Delve into the depths of mental health struggles with Drungi's debut album 'Hamfarir Hugans.' Discover the Icelandic influences and emotional journey behind their powerful music.
1. Your
debut album "Hamfarir Hugans" explores themes of mental health
struggles. What inspired you to focus on this subject matter?
When we
first hit the studio to record our album, which eventually became our demos to
work with, our bassist Magnus sat in the break room and got an email stating
that he got into university to study psychology. At this point in our process,
we ran into a snag with the lyrics as most of them were not ready and we needed
them to finish the recording process. After a few months of schoolwork Magnus
pitched the idea of incorporating mental health into the lyrics and in unison
Sjafnar, Magnus and Loki worked out lyrics that connected mental health with
the energies of Icelandic nature. On top of this, mental issues have always
been inspiring and with the current soar in mental awareness, we wanted to do
our part bringing it to light.
2. How
do you think your Icelandic background and the dramatic landscape of Iceland
have influenced the sound and themes of your music?
When we
wrote the songs the feel of the music guided the naming of each song prior to
the lyrica being written, you could say that Hamfarir Hugans is a collection of
working titles that stuck. When we first started the band, we formed an image
straight away in terms of the direction we wanted the first and second albums
to take (expect more in the future). The theme was certainly influenced by
Icelandic nature and weather, when the band was taking shape, I had recently
traveled to the north of the country in extreme weather conditions where road
closures and little to no visibility set the mood for the drive. That trip
along with past stories of fishermen and travelers in Iceland dealing with
extreme conditions sparked the theme of the album.
3. Could
you tell us more about the creative process behind "Hamfarir Hugans"?
How did the songs come together, especially considering they are exclusively in
Icelandic?
Like most
music it all starts with a single note, or in our case a single riff. Between
the bass and the guitar bringing the ideas to the band during practice and
those ideas get worked on, refined, defined, re-worked, scrapped, and rebuilt
until every member of the band was happy with what was being played at each
moment of every song. When every song gives the members goosebumps during
practice, at one point or another, you know you have something good to bring to
the people. And that is the aim of Drungi, to play music we like and present it
as is to the audience, be it in a studio setting or live. As for the vocals,
Magnus and Loki are avid Icelandic buffs and fierce advocates for the
protection of a language shared by only about 400.000 people. So, we decided
when we formed the band back in 2019 that we wanted a vocalist comfortable with
Icelandic vocals. It gives us a better connection to the stories and landscape
we are trying to shape in people’s minds, Harsh vocals, Harsh language and
harsh elements.
4. The
album artwork merges the mind and Icelandic nature. What message or feeling
were you aiming to convey through this visual representation?
The album
artwork is imagined a bit like a Rorschach inkblot test, you see what you want
to see, and you feel what you want to feel. Hamfarir Hugans, translates to
Disasters of Mind and for those that see the album cover as two faces, linked
by two hemispheres of nature, with emotions trickling down like water, then we
would interpret that as how we discussed the idea of a “calm before the storm”,
that is, you see the calm and then listen to the storm that is our music.
5. "Alda"
and "Myrkur" are powerful singles from the album. What do these songs
mean to you personally, and why did you choose them as singles?
We chose
Alda as our first single of the album due to its drive, it powers through with
such ferocity that we felt it would showcase us as a band in the best possible
way. The connection with Alda is on a deeper level though and that did
influence our decision as well. Alda is the depiction of suicides, how the
waves and power of the ocean tears at those suffering from suicidal thoughts
before pulling them into the deep dark where they may find some level of peace.
Also due to Iceland’s geographical location and the island being surrounded by
ocean, many suicides that take place here are people that simply walk into the
ocean, we call it in Icelandic “Að ganga í sjóinn.” And most people in Iceland
know or know of someone that has taken their own life in that way.
Myrkur on
the other hand is a bit slower, less driven but still equally as powerful.
Showcasing the different creations people could expect from the album, but it’s
a band favorite. In Iceland we experience a lot of darkness due to weather, but
also due to the sun being low hanging in the winter months. This causes some
remote towns in the north of Iceland to not see sun for a couple of months and
our daylight is as short as 3 hours during December. Due to the dark being
overwhelming, many Icelanders suffer from winter depression. Depression is also
the mental health issue of Myrkur, sludging along, feeling gloom. And the song
emphasizes this powerful feeling with the guitar riffs being slow, but
powerful. We also use the rhythm of the song to show how dealing with
depression is like a waltz, Depression being the lead and the individual in the
passenger seat.
6. Your
music is recommended for fans of bands like Black Sabbath, Gojira, and Manowar.
How do you feel about being associated with these iconic names in the metal
scene?
