Halldor Mar

Last updated
Halldor Mar
A-capgros-foto12- 014.jpg
Background information
Birth nameHalldór Stefánsson Már
GenresSongwriter
Instrument(s)Singing, guitar
Website www.darumarecords.net

Halldor Mar is an Icelandic songwriter and guitarist. His music is based on acoustic folk music and alternative rock. He is also a member of the composing pop rock group Wiggum.

Contents

Biography

Halldór Stefánsson Már was born in Reykjavík, Iceland. He has been a musician since early childhood. His mother encouraged him to adopt the drums or the piano, but he fell in love with the guitar. He has played it in all its forms, but mainly classical.

He began his guitar studies with Professor Vidar Örn Erlendsson at the conservatory in Akureyri. In 1993 he moved to Barcelona to study guitar at the Escola de Música Luthier (Luthier School of Music) with Alex Arnaldur Arnarson Garrobé. He has participated in international courses with teachers like David Russell, Hopkinson Smith, Manuel Barrueco and José Tomás Pérez Sellés. Later Halldor Mar crossed Iceland and Spain, both as a soloist and as a member of "Mosaic Barcelona's Guitar Quartet".

In 2004 he collaborated on the album With Hands. He worked with guitarist and composer Eduard Rodes to perform a piece called "The Light", inspired by the life of Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, who was a free-thinker executed in 1909, following the Tragic Week riots in Barcelona. The piece was presented to the public on October 13, 2003, the anniversary of Ferrer Guardia's execution, on the premises of the Foundation Ferrer i Guardia in Barcelona. Halldor Mar returned to work on Eduard Rodes 2006 album República Mediterránea, interpreting the theme in "In Iskandariyah".

With the passage of time he began to create his own music, presenting concerts in small Irish pubs, years after participating in Barcelona nightlife.

After years of alternative pop rock and singing-songwriting, he began recording. In 2009 published his first solo album, Simple, under the label Daruma Records. The album was recorded in the studio with the help of the producer Marc Molas. And as the name suggests, is a simple disc: varied, intense, and elaborate, yet simple. The album was released on the market in November of the same year.

Halldor Mar is also a member of the group Wiggum. Wiggum was formed in 2009. In February 2010 they released their debut album Sinton Nison loves Nifú Nifá. The studio album was recorded with the Maltese Pierce Salvador as the producer. It received good reviews from music media such as the magazines MundoSonoro, [1] Binaural, [2] and Planeta Indie. [3]

In 2014. Halldor Mar published the album The Wind. It contains versions in English of ten songs from the Catalan Nova Cançó movement. Tracks include "Little Country" by Lluis Llach and "The Wind" by Raimon. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Binaural</i> (album) 2000 studio album by Pearl Jam

Binaural is the sixth studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, released May 16, 2000, through Epic Records. Following a full-scale tour in support of its previous album, Yield (1998), Pearl Jam took a short break before reconvening toward the end of 1999 to begin work on a new album. During the production of the album, the band encountered hindrances such as singer Eddie Vedder's writer's block, and guitarist Mike McCready's entrance into rehabilitation due to an addiction to prescription drugs. This is Pearl Jam's first album to feature former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who joined during 1998's Yield Tour to replace Jack Irons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Catalonia</span>

The music of Catalonia comprises one of the oldest documented musical traditions in Europe. In tandem with the rest of Western Europe, it has a long musical tradition, incorporating a number of different styles and genres over the past two thousand years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Planetas</span> Spanish indie rock group

Los Planetas is a Spanish indie rock group from the city of Granada which started out in the mid 1990s and continue now through the 2020s. The group's first hit was "Qué puedo hacer" from their album "Super 8", although they had previously had some success with various demos on a contest run by Spanish national public radio station Radio 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federico Mompou</span> Spanish composer and pianist (1893–1987)

Frederic Mompou Dencausse, or Federico Mompou, was a Spanish composer and pianist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solefald</span> Norwegian avant-garde/black metal band

Solefald is a Norwegian avant-garde metal/black metal band that was formed by members Lars Are "Lazare" Nedland and Cornelius Jakhelln in August 1995, with Nedland singing and playing keyboard/synthesizer/piano and drums, and Jakhelln singing and playing guitar and bass. The duo experiment with a wide array of musical styles, frequently work on other projects, and rarely perform live under the Solefald name, leading them to describe themselves as "two stubborn goats pretending to be a band." According to the duo, their name is an Old Norse word for "sunset," taken from one of Theodor Kittelsen's paintings illustrating a poem of the same name by Theodor Caspari, published in the 1901 book Vintereventyr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seabear</span> Icelandic band

Seabear is an Icelandic seven-piece indie-folk band from Reykjavík. Although hailing from Iceland, they sing primarily in English. They are signed to the Morr Music record label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raimon</span> Spanish singer

Ramon Pelegero Sanchis, who takes the stage name of Raimon, is a Spanish singer. He performs in the musical style of Nova Cançó, and in the Catalan language.

