Sperm of the Studmenn in Guardian Unlimited (2005)

Sperm of the Studmenn
Thomas H Green
Guardian Unlimited

'It can only go downhill from here'... Studmenn

It's not everybody who has the financial clout to wander down to the foyer and book the Royal Albert Hall on a whim. Yet this is exactly what Jon Asgeir Johannesson, Icelandic entrepreneur and owner of the toy shop Hamley's, did when the idea of putting on his favourite band, Studmenn, came to him during a performance by Pavarotti. As Jakob Magnusson, Studmenn's founding member, puts it: "He thought that instead of having an obese Italian singing songs by dead composers, he'd have red-blooded Icelanders singing their own tunes."
The seven-piece band are not daunted by the prospect of having their first UK date at such an auspicious venue, although Magnusson admits: "It can only go downhill from here." Studmenn are, after all, the most successful act ever in their native land, with 15 chart-topping albums and numerous number one singles over a 35-year career. They were the second western act ever to play China (after Wham!).
The Albert Hall gig this Thursday has been well advertised on TV in Reykjavik, and 2,000 fans are flying over to attend. "We like to play the capitals of the world," says Magnusson, "and export our audiences by the hundreds and thousands." Judging from their compilation album, Six Geysirs and a Bird, Studmenn's music borrows elements of everything from African funk to Bavarian oompah bands, topped off with a rock sheen and a tongue-in-cheek jauntiness. The band's career has also taken in TV shows, branded merchandise including card games, theatre and an appearance in Iceland's most successful movie, 1982's On Top. Their latest project, just announced, is the Studmenn Sperm Bank.
"You can buy a little from our bass player, Tomas," Magnusson deadpans. "He has big hands, a great sense of humour and is homosexual. Or there's Thor, the guitarist - slightly near-sighted with a poetic streak. Egill, the lead singer, is a seething mass of testosterone with a hairy chest, singing capabilities and a bald pate. His is £350. For a bonus price you can have a cocktail that will give you the chance to give birth to a near-sighted homosexual with a bald head. That's not bad - look at Elton John - he's done pretty well for himself."
Such surreal silliness is typical of Studmenn. The band are also likely to dress as fish for their British debut.

Source:
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,11710,1444022,00.html