As soon as Loverboy read the press release about an electronic artist hailing from ‘Fire Island’, our eyes were immediately ready to roll. But then we realised it was actually The Faroe Islands and that it seemed we were in need of a Google Map…asap.
Helgi hails from Torshavn, the capital of The Faroe Islands, population 52k, and has been educating the country on Acid-House before gearing up for the release of his own House/Electronic-based material – with current single, ‘Paradís.’
Loverboy catches up with him to discuss the Faroese LGBT community, the Scandinavian penchant for being naked and how you can make Disco and still be alternative.
Helgi, wikipedia tells us very chilled in The Faroe Islands. How did you come to make electronic music?
Yes, it’s very quiet here. You are constantly surrounded by nature. But when I was growing up my sister was always watching MTV and I got to hear all kinds of music. The truth is that before electronic music I actually began making more RnB, soul music. I always wanted to get into Disco. I listened to a lot of Boney M when I was young. Then I discovered Hercules & Love Affair when I was studying in London and was like, ‘Oh it’s possible to do Disco and still be quite alternative.’
We love Andy Butler’s work. He has worked with a lot of vocalists on Hercules albums but you sing your own vocals.
Yes, it’s difficult because I want to do everything myself, which can sometimes be a problem! But writing in Faroese is also important to me too. It’s a bit more difficult because in English you can get away with using cliches but that’s much harder in Faroese.
With the rise of genres like Reggaeton, K-Pop, Afro-Beat – languages seem to less of a barrier than ever in modern music.
Yes, I listen to quite a lot of classic Bollywood too. I’m using my voice, and Faroese, as more of an instrument really. You don’t need to know a language to feel it.
Tell us about your single, ‘Paradís’.
I actually released it last year but I recently discovered a site that allows me to print vinyl copies if there are enough pre-orders. So right now you can pre-order ‘Paradís’ on vinyl with two extra songs which represent more of my Sound-Art, which I studied at university. It’s about creating music to go alongside my installations.
And we need to ask too, where did the name Helgi come from?
Helgi is actually my father’s name, and also my second first name, but the identity came to me when I was at university. I’d had an alias before, Electro Valentino, which I might revisit, but this time I wanted to be less anonymous.
Helgi sounds more Nordic too – a friend actually asked me the other day, ‘Why do you Scandinavians always like to be naked?’ But I don’t really tend to walk around naked unless it’s for something creative. I think I’ve always been a bit of an exhibitionist.
Do you have a chance to be an exhibitionist in The Faroe Islands?
No.
Is there an LGBT community there?
There is a small one, yeah. It’s just that not much is happening specifically for gay people. It’s difficult DJing here, especially if you are playing stuff like acid-house or even Hercules & Love Affair, Tiga, that kind of stuff. I’m very stubborn when I DJ because there are obviously people that come up when you’re in the middle of a crazy Acid-House song and request Britney Spears but I’m like, ‘I can’t use Spotify. I only have what’s on my hard-drive.’ The end.
Well…Loverboy is named after the biggest-selling single in the US in 2001. So we always ask everyone, what is your favourite Mariah Carey song?
My sister bought Daydream & Music Box and so I’ve always loved those albums. But my favourite song of hers must be ‘Fantasy’’. A few years after hearing that song, I obviously got to know about Tom Tom Club. I do also love the songs the Neptunes produced for her.
Helgi’s single ‘Paradís’ is out now and available to pre-order on vinyl at Diggers Factory.
Follow Helgi on Instagram / Facebook / Soundcloud
Images by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi
