múm

In 1997 Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason brought the music group múm to life. A year later they were joined by twin sisters Gyða and Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir and together they released two albums as a quartet. After many joint projects with other artists, in 2001 their debut album, Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today Is OK, was released, which garnered recognition among listeners and rave reviews from critics. A year later, after putting out the album Finally We Are No One and the completion of their first major concert tour, Gyða left the band. Shortly afterward the vocalist’s place was filled by the third sister, Ásthildur Valtýsdóttir, and during their European tour Gyðę was replaced on the cello by Serena Tideman. Their third album, Summer Make Good, featuring a darker sound, came out in May 2004. During that time Eiríkur Ólafsson and Hildur Guðnadóttir officially joined the group, having collaborated as guest musicians since its early days, along with Ólöf Arnalds. At the beginning of 2006, after the release of Summer Make Good and an intensive concert tour Kristín departed. At the beginning of 2006 the band returned to action, notably producing two successful remixes of the group Goldfrapp’s songs Number One and Never Know. They then met with great success with DJ sets at the FatCat festival in Belgium and SXSW in Austin, Texas in 2007. The group was invited to the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan and the Bestival on the Isle of Wight. In September 2007, múm released their album Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy, which was to be the last album they would put out on the FatCat label.

múm always concentrated on projects that could be classified as typical for pop music groups or pop collectives, but in the group’s rich history we also find other kinds of projects too, including a soundtrack for Sergey Eisenstein’s legendary film Battleship Potemkin, live performances in Hafnafjordur in Iceland, at the Brooklyn Lyceum in New York, and at the famed Spanish Gijon Film Festival. They have also created music for several theatrical productions, including music for two radio dramas Svefnhjólið (Sleepingwheel) by Gyrdir Eliasson and Augu þín sáu mig (Made in Secret) by the poet Sjóna. In 2005 the group was invited to come to Amsterdam by the Holland Festival to work with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra in the creation of a performance of several compositions of the deceased avant-garde composer Iannis Xenakis.

Currently, the group consists of its member-founders Gunnar Örn Tynes i Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason, and during concert tours and recording sessions they are joined by their friends Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson (trumpet/piano/keyboards), Hildur Guðnadóttir (cello/vocals), Sigurlaug Gísladóttir (vocals/ukulele/other instruments), Róbert Reynisson (guitar/ukulele) and Fin Samuli Kosminen (percussion). The group is also sometimes joined by Ólöf Arnalds, Högni Egilsson, Ólafur Björn Ólafsson and Guðbjörg Hlín Guðmundsdóttir, and occasionally by family members, friends and other musicians.