The winners of the annual music competition Músíktilraunir, or ‘Music Experiments,’ held in Harpa concert hall, Reykjavík, Saturday night, are 14 and 16-year-old girls from the West Fjords. Katla Vigdís Vernharðsdóttir and Ásrós Helga Guðmundsdóttir are surprised by their victory, they told RÚV.
The 30-year-old, five-day competition invites young musicians, aged 13 to 25, to participate by sending in an application and participation fee. Forty bands then compete for the right to perform the final evening.
The friends first met in volleyball a few years ago, but only a month ago, they formed the band Between Mountains in preparation for Samvest, a preliminary competition for the Samfés singing contest, organized by community centers around the country.
“This month, we’ve been practicing hard for [Músíktilraunir]. There have been long practices,” Katla stated.
“I knew Músíktilraunir was coming up,” she continued, “and decided to ask [Ásrós] if we shouldn’t just put together a band, and then we just won!” The name of the band refers to the mountains of the West Fjords. The duo performed three original songs Saturday night, the third of which they composed last week.
Between Mountains will next appear at the music festival Aldrei fór ég suður (‘I Never Went South’) in Ísafjörður and at Iceland Airwaves. “We will for sure continue to do some fun things together,” Ásrós remarked.
You can watch the two friends perform at the competition here.
