This is the most recent I Adapt interview as conducted by Daniel of Fucking Kill Me zine. Please download his zine here http://www.megaupload.com/?d=86RFTQ7O and proceed reading what he and other people involved in this culture, have to say.
FKM: Give me all the background info on the band (members/location).IA: The band was formed in Reykjavík late 2000 or early 2001. We've gone through a lot of line up changes since then cause this d.i.y. biz aint for everybody. Me (vocals/correnspondance) and Ingi (guitar) are the only ones from the first solid line up. Other members in the band include Bjöggi (guitar), Elli (drums) and Addi (bass)
I put this band together cause there were no hardcore bands around playing hardcore plus I thought most live bands playing heavy music were very boring. I also wanted to bring discussion and action into the heavy rock scene.
FKM: Can you guys describe your sound for people not in the know? I heard the name Paradise Lost tossed around for the new album, that's got me stoked.IA: Our sound for the last two years or so hasn't been very focused so there's a lot going on. Some songs might bring to mind Entombed/ Hope Con or heavier Suicide File then others that might be akin to more metally Modern Life Is War and even Tragedy, and the more recent stuff like "Sinking Ship" and "Familiar Ghosts" have moments not too far away from Katatonia and Type O Negative, but we put a spin on it so it's kinda hard to make out. For example the opening riff of Sinking Ship is just a tribute to Type O. New songs that haven't been released have riffs and drum drives very similar to Paradise Lost (Icon and Draconian Times era) cause me and Ingi have always been Paradise Lost fans and Elli likes to drum steady solid beats to that shit. We're also pretty certain that young hc bands today know little or nothing about Katatonia and Paradise Lost so I know these couple of songs will give us a quite special edge.
FKM: The only other band I've known from Iceland was Minus, are there any other gems in Iceland that people in the US should know about?IA: Most definetely! Bands like Gavin Portland, Fighting Shit, Kimono, Myra, Celestine, Retron, Death Metal Super Squad, Momentum, Changer, Dys, Skítur, Diabolus, Striagaskór nr. 42, Sólstafir, Skátar, Lights On The Highway and more. Mind you all those bands are very diffirent from each other, diffirent styles and infuences. There's a lot of good shit going on plus up and coming hardcore and punk bands that have yet to hone their style and musical performance.
FKM: I saw you guys had toured Europe a couple times and the US once, any plans to tour the US again in the near future? Any new releases coming out?IA: As a matter of fact we're touring the US again starting October 4th. We can't wait for it cause our last tour was amazing. We have a new full length coming out and it will most likely be out by the time you read this on Morphius Records in the US. It's called Chainlike Burden. I hope people will pick it up soon, get into the lyrics and steal the mic or something. And yeah, info on tour dates for our US trip will be available on myspace.com/iadapt as they come and eventually on iadapt.net. We're looking for a label in the states to release Chainlike Burden on vinyl so please get in touch asap.
FKM: Which country that you toured had the worst food? and which had the best beer?IA: I hate to say it but the US is lacking in the beer department! For some reason we got quite a lot of unfortunate food in the UK and Poland. But we ate all of it. Nothing against these countries. The UK is our home away from home so we'd eat turd over there if there's nothing else. But usually there's something else. They just need to learn how to make a proper sandwich and chill on the fucking mayonaise.
FKM: If someone wants to get a hold of your shirts/records what's the best way to go about doing that?IA: About shirts, we get asked a lot about them but coming to the shows is the best way cause we don't print a lot of shirts so usually after whatever tour we are doing we have very few shirts left and the people in Iceland normally buy those. But you can always get in touch with us and we try to get them to you. We normally don't carry any records so we point people in the direction of our labels or distros that carry I Adapt shit. The reason we don't carry music that often is because we are very disorginized and lose money a lot.
FKM: Any final thoughts or plugs you'd like to toss out?IA: I just hope people will care more about the hc/punk culture, about the people that participate, the bands and all the hard work that's being done. I wish more people would stick around and learn that you can grow and evolve as a person, as a person that is always searching and discovering within this culture, but still go on with the normal life and grow there. I think that would make the culture more of a real alternative and something to look to and gain and learn from. I feel it needs to be more than entertainment, but at the same time the entertainment aspect of it can not be choked out. I'm a fun loving idiot but I want this to grow and mature with me cause the music and this form of expression is no joke to me and the same goes for the culture and all the people I observe, meet, get to know and work with.
If the lyrics in the Chainlike Burden layout are hard to read for you they have been posted on our myspace and will also be available on iadapt.net
I hope to see all of you on tour, please come out and we will play harder than ever.
