Daníel Þorsteinsson and Guðni Einarsson created a new band called TRPTYCH. You may know Dani from the band Maus and Sometime while Guðni released music under the name of Impulze/Frantic along with hosting numerous events in Reykjavik. The guys have put together their forces and are now creating techno in its best and purest form.
You have been in music for a long time, what is your music background?
Danni: I was the drummer in Maus and Brim but have been in the electro band Sometime for 10 years. I have always listened to a lot of electronic music, from about ’90-’91, when the guys in Maus (the band was called Slip then) asked me to join the group. They were listening to the nybylgjan and I was not into rock. It wasn’t until I heard Mixed Up with the Cure that I thought this would work and I connected to rock again. So now I feel like I am home, however corny that sounds.
Guðni: I started being interested in Dj-ing at the age of fourteen and won, along with other, the Plötusnúðakeppni Félagsmiðstöðvanna in 2002 as well as Djed in Hagaskóli. I think I got the virus after that. At the time I was listening to a lot of Drum & Bass but slowly went over to techno and have been into that since. Around 2007-2011 I was releasing a ton of material and remixes under the name Impulze/Frantic as well as hosting club nights RVK Underground, Hugsandi Danstónlist and 4/4. I took a break in 2012 due to the fact that I was starting my company Hljóðheimar and my children were born.
Danni: I met Guðni after he did a remix for Sometime and I wanted to have him produce the next Sometime album. Sometime wasn’t doing much at the time, as if we were on hold, and one evening partying (of course) Guðni suggested we try something together. I do not regret that decision.
Guðni: Yes, exactly. It all started around the sometime remix, that’s how we met. The ball started rolling then and hasn’t stopped since.
How would you define your music and from where does your inspiration come for the creation?
Guðni: Uff, I don’t know… for me this is emotional techno. We use modular system and that contributes a lot to the sound and feel in the songs and makes them a little different, gives it a little more depth in my opinion! My inspiration comes primarily from listening to music, day in and day out!
Danni: Mmm, I think and hope that it is pure Techno, but there are countless labels in this genre and its definite that someone might classify it differently. My main inspiration is listening to music and just sitting and doing it. Something fun always comes out when we meet up.
The band has an interesting name TRPTYCH. What’s the story behind the name?
Danni: I wanted the band to have an Icelandic name originally, since there is no singing in the music and we wanted to show that we are Icelandic, because Iceland is the best country in the world. I went through an Icelandic dictionary and all sorts of other books but there was nothing that fit and those names that we did like were either in use or reminded us of something else. So I started thinking of foreign words, something easy to google, since I was in Sometime and it was impossible to google it since its such a common word. So I created this word TRPTYCH (/ˈtrɪp.tɪk/) from the word triptych (three fold) which is three pictures side to side that are usually religious in nature. This fit from the first second, since there is no one else in the world that is called TRPTYCH, its techno like, trippy, fast paced and sexy haha.
Guðni: Yes, Danni is a wiz in these things. He has all the props for the name.
Danni: Schwing.
Do you have an album scheduled and if so have you started working on it and when can we expect its release?
Danni: Yes, since we started working together that was the plan and we have been recording “on and off” in the past couple of months. We got booked for Airwaves 2015 so we started practicing out live show, which put recording on hold for a bit. But we want to have a done LP by early 2016.
Guðni: Even better, we have done majority of the album. We decided to test out the material during Airwaves 2015 and see how people feel about it. With this sort of music it is important, if there is a chance, to try out before its released, to see what can added and so on. After putting it up in a liveset, one can get a different perspective.
How long have you been working together, how is the cooperation and how is it organized?
Danni: We started working together in April this year and its going really well. We sit down together and do something and all of a sudden there’s something with major groove. We always high five each other in the studio.
Guðni: Everything runs smoothly when we work together. There has never been any disagreement regarding the songs or things like that, which is crazy, unbelievable but true. It was just meant to be. Its all 50/50. The sessions are like real techno sessions, many knobs turned and a lot of groove.
Danni you are the drummer in Maus, are you drumming in this band or putting it to the side for this time?
Danni: No, it makes no sense to drum in techno, but maybe live I will add some pads to trigger sounds and loops.
Are you the only members of TRPTYCH or are there more?
Danni: We are just two.
Guðni: Yup, just us.
What are your top 3 favorite albums and why these albums?
Danni: Right now I’m in the in-between, recently finished something and am looking for something new, this happens always in monthly intervals, completely annoying hahaha, but this summer I listened a lot to ILoveMakonnen “ILoveMakonnen EP”, unbelievable sound and diverse stuff and peculiar rapper/singer (reminds me a bit of Biz Markie). Then there is Oneotrix Point Never, Holly Herndon and Fatima al Qadiri, which are always in my ears.
Guðni: I have been listening a lot to my German techno brother, Sven Weisemann, amazing stuff. Then I am in love with Nicolas Jaar, awesome stuff.
What is your opinion of the Icelandic music scene today and do you listen to a lot of Icelandic music?
Guðni: Yes, there is a lot of cool things going on and the Icelandic dance music scene is going upwards in my opinion. I am a major GusGuss sucker like many, and I also like MÚM and everything coming from Bedroom Community.
Danni: There is always so much good stuff going around Iceland but there is also bad. I like Samaris and GusGus, Biggi Veira is naturally a god.
What does the future look like for TRPTYCH and are you focusing on concerts in the near future?
Guðni: For now, the first thing in the near future is to finish the record, fix it all up for the release. Then its setting up the live show along with practice.
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