Hatari (; ) are an Icelandic

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

and punk rock band and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

group from

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

. Their public image incorporates elements of

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as s ...

and

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

attire. The band consists of Klemens Hannigan, Matthías Haraldsson and Einar Stefánsson, and has released one album and one

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, encompassing several singles. Hatari represented Iceland in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the 2018 contest with the song " Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broad ...

with their song "

Hatrið mun sigra "Hatrið mun sigra" (; "Hatred will prevail") is a song by Icelandic band Hatari. It won '' Söngvakeppnin 2019'' and finished 10th at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The song was the first Eurovision Song Contest entry to ...

", finishing 10th in the final.

History

Early history (2015–2018)

Hatari was formed in mid-2015 by cousins Klemens Hannigan and Matthías Haraldsson. At the time, Klemens had begun writing

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

that Matthías would provide screaming vocals for. Klemens later presented the songs to Einar Stefánsson, who joined the duo as their drummer. Klemens and Einar, together with drummer Sólrún Mjöll Kjartansdóttir, had previously also formed the band Kjurr in late 2012; in the band, Klemens played the guitar and provided vocals, while Einar played the bass. Throughout 2016, Hatari performed five times, including appearances in Reykjavík, at Eistnaflug, at LungA Festival, and at Norðanpaunk, prior to their break-out performances at Iceland Airwaves, held at Kex Hostel in Reykjavík, on 31 October and 6 November 2016. The band's debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP), named ''Neysluvara'', was released through Svikamylla ehf. via

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

and

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

on 31 October 2017. Leading up to the EP's release, the band also released

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s for two songs from the EP, "Ódýr" and "X". In December 2017, Hatari was featured on the song "Hlauptu", released on the album ''Horror'' by Cyber. On 21 December 2018, Hatari announced that the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of Svikamylla ehf. had passed a resolution to dissolve the band. However, Hatari did not dissolve as they appeared at

Eurosonic Noorderslag Eurosonic Noorderslag is an annual four-day music showcase festival and conference held in January in Groningen, Netherlands. The first three days of the festival (Eurosonic) feature artists from all over Europe, the last day of the festival (N ...

, a music event held in the Netherlands, shortly after that. Simultaneous to the dissolution announcement, Hatari released the music video for a new single, "Spillingardans".

Eurovision Song Contest (2019)

In January 2019, Hatari was confirmed as one of the ten acts competing in Söngvakeppnin 2019, Iceland's national selection for its entry in the

, with their new song "

". Hatari won Söngvakeppnin 2019 in March that year, and thus represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest in May. In the lead-up to the competition, Hatari made headlines with a number of political statements over the

Israeli occupation of Palestine Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to a ...

and other matters, resulting in

Jon Ola Sand Jon Ola Sand (; born 21 December 1961) is a Norwegian television executive. He was the European Broadcasting Union's Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest from 2011 to 2020. Personal life He is the son of revue writer and actor Bj ...

, the executive supervisor of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU), warning them that they had reached the limit of the EBU's patience, and would be disqualified should they choose to bring its political statements to the stage. However, when Iceland's televote score was announced at the end of the final, members of Hatari held up banners displaying the

flag of Palestine The flag of Palestine ( ar, علم فلسطين) is a tricolor of three equal horizontal stripes (black, white, and green from top to bottom) overlaid by a red triangle issuing from the hoist. This flag is derived from the Pan-Arab colors and ...

. As a result, the EBU fined RÚV for , the lowest possible punishment. Overall, Hatari received 232 points in the final, finishing in 10th place.

Subsequent releases and tours (2019–present)

On 23 May 2019, the day of their homecoming concert, Hatari released "Klefi / صامد", a single featuring Palestinian musician

Bashar Murad Bashar Murad (Arabic: بشار مراد; born 7 February 1993) is a Palestinian singer-songwriter and video artist based in East Jerusalem. His music addresses societal norms, the Israeli Occupation, and gender equality in the Middle East. He is ...

, with a

. The video was filmed in the desert by

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

, Palestine, and the song features lyrics in Icelandic and Arabic. A further single, "Klámstrákur", was released that October. Hatari's first album, ''Neyslutrans'', was released on 17 January 2020, also featuring the four prior singles. A

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (''Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 2007 ...

