Iceland's Mugison
After a hard core night of some intense and mind blowing jamming with a bunch of his close friends, they decided to take the one man band and make it a full on ensemble. Now the one man project has turned into an empire of seven plus, Guðmundsson or Mugison, as he likes to be called, took his talent and decided to share it up with his pals, and he couldn’t have made a better choice. Having recently toured with Queens of the Stone Age throughout North America, this Lucid writer had the opportunity to get in contact with them again and get a one on one interview with the man of the moment Mugison. This is a transcript of our conversation for your enjoyment:
 | Lucid Forge: You ditched the laptop, it says on your website, to go old school. You were previously a one man band and you recorded using only your laptop. How long did you do that for? Mugison/Örn Elías Guðmundsson: My first instrument is the laptop. I started doing music on it in 2002 and have one all my albums on a laptop. My older albums are more acoustic-electronic, but his new one, Mugiboogie, is a rock´n´roll beast. LF: How did the band come together? M/OEG: I called few friends up and asked them to come and jam, I loved the energy and the horniness. I knew I had to do an album with them. LF: Who are the members? M/OEG: Addi is on drums, Gudni on Bass David on Piano, synth and Hammond, Pétur Ben on guitar. They all have some kind of magic to them. LF: What do you enjoy more, being in a band or doing your own thing? M/OEG: It´s so different, nothing is better it´s all music, it was a nice change having company in the Studio and on the road, but I love the other stuff to. LF: How many albums do you have? M/OEG: 3 albums and 3 soundtracks - Soundtracks are Niceland, Little Trip to Heaven and Myrin. The albums are Lonely Mountain, Mugimama and Mugiboogie. |
LF: Being as the songs on Mugiboogie range in musical taste, what genre would you classify your music as if you had to choose one?
M/OEG: I would choose pop, popcorn music.
LF: Do you have a particular song on the album that you feel really speaks to the audience?
M/OEG: The one that sticks out at gigs is "Sweetest Melody". The one that drunken people talk about when they talk to me after a gig is "Deep Breathing".
LF: How do you come up with the lyrics and music?
M/OEG: I sit down and wait for them to come, it’s like shitting, sometimes I sit down and it just flows, sometimes I have to push, sometimes it’s easy and little or no extra cleaning, just like shitting.
| LF: What types of music inspire you personally or musicians? M/OEG: I like music to surprise me; I want it to get a hold on me. No genre or style in particular, I listen to cartoon music and Sinatra, meditation music and Fantomas. LF: How do you feel growing up in Iceland has inspired your musical lifestyle? M/OEG: Björk is one my biggest influences, she led the way for a new kind of thinking in Iceland, I can never thank her enough. The way she follows her heart in her creation and not the business is her biggest lesson, I love her. LF: Who or what bands would you compare your music to? M/OEG: My first 2 albums are little bit mix of Matthew Herbert, Radiohead, Brogdan Razinsky, the Beatles. The new one is a mix of John Lee Hooker, Screaming Jay, Howling Wolf, Elvis Priestly, Sepultura, Tom Waits and Will Oldham. LF: How is life on the road for you? What do you enjoy or not enjoy about it? M/OEG: I like to be on stage, I like the feeling I get in my belly when I’m having a good gig. Its a good job, when you are holding a piece of wood with strings on it and shout into a mic. The worst thing is missing my kids and the lack of sleep. LF: When you were in Hamilton for the Queens of the Stone Age tour, you played two shows that night, one at Copps Coliseum and one at a small venue, Absinthe. What did you enjoy more, and why? |  |
M/OEG: I remember more from the Absinthe so it must have been better. It’s so different playing in a small club like that. It’s more sweat and yeah. I like it more.
LF: How was it being on tour with such a big name as Queens?
M/OEG: They are the coolest guys I've meet. I loved it, wish they could adopt me and my band. I miss them.
LF: Has there been anywhere you have been on tour that reminds you of being home?
M/OEG: No. I live in a village in the west fjords, we are only about 110 who live there, think it's the best, that and it’s called Sudavik.
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