Thanks for taking the time to talk to us and do this interview. Good luck with you zine!
Featured in
Common Ground zine, Burlington, Vermont
-First off, introduce who you are and what you do. how old are you dudes?B: I'm Birkir. I sing, arrange some parts in the songs and handle most of the correnspondance for this band. I'm only 29!!
I: Ingi: I´m Ingi, guitar player and I´m 23 years old.
-I don't even really have a concept of how big iceland is, how many cities with hardcore scenes are there? and how many bands? what the hell is it like over there? B: Well as an island, it's one of the biggest in the world but people wise, hardly anybody lives here! Like 300.000 people. Luckely we're getting quite a lot of immigrants over here and they are making sweet sweet love so there might be more people here in the next 50 years. There are tonns of bands here man. Like alot. Music everywhere and shit. Not many hardcore and punk bands. The scene here is strong and it keeps going and is creative shit but as far as many people at shows go, it's at it's smallest these days. Shows are small, people are droppping out alot. I think its an exciting time. Check out Kimono, The Death Metal Supersquad, Gavin Portland...
Ingi: We don´t have many hardcore & punk bands around,so the gigs are usually very mixed. Hardcore, Deathmetal and a rock band on the same show is just a regular thing here.
-What influences led you to play hardcore?B: For me personally it was just a lack of good live bands in Iceland. There were alot of good bands but they were all so passive and boring live. I wanted to change that. My gateway into hardcore was Anthrax, Slayer, Sepultura thanks lists and band photos with the dudes in punk t-shirt. Next step was borrowing The Exploited, Dead Kennedys and Crass from an older lady in my village. And the final nail in the coffin was seeing Sick Of It All play in 95, after that I was set on being in the first proper hc band in Iceland ever.
I: When we started playing together 6 years ago our goal was to play pretty much straight forward Hardcore music, cause there wasn´t any band like that in Iceland and had never been. Big influences for me at that time were bands like; Sick Of it All, Strife, Earth Crisis, Agnostic Front and so on. Then soon we were very influenced by more melodic bands like As Friends Rust and Section 8 from Sweden.
Live in Burlington Vermont by Eva Rós
-What are some issues that the lyrics in your songs deal with?B: Lately it's been more and more inner turmoil, stress, regrets, mistakes, fear of many things, loneliness and the never ending me me me me.... That's kinda is the gist of late 05 and 06 lyrics. But it's changing again. In the past, sure enough we had some personal lyrics as well but most of them where socio political and critical of things that were going on around us. If the lyrics are sad the music tends to slow down and get more heavy. If they are screaming for a change the song is uplifting, fast and snappy. If they are angry the song is usually very aggressive and hits hard. That said we have talked about politics, foreign policies, drug and alcahol abuse (no we're not a sXe band by any means),
-How many releases do you have? How many tours have you done?B: Four releases. The most recent on just out on Cabal records. It's a split with a band called The Neon Hookers. Totally diffirent from us. Interesting split 7" to say the least. We have a new full length coming out called Chainlike Burden and a full 7" on Six Feet Under records, USA, probably out next summer. All this stuff has been released on cd, some on vinyl and cassettes.
We toured Europe 2 times plus taking a one show trip over there for a festival. So kinda like 3 times Europe. We toured the UK like 4 or five times. Fucking rules. We have a tour coming up in the US from april 30th through march 12th. Please come out! Check the tourdates on www.iadapt.net and www.myspace.com/iadapt We're so looking forward to this, it's kinda emberrassing hahaha. Itðs al we talk about. We'll give you something special so I hope that everyone that reads this tries to get to one of our shows.
I: two fulllenghts and one split 7", out now on Cabal Records. We will finish mixing our new record next week and we are writing songs for the next 7 inch!
B: Oh. Well I included our self released cd-r when counting the releases It was a fine looking cd-r...
-Tell us a good tour story. I: Birkir? Tell them a good one of Villi!
