Mar (musician/artist)

Self-portrait (2013)

Grétar Mar Sigurðsson (born April 14, 1988), known by his stage name and artist name Mar, is an experimental multi-genre artist and musician from Reykjavík, Iceland. Mar aims to combine various genres and mediums. He has released two studio albums, SoundEscapes (2013) and Mellows (2014), and a few singles. When not making music, Mar works as an independent artist, sometimes fusing the two mediums together. Mar has worked with various Icelandic musicians in different bands and projects, including Two tickets to Japan and Celestine, where he worked with Ólafur Arnalds.

Early life

Mar was born Grétar Mar Sigurðsson, on April 14, 1988, in Breiðholt, Reykjavík, Iceland. He studied art in Breidholt College where he graduated from in 2009. Grétar Mar was heavily active in the student social-life and, among other things, participated in the debate team, numerous musicals, and took part in many student committees, including the radio committee and theatre committee. Grétar Mar went off to study at the Iceland Academy of the Arts and graduated in 2014 with a bachelor degree in fine arts.

Music

Mar started his music career in the metal and hardcore scene of Iceland. There he got influenced by many bands e.g. the notorious Icelandic hardcore band I adapt and punk band Dys.

In 2004 he started his own death-metal band, Evoked. That band stopped playing after three years of active rehearsing, demo recording and playing live.

In 2007, Mar he teamed up with lifelong friends from the hardcore scene and formed the infamous band, Celestine, where Grétar took part as a bassist on their first album At the borders of Arcadia which was on the top 10 list of best Icelandic records that year. In 2008 Grétar left the band and out of that segregation "Two tickets to Japan" came to be, where Grétar satisfied his urge to compose in a different genre, making his way as the lead vocalist and guitarist. The band played a mix of psychedelic rock and a calm combination of beautiful ambience melting with the occasional outburst of alternative punk/metal. The band released three studio albums, The Storm That Makes Our Minds Collide (2009), Two Tickets to Japan (2012), and Pangea (2013). The band played across Iceland but stopped playing in 2013 when Grétar went solo.

In May 2013 Mar released the ambient/drone album SoundEscapes on the web. A year later he released the EP Mellows,where he collaborated with singer Elín Elísabet Einarsdóttir. The album was recorded in 2013 by Jakob Þór Guðmundsson in Studio GFG and mastered by Helgi Durhuus.

Art

On 12 December 2013, Mar opened his first solo exhibition titled "Upplifun" ("Experience"), an interactive project.[1]

Discography

Exhibitions

References

  1. ↑ Júlía Margrét Einarsdóttir, Fréttablaðið, "Article on Mar' Exhibition "Upplifun"", December 14, 2013, Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  2. ↑ HomiesWhereMyHeartIs-Blog
  3. ↑ Kling & Band - Past Show
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