednesday and Thursday, 9 -10 September 2015
SomoS Berlin | Kottbusser Damm 95 | 10976 Berlin/Kreuzberg
Kantine am Berghain | Am Wriezener Bahnhof | 10243 Berlin/Friedrichshain
samaris.is | soundcloud.com/berndsen | goodmoondeer.com | m-bandmusic.com | event @ facebook
