Biography
Kira Kira, Kristín Björk Kristjánsdóttir, is a founding member of Icelandic art collective Kitchen Motors. For the past 10 years she has tinkered with noises in bands such as Spúnk, Big band brútal, Stórsveit Sigríðar Níelsdóttur and as Kira Kira since autumn 1999 when she had a funny nightmare in Tokyo. She lists David Lynch and The Residents as influences and she has composed music for theatre, dance and movies and performed \ exhibited extensively in her home country, Iceland as well as around Europe.
Kira Kira either plays solo or with a cozy crew of 1-7 friends: Alex Somers (Jonsi & Alex, Riceboy Sleeps fame) on piano, glock and casio puppy. Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson on trumpet and keyboard. Samuli Kosminen on percussion (dingalee dang). Pétur Hallgrímsson on lapsteel (skriðgítar) and ukulele. Kári Hólmar Ragnarsson on trombone and noises. Hilmar Jensson on guitar. Magnús Helgason on super 8 projector. Kira herself sings and plays home made gadgets, laptop, guitar, glock, kalimba, melodica, music boxes and curious blinking toys.
Taking a particular interest in blurring the lines of visual and performing arts Kira has appeared in all kinds of curious venues; in church towers, gallery spaces, abandoned prisons, croatian breweries and various other curious places, creating lasting images of singing black holes, dueling smoke machines, kite symphonies and exploding cassette tapes across the globe.
Her last album, Our Map to the Monster Olympics is a twisting, sometimes terrifying, often glorious and touching kaleidoscope of a record. Swarms of fragmented voices mouth melodies through home made microphones while contact-mic’ed Kalimba’s fight for breath in seas of beautifully damaged technicolour, granulated shotgun beats fire from sniper positions in foreboding atmospheres- AND YET armies of glockenspiels, brass and casio’s remind us that everything will, in fact, be ok.
Kira Kira either plays solo or with a cozy crew of 1-7 friends: Alex Somers (Jonsi & Alex, Riceboy Sleeps fame) on piano, glock and casio puppy. Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson on trumpet and keyboard. Samuli Kosminen on percussion (dingalee dang). Pétur Hallgrímsson on lapsteel (skriðgítar) and ukulele. Kári Hólmar Ragnarsson on trombone and noises. Hilmar Jensson on guitar. Magnús Helgason on super 8 projector. Kira herself sings and plays home made gadgets, laptop, guitar, glock, kalimba, melodica, music boxes and curious blinking toys.
Taking a particular interest in blurring the lines of visual and performing arts Kira has appeared in all kinds of curious venues; in church towers, gallery spaces, abandoned prisons, croatian breweries and various other curious places, creating lasting images of singing black holes, dueling smoke machines, kite symphonies and exploding cassette tapes across the globe.
Her last album, Our Map to the Monster Olympics is a twisting, sometimes terrifying, often glorious and touching kaleidoscope of a record. Swarms of fragmented voices mouth melodies through home made microphones while contact-mic’ed Kalimba’s fight for breath in seas of beautifully damaged technicolour, granulated shotgun beats fire from sniper positions in foreboding atmospheres- AND YET armies of glockenspiels, brass and casio’s remind us that everything will, in fact, be ok.
