Stefanía is a vocalist, bassist, and producer from Iceland who studies New Media and Electronic Composition at the Arts University of Iceland and the UdK in Berlin.
Monstermilk is her debut pop album; the genre is not expressly genre-specific but may be categorized as experimental avant/folk-pop with many layered vocals, experimental music coding such as SuperCollider, and other interesting stuff. She combines traditional pop elements with experimental soundscapes and song structures, as well as angry yet seductive vocals, in an effort to convey in her own way the basic feelings of obsessions, conflicts, and hyperfixations.
The word “Monstermilk” was coined from the phrase “feed the monster” by channeling obsessions and hyperfixations in a better manner, such as via art, rather than through people and mentally ill behaviors. Then, exploit it.
Monstermilk is a work that invites the listener on a journey with their inner monster, enabling it to flourish and be precisely what it desires. Check out the album and the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR: Hi! Thank you so much for having me in Illustrate magazine, I’m honored to be here. I am originally from Iceland, living in Reykjavík. I’ve always had a passion for creating and performing. From writing poetry and plays to putting on weird performances, I’ve dabbled in many forms of artistic expression. I have for a long time had my head filled with music and been recording demos, but never actively worked towards putting it really out there until I delved into the world of audio engineering and electronic composition at the University of Arts in Iceland that I got seriously stuck in the orbit of music.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR: Despite having no formal instrumental training, I taught myself the ropes and then continued my education with a focus on audio engineering at Stúdíó Sýrland and New Media Composition at the University of Arts here in Iceland. Then this summer I went on an exchange semester to UdK in Berlin.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR’?
STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR: Although I’ve struggled to find the perfect artist name, I’ve ultimately decided to just be myself and let the music speak for itself under my own birth name. I draw inspiration from many directions, to name very few the trailblazing women of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop like Delia Derbyshire, the legendary Kate Bush as well as contemporary artists like Lana Del Rey, Connan Mockasin and Eartheater.
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR: Overall I think the style could be described as a fusion of avant-folk and glitchy art-pop. I feel it is not my place to tell listeners how this and that should resonate with them because different things appeal to different people and there are a lot of elements in the album. But a recent review of the album claimed it was brimming with an irresistible black magic where the listener is floating in some kind of blissful insomnia-world. I like that description.
5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as POP?
STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR:
I believe that all artists must pass through a phase of learning and imitation before they can truly tap into their originality. But more as a period of getting acquainted on how to use “the tools” and which ones you like, rather than mastering some kind of genre or technique. But then I think you need to decide to channel yourself and what you, as an individual, have to say. But whether it has to be a conscious decision or could be unconscious is hard to say, I think you have to feel it out. Originality is transcentric and you can really feel it if an artist manages to channel it, it’s pure magic. I’m not saying I’m there yet, but it’s something I try to keep in mind when I’m doing music. It has to be an honest and true piece of yourself if it’s supposed to transcend and be magical.
6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR:
I highly appreciate political music and love going to punk and protest concerts in general and feel the political and cultural art as protest to facism and any kind of oppression is extremely important. In my solo work I am more focused on exploring the inner sonic landscape and emotions, however with my band ‘virgin orchestra’ we do get political.
7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR:
Yes and no. Practicing art is extremely time consuming and the creating process has a lot of ups and downs. The highs can be very high and intensely fulfilling and the lows can be terribly low. But if it was not for practicing art and music, my life would probably be more of a monotonous plain instead of the extremes of a diverse and divine landscape.
8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR:
Sometimes I dream the music and sometimes I hear it when I’m falling asleep. I try really hard to voice record it on my phone before I fall asleep and sometimes I manage. Sometimes I start out by mindlessly fucking around in SuperCollider which is a programming environment, add the results to Ableton and then start to add stuff to it to build a melody or whatever. Some songs I start out with a piece of a text where I add the rhythm to it how I hear the words coming out in my head. It’s almost like crocheting, you start somewhere and go someplace.
9. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR:
I love both studio work and playing live which I mostly do with my other project, the experimental post-punk band ‘virgin orchestra’. I am a total introvert and can spend weeks by myself in my home studio writing, recording and coding music. I get obsessed with it and forget to eat and sleep. Then playing live and engaging with a live audience, as well as playing with my bandmates and feeling everybody’s energy, it’s amazing. For now, at my stage in my creative process having just released a solo album and having another album with ‘virgin orchestra’ coming out in the spring, I feel I need a bit of a break from the studio, so I choose live audience for now <3
10. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
STEFANÍA PÁLSDÓTTIR: I believe the listener needs to be allowed to interpret the story. Or at least make their own version of the story, from their own life story and what is actually said in the lyrics, or how the chords change or what is not being said. Sometimes I am not even sure myself what I’m saying or what bottom line I am getting to, then it becomes this channel of raw undefined emotions that gets poured into this music-mold. Open to interpretation from listeners’ viewpoint and life experience. But that’s also what I think art should be; it’s a dialogue between the “artpiece” itself and the viewer or listener in that case. How it makes ‘you’ feel.
KEEP IN TOUCH:
Photo credits: Gunnlöð Jóna Rúnarsdóttir, Kinnat Sóley