Herbert Guðmundsson

Herbert Guðmundsson

At a concert in the Icelandic Opera
Background information
Birth name Herbert Guðmundsson
Also known as Hebbi
Born December 15, 1953 (1953-12-15) (age 58)
Origin Reykjavík, Iceland
Genres Pop, Techno, Dance
Instruments Vocals, Guitar
Years active 1972 - present
Labels HG Hljómplötur
Associated acts Raflost
Tilvera
Eik
Pelican
Sólskin
KAN

Herbert Guðmundsson (born 1953) is an Icelandic singer, songwriter and producer. His most famous song is "Can't Walk Away" released in October 1985, the song became a big hit.[1] Other of his most recognized songs are amongst others "Hollywood", "I Believe In Love", "Megi Sá Draumur", "Won't Forget", "Vestfjarðaóður" and "Time" released in 2010.

Contents

Early life

Herbert was born December 15, 1953 in Reykjavík, Iceland. When he was 12 years old he began his music career by joining the band "Raflost". Only 17 years old he became the singer of "Tilvera", one of the most famous bands in Iceland in the 1970s. Herbert was a lead singer with many bands over the next years for example; "Stofnþel", "Eik","Dínamit", "Pelican", "Sólskin" and "Kan". Herbert also took part in the first staging of Jesus Christ Superstar, in Iceland 1972, and later on his band "Tilvera" performed in the staging of Faust at the National Theatre of Iceland.

With the band "Eik" he performed on an Icelandic television show for the state channel RÚV. There "Eik" played some popular songs like "Kung Fu Fighting" and original songs written by Herbert such as the song "Twenty One" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK1Y2sCJeUw) . This footage was shown again in 2003 when a TV show about Herbert's life was broadcast in RÚV.

Herbert left the music scene for a while and began working as a chef on an Icelandic fishing vessel and did well. He worked at the sea for 8 years. He had his guitar onboard and wrote some songs while sailing such as "Hollywood".

KAN in Bolungarvík

When he finished working at the sea he moved to Bolungarvík in Vestfirðir and joined the band "KAN". With "KAN" Herbert made the album "Í ræktinni" (In The Gym) which included the hit "Megi Sá Draumur" and "Vestfjarðaóður". The band was very successful in Iceland, performing mostly around "Vestfirðir"; "Bolungarvík", "Ísafirði", "Suðureyri" and "Patreksfirði". KAN was the biggest band in Vestfirðir at that time along with "Grafik"(One of Grafík's songs on youtube). The album "Í ræktinni" was released in 1984 and Herbert was the main man behind the decision of making the album. Their popularity in Vestfirðir was huge and people at all ages bought their album. Herbert wrote the larger part of the songs. The song "Megi Sá Draumur" became very popular and was played a lot on the Icelandic radio. The album was a mixture of great party songs and gentle ballads. Herbert re-released two KAN songs in 2001 in a new version on his solo-album "Ný Spor Á Íslenskri Tungu". The songs were "Megi Sá Draumur" (May Our Dream) and "Steypa og Gler" (Concrete and Glass).

KAN made a comeback in April 2006 in the music festival "Aldrei Fór Ég Suður", which is arranged by the famous Icelandic musician Mugison and held in Ísafjörður/Vestfirðir Iceland. KAN only played at that one gig but the reactions to the band were amazing. The reunion got a lot of attention and Kastljós the biggest TV-Show in Iceland talked to the band and showed some live footage from their performance.

Solo career

Herbert left "KAN" in the autom 1984 and moved to Reykjavík (capital of Iceland). There he began his solo career with the album "Dawn Of The Human Revolotion",released in 1985, on which He sang all the songs in English. The song "Can't Walk Away" became a huge hit.

Can't Walk Away success

The success of Can't Walk Away was amazing and Herbert became well known. Later the song was included in a Superhits of the 80's record. The song tells the story of how we shouldn't just walk away from the world's problems. We should face them and solve them. The lyrics are quite deep, especially for a pop song. This song has been re-released many times over the years in verious versions and has lived throughout the years in the hearts of Icelanders. The song on youtube.

Let's Help Them

In 1986 after Herbert had released his major solo-title, "The Dawn Of The Human Revolution", he took part in a recording session for a song released in an effort to create publicity for alleviating poverty and starvation in Africa. All the biggest stars in Icelandic music at that time helped and made the song Hjálpum Þeim (Let's Help Them). Herbert sang both as a lead singer and as a backing singer in the song. It became very popular in Iceland.

Hollywood

Herbert kept on going and made some new songs after the major success of "Can't Walk Away", as "Hollywood". The song "Hollywood" tells the story of how hard it is to become a success in the big world when you come from a small country like Iceland. "Hollywood" was released on the album "Being Human" in 1993. Herbert shot two music videos for the album, "Hollywood" the video on youtube and the song "The Night Of The Show" the video on youtube.

