Earbits

Hafdis Huld

Ever since she was a young girl, Hafdis Huld has enjoyed performing for anyone who was willing to watch. She started out putting on small circuses in her neighbor’s garage and then quickly moved on to performing with one of Iceland’s biggest performance collectives, Gus Gus. She remained with the group for four years, releasing two albums, appearing in numerous videos, and performing for audiences all over the world. In her time off from touring, she also starred in two movies and several Icelandic commercials.

Hafdis left Gus Gus in 1999 and moved to London, where she studied at the London Centre of Contemporary Music and started collaborating with writers in the city, including Jim Abiss, Pascal Gabriel, and Boo Hewerdine. She also co-wrote and sung on two songs on Machine Says Yes by electronic duo FC Kahuna. The songs, Hayling and Machine Says Yes, were a great success for the group, and Hafdis joined them on a promotional tour for the album.

Despite the success of her projects with other groups, Hafdis Huld was ready to shine on her own, and in October of 2006, she released her first solo album Dirty Paper Cup, the product of her collaborations with the writers she had been working with since she moved to London several years ago. Dirty Paper Cup received much praise in the UK and Europe, and it was played by some of the UK’s biggest radio stations, including BBC Radio 1. The album also won “Best Pop Album” at the 2007 Icelandic Music Awards.

Hafdis toured extensively in support of Dirty Paper Cup, opening for some of the biggest acts in the UK, like Paolo Nutini and Mika. She also spent a good part of a year performing at some of the biggest music festivals in Europe, including Glastonbury and Hultsfred and at South By Southwest in America.

In 2008 while on a break from performing, Hafdis sung for and appeared in a Mercedes-Benz commercial, which appeared on TVs all across Europe. She also made a guest appearance on the Tricky song Cross To Bear.

During 2009, Hafdis Huld wrote, recorded, and released Synchronized Swimmers, an album that has already gone to number two on the Icelandic music charts and garnered two number one singles, Kongolo and the title track. It was released worldwide throughout 2010 and is set to make its mark throughout Europe, the UK, and America.