VARESE (Italy), July 2025 – by GIANNI BERALDO
The sound of GRÓA, an Icelandic trio composed of sisters Karólína Einars Maríudóttir (Karó), Hrafnhildur Einars Maríudóttir (Hrabba), and childhood friend Fríða Björg Pétursdóttir, delivers powerful and unusual emotions. They are the creators of an incredible album titled “Drop P,” released by One Little Independent Records.
This album is disarming, especially due to its successful and precise mix of art-punk, avant-garde noise, and experimental rock.
The album also features a collaboration on one track with the Argentine band Blanco Teta, known for their experimental rock, punk-pop, and noise, with lyrics addressing transfeminist themes and an avant-garde approach.
In short, GRÓA is truly interesting, advocating a musical proposition well above average.
To learn more, we interviewed them via Zoom, where the three young artists, comfortably seated on a sofa, alternated their answers without following a fixed script, showing sincere interest and curiosity in our questions.
Your new album, Drop P, is described as “noisy, chaotic, and heartfelt,” perfectly capturing your DIY spirit. How do you manage to maintain the balance between these seemingly contrasting elements?
We don’t actually feel them as contrasting; they’re all a part of us, and when we make songs, we don’t see them as conflicting. Perhaps it’s because we made this album in different places and environments, so there were also different elements at play. Like the combination of writing while traveling and then continuing at home. Or, more simply, writing when you have enough time to do it.
Snouge is a recurring term on the new album; could you explain in detail what it means?
It’s hard to describe. That term came to us because it goes beyond the things we have and can’t express with other words. Let’s say snouge captures a lot of colors, feelings. Like a kind of boundary between being imaginary and reality. It’s a kind of combined feeling that gets bigger and bigger; more and more things become snouge as we realize them; it’s still evolving and can be anything in the world—art or music, or even something physical.
Do you feel snouge right now?
Yes, maybe a little bit actually. I think this conversation could be a bit snouge, for example.
Kim is the first song you wrote for the album, exploring frustration, anger, and despair. Why did you choose to place it as the last track on the album?
I think it’s because, even though it has elements that evoke a certain frustration, it’s also very, very hopeful for us. Even when we sing it live, the song is really full of hope, in the sense of being able to release a lot of emotions. So it’s like, having it at the end of an album, it somehow brings everything together and then projects it outwards. In reality, it’s not a real closure; I imagine it as a great parade of people just walking with the sole purpose of moving away, and then coming back. In our case, coming back to make a new album.
Is your creative process always spontaneous, or is there something intentional, something calculated?
Really a good question, like the previous ones you asked by the way. We are sisters, so we spend a lot of time having similar experiences. We share many of the same experiences, which we like to talk about in whatever context we find ourselves. Like when we’re at Grandma’s house or something like that.
At Grandma’s?
Yes, even there. We discuss various things while eating at her house. Then maybe we write and even try out songs about life events. For example, “Cranberry” and “Birdshit” are two songs that tell the story of when we were on tour together, or how we spent time somewhere. Like when something happens that affected all of us, at that point it’s simple to write songs about it together, as we always write them in the same room from start to finish. We talk about everything, and then suddenly, something fits into a song, making sense of something we were writing. Often in a fun way.
Have you ever played in Italy?
Unfortunately, never yet. We tried, but we haven’t had the opportunity.
Karoline, you’ve also built instruments: how important is innovation and experimentation for you, not only in terms of instrumentation but also in songwriting and production?
Indeed, I’ve built a couple of instruments, but I think I’ve only used one for an album. That instrument, by the way, wasn’t even born from my project. More than the instrumentation, I think what and how things influence your mental state to give life to creative aspects is more important. Perhaps the use of instruments influences the band’s sound more, and how to use the drums or guitar. You can produce a sound from a guitar in many different ways, trying to extend the boundaries of any instrument compared to how they are normally played.
The track “Eldingar i prag” is a kind of night journey that I imagine as a film, a sort of cinematic screenplay: is there a deeper meaning, or is it the narration of an experience?
The story itself is deeper and more detailed. I think it’s just a small, condensed version of what happened. Basically, it tells the story of what happened to us one night when we were driving from Senica to Prague, which in Icelandic means lightning, two summers ago. Let’s say it was a chaotic night.
On this album, you also collaborated with various Icelandic and international artists, like the Argentinian Blanco Teta on the track “Beauty Tips”: how do you choose your collaborators, and how important is interaction with other musicians in your creative process?