Changer is an Icelandic death metal / metalcore band, formed in 1999. The band has released three albums and three EPs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudy La Scala</span> Italian musician

Rudy La Scala is a singer, songwriter and record producer, born in Rocca di Papa, Lazio, Italy. At a young age, La Scala migrated to Venezuela, where he completed his primary and secondary studies, while learning piano and guitar. He began his career with a short lived band named Las Explosiones de Goma in the 1960s. In 1971 he was presented as a solo artist under the name Flavio, finally presenting himself as Rudy La Scala in 1974. His work as a songwriter has been very successful, including songs recorded by Karina, María Conchita Alonso, Guillermo Dávila, Kiara, Ruddy Rodríguez, Los Chamos, Proyecto M, Carlos Mata, Las Payasitas Nifu Nifa and Gerardo Mora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manel (band)</span>

Manel was an indie pop band from Barcelona who sing in Catalan. They released their first album in 2008. They describe their musical style as a synthesis of pop and folk music. Critics have linked their style to that of other Catalan-speaking musicians such as Pau Riba, Jaume Sisa, and Antònia Font.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swimming (band)</span> British art-rock band

Swimming was an English art rock band formed in Nottingham, England, known for their genre-straddling output that unites a fluid and experimental sonic approach into a sound which is uniformly uplifting. They have releases on their own Colourschool Records, EVR Records and Tummy Touch Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love of Lesbian</span> Spanish band from Catalonia

Love of Lesbian is a Spanish indie pop band. They were nominated for the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Spanish Act at the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards. Their album La noche eterna. Los días no vividos. reached number 1 in 2012.

Valdimar is an Icelandic indie pop band that was established in 2009 as a duo by Valdimar Guðmundsson and Ásgeir Aðalsteinsson, both originating from Keflavik, Iceland.

Manuel Palau Boix was a Spanish composer and teacher in Valencia Conservatory. He wrote a large number of symphonic, band, choral and chamber works. He was one of the most popular and important composers of his time. He received the Spanish National Music Award twice, first in 1927 and again in 1945. His music is known within the Spanish classical music for being a representative of what it has been called “Mediterranean” style, like other Spanish musicians such as Vicente Asencio or Oscar Esplá.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triángulo de Amor Bizarro</span> Galician post-punk/indie rock band

Triángulo de Amor Bizarro is a Galician post-punk/indie rock band formed in 2004.

<i>Per la bona gent</i> 2019 studio album by Manel

Per la bona gent is the fifth album by Spanish indie pop band Manel, and their first to be released on their label Ceràmiques Guzmán. It was released on 4 October 2019 and produced by Jake Aron. Music videos were filmed for "Per la bona gent" and "Boy Band". The band toured in support of the album from November 2019. The album debuted at number one on the Spanish albums chart.

<i>Calambre</i> 2020 studio album by Nathy Peluso

Calambre (transl. 'Cramp') is the debut studio album by Argentine singer and rapper Nathy Peluso. Recorded between Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Los Angeles, the album was released on 2 October 2020 by Sony Music. Calambre won the Premio Gardel for Best Alternative Pop Album and was also nominated for Album of the Year and Best Cover Design at its 23rd annual edition. The album's second single, "Buenos Aires" also won Record of the Year at the ceremony. Calambre was awarded Best Alternative Music Album at the 22nd Latin Grammy Awards and Best Urban Music Album at the 2021 Premios Odeón. The album was nominated for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.

La Pegatina is a ska and Catalan Rumba music group founded in 2003 in Montcada i Reixac.

<i>Algo Sucede</i> 2015 studio album by Julieta Venegas

Algo Sucede is the seventh studio album by Mexican singer and songwriter Julieta Venegas, released on August 14, 2015, through Ohanian and Sony Music Mexico. It was produced by Venegas alongside Cachorro López and Yamil Rezc.

<i>A Santa Compaña</i> 1984 studio album by Golpes Bajos

A Santa Compaña is the debut studio album by Galician pop band Golpes Bajos, released on 30 July 1984 by Nuevos Medios. It was written by band frontman Germán Coppini and keyboardist Teo Cardalda. It was produced in Madrid and Barcelona by Luis Fernandez Soria, Cardalda, and guitarist Pablo Novoa. The album artwork depicts all four band members, wearing traditional Galician women's clothing, standing on a field of rocks, except for Coppini, who is sitting at their feet. Its title refers to the Santa Compaña, a Galician folk myth.

References

  1. Luna, Joan S. (2 June 2010). "Sinton Nisón ama a Nifú Nifá: 7/10" [Sinton Nisón loves Nifú Nifá: 7/10]. MondoSonoro (in Spanish). MondoSonoro. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. Caccamo, Daniel (2 July 2010). "Wiggum estrena disco en concierto acústico" [Wiggum releases album in acoustic concert]. Binaural (in Spanish). BINAURAL.ES. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  3. Eto (3 October 2010). "Wiggum – 'Sintón Nisón ama a Nifú Nifá' (2010) … Un disco brillante con destellos pop de luz y sonido (Recomendación Planeta Indie)" [Wiggum – ‘Sintón Nisón loves Nifú Nifá’ (2010)… A brilliant album with pop flashes of light and sound (Planeta Indie Recommendation)]. Planeta Indie (in Spanish). Planetaindie.com. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  4. "'Al vent' es converteix en 'The wind': Halldór Már, l'islandès que versiona temes de la 'nova cançó'" ['In the wind' becomes 'The wind': Halldór Már, the Icelandic versions of the 'new song']. Ara (in Catalan). 9 May 2014.