“Felix Leifur is an up and coming producer from Reykjavík, Iceland.
With a population of just over 120,000 people (more than a third of the whole Icelandic population), Reykjavík is a little-known pocket of musical creativity tucked away just outside the arctic circle. Sitting in the shadow of the rest of Europe, both geographically and musically, there’s a lot more talent on offer than meets the eye when it comes to dance music; thanks to local DJ and producer, Felix Leifur, we’re discovering just how much. After finding his feet on the homegrown label Lagaffe Tales, the young talent is stepping things up in 2016 with a solo EP for Dutch house aficionados Dirt Crew Recordings, from which we premiered a Hidden Spheres remix recently. Considering Iceland’s frosty climate for much of the year, Leifur’s music is surprisingly warm and groove-laced, also reflected in his 100% Iceland mix that accompanies the virtual tour of his hometown (tracklist at the bottom).
Felix Leifur’s The Sunday Club EP is out now and available from the Dirt Crew website.
Check out the map and interview below for Felix’s favourite spots, while you listen to a 100% Iceland mix above.
Favourite place to buy records?
Lucky Records, a really nice record store in downtown Reykjavík. It is also Iceland‘s biggest record store.
Favourite live music venue?
Depends on the music, Harpa concert hall has great venues for all kinds of music, for downtown Reykjavík I would have to say Húrra, which is pretty big compared to many other places in Reykjavík but also small enough to get really sweaty during a busy gig. And definitely Loft Hostel and Kex Hostel for more relaxed moods.
Favourite club?
Paloma and Kaffibarinn. Paloma is a techno/house/electronic club, people who go there seem to be more open minded to house/techno and related genres. It’s also our only real “big” club for electronic music, it has a spacious loft and a basement which can get really sweaty. Kaffibarinn is Reykjavík’s own house club, it’s really small and compact and always busy and they have the best DJs in town on every day of the week.
Best party in the city?
My favourite is the Lagaffe Tales (at Paloma or Kaffibrarinn) label night’s. Lagaffe Tales is an Icelandic house label that focuses on releasing local talents (mixed with better known international artists), they have label nights on regularly and always have some cool people playing. Sunnudagsklúbburinn (at Paloma or Kaffibrarinn) is also fun if you want to go out on a Sunday. Other than that we don’t really have any party series, we just have many individual parties that get thrown by artists who simply want to play and invite their friends to play also. I think it makes things interesting.
Best view of the city?
The top of Hallgrímskirkja the church in downtown Reykjavík at 73 metres (244 ft) high, it is the largest church in Iceland and the sixth tallest architectural structure in Iceland (it actually took 41 years to build the church). Perlan, which is situated on the hill Öskjuhlíð. Perlan is actually a hot water storage tanks with a hemispherical structure placed on top, with a restaurant inside. Also at the top of Esjan. Esja is a mountain about 10 km to the north of Reykjavík and it’s popular to hike to the top. The view from there is beautiful.
Best place to see another medium of art other than music?
Reykjavík Art Museum, it is the largest art museum in Iceland, housed in three distinct buildings in central Reykjavík: Hafnarhús, Kjarvalsstaðir, and Ásmundarsafn. The museum holds various exhibitions by Icelandic and international artists. The Museum is also a venue for young and promising talents.
Is there somewhere you like going to escape the hustle and bustle and take some time away for yourself?
Well Reykjavík is a fairly quiet city compared to big cities, so it’s always quite relaxed, but I do like to go to Flateyri once a year which is a small town in the Westfjords where my parents grew up. Only 300 people live there, and it’s incredibly beautiful and quiet over there.
Best place to experience something unique to Reykjavik?
There are so many things, but my all time favourite is going to the outdoor swimming pools. We have them all over the city, they include hot tubs of various temperatures and steam baths, it’s just so relaxing and cheap. It’s just so deeply embedded in Icelandic culture to go to the swimming pools. It’s also possible because of our geothermal energy. The Harpa concert hall is also unique. The structure consists of a steel framework clad with geometric shaped glass panels of different colours.