We don’t often write songs with other artists. If it happens, we need to find a direct connection from the beginning, finding an element of excitement. We saw Blanco Teta play in Iceland, and we really liked them. Both the musicians and their show, live it was super powerful, at that point we wanted to get to know them better. Their sound is dynamic, with a very strong impact, also because I really like how they use the cello in their performances and albums, it’s really beautiful. I get inspired by that. For the collaboration, an instant bond and trust with them were established from the start, leaving them free to write whatever they wanted.
Do you like other musical genres like folk or blues, for example?
Yes, absolutely. I’ve always liked the blues. When I was younger, I played a lot of blues music on the piano, then I evolved into other genres. But I have a bit of a soft spot for the blues, definitely. And I can’t hide it!
You were among the founders of the “Post-Draping” artistic collective. What is the importance of this collective for you as a band and for the Icelandic music scene in general?
Initially, it started as a group of friends, then it became an ideal space for emerging artists, useful for trying new things not only for a few friends but also for all the people who shared the same ideas. This situation was important for those who wanted the same things from music, in a city where it was perhaps difficult to find a place to play live. Now there’s an important underground scene in Iceland; the collective has many projects, and we often all play together. That collective was (and is) a really nice support system and safe space, and if you needed to borrow some equipment or wanted to share your ideas, or simply grab a coffee, it was okay. For us, it was really important at that moment, even just to continue creating things in a super small city where you get used to everything. But this helps you, in a way, to experiment more, going deeper and deeper into what you’re thinking, even if there aren’t that many people listening to what you’re doing. You know what I mean.
It reminds me of Andy Warhol’s Factory in New York with Nico, Lou Reed, etc… But who came up with the idea of forming the group?
Andy Warhol, that’s right! As for how the idea came about, I don’t really remember; we were so young. I think it was just a natural idea, an idea like others about what we could try. It was more a desire to do something new and exciting in some way, because we were 12 and 13 when we started playing something together, making music together, then we formed the band a few years later. So I think we all knew we wanted to do something.
Did you start by playing rock music or other genres?
Yes, we started composing super weird rock music, really, really, really weird. Then it evolved into more traditional rock music. I guess at the time, I didn’t even know what rock or pop music was.
For the album’s creation, you isolated yourselves for two weeks: how did this period of shared life and your individual relationships within the band influence your artistic creativity and the entire recording?
For us, it was like we had already done it before. We had already spent more than two weeks together, traveling or living together. In this case, doing it with the purpose of making music was just a really nice and useful way to focus. We cooked together and did other things, also experiencing slow and pleasant moments until we felt ready to do something meaningful and with good ideas. What’s important is simply being together, as in everyday situations. You can use all the time you want, even if you’re not holding a guitar or something. There are moments when you’re thinking something and then share it with others. And that makes it more personal and beautiful. Among other things, the place where we lived and created the album is very beautiful. The closest town is 45 minutes away. It’s very nice and relaxing, surrounded by nature with sheep, horses, and moths. It’s also a very adventurous place, useful for opening your mind.
Considering the chaos and unpredictability that often characterize your music and live performances, do you see similarities between your artistic approach and the current global political landscape?
So it’s a political question?
Of course, but not just political.
The way we compose and write music is super influenced by how we think about the world and how we experience things around us. We discuss a lot and about everything before making a song, so I think what we do can often appear unpredictable, or chaotic. We are trying to express something in a way that we consider right. And even if I don’t use lyrics much to describe in detail what I think, we try to express ourselves using certain tones that reflect a certain attitude anyway.
We are going through a terrible historical moment; do you think music can still be useful in conveying an important message for peace?
Definitely. I mean, you play for people, and you can always try to tell them something or simply express your opinion on something. But I also think that our way of creating peace, how we convey it to others, is important, you know? We have to do it by creating a system among ourselves, that is completely unlimited in every way, involving as many people as possible.
I agree with what you’re saying. Even just choosing where you play, where you exhibit your art, and where you choose not to, is a very important message.
That’s true!
Do other musicians join you at concerts?
There’s also Masha; she started playing with us live three or four years ago. We both play sax; most of the time she joins us, effectively becoming a quartet, where she also plays percussion.
Thank you for the interview, hoping to see you soon in Italy or directly in Iceland!
Thank you for the great questions and for making us think and talk about our art. This is really nice.
