PAKK Collective
PAKK Collective is an expandable post-instrumental music group, founded by alumni of The Royal Danish Academy of Music. The group seeks to redefine the traditional roles of academically trained musicians by focusing on performance and conceptual art rather than specific instrumental arrangements or skills. Committed to advancing the rapidly growing 'post-instrumental' musical trend, PAKK actively collaborates with composers and sound artists, commissions new works, and produces innovative performances that continually expand their repertoire and captivate audiences. Their successful debut concert series, “Non Mutually Inclusive #1,” took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Reykjavik, Iceland, in November 2023.
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Ragnar Jónsson - Performer, cellist
Flemming Valmundsson - Performer, accordionist
TriOssia
TriOssia was founded by current and former students associates at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Through mutual admiration and noticing the potential of both their similarities and clashes between us, we got together to form an audacious accordion trio, following in the footsteps of only a handful of other groups that came before us. Our focus is to display the known classics of the world in grand transcriptions with lively performances as well as performing new music written for the rare constellation.
As of yet, we have performed in England, Germany, Denmark, and Poland; and our most recent accolade is becoming YCAT Finalists in 2022, performing our final round in Wigmore Hall, London.
José Valente - Accordion
Dawid Rydz - Accordion
Flemming Valmundsson - Accordion
Phlegm
The hardcore rock/punk duo 'Phlegm' was formed in the spring of 2017, as a last resort solution to perform in Músíktilraunir, a national annual battle-of-the-bands competition in Reykjavík, Iceland. The aim was to perform raw, yet maximalistic, hardcore music using only the three elements of electric bass, drums, and vocals. Playing with the traits of hardcore rock, punk and nu-metal, aided by the non-traditional use of odd time signatures and silences, the group sought to deliver drive and a stirring energy to their audiences.
Phlegm was awarded 2nd place in the Músíktilraunir festival, and its members awarded Drummer and Bassist of the year. They have performed on Iceland Airwaves, toured Iceland with the tour project Kross-Fest, and independently released an self-titled EP album in 2017.
Flemming Valmundsson - Vocals, bass
Ögmundur Kárason - Drums
Kröstpönkbandið Þegiðu
Kröstpönkbandið Þegiðu (e. The Crust Punk Band 'Shut Up') was formed in 2014 as the thirst to experiment with various musical inspirations (acts like Mr. Bungle, Naked City, Primus, Yellow Magic Orchestra, various European traditional music) in a performative punk-group ensemble.
The group played few but very meticulously planned-out concerts, fusing together extravagant performance-art events, unlikely covers, and original songs which relied very heavily on complexly interwoven instrumental playing. The key and motif behind the compositions was to gain an audiences trust through virtuosity and entertainment, before taking them on for a mental roller-coaster ride of the cadences the group saw fit. All to create a lasting, memorable, concert experience.
Flemming Valmundsson - Vocals, accordion, drums
Tryggvi Þór Pétursson - Guitar
Sigurbjörn Kári Hlynsson - Bass
Smári Nikulás Guðmundsson - Saxophone
Ögmundur Kárason - Drums
BL-D
The hardcore noise duo BL-D formed after its members finally met on a music festival in Ásbrú, Iceland, after years of them admiring each other's work. Being inspired by the many acts seen on the festival (clipping., Lightning Bolt, Swans) and their mutual interests, they formed the duo which sought to fuse together rhythmical constructions with swells of enraging, eardrum-scratching, noise.
BL-D performs their acts in one uncut movement, swaying between motifs and episodes. They seek to reach into the darker realms of introspection, inspiring fear, rage, ever-building tension, and inviting an audience to join them for the adrenaline rush ride that their music entails.
Hallmar Gauti Halldórsson - Guitar, synthesizers
Flemming Valmundsson - Drums
Staka
In 2018 I got accepted into the Icelandic amateur chamber choir Staka, based in Copenhagen, which consists of a mixture of experienced choir singers and highly educated musicians; instrumentalists and composers.
During my time with them we have premiered numerous works, recorded albums of new works, performed in various remarkable situations, and travelled all around the Nordics. Their ambition, unique sound, and group dynamic has been deeply inspiring to me, as well as being an endless source of learning and musical development.
During my tenure I’ve managed to grow from being a loud and abrasive punk-yeller, to being a loud and abrasive punk-yeller who can sound like a tenor in a choir.
Conducting
I’ve been blessed with the opportunity and trust to man the podium and stand responsible in front of some constellations, be it in rehearsals or concerts.
Drawing from my musical experience and inspirations I do my best to inspire and lead amateur groups so that they become a unified entity with a radiant projection of sound and presence.
The choir’s I’ve worked with so far are the Faroese mixed choir “Húsakórið”, Icelandic women’s choir “Dóttir”, and Icelandic chamber choir “Staka”.
Composition
I am a composer.
It is a certain leap to make, to pick up this loaded word and stamp it onto one's forehead, to claim that you identify with the glorified legends of the past on which countless man-hours have been spent studying, replicating and performing.
It is a heavy step to take, to proclaim that you are worthy of having credible artistic merit, that you can take responsibility for a creative output of others and to make something that should be worthy of attention or appraisal.
It is a sturdy cast to break, to allay the role of the interpreter and to pick yourself up as a perspective-giver and a recipe-maker for others to project your ideas and thoughts.
But why? Why should that be the case? Why should it be so hard? I think its inhibiting to consider the word 'composer' as a label for the great thinkers, icons, heroes, or anything that is put up on a pedestal for others to observe and never to reach.
To think that musicians have been creating music their whole life without realizing it, as they see themselves as mere task-workers; pushing, stroking, blowing or whatever to connect some black dots that somebody wrote down on a page centuries ago. What's keeping the rest of us from picking up a pen, putting it to paper, and creating some more black-dotted paintings for others to wonder about and perform?
I'm going to take the step; reject the applied hindrances and hurdles, crash this exclusive party of ‘the worthy people’, and ask if I may sit with them.
I am a composer.
I am currently working on small chamber pieces, heavily populated by accordion and/or performative theatrics, and staying curious for thoughts, studies, and inspiration to strike me.