-->
FM Belfast Teaches
Canadians How To Run Around In Underwear When It Is 20 Below.
Singer Lóa Hjálmtýsdottir in a mound of ribbons
By Stephen Weir written for my Huffington Post blog
Two men in front tried the impossible, putting on their
pants while stumbling to the exit. There was an urgency – it was 2 am and we were being
herded out the concert doors into a normal Icelandic night. Black. Windy.
Sub-Zero temperature.
It didn’t take a detective to figure out that the laundry
droppers were Canadians – the Roots labels gave ‘em away. Not that anyone in the crowded Reykjavik art
gallery cared about their lack of trous.
Blame the lack of clothes on the band that 600 of us had
just seen. It was FM Belfast, one of Canada’s most favoured Icelandic bands. The
veteran electro-pop group closed out the Airwaves music festival concert with a
group participation song called Underwear.
 |
| Lóa Hjálmtýsdottir - photo by sweir |
FM Belfast has been performing for a dozen years. They are always the premiere Icelandic act at
the world famous annual Airwaves fete except on rare years when Bjork, Of
Monsters and Men, or Sigor Ros take to the stage.
What is unique about FM Belfast is that their fan base is
larger in Canada, Northern US and Europe than it is in their homeland. If you experience snow and seasonal affective disorder every
winter then you will get FM Belfast.
They inspire you to dance and sing as they complain about the boredom of
winter.
“We're
running down the street in our underwear
We're running up the hill, it's over there
We're running down the street in our underwear
We're running up the hill, it's over there
Cause nothing ever happens here”
We're running up the hill, it's over there
We're running down the street in our underwear
We're running up the hill, it's over there
Cause nothing ever happens here”
Underwear is an anthem
for foreigners who travel to Iceland every November to be a part of the mash-up
of Icelandic, American, British and Canadian groups performing non-stop for
five days. When FM Belfast sings about breaking the boredom of long winters by
dancing sans jeans, confetti and streamers are fired over the crowd. The six
band members (and some in the audience) strip down and energetically lead
everyone in a jump-up Viking dance.
“ ‘Let's have fun
trying to make it through another winter’ is a good description of an Icelander
(and what we sing about),” explains singer, composer and band co-founder Lóa
Hjálmtýsdottir. “The weather has some
impact, we don't have grand winters, just long ones that are more dark than
cold”.
 |
| FM Belfast getting down to their BVDs |
The band has produced four albums all
in English and that are designed to engage listeners in singing loudly and
dancing with reckless abandon. It works,
their following on YouTube is larger than the population of Iceland!
“In 2006 or 2007 we were playing for a group of (Canadian)
foreign exchange students in a small club in Reykjavik. They were very animated
and took to the dance-floor and went insane. It was so much fun and when we
realised that this was a possibility, we decided to aim for this and try to
make people forget themselves for an hour or so.”
Canadians identify with their songs even though they
are written to describe Iceland’s human condition. Take for example their song “American” which describes
how Icelanders are ready to learn to act like Americans but aren’t going to let
themselves be assimilated -- they sing
that they aren’t afraid to taste the fist of an American!
Another big favourite is a long chant called I Don’t
Want To Go to Sleep Either, which is performed at late night, early morning
gigs. My fav? Tropical. It’s their dream of moving to the Caribbean
and joining a band with your pet monkey Pedro on keyboards!
“Our lyrics don't have an underlying common theme,
they are about everything and nothing. Sometimes it is just about being cold or
watching television but sometimes it’s about something serious like losing a
friend,” she explained.
 |
| FM Belfast Photo Pit |
“ We've always performed and written lyrics in
English. We don't switch back. To me it's because English is a very good
language for pop lyrics and I like feeling like a visitor when I'm writing song
lyrics, “ continued Lóa.
The number of Canadians who have seen FM Belfast live is
limited to the thousand who attend the annual pop music festival in Reykjavik. Yes they have played in Gimli, Manitoba (home
to a small Icelandic community) but the band can’t afford a US tour. They are considering a Canada tour but so far that is all it is.
“We all have other projects as well but the poorhouse
is constantly looming over us, we don't have rich families or money saved in
the bank. It's a high price to pay but I consider spending your life and
precious time doing something you don't like is an even higher price.”
BTW – FM Belfast is very much an Arctic version of the Grateful
Dead. People come and go into the band
line-up depending on schedules and the demands of their other careers. Lóa Hjálmtýsdottir is also a graphic artist
and author. Árni Rúnar, the other band founder,
is a DJ and composes for the movies. Most interesting is singer/dancer Egill Eyjolfsson
who has been a diplomat and is an economist who cuts trade agreements for
Iceland. He is currently based in Europe and flies home for band gigs!