B: Maaaaan, there are some really good one's, like you-had-to-be-there kinda thing. It's hard to describe the best ones. But as everybody seems to enjoy drinking stories... Once we were staying at Marv's house like usual when we're in the UK. He lives in Boston UK and is a teacher but also very involved in the d.i.y. punk scene. He's blessed with a beautiful family, amzing wife, young daughter and a dog you know. Last time we were over he was soooo fucking drunk by the time we got there cause his local football team one something dumb and upon seeing us he immidietly charges our friend Eva, who tours with us alot, picks her up to hug her in an extreme fashion, but he's so amped up about looking at all of us that he drops her ass-first on the floor. He continues to heckle us the through the whole show, breaking tables and shit. After the show we party rather hard and make it back to his house in the early morning only to find Marv lying naked on in the hallway. So many stories though about our ex bass player Villi freaking out in the van when waking up from "deep" sleep believing we're driving off a cliff, screaming like a madman to stop the car. Man... I suck at this. At one show he head butted his bass so hard he got this gash on his forhead, after the show he passes out on this dudes floor. Day after we head straight to the supermarket and drag him with us. Little did he know that his face was covered with old blood and him havinf a huge beard, bulletbelt and shit... gnarly as fuck! I kinda feel silly writing about drunk stuff... Crap.
-Can gays get married in Iceland?I: Yes.
B: I think they can't be married in a christian church but they can by law, city council and that sort of stuff. Civil unions between same sex couples became legal in 1996. There are also adoption laws, which include the right to adopt your partners' biological children. Hereto on June 27, 2006, a new law went into force, making same-sex couples eligible for all adoption and insemination purposes. I got this last bit of info from wikipedia by the way.
-What are some non-hardcore bands you've been into lately?B: I listen to Ani DiFranco constantly, the new Jermy Enigk is his best yet, Come, Tribe Called Quest, Sun Kill Moon, Crowbar, Squarepusher, The Byrds....
I: Katatonia, Tool, Hellacopters, Crowbar...to name a few
-What else are you into, aside from music?B: well animals take up most of my time. I have three cats, one dog and two fish tanks. I'm really serious about the fish thing. It's very captivating. I use the internet way too much. I like making sweet sweet love to my girl, making food man, reading, writing and watching Seinfeld. I run quite a bit.
I: Aside from music? Hmm, Guitars and Tattoos! But I spend most of my freetime taking care of my daughter, she´s almost 3 years old now and likes Rancid very much and during the day I study Graphic Design.
-What bands are you going to be playing with when you come to the U.S.?B: From Ground up (Holla!!), Maintain (holla!!), Unrestrained (holla wawaaahh!), Modern Life Is War, Ruiner, Rise and Fall, Iron Age, Fighting Dogs, Pulling Teeth, Blacklisted, Black Sabbath....ssshit.
I: We are playing with Modern Life Is War in Baltimore on April 1st, that will be a good one. Then we have shows with Blacklisted and Rise and Fall in the making
-Have you ever had real Vermont maple syrup?I: NO!
B: no but I'll tell you this much. Elli will drink it by the gallons and Addi will rub this fucking shit into his baby skin!
-Give us one good reason to go see you play while you're over here.B: We are a good live band. Ingi has a stance like a rock god. I will more likely than not hurt myself, sprain my ankle or what ever.We write good songs. The song's sound good. Elli is very photogenic, it's nuts. Addi wears Iron Maiden appearal, not to be cool. hip or ironic like all these hardcore smart dressers, no he's not vain or trendy, the boy is sincerely all about Maiden.
I: We are powerfull and Intense on stage
-Any last words?Ingi: See you in the fuckn pit!
Birkir: Like I've told you before, I for some reason have a really good feeling about Vermont. My friends from Boston were over here for new years and for some reason I just started asking and talking about Vermont. Don't ask me why. I hope alot of people turn ot to suppurt a touring d.i.y. band from over seas. We will give our all to this show. Can't wait to listen to local bands and make new friends.
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GRAPEVINE magazine issue 6, 2006 05/08/2006
Breaking the ChainsBy Sveinn Birkir Björnsson
The seminal hardcore band I Adapt have been at the forefront of the Icelandic hardcore scene for over five years. They are about to release their third album, and have recently returned from a tour of the UK, supported by the Reykavík Air Bridge. The Reykjavík Grapevine caught up with Birkir Fjalar Viðarsson, the band's vocalist, recently to discuss the upcoming album and the importance of the Reykjavík Air Bridge for the Icelandic music scene.
The Reykjavík Grapevine: I Adapt has been working on a new album for a while. When is that due to come out?Birkir: // I don't know. As sad as that sounds. It was supposed to be out by now. Nearly everything has been recorded, and the tracks are done, all that is left is for me to record the vocals. I had some problems with my voice. I lost it. This happened just before we went on tour to England. I had been sick, and didn't take good enough care of myself and that triggered it. Now I can't really use my voice with full force for an extended period. I work with kids, and that really strains the voice as well. I am just waiting for that to clear up so I can finish the vocals.