First thing you miss after leaving Reykjavik?
Downtown Reykjavík, it’s just a great place to be, so small and friendly and cozy. The coffee places and bars are all so homely.
Where will you find the friendliest, most interesting locals to have a chat with?
Everywhere I guess. Loft Hostel, they have a cafe/bar and a small venue on the top floor where locals go to as much a travellers. Tíu Dropar is a nice little café, they have live jazz musicians in the evenings. Stofan is also a really nice cafe, also all of the Te & Kaffi cafés.
The swimming pools that are located all over the city are also known for being a place to chat strangers to about whatever, usually to complain over the weather though.
What’s the best and worst thing about living in Reykjavik?
I think that both the best and the worst thing is how small it is. It can be almost perfect to be here, friendly faces everywhere, you always meet people you know when you go out, easy to travel between places you have to go to. But then again it can also be the worst thing, that you actually can’t go out without always meeting someone you know and it feels like you always have to keep up an appearance. It makes you feel claustrophobic sometimes, or isolated. Also rent is extremely high, that kinda sucks.
Who’s doing good things for Reykjavik music right now, who you’d like to shout out?
There a bunch of artists from Reykjavík doing great things in the world now, feels like there has been an explosion in recent years of Icelandic music abroad. If I have to name a few then I would say I’m really fond of Samaris, they’re really nice, I quite like Fufanu, they’re sound is just great. Bjarki, the guy who broke through with ‘I Wanna Go Bang’ on Nina Kraviz’s label is doing next level stuff in my opinion. Intr0beatz is also really good house producer that is doing great stuff. I feel like Lagaffe Tales the record label will do really good this year, they are releasing the best house music here in my opinion. Kiasmos have been doing really well in the world. I also really like Kælan Mikla, they describe their music as gloomy poetry punk, they will be really big I reckon. I could really go on for a while, we have so many good ones.
The festivals are also doing wonders for Icelandic music. Sónar Reykjavík, Secret Solstice, All Tomorrow’s Parties, Iceland Airwaves, all showcase Icelandic artists mixed with international ones.
What are some of your favourite up-and-coming musicians/producers coming out of Reykjavik right now?
I want to focus a bit on the house scene because that’s the scene around me. Intr0beatz, pretty sure he will get pretty big soon, his tracks are just very well crafted. He’s been producing house since 2013 and he was a hip-hop producer before that. I think that makes him great.
Moff & Tarkin is a great producer, he drops some gems every once in a while and he has a great release coming up on Lagaffe tales soon that you will probably not miss.
Viktor Birgiss of course, he’s been producing and releasing for a few years now and he also owns and runs Lagaffe Tales with Jónbjörn.
ILO is also one of my favourites, he has been stepping it up recently. I’m positive Áskell will have some sick releases this year, he runs the house label BORG with Ómar E.
Could you tell us about the mix you’ve made for us?
I recorded it at home, it’s a mix of music by Icelandic producers that make the house scene here what it is. Since hip-hop is dominating here, I thought it would be a nice change to just play some Icelandic jazz-funk and house music in this mix. There are few unreleased songs in there by Moff & Tarkin, Viktor Birgiss, Intr0beatz and Áskell which are really great. I also played one song by Mezzoforte from an old record I found in my dads record collection, it’s an old Icelandic jazz-funk fusion band. I wanted to focus more on the house scene for the most of the mix, because I feel like that scene deserves more attention and focus for what it is.
Tracklist
GusGus – Detention
Mezzoforte – Kvöldstund með þér
Frankie Valentine presents the Icelandic conspiracy – Twist To Forget (Live House Mix)
Tommi White – It’s just the groove
Viktor Birgiss – Spend the night
Felix Leifur – Berg Toppur
Viktor Birgiss – Get it On
Davíð & Hjalti – Whatever you want
Moff & Tarkin – Cherelle
Felix Leifur – Wait
Intr0beatz – Another Song With Love In It
Askell – Pickme
