Major Maker's Lindy Vopnfjord Revisits His Icelandic Roots
Wednesday May 07, 2008 @ 05:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Major Maker

Whether it's fate, karma or simply chance at play, Major Maker's Lindy Vopnfjord has recently been stumbling upon some unexpected musical coincidences.

They're rooted in the inter-lake region of Manitoba, an area once named New Iceland because a significant chunk of that nation's population came to Canada and settled there. Although Vopnfjord was born in Canada, he's a pure-blooded Icelander.

Vopnfjord was ensconced in the island nation's music from a very early age, courtesy of his folk-singing parents. When he was five, his family band toured Canada in a school bus (yes, just like The Partridge Family). The trip culminated in a Canada Day performance in front of then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

"I remember bits and pieces," says Vopnfjord. "I remember playing for Trudeau.

"My father was all nervous and used to sweat a lot, but then again, we wore these Icelandic sweaters — that were really hot — as part of the costumes we’d wear. And my mom made us wear these slippers… It was funny."

Vopnfjord is obviously proud of his heritage and has maintained a steady interest in Icelandic music, both here and in Iceland. Major Maker will perform at this week's Nuna Festival in Winnipeg. The celebration of the artistic and cultural connections between Iceland and Manitoba will also feature Icelandic rock outfit Sprengjuhollin.

"They were scheduled to perform at the festival and we found that out," says Vopnfjord. "I contacted them and they said that they wanted to play a show in Toronto… We set it up and we’re going to bring them over."

At that point, Vopnfjord discovered some seemingly improbable connections.

"The lead singer of this band — his name is Snorri [Helgason] — his father… was in a band called Rio Trio in the ’70s. They were doing a tour of colleges in the United States... They were touring and they had a week off, so they decided to drive to Winnipeg because they’d heard that there were Icelanders living there. They got to the outskirts of the city and opened up a phone book in a telephone booth and started going through the names looking for Icelandic names.

"The first one they found, they said they would call, and they found my mother’s vocal teacher. She put them in touch with my parents and they called them up and my parents just said, 'Well, come over.' They pulled up in what they were traveling in — it was a school bus as well — and they poured out of it and they stayed with us for a week.

"So I didn’t know that Snorri’s dad had stayed at my house when I was a baby. It’s kind of funny to discover that after the fact. And now these guys are all going to crash at my place."

Rio Trio guitarist Gunnar Thordarson also plays a part in Vopnfjord's story. While staying with the Vopnfjord family, he purportedly predicted that the Major Maker frontman (then a toddler) would one day become a great musician.

It's fitting, then, that Vopnfjord and bandmate Todor Kobakov (bassist Thom D'Arcy, guitarist Ian LeFeuvre and drummer John Ocerbian round out the Major Maker touring linuep) have chosen to cover one of Thordarson's songs, "Funky Lady," as the title track for an upcoming Major Maker EP. It'll be released in Iceland in June and elsewhere shortly thereafter.

Major Maker and Sprengjuhollin will play a one-off gig at Toronto's El Mocambo on Thursday, and then head to Winnipeg for their Nuna Festival performances at the Garrick Theatre on Friday.

—Scott Bryson