In short,
it’s an awesome feeling to be associated with bands that have inspired our
music. During the writing process, many parts of the songs are credited to the
band that inspired each section. Myrkur has the “Gojira part” and Kvika has
what we call “The Sólstafir part”. So, when we see those associations it brings
us great joy and we hope that the people who enjoy those bands will enjoy our
music as well. It’s all we can really hope for with our listeners.
7. The
band has a background in theatrics. How do you incorporate theatrical elements
into your live shows, and what can fans expect from your upcoming tour?
Sjafnar,
our lead vocalist is a trained actor with experience with working in TV and
Movies. This is something that he brings to the band, both in our videos and
interaction with the audience during live shows. He encapsulates our audience
and engages with them in a fierce manner. Loki, our rhythm guitarist is a film
production student, something that can be seen visually in our music videos for
Hamfarir Hugans, his insight and creative writing elements does impact how we
coordinate ourselves during our shows. Maggi (Magnus) our bassist has extensive
experience with stage and lighting design, so even if the first shows will
perhaps be, “a metal band on stage”, our ideas for shows will progress and
become more intricate as we plod along in the future.
8. Could
you share some insights into how mental health and folklore intersect in your
music? How do these themes resonate with your audience?
Being that
the album is mostly focused on natural aspects, such as intense weather or
natural disasters there perhaps is not a lot of folklore intersecting with
mental health but more the imagery of intense nature as mental health issues.
Like Alda and Myrkur resonating the deep feelings of Suicide and Depression and
Kvika (Magma) being deep rooted anger bursting out.
So far from
what we gather people feel the elemental connection with many of our songs but
perhaps don’t connect to the mental issues as much due to the language
barrier.
9. What
challenges did you face during the production and recording of "Hamfarir
Hugans," and how did you overcome them?
Well,
between members leaving the band and guitar amps blowing up in the studio, we
had several issues with the recording process.
We started
our recording process in Sundlaugin studio, a prominent studio in Iceland, in
June of 2022. And only a couple of weeks after the recordings were finished our
drummer decided to leave the band due to him moving out of the city and not
being able to balance the time properly. So that was the first issue we faced.
In a panic, Maggi took to the internet and looked for drummers to join the
band. He stumbled on a port from (at the time) 12 years earlier from Drummer
and backing vocalist Sandra. She had been away from the music scene for some
time but enjoyed the music a lot and decided to join in. Following that she
assisted with the melodies of vocals and assisted Sjafnar in getting his vocals
finer tuned.
We didn’t
really enjoy the sound of the recordings from the June session, so we booked a
session with producer Stephen Lockhart of Studio Emissary who had previously
agreed to mix and master the tracks. So, we booked a studio for drum
recordings, but due to her time away, Sandra did not feel that she would do the
music justice and so we got a friend of the band Kristján, from local band
Changer, to take on some session work.
In spring
of 2023 we headed to Studio Hljómgarður (Studio Soundgarden) to record vocals
and guitars. After we had finished recording rhythm guitar, we got the lead cab
hooked up and blew through the song Skjálfti, before starting on Ófærð. That’s
when disaster struck, Rúnar’s Marshall JCM 800 simply blew all the tubes and
stopped working. This took a few months to repair before re-booking the studio
and finishing lead guitar takes as well as the guitar solos.
10. How
do you balance the heaviness of your music with the emotional depth of your
lyrics? What do you hope listeners take away from your songs?
With the
lyrics having mostly been written after we finished the music it took us some
amount of time to balance the lyrics to match the emotion, and original lyrics
had to be slightly modified to match the flow of the songs. But the depth of
the emotion comes from the extensive matching and multiple late-night sessions
in Rúnar’s basement apartment, recording, redoing, re-writing, and
re-recording.
We simply
hope that our takeaway with the music and lyrics is enjoyment. Also, we hope
that those who do capture the depth and meaning behind each song understand
that mental health is important to nurture. And to those suffering from mental
health problems, that they know they are not alone.
11. As a
band, what are your long-term goals and aspirations? Are there any specific
themes or topics you'd like to explore in future albums?
There is
more to come, we’re already hard at work with the next album, so keep your eyes
and ears out for that. As for now we’re keeping the theme close, but all will
be revealed in due time.
Long term
goals would be to bring our live shows and experience outside the island to
allow other countries to experience seeing our live shows.
In terms of
dreams and hopes, we would like to perform with the Icelandic Symphony
Orchestra in their home base of Eldborg in Harpa. Other dream venues are Royal
Albert Hall, O2 and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.
12. Finally,
what message would you like to send to your fans and listeners as they
anticipate the release of "Hamfarir Hugans" and your upcoming tour?
Enjoy the
calm before the storm, and get ready for a sonic storm that will rock your mind
in a new and interesting way.
Drungi (@drungiiceland) • Photos et vidéos Instagram
Musique | Drungi (bandcamp.com)
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