, ''Neyslutrans Remixed'', was released on 19 February 2021. On 17 July 2019, Hatari announced their 2020 "Europe Will Crumble" tour, with Cyber as their supporting act. On 29 January 2020, a few hours before their concert at the Copenhagen venue

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, an ...

, a fire broke out, but nobody was hurt. The second of two tour legs was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. It was replaced by the "Dance or Die" tour, which was announced in November 2020 and advertised with a "post-human experience".

Members

Hatari primarily consists of musicians Klemens Hannigan, Matthías Haraldsson, and Einar Stefánsson, as well as several contributors.

Klemens Hannigan

Klemens Nikulásson Hannigan (born 1994) is one of two vocalists in the group, and the cousin of Matthías. He is the son of Nikulás Hannigan, the head of the trade office division at Iceland's

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

, and Rán Tryggvadóttir, a lawyer for legal firm LMB Mandat. Klemens has two daughters with his partner, Ronja Mogensen. He graduated from Tækniskólinn as a furniture maker.

Matthías Haraldsson

Matthías Tryggvi Haraldsson (born 1994) is the other vocalist in the group. He is the son of

Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir (born 1972, Iceland) is an Icelandic visual artist. Works of art created by Hauksdóttir consist of audio, video, performance such as dance, sculpture, drawing and text. Early life and education Hauksdóttir was born i ...

, an artist, and Haraldur Flosi Tryggvason, the owner of LMB Mandat and brother of Klemens' mother, Rán. Outside of Hatari, Matthías is a playwright; he graduated from the

Iceland University of the Arts History Iceland University of the Arts ( is, Listaháskóli Íslands ) is an Icelandic institution of higher art education, located in Reykjavík, which offers the only university-level degrees in the arts in Iceland.Lisa Z. ValdimarsdottirIcel ...

with a one-man play entitled ''Griðastaður'' ( ''Sanctuary''), which was later shown at the Tjarnarbíó theatre in Reykjavík. Matthías subsequently won the "Newcomer of the Year" award at the Grímuverðlaunin 2019. He also acted as a news reporter for Icelandic broadcaster

RÚV Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) (pronounced or ) ( en, 'The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service') is Iceland's national public-service broadcasting organization. Operating from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional cent ...

Einar Stefánsson

Einar Hrafn Stefánsson (also known as Einar Stef) is the drummer and producer for the group. He is the son of

Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson (born 4 January 1959 in the Westman Islands, Iceland) is an Icelandic diplomat. He has been the Ambassador of Iceland to Japan since April 2021. He was previously the Ambassador to the United Kingdom from November 2017 ...

, the Icelandic

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Japan, and former ambassador to the United Kingdom. Outside Hatari, he is also the bassist of

Vök Vök are an Icelandic dream pop and indietronic band from Reykjavík. The band was formed in January 2013 by singer Margrét Magnúsdóttir and saxophonist Andri Enoksson after two years of working together. The name "Vök" was suggested by En ...

, an Icelandic

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

group formed in 2013. Einar is in a relationship with Sólbjört, and they have a daughter.

Contributors

Contributors for Hatari include Sólbjört Sigurðardóttir, Sigurður Andrean Sigurgeirsson and Ástrós Guðjónsdóttir, all of whom are considered part of Hatari. All three act as choreographers and dancers for the group, while Sólbjört and Ástrós also provide backing vocals. Sólbjört first joined the group as a dancer in 2016, acting alongside Ronja Mogensen, who had previously done the group's make-up. Due to pregnancies and other influences, the backing line-up changed several times; the line-up with Sólbjört, Andrean and Ástrós was arranged by Sólbjört in the preparations for Söngvakeppnin 2019. Andri Hrafn Unnarsson and Karen Briem are costume designers for Hatari, and Ingi Kristján Sigurmarsson acts as their graphic artist.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Remix albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2015 establishments in Iceland Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2019 Icelandic electronic music groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Iceland Icelandic performance artists Icelandic punk rock groups Musical groups from Reykjavík Industrial music groups