Is this album different in some respect than your earlier albums?//All our albums reflect some period in my life. This one is a bit different, as it is a lot more personal, and less socio-political. It is a little difficult at times especially considering our reputation as a band that rallies around common causes. That spills into the music as well. When Ingi (guitarist and main song writer) was writing these soundtrack-to-the-revolution kind of riffs, I showed him the lyrics I was writing and told him that it would be very hard to sing this stuff over that kind of music, and he took that into account, so the songs sound a little darker and a little slower.
So, what is the album called and what is the story behind the name?//We are calling the album Chainlike Burden. The name came to us when we were looking over the lyrics and most of them were really sad, describing more or less some inner turmoil, frustration, repentance, regret, the feeling of being alone in the crowd, not letting go of stuff, the feeling of not going anywhere, not be able to enjoy life, even if you are basically a merry person; that kind of stuff. These thoughts and feelings are like a burden that is chained to you, or the chain is the burden. But chains are made to be broken, although I didn't manage to break them when we were writing the album, and I still haven't.
You mentioned that this album sounds darker and slower than earlier releases. Is the album a step away from the band's hardcore roots then?//Not at all. We never made a conscious decision to, you know, 'hey, let's do something completely different than we did the last time'. The only thing we decided was that we did not want to make the same album that we made the last time. As a band, we have always tried to disproof all the rules that some music guru's have tried to establish for what hardcore should sound like, not that Icelandic journalists have ever had a fucking idea as to what hardcore is, where it comes from or what the elements are. We want to take the key elements of hardcore and push the boundaries. I guess some of the kids who look to us as the band that started the hardcore scene, feel that we are moving away from our roots, but we don't feel that ourselves, but to the untrained ear, to people who don't know us, we might sound very different.
Do you think you are loosing some your fan base because of this?//Yes sure, nobody has said it to our face, but we have been seeing it on Internet forums, and heard from friends that people find this a little too much. Some people still want us to be playing the same music we were playing five years ago. I mean, we could do that, in some form, but we have always been very outspoken and that is not what we want to do right now. It is not like we decided that we wanted to be rockers all of a sudden, but I wrote the lyrics feeling a sudden way, and that must translate into the music, and Ingi is just happy about that, because he loves to write music and wants to try new stuff, so the album is a little heavy, not just to be heavy, or trying to reinvent I Adapt. That was never the idea. We are not the kind of people who can change gears like that. We just can't decide to now become rockers and next we'll be something else.
I Adapt have toured extensively in the past. You've recently returned from a two week tour of England and the band has been a part of the Reykjavík Air Bridge program in the past, tell us a bit about that.//The Reykjavík Air Bridge has supported us four times. This makes it possible for us to tour in other countries, which is something we could not do otherwise. Some bands use the Air Bridge to play one showcase, or two gigs in the same city. We always do it to tour for weeks at a time and play everyday. It gives us an opportunity to introduce our albums. And they get something back as well. Many of the people we get to know on tour come here for a visit. There have been large groups of people who have come here through I Adapt and other punk bands. Also, some of the bands that we have played with abroad have come here to play with us as well. So, even if we are not really a hit with the newspapers or the tabloid magazines, and nobody talks about our tours or record contracts, then it is still beneficial for both parties. There are so many people who have come here to Iceland through bands like Fighting Shit and us.
Do you think the program has returned something to the Icelandic music scene?//Definitely, take these bands that have been able to play at the South By Southwest festival (Jakóbínarína, My Summer As a Salvation Army) for example, although they have different goals than we have, the Air Bridge makes it possible to for them to attend and introduce Icelandic music. This has definitely returned something to the music industry, big time. I think this is a win-win situation for all parties. I think we have also proofed this to the program. Even if we are not a very popular band, not even here in Iceland, the tabloid press never reports on were we are hanging out on the weekends, so we are not very visible in the media, but when I started showing the people at Reykjavík Air Bridge some of the stuff that came out of our tours, I think they thought that was pretty impressive, it was just different.
Did you ever have any problems with getting support from the program, being a small, relatively unknown hardcore band?//No. Not really. When we first received the Air Bridge in 2001 or 2002, the program was very recently established. It was so new back then, they probably thought we were just as great as Jet Black Joe or something. We had drawn up a plan, city after city, this was a three and a half weeks tour, so they probably thought we were all Sigurrós-ized. But they have shown us a lot of understanding, and we have always supplied them with reports when we get back, like the last time when we played 17 shows in 18 day. They know we are hard workers. When some of the bigger bands send a press release that they are playing two shows in London, and maybe three different news organizations interview them, and then they go and play two shows for three people and spend most of the time drinking beer and buying new jeans, that just makes us look good.