by Guðrún Vaka Helgadóttir Photos: Kristinn Magnússon Stylist: Ásgrímur Friðriksson Hair and make-up: Anna Kristín Óskarsdóttir Clothes: Red sweater – McQ by Alexander Mcqueen – GK Reykjavík Trousers – Acne – KronKron Coat – Acne - KronKron
Just getting started
Dreamed of selling
200 copies! Singer, songwriter Ásgeir Trausti is off to the best start any young musician in Iceland has ever had. It might sound amazing but before 2012 Ásgeir Trausti was a relatively unknown name among Icelanders. Except maybe in his home town of Laugabakki and Hvammstangi in Northern Iceland where he wrote the songs to his debut album in quiet solitude allowing only a handful of trusted friends and family members to hear his beautiful tunes. How did it happen that his name is suddenly on everybody’s lips and his songs on everybody’s mind? I met up with Ásgeir Trausti, who happens to be our latest WOW star, and got to hear all about it. Ásgeir Trausti just came back from The Netherlands where his band played at Eurosonic, Europe’s main showcase festival for music where the most current and promising acts get the chance to present themselves to an audience of music lovers and international music professionals.
Best lyricist. It has also been nominated for the Nordic Music Prize. Both award ceremonies take place this February. So far the album has only been released in Iceland but an English version is in the making with lyrics written by American musician John Grant.
Q: So how did that go? „We played two shows and got great response. The spring and summer bookings are happening and offers are pouring in. Next I‘m playing at by:Larm in Norway, a showcase festival similar to Eurosonic,“ answers Ásgeir.
Q: Have you signed on to a label overseas? “I have signed a contract with One Little Indian that is going to release my album, both the Icelandic and the English version, worldwide. We have also signed on to a big booking agency called William Morris Entertainment and they will take care of our bookings worldwide.”
At 20 years old, Ásgeir Trausti has had the best start ever for a debut artist in Iceland. His album, released in September 2012, took only six weeks to reach gold sales and less than three months after its release the album had reached platinum. The album has already received 6 nominations for the Icelandic Music Awards; Best album, Best song (Leyndarmál), Best male vocalist, Best songwriter, Best producer and
68 ı WOW lifts you up where you belong
“We are recording new material, it might become a new album and it might not. We don’t know if we are going to use it for anything yet. For now we are just having fun at the studio. We worked on my last album in exactly that manner. We improvised and played around and when we had about 10 songs we decided to release the album. In my mind that is precisely how this process should be. Playing and having fun with it until it’s done. I would never want to think about making a whole album that had to be ready within a certain time frame. I want things to be free and loose and stay in the flow of things.”
“I was terrified” Q: Will the English version of the album be different than the Icelandic one? “It’s not decided yet but it will be pretty much the same if not totally, except with English lyrics” says Ásgeir and admits that he has been spending a lot of time in the studio lately. Is there a new Icelandic album in the works?
It seems almost impossible that this musical adventure started only a year ago. How did this all happen? “It all started maybe last May. I had recorded a little demo at home. It was really just more for me than for anything else. I let my friends listen to it and many of them said I should do something more with it. Then I let Guðmundur Hólmar, listen to