Ske

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Ske is an Icelandic band whose origins can be traced back to 1992 when a band called Skárren ekkert was formed.

Their debut album, Life, Death, Happiness and Stuff was released in 2002 and their second album Feelings are great was released in 2004, both by Smekkleysa.

Founded in 1992 by Eirikur Thorleifsson, Frank Hall and Gudmundur Steingrimsson, and joined by Hrannar Ingimarsson in 1998. In 1999 they wrote the music for NPK, a dance performance by the Icelandic Dance Company.

The following year Eirikur, Frank and Gudmundur along with Gudmundur Hafsteinsson wrote and performed music for Shakespeare's A Midsummers Night Dream at the Icelandic National Theatre 50th year anniversary performance. Hrannar was away in New York with Icelandic rap-band Quarashi, with whom he'd worked with extensively as engineer/mixer as well as guitarist since 1996.

Work continued on their forthcoming album, financed by music consignments for theatre and TV as well as performing music by Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone, to name a few, in numerous cocktail parties.

Finally in 2002 the album Life, Death, Happiness and Stuff was ready with additional performances from Kjartan Gudnason on drums, Una Sveinbjarnardottir on violin and vocalists Jon Oddur Gudmundsson, Juri Hashimoto, Julie Couadou and gus gus' Daniel Agust Haraldsson. The album was a cult hit, the songs 'Julietta 2' and 'Stuff' were picked up by ad-agencies for national television campaigns for The National Bank of Iceland and Icelandair. The album was also nominated as Album of the Year and 'Julietta 2' was nominated for Song of the Year and won.

In 2003 the band, now consisting of Eirikur Thorleifsson, Frank Hall, Gudmundur Steingrimsson, Hrannar Ingimarsson, Jon Oddur Gudmundsson, Kjartan Gudnason and Ragnheidur Grondal who had started singing with the band at the end of 2002, started work on new songs as well as playing dates in Scandinavia and UK, including Roskilde 2003. In the fall of 2003, Ske composed music for a dance piece written by Lonneke Van Leth, performed by the Icelandic Dance Company.

In 2004 Ske continued work on the new album, as well as playing some dates in UK. Feelings are great, Ske's second album was released by Smekkleysa in Iceland in October 2004. In addition to their third Iceland Airwaves performance this fall they played dates in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Cologne.

Ragnheidur Grondal has since then released a solo album as well as performing on albums with her brother, saxophonist Haukur Grondal.

In 2005 Ske played Austin Texas' SXSW and Danmark's SPOT-festival as well as opening for former-Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant in Reykjavik. Agusta Eva Erlendsdottir replaced Ragnheidur Grondal for those dates as well as for a TV appearance in The Icelandic National Television called Hljomsveit kvoldsins, hosted by Margret Kristin Blondal, and Ske's fourth Icelandic Airwaves appearance.

In August 2006, Hössi Ólafsson, formerly the lead vocalist of Quarashi, joined Ske as their lead singer.