Todmobile is an Icelandic pop/rock band, active since 1988.

Biography

The band was created in the summer of 1988 around Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson, a vocalist, guitarist, and record producer. In the beginning, all 3 members were part of local bands and studying at the

Reykjavík College of Music The Reykjavík College of Music () is an Icelandic gymnasium (junior college) and music conservatory founded in 2017. It was created by the merger of the graduate levels of (also known as Reykjavík College of Music) and (Conservatory of the Ic ...

in May 1989. "''Sameiginlegt''" was the name of their first demo, which made it onto the first studio album, ''

Betra En Nokkuð Annað Todmobile is an Icelandic pop/rock band, active since 1988. Biography The band was created in the summer of 1988 around Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson, a vocalist, guitarist, and record producer. In the beginning, all 3 members were part of loc ...

''. The following year, their most memorable self-titled album was released to rave reviews and respectability for their live concerts. This was followed by the release of their debut English-language songs "Opera" and "All Around". After the huge success of the ''

Spillt Todmobile is an Icelandic pop/rock band, active since 1988. Biography The band was created in the summer of 1988 around Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson, a vocalist, guitarist, and record producer. In the beginning, all 3 members were part of loc ...

'' album in 1993, the members of Todmobile moved onto other projects. Eyþór joined a band called ''Bong'', which had success in 1994 in both Iceland and the UK.

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

fronted a swing band called ''Citysister'' while collaborating with Þorvaldur in 1994 to form ''Tweety'', who made music in the dance/rock and pop

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

s, and she also took the lead role of

Eva Perón María Eva Duarte de Perón (; ; 7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952), better known as Eva Perón or by the nickname Evita (), was an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 1946 until ...

in the Icelandic production of '' Evita''. In February 1996, after fans wrote to Andrea and Þorvaldur pleading for them to revive Todmobile, they re-formed under the original name of Todmobile. Andrea, Þorvaldur and new lead singer Vilhjálmur Goði released their "comeback" CD titled ''

Perlur og svín Todmobile is an Icelandic pop/rock band, active since 1988. Biography The band was created in the summer of 1988 around Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson, a vocalist, guitarist, and record producer. In the beginning, all 3 members were part of loc ...

'' and once again started touring shortly after the album. Solo projects once again ensued, Þorvaldur being the main success after co-writing the Icelandic ESC 1999 entry "All Out Of Luck" for

Selma Björnsdóttir Selma Björnsdóttir (born 13 June 1974), also known as Selma or Selma Björns, is an Icelandic actress and singer born in Reykjavík. She is well-known internationally for representing Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest, Iceland in the ...

, which placed second. In 2003 Todmobile released their first live CD and DVD – ''

Sinfónía Todmobile is an Icelandic pop/rock band, active since 1988. Biography The band was created in the summer of 1988 around Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson, a vocalist, guitarist, and record producer. In the beginning, all 3 members were part of loc ...

'', which was a compilation of all their hits with the

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa (concert hall), Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution u ...

. In 2009,

Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson (born 29 May 1989), transliterated/also known as Eythor Ingi, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, producer, actor, and musician, known for the solo material bands Eldberg, Todmobile and Rock Paper Sisters. He Iceland i ...

took over the singing duties from Eyþór Arnalds. Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson represented Iceland at the ESC 2013, with his song "

Ég á líf "Ég á líf" (I'm alive) is the Icelandic entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö and is performed by singer Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson after he won Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, Söngvakeppnin 2013. In the final it plac ...

". 2014's ''Úlfur'' includes guest appearances by

Jon Anderson Jon Anderson (born John Roy Anderson, 25 October 1944) is a British, and latterly American, singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the former lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassis ...

(formerly of

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

) and

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English guitarist who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis (band), Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis studio albums, three l ...

(formerly of

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

). in 2016, they received the special honour of having

Nik Kershaw Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during the decade, i ...

as their special guest in Harpa, Reykjavík, on November 11.

Band members

;Original line-up (1990–1993) * Andrea Gylfadóttir, vocals * Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson * Eyþór Arnalds, vocals & cello (1988–1993, 2003–2008) The band was joined by

Atli Örvarsson Atli Örvarsson (; born 7 July 1970) is an American-Icelandic BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated film score composer. Atli's credits include composing and orchestrating music for some of Hollywood's biggest projects, including the ''Pirates of th ...

on keyboards (1990–1991) and Ólafur Hólm (drums) (1990–1991) replaced by

Matthías Hemstock Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. Notable people Notable people named Matthias include the following: Religion * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscar ...

(from 1991 onwards) ;Reformed line-up (1996–1997) * Vilhjálmur Goði, vocals * Andrea Gylfadóttir * Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson ;Present line-up (2011–) *

, vocals (2009–) * Andrea Gylfadóttir, vocals *

Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson Þorvaldur (English transliteration: ''Thorvaldur'') is an Icelandic masculine given name and may refer to: * Þorvaldur Örlygsson (born 1966), Icelandic football midfielder * Þorvaldur Sigbjörnsson (born 1974), Icelandic footballer *Þorvald ...

, guitar *

Eiður Arnarsson Eiður is an Icelandic given name. It appears in Landnámabók and its meaning is most likely 'oath' in English (''ed'' or ''eid'' in some modern Germanic languages). The name is rather uncommon, carried only by around 200 persons. agsofa Íslands ...

, bass guitar *

Kjartan Valdemarsson Kjartan ( Icelandic: ; Faroese: ; Norwegian: ) is a masculine given name found in the Nordic countries, most prominently in Iceland and Norway. The Old Norse name ' was a shortening of ', from , the name of an Irish king whose daughter Melkorka ...

, keyboards

Awards

* Todmobile won 5

Icelandic Music Awards The Icelandic Music Awards () are the official annual music awards given in Iceland to commemorate the musical achievements of the year. The award was established in 1993 with an annual rock award given by the Félag íslenskra hljómlistarmanna ...

for Best Song, Best Songwriter, Best Lyrics, Best Album for ''Spillt'' and Best Band of the Year.

Discography

* 1989: ''Betra en nokkuð annað'' featuring the hits ''Stelpurokk'' & ''Ég heyri raddir''. * 1990: ''Todmobile'', 7000 units sold; featuring the hits ''Pöddulagið'' & ''Eldlagið''. * 1991: ''Ópera'' * 1991: ''Tarantulo'' * 1991: ''Todmobile'' (English version) * 1992: ''2603'' * 1993: ''Passion Time'' * 1993: ''Spillt'' * 1996: ''Perlur og svín'' * 2000: ''Best'' * 2004: ''Sinfónía'' with the

* 2005: ''Brot af því besta'' * 2006: ''Ópus 6'' * 2009: ''Spiladós: 1989–2009'' * 2011: ''7'' * 2013: ''Jon Anderson with Todmobile in Iceland'' * 2014: ''Úlfur'' * 2015: ''Ævintýri'' * 2016: ''The Riddle'' * 2018: ''Hermaur (1988-2018)''

References

{{Authority control Icelandic pop music groups Reykjavík College of Music alumni Musical groups from Reykjavík