WhO aRe tHeY ?
 

Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, population: 100,000 - turn it upside down and it snows. Facts are fabrications: This miniature capital is home to nine-year-olds reading medieval sagas while their counterparts on both sides of the Atlantic fight evil with Sonic the Hedgehog. Sex is free and the natives drink like crazy. "We're all vikings, you see, our grandmothers communicate with elves..."

Corrugated iron, busty blondes, the lowest crime rate in the world and long, light nights... It's the wild north and you'd better believe the hype, the lies of the tourist board, your eyes and your ears.

GUS GUS are from Reykjavík, but what are they? A band, friends, DJs, poets, a group of film-makers, singers, actors, photographers, or a design studio?

In spring 1995 when aspiring film makers Stefán Árni and Siggi Kjartansson of Kjól & Anderson (now GusGus' management company) set out to make their short film Pleasure, they'd already picked up praise and prizes for their innovative work in experimental film-making and design. Their aim with Pleasure was to harness their skills by telling a short story from the underbelly of Reykjavík. The next stop would be a feature film.

It didn't work out as planned - just better.

When Kjól & Anderson
had the cast of the film worked out,
it dawned on them that the actors they'd gone for were as twofold in their talents as they were talented: Daníel Ágúst was a star of theatre and music; Magnús Jónsson was a star of theatre and music; Hafdís Huld was a star of theatre and music.

To take advantage of this happy coincidence the Kjól & Anderson crew teamed up with electronic band T-World. The result was GusGus, a fusion of a band, friends, DJs, a group of film-makers, singers, actors, photographers, and a design studio.

It's precisely what you wouldn't expect from a small city of corrugated blondes, 'Crime Light', and nine-year-old saga scholars. Owing it's actual existence to the warmth of the Gulf-stream and it's intellectual life to the restlessness of it's youth, Reykjavík is a melting pot of trends from all around the globe. The wind blows from all directions at once and it's clearly felt in the richness and diversity of GusGus's audio and visual output.

Call it Ice-Hop or Cool Pop, GusGus will stay GusGus all the same.

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