Just Good Pop Music!

Una Schram has plenty to keep her busy. She works full time as a special-events manager for RIFF, has just released an album with the band Marsibil and is completing a master’s thesis in cultural mediation about car culture in Reykjavík.

Her work at RIFF includes organizing special screenings. This year, the festival will show Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark in Raufarhólshellir. It will also screen Pride and Prejudice at Háskólabíó, the festival’s home venue, alongside a talk by translator Silja Aðalsteinsdóttir about Jane Austen’s appeal. Another screening will feature Wicker, starring Alexander Skarsgård and Olivia Coleman, which Schram says is very funny.

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We will show Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark in Raufarhólshellir.

Schram is the singer in Marsibil, a duo with musician and arranger Kári Hrafn Guðmundsson. Their first album, titled Marsibil, has recently been released. Schram writes songs and lyrics, while Guðmundsson focuses more on composition and arrangements, although they work together and both sing.

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I would say it is jazz-influenced pop music, and we draw somewhat on popular songs from earlier times.

She describes their music as jazz-influenced pop with references to older popular songs, alongside newer music and electronic instruments. Elly and Villi are their main inspiration. Schram says the lyrics became a kind of ode to Iceland after she returned from a long stay abroad, and that she began writing them after coming home from London.

She enjoys working as part of a duo rather than standing alone on stage. Although Marsibil has only two members, they usually perform with a full band. Schram says she is open to different opportunities and simply wants to pursue what she enjoys.

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Maybe it is just good pop music!