Icelandic alt-pop artist Axel Flóvent has released his second album, Away From This Dream. We asked him the BIG questions . . .
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Born and raised in the northern fishing village of Húsavík, Axel released his independent debut Forest Fires EP in 2015 and full-length debut You Stay by the Sea in 2021.
"I've always been a big fan of artists who evolve on each album," he says. "I don’t feel limited in terms of what I can do. It’s important for me to be able to explore a variety of sounds to show different sides of myself.
"I wanted to create an album I could perform with a band for a lot of people at a festival or you could listen to on headphones alone."
He adds, "My biggest dream is for this new record to stick with you long-term,’ he leaves off. 'Ideally, it becomes a companion to grow with you. That’s what music does for me."
Tell us three things about yourself...
My name is Axel Flóvent Daðason and I’m a musician from Húsavík, Iceland. I’ve been writing music since I was about 10 years old and I am 28 now. I like to do other types of art as well as music. I paint, draw and do animations.
How would you describe your music?
It’s emotional indie folk at times sometimes it’s more dream pop. Which is more relevant to my record coming out 7 June. Definitely more dream pop/indie I’d say.
Who are your musical inspirations?
The three biggest musical influences of my life are Jimmy Eat World, Bon Iver and The 1975.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
The first ever gig that I remember was a Beatles covers band when I was living in Denmark as a kid - they visited our school. The concert opened up something in me haha and I started taking the guitar more seriously and picked up a few songs. But the first ever concert that I went to with my own money was at Northside Festival and Bombay Bicycle Club was the first concert I saw at the festival.
What was the first record you ever bought?
Encore by Eminem. I remember buying the CD with my allowance at the airport on our way moving to Denmark. I was around 10. This record got me on the Eminem train which was short but my love for The Beatles took over shortly after. But what was probably the most significant experience for me was when I moved back to Iceland, I got my brother's CD collection which opened up my musical world to all sorts of stuff from NIN, Weezer, Blur to Bruce Springsteen, Elliott Smith and Beck and many, many more. It was easily around a 1000 cds, all for me to discover, import on my iTunes and put on my iPod.
What’s your favourite song right now?
Real House by Adrianne Lenker is on repeat right now. Love the new album but that song is too good.
Favourite lyric of all time?
The lyrics for the song Re:stacks by Bon Iver but especially "I keep throwing it down, two hundred at a time and it’s hard to find when you knew it when your money’s gone and you’re drunk as hell"
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Beth/Rest - Bon Iver.
Where can people find your music/more information?
All the usual streaming services for music and my merch store. And for any info on my website or my social media.
Alan Corr
