Hot Happenings: Agnes Hlynsdóttir (LEMMY & Iðnó)

Over the past months, almost every guest on our show has brought up the state of the live music landscape in Reykjavík in terms of the lack of midsize venues to play. This being a huge subject for all of us over at Grapevine HQ — contributor Ish Sveinsson Houle tackled just this topic in an article in our 8th issue this year.

One young booker who is throwing caution to the wind and doing things her way is Agnes Hlynsdóttir, manager and booker at LEMMY and events and culture booker at Iðnó. She has notably created the Upptakarinn concert series at LEMMY (aka Up & Coming), that gives artists who have never played live a platform to perform their first gigs. Over at Iðnó, she has been making the historic, city-funded theatre a space for better known "midsize" names and more blowout gigs.

We sat down with Agnes for a candid and hopeful conversation about her work and the live scene. If you are a new performer interested in playing the Upptakarinn series, you can contact Agnes at info@lemmy.is.

LEMMY: @lemmy_rvk
Iðnó: @idno.rvk

Opening track: Ultra Magnus — Enginn Heima (r. May 2023)
Closing track: Ari Árelius — Look At The Clown (r. June 26)

66 Degrees of Sound is a podcast production by The Reykjavík Grapevine, hosted by music editor Jóhannes Bjarkason and listings editor Rex Beckett.

Editing and intro music by Rex Beckett.

All tracks played on the show are in accordance with STEF, the Composers’ Rights Society of Iceland.

Check out grapevine.is for the full magazine coverage and events.grapevine.is for more upcoming events.

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