This week we catch up with Indie Post Rock band VAR who earlier this year released their excellent album ‘The Neverending Year’ which seems like a pretty apt title given the year we have had so far in 2020! We caught up with the Icelandic band to see what will follow next off the back of their album.
Tell us who you are and what is your sound?
VAR consists of brothers Júlíus (vocals, guitar, piano) and Egill (bass and synths) along with their friends Arnór (guitar) and Sigurður (drums).
The band plays atmospheric indie post rock if that makes any sense. It doesn’t to us.
What exciting projects have you got coming up?
Due to the pandemic we are unfortunately not doing any shows. But hopefully soon we will jump on stage to follow up on our most recent released album “The Never-Ending Year”.
We have been recording some live sessions which are planned to be released very soon so people can get some feeling of how the songs sound live.
Where did you grow up and what music influenced you?
We all grew up around the capitol in Iceland (Reykjavík).
All kinds of music influences us.. The music is all across the spectrum – from jazz to hardcore to emo to Hip Hop.
What cool places do you recommend to visit in your city (bars, restaurants, etc)?
Harpa concert and conference hall is a must see.
We also recommend the Grandi neighbourhood near the pier in downtown Reykjavík. It’s an old fishing factory area that is now occupied by restaurants with all kinds of food.
We love recommendations – what have you been listening to, watching, or reading recently?
Arnór: Constantly listening to something but my go to albums lately have been…
Egill: I’m watching House, Gilmore girls and I’ve been listening to the same music for the last 30 years.
Júlíus: Taylor Swift’s Folklore is still ringing in my head.
Sigurður: I watched The Dawn Wall it comes highly recommended.
I’ve also been having the album Nancy & Lee by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood on repeat
Finally, what was the last thing that made you swear out loud?
Arnór: I was playing a videogame and was so close to beating the final boss and he just all of a sudden destroyed me. Took me a couple of days to mentally recover.
Egill: I don’t swear, I swear.
Júlíus: I was on a huge rollercoaster in Denmark.
Sigurður: I woke up in the middle of night and my cat just completely had trashed my bedroom. I thought someone had broken in.
Interview by Alex Minnis
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