There was a blonde haired, Northern European standing aloft the stage monitors, peering menacingly into the packed crowd. A mean and moody bassist, like an extra from some obscure spaghetti western. A lank, vaguely malnourished drummer, long, Brian Connolly 70s glam hair swishing around as he sets about his drum kit with serious intent. And a rather hidden guitarist/keyboardist, obviously the musical mastermind of the band, having to deal with a broken guitar strap hinge as the roadie comes on and applies layer after layer of gaffer tape in a bid to keep the game flowing. This was Fufanu, the Icelandic post-punk-inspired band, who played a fearsome set at last year’s The Great Escape. Walking that fine line between exhilirating emotional intensity and gloomily meditative contemplation, Fufanu add plenty of techno and electronic textures and sounds, as well as a predilection for Neu!-like grooves and mildly psychedelic flourishes in sculpturing a sound that builds gently but remorsefully, and without indulging in over-the-top pyrotechnics nor needless breakdowns. There’s an understated pop sensibility to the band, but ultimately it’s definitely music to get lost into, especially on the live stage where they deliver a mean, moody and exciting show. We caught up with lead singer Kaktus Einarsson, on the back of the new album Sports and an upcoming UK tour.

I first saw you guys at The Great Escape last May. It blew me away! How was The Great Escape experience for you guys?
It was actually really good. Packed, shitty backline, loud and full on punk. We had good fun and went home with a broken guitar.

I see the drummer is now an official member of the band? He blew me away, too. I loved the interaction between you and drummer.
Elli is in the band for a reason. not just because he’s cute. He is the best guy we could find for the job. It’s important to have everyone on stage well connected. Elli is the one who drives the music so you better be connected to him otherwise you should just be doing something else.

Why did you name the album Sports, and include the image of the javelin thrower on the cover? A great image, I reckon it will work beautifully on the vinyl version.
Sports is a great theme to work around and this javelin thrower, who is actually Elli the drummer, just came to us. Also, we are competing with ourselves, trying to improve and get better, just like the athletes. That’s the only way to live. So Sports was the name.

Can you tell me how the album is different from the first one, and your working methods?
The main difference is how the band grew. We’d done loads of gigs together so we knew better what worked for us. It was written here and there, mostly in our studio in Reykjavík, but a lot on tours which was not the case for the first album. The album is more grown up, sophisticated and focused, less experiments. More ‘doing'.

You sound a little melancholic sometimes. Where does this come from, and are you by nature melancholic? It did not look like that when I saw you at The Great Escape.
I really don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with how we’re built. Our live show is what we love to do, we put all of our hearts and energy into a show for the crowd and ourselves. We thrive on the music and the live show is the heart. So melancholic or not, isn’t it just a perspective and comparison to something called ‘normal’?

Can you also tell me about the song 'Liability'? I read that it is a little about how little involvement the younger generation has in politics.
It’s just sad that young people are not taking part in voting because they think that their vote doesn’t matter or that they think of politics as boring. Well, it’s easy to have fun and be free but still care for the society and take part in it.

Overall, however, you say Sports is a happier, more grown up album, with a new vision of life. Can you talk about that?
Wouldn’t it be a bit weird if we had the same view on life years after writing the first album and having gone through a lot of different adventures? You just change by time and in my case I started to appreciate the little things in life more and more which may have made me happier.

And working with Nick Zinner. How did that happen, and what did he bring to the album do you think?
Nick did a remix of a track from our first album which led to working together on a radio edit of another. In that session we tried to do some new tracks and that’s when we knew that we should do the full album together. He was great, pushing us to write more and try different things. He came in fresh, with fresh ears for the music.

You say you've brought some techno and electronica back into Fufanu. Is that right?
Yeah, in a way you can say that. For us, we’ve always been making the 'techno' or whatever it should be called. We were just making music and wanted to explore broader soundscapes. That is still what we’re doing, expanding and pushing ourselves.

Can you tell me a little about your beginnings as a 'techno' duo?
So me and Gulli met in school back in 2008 and bonded over electronic music, and really quickly we had our original tracks ready and playing live. We called the project Captain Fufanu back then. We were always developing and searching for new sounds and that was the beauty behind it. We were not aiming for anything else but the music we wanted to listen to and that led to the change of the band, dropping Captain and we start a new chapter in our book.

I read that you discovered your singing voice once Fufanu started, and that you started writing lyrics for the first time. Can you tell me about that?
I started to experiment with serious lyric writing back in 2013. but had actually done a lot of lyrics when I was in elementary school for a band I was in then. In 2013 I lived by myself in London, had time and some motivation to think about new approaches to music, and that’s where the lyrics came in. About my singing voice, I can’t really remember when that started, probably just me being arrogant on stage with a mic and realising that I liked it.

I understand your dad was the lead singer of Sugarcubes, and he brought British bands to Iceland. Did he introduce you to music much?
Yes, I grew up going to a lot of different concerts and I also got a lot of new music, both Icelandic and from around the world.

What's the political situation like in Iceland at the moment? How do you and Icelanders feel about Brexit and Mr. Trump!?
We don’t like to even give these very sad facts place and attention. Why can’t all the animals in the forest be friends?

For those who have never been, can you describe your country?
Schizophrenic weather, extreme landscapes, always windy but, first and foremost, laid back.

What is it about Iceland that sees so much great music come out of a tiny population, and for you to beat England at football!?
Always the same answer to that one, the Icelandic omega fish oil we call Lýsi.

Jeff Hemmings

Website: fufanu.net
Facebook: facebook.com/fufanumusic
Twitter: fufanumusic.tumblr.com