Kata Mogensen, Ása Dýradóttir, Alexandra Baldursdóttir, and Arnar Pétursson began playing music together as teenagers in Reykjavík. The band has already released four albums together as Mammút, reaching audiences from their home country of Iceland and abroad. On Friday, May 3, Mammút are performing at a free concert at the Fine Line, which is part of the "Taste of Iceland in Minneapolis" series of events in the Twin Cities celebrating Icelandic culture this weekend, from May 2 to 5. While in town, the band visited The Current studio to perform songs from their latest album Kinder Versions and talk with Jade about connecting to U.S. audiences and finding inspiration for their songs.

Since forming in 2013, Mammút have received critical success in Iceland, receiving nominations for numerous awards and gaining audiences for their captivating, heavy rock. But after building an audience in Iceland, Mammút knew they had to look abroad to connect to more listeners.

After releasing three albums in Icelandic, the band decided to switch to English for 2017's Kinder Versions. "We had already released three albums in our native language, and the island is pretty small, so we felt we had to push ourselves further, and also make a stronger connection with the audience abroad," said vocalist Kata Mogensen. "There are just 300,000 people that speak Icelandic, so it was kind of weird speaking it outside [of Iceland]. English is kind of like a second language; it was a really good decision."

Mogensen says that despite the challenge of breaking into a new scene, touring abroad has kept Mammút motivated. "You always need bigger tasks to push yourself further, so it's very refreshing to go abroad — it's very necessary for your creative energy."

Many of the lyrics on Kinder Versions reference nature and astrology. "I won't see the sun collapse. I won't see the stars decay," Mogensen sings on "The Moon Will Never Turn on Me," a song that she says can help "put things into a really big perspective. When things are very down, you can count on the sun not collapsing, so things will turn out okay."

Mogensen said that drawing inspiration from natural elements like the moon is "something that has always been a common interest with us as a group." Mammút are still developing the title of their latest album, but they have been in the studio since December developing its songs. Mogensen affirmed that listeners can expect a continuation of astrological themes on their upcoming release. "When you grow up you have to continue playing around with ideas, you can't just be led by realism all the time. So we really think of the energy and where the moon is placed and stuff like that."

Use the audio player above to listen to the complete session with Mammút.

More Video

Songs Performed

"Pray For Air"
"The Moon Will Never Turn On Me"
"Kinder Version"
All songs from Mammút's 2017 album, Kinder Versions, available on Bella Union.

Hosted by Jade
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Michael DeMark and Adam Biel
Visuals by Mary Mathis
Web feature by Colleen Cowie

External Link

Mammút - official site

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