SXSW Artist Spotlight: Spacestation

SXSW 2026 is set to kick off March 12 in Austin, Texas. We’re excited to spotlight some of the killer artists that are going to be performing at the festival this year. 360°Sound had the pleasure of a chat with the guys from Spacestation, an indie rock quartet from Iceland. Their style defies categorization, channeling a variety of rock styles including garage, shoe-gaze, new wave, psych, krautrock, noise, etc (heavy on the etc). Their debut album, Reykjavik Syndrome was released in 2025.

SXSW 2026 official showcase appearances:

Sunday, March 15 at 10:30pm at Zilker Brewing in Austin
Tuesday, March 17 at 7:00pm on the Global Stage at Downright Austin Backyard

Editor’s Note: This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. Scroll to the bottom to view the full video interview on our YouTube channel, @360degreesound.

360°Sound: Can you share a bit of your origin story with me?

Björgúlfur (Bjöggi) Jes Einarsson [vox, lead guitar, keyboard]: We started playing together around 2021, just for fun. We were in his mom’s basement, doing some demos and stuff. I think that’s when Olie [bassist Ólafur Andri Jones] joined us. Then later on, Hafi came back from chef.

Hafsteinn (Hafi) Jóhannsson [rhythm guitar]: I was learning to become a chef in Portugal, and I just sort of came back. I barely knew how to play guitar.

Bjöggi: He kind of invited himself. I guess it’s when we stopped making demos and when we started just to sit in a circle and really work on structures of songs that we actually had songs. You can make loops all day, but it’s more work to put it in a constructed song. We played our first show in like ‘22. We had another drummer – his name was Tottie [their current drummer is Davíð Þór Hlynsson]. We released our first song in 2023, and we’ve been doing the band thing since then.

How would you guys describe your sound now?

Rock and roll, yeah. It really varies by songs, what we’re doing. We do that Brian Jonestown-like psychedelic stuff, but then we also do Strokes as well. Sonic Youth. I think we’re most similar to Sonic Youth, of all the bands we’re compared to. What do you guys think?

guys: yeah, yeah.

I really dig your tunes that you sing in your native Icelandic language. How are these songs received outside of Iceland?

Bjöggi: Really good. People often like these Icelandic songs more. I think they can just tell that there is more soul from it. It’s my language – it’s more easy for me to communicate my feelings. People really go crazy wherever we are, in England, in Germany. Especially in Germany. Germans have a fetish for Iceland.

“Í Draumalandinu” is a great Icelandic tune.

It’s a song about people that don’t go to sleep – like waking legends, as Hafi calls them. You know, tweakers. It’s like, how do you say, ‘I’m warning you to go to sleep.’ If you dream too much, you’ll die in your sleep. If you don’t go to sleep, you’ll never wake up. It’s also just about these, like, peculiar people you see on the streets that maybe have been awake for a few days. I’m really proud of that song; I wish people understood the lyrics.

Davíð: Clever songwriting.

There’s a lot of great poetry in your lyrics. “Cosmic Man” has a lyric that really lands with me.

I see my own reflection
When I stare out in space
The real me lives there somewhere
I’ve got to find him

Bjöggi: That’s one of our oldest songs that we’ve held on to. I love when people like that song, because it tells me, oh yeah, they get it. It’s also the guitar line; it’s inspired by the song “Souvlaki Space Station” by Slowdive. It’s a delay effect, and he kind of plays it, you know? He’s like, playing the delay kind of thing. I was really into this song at the time. I try to make it bounce, you know?

“Sheep Island” & “Another Sunday” make a nice pair. “Sheep” has a real Lou Reed vibe, and “Sunday” feels a lot like the Velvets.

[His] songwriting really inspires me. There are songs on the album that are pure Lou Reed inspiration – especially the lyrics, thinking about strange people and stuff like that.

Let’s talk a little bit about physical media. We’re big on physical formats at 360°Sound. What’s the attitude in Iceland towards physical media these days?

We like vinyls; we collect them. But nobody’s buying CDs in Iceland. [Except] when we’re touring Iceland, we use my parents old truck. It’s a Chevrolet Trailblazer, like 2000 or something, and it only has the CD player. So we have, like, a lot of CDs that we blast on the road. We’re gonna take some vinyls with us to South-by and give some to people. We can’t sell, so just gonna give to people.

What can we expect from the Spacestation live show?

Olie: A lot of noise.

Davíð: Motivations to dance.

Bjöggi: Yeah, a lot of dancing. Lot of sweating, screaming, yelling.

Hafi: Heavy air.

Davíð: The proper way to experience the band is to see us live. It’s a different energy. We really put everything into our performances.

Bjöggi: We play really fast live as well. We really try to rip up the audience.

Davíð: It’s more manic than the studio versions.

Are you sticking around in the States for any more shows after the festival?

Bjöggi: Yeah, we’re going to Seattle to do a Taste of Iceland showcase there. It’s like the Icelandic export office. Okay, do a show there with an artist called RAKEL, who’s also from Iceland. Yeah, she’s pretty cool.

Check out the full video interview on our YouTube channel, @360degreesound: