Una Schram balances film events and new pop album

Una Schram is balancing work with the Reykjavík International Film Festival, a newly released album and a master’s thesis, mbl.is reports. Schram works full-time as a project manager for special events at RIFF and has just released the first album by her band Marsibil.

Schram, who describes herself as a lifelong resident of Reykjavík’s Vesturbær district, is also completing a master’s thesis in cultural mediation about the city’s car culture.

Her work at RIFF mainly involves organising special events and screenings. This year’s programme includes a screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark in Raufarhólshellir cave, as well as a screening of Pride and Prejudice at Háskólabíó, the festival’s home venue. Translator Silja Aðalsteinsdóttir will give a talk there about the magic of Jane Austen.

The festival will also show Wicker, starring Alexander Skarsgård and Olivia Coleman. Schram said the film is reportedly very funny, with Skarsgård playing a man made of wicker specifically for Coleman’s character, who becomes involved with him in a passionate romance.

Schram is the singer and one half of Marsibil. The other member is Kári Hrafn Guðmundsson, who plays instruments, arranges the songs and also sings. The pair write together, with Schram focusing more on lyrics and Guðmundsson more on composing.

“My voice is my instrument, and I write songs and lyrics,” Schram said. She has been involved in music since childhood, singing in choirs and learning to play several instruments before deciding that singing was what she enjoyed most. She began releasing music under her own name at the age of 18 or 19.

Schram describes Marsibil’s music as jazz-influenced pop that draws on popular music from earlier periods. Icelandic singers Elly and Villi are their main inspiration, while newer music and electronic instruments have also influenced the band.

“Perhaps it is simply good pop music,” she said.

Schram said the band’s lyrics are a kind of ode to Iceland. She wrote them after returning home from a long stay in London, which led her to see the country in a new light.

“I just do what I enjoy,” she said of her musical ambitions. She said working in Marsibil was more enjoyable than performing alone, and that the duo usually performs with a full band at concerts.

“I am open to various opportunities. Life is all kinds of things,” Schram said.