* Briet in Reykjavik *

gimme a beat with babymonster

Roadtrips are my favourite type of travelling.

My favourite roadtrips are the ones where I travel alone. There is no better feeling than driving in the car by yourself for miles, on, if lucky, empty roads, enjoying your music or only your thoughts in your mind in silence, while soaking up the nature around you. Every year I do at least one road trip, to recharge my batteries and get back my (un)usually high energy levels. My most loved road trips happened in the US, exploring national parks, driving down Pacifica and through Big Sur, or nowhere(?) but not just there, I turn even island hopping and the drive to my holiday home, into a mini roadtrip.

The Covid19 changed our lives and with that my travelling habits, so this January, as I was in-between jobs, I realized that I was craving travelling. So I've decided to take a roadtrip around Iceland: self-driven Icelandic ring road.

I planned to visit Iceland for many years now, I think that this roadtrip was on my mind since 1997 when I first heard and saw the video Joga from Björk. The beautiful, raw, emotional landscape combined with Björk's voice made a timeless, goosebumpy impression on me and this is still one of my favourite songs of all time. Even if the video was 'only' a computer animation, I knew that one day I need to experience this mesmerizing place in person.

And even though January is not the best time to do this kind of roadtrip, because of the moody weather, icy roads and the short days, this turned out to be one of the most amazing roadtrips that I have ever done! My very conservative selection of grouped photo impressions: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th don't do it justice, still, they are a great teaser for anyone considering doing the same.

One of the things that I love doing on the roadtrip is listening to music, not just my own, but the local radio to find out what is going on around the place where I am road-tripping. There was one Icelandic song that caught my attention because it was beautiful and it was on the repeat on all local stations. Even without understanding the lyrics, I was caught by its emotion and how it made me feel. Based on the melody that I kept on humming when I was not driving, I did the research and found out that this is Rólegur kúreki from Bríet, über talented Icelandic singer-songwriter.

I continued listening to the rest of Bríet's music, her last album, previous EP, the singles... and this beautiful music became my Icelandic roadtrip soundtrack. After listening to it for two weeks while on the road, I decided to reach out to Bríet's management and ask for an opportunity for an interview. So here we are this Monday eve...

Tune in to Gimme A Beat (21.03.2022) to learn more about Bríet, her beginnings, her creative process, and how did she become the artist she is today while listening to her last album, selected early songs and new releases.

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for the info about old shows please go to previous entries