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| Foto: Press |
Hildur har turnerat världen runt i olika band. 2017 gick hon solo och släppte debut-Ep:n Heart to heart. Nu introducerar hon sig för den svenska publiken. Här nedan berättar Hildur om musiken, om uppväxten och om sexismen i musikbranschen.
A remix of Water is your latest track. What can you tell me about the song?
- I'ts a upbeat version of a slow and emotional song. So it's basically best of both worlds! I wanted to work with someone from Scandinavia as I love the music scene there at the moment, specially in Sweden and Norway. Water is about longing for a love that you haven't met yet. And the process, how hard it can be and how empty you can feel when you are alone. But it's like a journey and in this song it ends with hopefulness.
What do you hope to achieve in 2018?
- I'm writing a lot of new tunes that I have high hopes for and am very excited to share with the world! I'm also doing a very exciting festival that I can't announce yet and I'm hoping to be adding more gigs around the world. I love playing in new places!
Where does your passion for music come from?
- It's hard to say, I feel like it has always been there. It just spoke to me since I was a kid. I was fascinated by the feelings music could give you. I was a very artistic kid in general and was always creating things, drawing, sculpturing, writing stories but music was somehow the ultimate beauty that combined so many of these things.
How was it for you to grow up in Iceland?
- It was a very sweet childhood. You can be very free there and I loved being outside. I would also say Iceland is a very artistic country. I feel like everyone is involved with art in some way, which makes it such an inseparable part of life.
Were you surrounded by a musical culture?
- Music was always a part of my home. I have 2 older sisters that both sing really well. I loved listening to them. My dad is very musical and plays the bass so he showed me a lot of music, like the Beatles, which I got obsessed with. My mom wanted me to learn an instrument so I learned the cello from age 6. So I would say my life has always been very musically supported and I'm thankful for that.
Can you tell us about your first memory, connected to music?
- I remember sneaking into my sister's room to look at her CD's. And then I stole some to listen to in my room. I remember my favorite was the “blue one” with the nice voice. I found out many years late that CD was Dummy by Portishead. It was a sick nostalgia feeling when I rediscovered it when I was 15 but somehow remembered most of the songs.
What was your first live performance?
- My first performance was at a singing competition when I was 14. I have never in my life been as nervous but I sang Killing Me Softly and actually won, so it's a good memory.
Do you have a pre-show routine?
- I try to relax mostly, but then I need to get my blood pumping before I go on stage so me and my drummer usually do push-ups and some jumping around to get us in the mood. Everyone thinks it's funny when I start doing pushups dressed up for stage, but I would say that is like my personal fashion statement too, glamorous but sporty.
What do you know today that you wish you knew when you were younger?
- I have learned a lot in regards to music that I wish I knew earlier. But I guess the top thing is that I wish started producing earlier. I did some when I was about 12, my dad bought me Cubase and I liked it but I didn't really stick to it. Then I started again when I was 24. Whenever I see kids now that are interested in producing I'm like preaching– start early, then it becomes like drinking water!
Who inspires you?
- I have many inspirations. I have a lot of friends that inspire me in different ways and then I have musical inspirations. Biggest ones are Björk, Beth Gibbons, Grimes, FKA Twigs, Charli XCX, Kanye West and more.
In Sweden, nearly 2000 women working in the music industry, signed a statement saying they have experienced sexual assault, harassment, intimidation or other forms of sexism. You have also experienced this, a male dj made sexist remarks, you demanded an apology, did you get one?
- Yes, that's one of the experience I've had. It was kind of bad. I had just received awards for my song as it was "Pop Song of the Year" at the Icelandic Music Awards and he said live on radio that it was an ok song but I must have had a guy help me make it. And then he went on talking about a guy he think deserved the awards more and then on about making more sexist remarks about women in music. I wrote him a letter I titled “From the winner of Pop Song of the Year to a sexist radio host”. It became viral in Iceland and hit the news in Iceland but I think it was a blessing in disguise because it showed so many people that didn't believe this industry to be sexist what was actually wrong with it. I didn't get an apology but I felt like it still was important to speak out and not let him get away with it and the support I got was so incredible!
You’re involved in the organization Kítón, can you tell us a little more about it?
- Kítón is an Icelandic organization for women in music. I was a chairmember for 2 years and took part in organizing a lot of get together for women in the industry, gigs, and just in generally raising awareness about the situation in the industry. Right now I'm also a member of a more international association aiming for the same thing – it's called Keychange and has gathered 60 women from the industry, both artists and innovators to fight to change the situation as it's right now. I met up with them for the first time last week in Tallinn and it was such an inspirational time. We have so much female talents that doesn't get the chance they should.
Name a record, a movie, a person and a place that has meant a lot for you as an artist.
- Record: Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Movie: Lost in Translation, Person: Björk, Place: Tokyo.
If you were given a chance to arrange a festival, what would characterize that festival?
- I would make a festival with only female acts. There are so many damn good women out there so the lineup would be sick. And all the female power, I'm excited already!
What makes you laugh?
- Animal videos. Always.
Finally, what is the most beautiful word that you know?
- I think many Japanese words are gorgeous. Like natsukashi – which means a good nostalgic feeling something gives you and brings you warm memories.
Lyssna på Water (FAMILY_TIME Remix) här nedan!
