Sálin Hans Jóns Míns

In the fall of 1987, Icelandic radio personality Þorsteinn Joð decided to gather some musicians and host a concert where they would play songs from the Blues Brothers soundtrack. The party was a blistering success and a few months later, keyboard player Jón Ólafsson called on some of the musicians to form a band. Among them were singer Stefán Hilmarsson and guitar player Guðmundur Jónsson who have been the core members of Sálin hans Jóns míns through the years while other band members have come and gone. They were inspired by old American soul and funk groups and had "soul jackets" designed specially for the band. After some consideration, they decided to call themselves "Sálin hans Jóns míns" or "My Jón´s soul" which is the name of an old Icelandic folk tale. They liked the name because it referred to the type of music they were playing, had an ethnic vibe and it´s meaning was ambiguous since Jón was the one who got the band together. Sálin hans Jóns míns became popular instantly and it didn´t hurt that singer Stefán had been chosen to be Iceland´s representative in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest , which Icelanders were enormously interested in at the time. Their first album was called "Syngjandi sveittir" (Singing and Sweating) and was partly recorded live. When three band members quit the band to take on other assignments, Stefán and Guðmundur found new band members to take their place. They decided to leave soul music behind and focus on their own songwriting. They released songs on various compilation albums and managed to create their own sound which was closer to rock´n roll than soul. In 1992 the group went on a few short tours abroad. Their first album featuring their own songwriting exclusively, "Hvar er draumurinn?" (Where´s My Destiny), was translated into English and released in Norway, Sweden and the Benelux countries. The band called themselves "Beaten Bishops" abroad, although the name wasn´t likely to do them any favours, "bishop" being a well-known slang for "penis". They didn´t hit the big time as Beaten Bishops but it didn´t matter much because they were and still are a huge success in Iceland. After making two albums "Garg" (Scream), which mainly consisted of songs previously released on compilation albums, and "Þessi þungu högg" (These Heavy Blows) the band took a two year break. In 1995 they gave in to pressure to get the band back together and released a new album, "Sól um Nótt" (The Sun at Night), followed by some heavy touring around Iceland. Sálin hans Jóns míns celebrated their ten year anniversary in 1998 with a double best-of album called "Gullna Hliðið" (The Golden Gate) including all their hits and three new songs. A year later their unplugged album "12. oktober ´99" was released. The instruments used were rather unusual for the band and included a sitar, an accordion and a marimba. The unplugged concert received an award for best musical event of the year and the album went platinum (over 10.000 copies sold). In the new millennium, the band has released the albums "Annar Máni" (Another moon) and "Logandi ljós" (A Flaming Light). These two albums form one whole and the songs on them were later featured in the musical "Sól og Máni" (The Sun and the Moon).