ArtistInfo

5ta Herdeildin

Band,
Musician of Pop, Folk and World

5ta herdeildin short and very truthful bio 5ta herdeildin was originally formed in September 2001, by guitarist and songwriter gímaldin and bass player Loftur S. Loftsson. From day one Gímaldin and Loftur attracted surrounding instrumentalists and established a tradition of mostly never playing with the same line-up. Despite this the band played for almost a year with a line-up consisting of the founding members plus the vocalist Sonja Lind Eyglóardóttir, the latter wheeling the band into a whirlpool of distinct musical and political music styles. Herdeildin´s style, though quite handsomely developed at the time, very soon urged for total reconstruction and thus entered the renowned writer and musician Hermann Stefánsson. Having circled the band for some time, it was an easy task to have 5ta herdeildin come to the realisation that a rogue agent like himself would merge with the band more beneficially on the inside than elsewhere. Enter Hermann with his banjo. Furthermore, it was no drawback that Hermann is the best banjo-player in Europe. Herdeildin´s first official record was released in autumn 2002, the self titled album was comprised of some “basement recordings”, and peppered with an army-like multitude of guest musicians. In 2006 the first album was repackaged, remixed and mastered and republished by Norwegian indie label Jawohl records. For further information, contact: tesvaland@yahoo.co.uk For 5ta herdeildin´s first mission to Russia, in April 2003 the group’s line-up changed consistently with how many people entered and exited the group. One who stayed the longest was guitar-god Gestur Guðnason who has stayed so long that he is even still with the group. The album Áður óútgefið Efni (Previously Unreleased Material), was published in March 2004. This second album by herdeildin was as different a production from the previous one as possible. For one thing; this one had an outside producer and engineer, namely; Bogi Reynisson from renowned Reykjavik trans-techno-hardcore band, Stjörnukisi. Another was the more live feel and more folky nature due to the use of period instruments, played periodically – like a Double Bass and Þórdís Claessen´s percussions. The third album, Skipid siglir, surfaced in April 2006 (in Russia), and June (in Iceland). Published by the Manchester record label in St. Petersburg (http://www.manchester.ru/_eng), this is the first mainstream 5ta herdeildin cd. Like on Previously Unreleased Material, the object was to reach for as live a sound as possible – though at the same time the main turn from previous albums is this one’s attempt to document the respective concert sound of the group. From the beginning the group had always been divided into a rock band and an acoustic group – somehow resulting in that the songs with rockier sound were always being excluded from recording sessions. The third album was partly intended to even this out, though it’s still full of ethnic, country and acoustic songs. Produced, Engineered and Mixed by same Maestro Bogi Reynisson Also, and influential on the development of the album, were two more Russia trips in 2005, to Moscow and yet again to Petersburg, the latter city by that time already taking the place of a second home for the group. In Russia the group cultivated contacts and support for a Russian release of the album. gímaldin: söngur/gítar/mandólín/forritun Loftur S. Loftsson: bassi/söngur Sonja Lind Eyglóardóttir: söngur Unnur Andrea Einarsdóttir: söngur Þórdís Claessen: ásláttur/trommur Elvar Geir Sævarsson

Members

	Gestur Guðnason g
	gímaldin voc, g, man
	Hermann Stefánsson bj
	Loftur S. Loftsson b, voc, bvoc