ANCHR's Artist of the Day: Hatari

Have you ever found yourself thinking, "I really wish there was an Icelandic, industrial, BDSM, performance-art band I could rock with”?  Well, look no further, ANCHR has you covered.  The anti-capitalist trio, Hatari, which consists of Matthías Haraldsson, Klemens Hannigan, and Einar Stefánsson, first captured America's attention when John Oliver featured the band on his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.  Hatari's song “Hatrið Mun Sigra”, which translates in English to "Hate Will Prevail", won them a spot in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest.  Things got a bit awkward though when the 2019 contest's host city was Tel Aviv, Israel, and the band has been vocal about their opposition to Israel's occupation of Palestine. Although the band finished the competition in 10th place, they've been able to grab people's attention across the globe with their spectacle-filled live performances. Myself being proof of that statement since I, being a Puerto Rican guy from the southwest side of Chicago, am still shook from their performances two months after Iceland Airwaves has concluded.  

Fireworks, Dancers, and Leather, Oh My! Hatari's live show will have you wide eyed from start to finish. I was fortunate enough to catch them in their homeland of Iceland at the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival. There, Hatari played on back to back nights with a full production show at the Reykjavik Art Museum and then closed down the festival with a stripped down, more intimate and sweaty performance at Gaukurinn, a vegan watering hole in downtown Reykjavik.  Both shows were fun and dance filled. I did not understand one single word they were saying and yet their performances were personal highlights in an already awesome, music filled festival weekend. Check out their performance of “X” at Studio 12 below, but believe me their show is truly one that has to be witnessed in person to get the full effect!