Pitchfork

So much for catching them when they come to the U.S. Pitchfork talked with Sugarcubes trumpet player/vocalist Einar Örn yesterday about the band's previously reported reunion, and he said that it is indeed a one-time thing. No tour is scheduled, and there are no plans for recording. Örn was, however, very forthcoming about the origins of the reunion.

"We've got a record company together [Smekkleysa SM, English translation: Bad Taste]. We have a standing meeting on Tuesdays. When our schedules permit that we are all together, we just meet during lunchtime, have lunch together, and discuss culture and music and various things. During the summer, we were talking about [the fact] that it was twenty years [since] the band and the company were formed, and we were sort of thinking that [since] we'd missed the actual birthday of the company [June 8, 1986], the next birthday was the birthday of [the group's first single] 'Birthday'. We said, 'Okay, let's celebrate that,' and everybody was game and we decided to go for it," Örn said.

To prepare for the concert, he said the band is "contemplating what kinds of songs we're going to play and seeing what songs might translate, be fit for playing." Though their first musical rehearsals are scheduled to begin "next week," Örn said, "When the Sugarcubes get together, the first they do is not to play music together. So we're just having fun together and enjoying each other's company. We haven't played together for 14 years, but we've spoken together for 20."

Looking in retrospect at why the band broke up in the first place, he said, "Our main objective when we started was not to get a record contract and try to make hit singles. We started because we wanted to have fun, and we had fun here in Iceland. When we got mentioned in Melody Maker 20 years ago, got Single of the Week and things like that, we went along with it. We took it seriously, but we also went for the ride. [When it came to] the complexity of making music to make money, it became a bit stranger for us. I think we just sort of halted after making three records and said, 'Let's just have a think.' We maintained our friendship, and we continued to communicate with each other as friends, but not as band members or as partners in economical alliance.

"The main idea for us now is just [that] this is a celebration for us, and we are celebrating 20 years of having put out this single. At the same time, it's an homage to Icelandic music and culture for the past 20 years. I see it as a tribute by us to all of the other people who are still making music. This new concert with the Sugarcubes [is] something which nobody expected. In the Sugarcubes, we always wanted to surprise ourselves. The first surprise was to play pop music. So we started to play pop music, and now, 14 years later we surprise ourselves that all of us want to play one concert to celebrate Smekkleysa and 20 years of being around. All of us are thrilled that this is getting a good reception."

As for the makeup of the concert itself, the band's original plan has already changed and might change again. "We were going to do it in a small bar. Everybody said we would not get away with it [because] it only holds sixty people. So we're going with a small sports stadium [Laugardalsholl]. It holds about five thousand people. We have asked a few people [to open], and they want to think about it, which I think is brilliant. It's like, okay, that's what you call respect. Sugarcubes ask you to warm up and you say, 'I'll think about it.' It puts us in a bit of a jittery position because if they don't want to play, we need to find someone else. It took us fourteen years to get together, and now these people can't answer us," he joked.

He added, "We've always involved poetry and literature in the performance, so we might have some poetry and even a standup comedian, in the tradition of Smekkleysa entertainment evenings. It is an evening of entertainment with the Sugarcubes crowning it all."

In order to make it easy on the wallets of the Sugarcubes' international fanbase, Icelandair is offering a package deal in which you can obtain tickets to the show, two nights in a Reykjavik hotel, and airfare for prices starting at $699. It's expensive, but a Sugarcubes reunion doesn't happen every day. For more information, click here.

Örn's other band, Ghostigital, will embark on a month-long tour of the U.S. soon, before returning to play the Iceland Airwaves Festival alongside Sugarcubes drummer Sigtryggur "Siggi" Baldursson's new group, Steintryggur. All U.S. dates are with Ipecac labelmates the Melvins.

Ghostigital dates:

09-25 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe *
09-26 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon *
09-27 Milwaukee, WI - Shank Hall *
09-28 Chicago, IL - Double Door *
09-29 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *
09-30 Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection *
10-01 Toledo, OH - Frankie's *
10-02 Cincinnati, OH - Top Cat's *
10-03 Columbus, OH - Little Brother's *
10-05 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop *
10-06 Buffalo, NY - Showplace Theatre *
10-07 Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club *
10-08 Boston, MA - Axis *
10-10 South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground *
10-11 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street *
10-12 New Haven, CT - Toad's Place *
10-13 Providence, RI - The Living Room *
10-14 Troy, NY - Revolution Hall *
10-16 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's *
10-17 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw *
10-20 Reykjavik, Iceland - Iðnó (Iceland Airwaves Festival) #

* with the Melvins
# with Dälek, Steintryggur, Otto von Schirach, Stilluteypa, Biogen, Hestbak