Mugison – Icelandic Musician on His Unusual Childhood, Success & the Evolution of his Music

This week, I share the fun chat I had with Mugison, a talented Icelandic artist that has been making waves on a local and global scale. We talked about the time he spent living in Africa as a child, musicians that inspire him, the impact of Icelandic nature on his music, his epic music festival Aldrei Fór Ég Suður (I never went South), and so much more.

Why I was in the Westfjords

During my time in the Westfjords, I had the opportunity to interview some fascinating people in the area. My main reason for going to Ísafjörður was to take an intense three week Icelandic course at the University Center of the Westfjords. I’m planning to share a full review of that experience on the All Things Iceland Patreon, so keep a look out for that.

Of course, I couldn’t go to the Westfjords and not get some interviews for the podcast. I was fortunate that Mugison lives in Súðavík and was open to chatting with me. It was such a blast to chat with him, and I felt like I was talking to one of my friends. I hope you enjoy this interview and the others from that area that I will be sharing in the near future.

Questions I Asked Mugison During the Interview

• You were born in Reykjavík and your family moved to Ísafjörður until you were the age of six but after that your family left Iceland to live in Cape Verde in West Africa. Can you talk a bit about why your family moved there and what was life like for you?

• What was it like coming back to Iceland after living abroad at such a young age?

• At what time in your life did you start to become interested in music? Did something happen that immediately attracted you to being a musician or did it kind of gradually enter into your life?

• What musicians in Iceland and abroad have impacted you and inspired you as an artist?

• Where do you look for inspiration to create your music?

• What advice do you have budding musical artists in Iceland?

• How has your musical style evolved over time?

• You’ve done collaborations with several artists, including the iconic Icelandic singer Bubbi Morthens. Do you have any dream collaborations that you would like to do?

• Back in 2004, you and your father started a music festival called Aldrei fór ég Suður here in Ísafjörður. Can you explain a little bit about the festival and what makes it unique?

• Your name is Örn but you go by Mugison, why that name?

• As you’ve grown in popularity here and abroad, how has it been adjusting to being known? If you go to Reykjavík or abroad and walk around, do people try to stop you for pictures?

• What is your favorite Icelandic word or phrase?

Join the All Things Iceland Community on Patreon

Some of you might be aware that one of my goals for the podcast is to travel around Iceland more to interview different people in each region. In July, I set up the All Things Iceland community on Patreon. Patreon is a membership platform that was founded in 2013. It allows for creators like me to provide exclusive content to listeners like you in exchange for a monthly subscription.

Each month I am doing Ask Me Anything videos, Live Chats, and Folklore Friday each week. Sometimes I do updates about my life in Iceland. I do not share this content on any other channel. The support from my patrons on the All Things Iceland community on Patreon will help to evolve All Things Iceland. There are several membership tiers to choose from and each tier has a variety of benefits.

I would like to give a special shout out to Betty, Noa, Paul, Danielle, Melton, and Mark. They are members of the Ásgarður tier, which is the Land of the Gods in Norse Mythology. Members of that tier get a special shout out on the podcast each month. There are also Live group chats with me and a special gift that was made in Iceland sent to them from me each year.

If you would like to join the community, go to patreon.com/allthingsiceland. I look forward to having you join.

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Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!