The bi-weekly Pop-up Hygge concerts under the label of Queer Fridays continues in the headquarters of Pink Iceland and next Friday, Friday October 26th the singer/songwriter Bláskjár will perform there.
Bláskjár – or Blue Eyes as it means in English – is the alter ego of composer Dísa Hreiðarsdóttir who says she came up with this alter ego because she hated her own voice.
“I’ve been on the musical scene for a long time,” Dísa explains. “To start with I was either a drummer or a piano player in various bands, was to the side, so to speak, and quite happy with that. It was not til 2012 that there was some shift in my attitude and I experienced a deep craving for singing.
The problem with that was that I completely hated my own voice, I felt it was the ugliest thing ever! So I used my studies to a Master’s degree in the Icelandic Academy of the Arts to find my own voice and express it. When the time came to name the project the choice was obvious as I had always imagined Bláskjár as a musical superhero. Bláskjár can do anything in music so using him as my alter ego was my way to get through the challenge of performing on my own. He was my shelter when I started but today we have become one and the same performer.”
“I’ve applied to Airwaves many times before and played there quite a few times as a member of some band but this will be the first time that Bláskjár plays on venue at the festival and I’m absolutely thrilled about it!”
Besides performing as Bláskjár Dísa is the drummer and background singer in the all female band Grúska Babúska, which will be performing both on and off venue at Airvawes in November. But that’s not all as Bláskjár will also be doing two concerts at Airwaves and Dísa admits that these two first weeks of November will be hectic indeed. The performance at the Pop-up Hygge is just the beginning.
“Yes the gig at Pink Iceland on Friday will be a kind of warm up for Airwaves,” Dísa says with a laugh. “I’ll be playing at four gigs, from November the 6th to the 9th, two as Bláskjár and two with Grúska Babúska, it will be a bit hectic but I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve applied to Airwaves many times before and played there quite a few times as a member of some band but this will be the first time that Bláskjár plays on venue at the festival and I’m absolutely thrilled about it!”
To increase Dísa’s joy of being accepted by Airwaves she recently found out that she will be playing on a venue gig at Fríkirkjan, a place that holds a special meaning for her as an artist.
“I totally freaked out when I learned that,” she exclaims. “My final project in my Masters studies was doing a concert in Fríkirkjan in 2014 and I find some beauty in the coincident that my first solo gig at Airwaves will be in the same place, a place that holds a special meaning in my heart.”
But this interview was supposed to be about the Hygge concert at Pink Iceland. What will Bláskjár be playing for the attendants there?
“Bláskjár’s music is very heartfelt,” Dísa says. “I play the piano and sing and also use electronics and all kinds of small instruments to enhance the music. It will be a very intimate and cosy gig, as the name Pop-up Hygge entails. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Those interested in attendending Bláskjár’s gig on Friday can check out the event on Facebook.