The 1990s

In 1997 Herbert became again a very popular singer in Iceland when a new radio station FM957 began playing "Can't Walk Away". Herbert decided to came back to Iceland to follow up on this success and again became very well known as an artist. He decided to release all his biggest hits on a Best Of CD which he called "Faith". "Faith" was released in 1998 and contained "Can't Walk Away", "Hollywood", "I Believe In Love" and many other hits. "I Believe In Love" was a new song from Herbert and it was clear that Herbert had left the 1980s feeling and moved on into a techno feel. The song became very popular and Glitnir (a big Icelandic bank at the time) used the song in its commercials. Herbert also included two remixes of "Can't Walk Away" on the "Faith" album.

He made his first solo-album singin in Icelandic in 1977 "Á Ströndinn" and decided to do this again after having sung mostly in English through his carrier by releasing the record "Ný Spor Á Íslenskri Tungu" (New Steps In Icelandic). The song "Svaraðu" of that album became a big hit. The music video for "Svaraðu" was shot in Algarve - Portugal.The video on youtube.

Herbert held a big concert in Iceland to celebrate the release of "Ný Spor Á Íslenskri Tungu".. This concert was recorded, filmed and released on a DVD in December 2010 - "Herbert Guðmundsson í Íslensku Óperunni"("Herbert Gudmundsson at the Icelandic Opera").

Religion

Herbert was a part of the Icelandic National Church when he was born. When he had grown up he discovered that he didn't feel right in the Icelandic National Church and decided to leave the church. He joined the world of Buddha. For a while, every time Herbert spoke publicly, he talked about Buddism. For instance in the TV program "Sjálfstætt Fólk" (Independent People) Herbert showed how he meditated every day. Then on the 26th of September 2007 an article was written in the Icelandic newspaper "Blaðið" about Herbert Guðmundsson. There it was made public that Herbert had left Buddhism because he had become a vibrant Christian after having a spiritual experience in a prayer meeting with some friends in Iceland that was held at that time in Ármúli a street in Reykjavík by a Christian group named "Kærleikurinn" ("Charity"). Following this experience he got baptised in the Pentecostal "Filadelfia" church in Iceland, and has since been an active gospel artist (album "Spegill Sálarinnar" / "Open Your Eyes" released in 2008) with a recommendation for his work as such given by the Bishop of the Icelandic National Church.

HG Records and ice cream

Herbert owns his own record company, "HG Hljómplötur" (HG Records). HG stands of course for Herbert Guðmundsson. He has released his own material since he started with "HG Hljómplötur" in 1985. All of his records were released by "HG Hljómplötur" exempt "Á Ströndinni".

After releasing Being Human, Herbert decided to move to Sweden and step away from music for some time. He went to Italy and learned how to make Italian icecream. After the stay in Italy he decided to open up an Ice Cream Shop in Sweden. In 1996 he decided to move back to Iceland. He immediately opened an Ice Cream Shop in Reykjavík the store was in Síðumúli 35 and was called "Stikkfrí". Herbert made his own Ice Cream recipe so his Ice Cream was one of a kind. A newspaper in Iceland called "DV" (Dagblaðið Vísir) made some research in the Ice Cream business in Iceland and found out that Herbert was the best Ice Cream seller in the country.

Along with selling Ice Cream in "Stikkfrí" Herbert sold his CDs in the store. The shop was successful and Herbert's wife, Svala Jóhannsdóttir, served the customers while Herbert made the Ice Cream.

Intermezzo performances

In 2003 when Herbert appeared in the TV show "Jón Ólafs" (show hosted by Jón Ólafsson, where he talks to famous musicians) Herbert played along with Jón Ólafsson a new song written by Herbert Guðmundsson.The performance on youtube. The song was called "Magic Feeling". Herbert often sings about how one can feel or act so the lyrics of this song are examplatory for Herbert's music. This song was released on the album "Spegill Sálarinnar" in 2008.

In the summer of 2005, Herbert played in Rás 2 along with Lokbrá, for life radio. They played a new song made by Herbert, called "Driving Wild". The song is about a man who is so down that he is driving fast to try to forget his problems. Later that day Herbert went for an interview in Rás 2 where he decided to play the song "Driving Wild" himself only with his own guitar.

Spegill Sálarinnar

In 2007 Herbert started working on a new album named "Spegill Sálarinnar" the title means "Mirror Of Your Soul", the subtitle of the album is "Open Your Eyes". On this album Herbert decided to grab the opportunity to work with a gospel choir. Herbert also worked on this album with his then 19 y.o. son Svanur Herbertsson who is a talented keyboard player, singer and a song writer.

Tree Of Life

Tree Of Life (Herbertson) is a new album which Herbert and his son Svanur have been working together on as the duo Herbertson. The album release date was the 7th of October 2011. Already the song "Time" that is on this album has become a big hit on the radio in Iceland but it was released as a single in the summer of 2010.Time performed at RUV's Kastljós.

References

  1. ^ 1
  • [1] The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 13 - 2011 - "Dr. Gunni’s History Of Icelandic Rock / Part 28

The Dreaded Eighties".

  • [2] (Icelandic)
  • [3] (Guitar cords and lyrics - Icelandic web.)
  • [4] (Critique of the album "Spegill Sálarinnar" in Icelandic).

Herbert on the Icelandic wiki