FM Belfast make Iceland sound like the most exciting place on earth. Such is the charm and energy contained within their debut album How To Make Friends – truly wonderful collection of electro-pop ditties, ranging from songs about the sad loss of VHS technology to keyboard-playing monkeys on tropical islands and utterly refreshing cover versions of Technotronic and Rage Against The Machine (their Killing In The Name cover was recorded way before the Xmas / X-Factor hoo-ha).
Comprising of 3 key members (Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir, Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson and Árni Vilhjálmsson since you asked), they feature a floating collective of up to 5 other members in their live shows “depending on who can make it” – and they are touring Europe in the coming months (including a show at Hoxton Bar & Grill in London). Their aforementioned debut album was recorded, mixed, mastered and artworked by the band themselves. Impressive.
Resistance is futile. One of the most fun records we’ve heard in ages – get it in your life.
How and when were you first infected by dance music?
At my school when I was 12, while I was actually waiting for a slow song for slow dancing.
When did you start making music / producing, and how long was it before you started making tracks that you were really happy with?
Örvar and Árni R. Have been making music for a long time before. As for FM Belfast, the first track we ever made together is actually on our album. That was Christmas 2005 and the band wasn´t really formed.
What have been your personal favourite tracks / productions so far?
This question probably has four answers but I´ll just say what I think and it will be at least 1/4 of what´s true. My personal favourite is Frequency and Underwear.Frequency was a song we did after one of us had to be the designated driver for drunken relatives after an aunt´s 70th birthday. That gruesome experience made a nice dance song.
Where does your name come from?
We were trying to come up with a name that sounded like we were trying to be cool. FM Belfast popped up while waiting in a car. We like inventing band names. Örvar and Eiki even have a website for this hobby: http://badlynamedband.tumblr.com/
Who would you most like to work with?
Yargh…I don´t know. Maybe some Swedish pop veteran that has crazy production ideas. No, maybe not…hmmm Peter Gabriel, yes, the answer to this question is Peter Gabriel.
What have you got in store for the coming months?
We will be touring How To Make Friends around Europe in February and March and I think May too. In the summer we´ll play festivals and when we have time off we have around 20 tracks to sort through and decide which ones to keep and which ones to drop. It´s hard not to get attached to your darlings.
What can we expect from one of your DJ sets or live sets?
If we are lucky there will be dance parties, some pantlessness will occur. Just bring comfortable shoes.
If you weren’t a DJ/producer/artists, what would you be?
I would be a gardener. It´s calming. But I actually work as an illustrator and comic writer. Music is new for me.
Which other producers and DJs and artists do you really rate?
I love Dan Deacon and Skakkamanage, Cat Power, Seabear, Sin Fang Bous, Anthony and the Johnsons and Daniel Johnston and CocoRosie and for some reason I really like Kenny Rogers but I think that´s my dad´s fault. It´s not a guilty pleasure though. I´m not secretive about it.