Here is the world’s longest bio that was done by a bio person:

Vocalist/ guitarist Danni Baróns, his sister – co-vocalist Heida Jónsdóttir, guitarist Haukur Jóhannesson, bassist Kiddi Þór Óskarsson and drummer Helgi Einarsson might not be jokers of the demented DC variety, but it was a question the quintet were nonetheless asking about the current indie landscape when they began to conceptualize their new band.

Danni and Heida had grown up together, listening to The Beatles and Britpop and helping each other out with music projects along the way. All hailing from Garðabær – a small town of 15,000 people in Iceland – it was only a matter of time before their paths would cross with the other three; Danni and Haukur had developed a friendship from school (“He was the most feared kid in class so in the beginning I was quite afraid of him, but then I got to know him a couple of years later” Danni laughs of their beginnings), while Kiddi and Helgi were a couple of years younger but embedded in the local music scene. 

Various combinations of the five had been playing together since 2012, however as the years went on, they found themselves fantasizing about a new project: one rooted in spontaneity and fun, where the live show would be paramount and joy would be prioritized over everything else. “A lot of musicians at that time were taking themselves way too seriously in our opinion  and honestly, I’m guilty of that. It’s like everybody in music had to have a sob story to tell. So we thought let’s do the opposite, and make people feel good. 

Enter superserious: a group where you really can judge a book by its cover (well, a band by its obviously piss-taking band name). “We’re called superserious to remind ourselves that it’s silly to take art too seriously when it can be so much fun,” Dan explains. “Life’s short so let’s make people happy and give them an escape.” It’s not that they’re being flippant; coming from 2021 debut EP ‘let’s get serious’ into a forthcoming debut LP, they’re dedicated to realizing a fully fleshed-out vision, from the cartoon-filled videos and artwork that trained animator Danni helms to Heida’s note that they will always, where possible, pick the “optimistic, light-hearted” lyrical option.

But the quintet also wants to provide an antidote to the heaviness that the outside world – particularly in the past few years – has brought to everyday life. “We played in Aarhus [in Denmark] and there was a girl who said it was such a relief to watch us after watching so many heavy bands because she felt like she could finally relax,” Dan recalls. “I really liked that feedback because that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.”

Where ‘let’s get serious’, with its stylistic concept (each song title began with ‘let’s…’, from ‘let’s be grown ups’ to ‘let’s get real’), was an EP born firmly from the pandemic-enforced studio, these days superserious are fully embracing the additional vibrancy that finally performing live has brought to the band. Having won the Airwaves Plus Award for best newcomer at last year’s Iceland Airwaves, as well as receiving support from legendary Rolling Stone editor David Fricke following their performance at the event, the aim now, says Haukur, is to bring that energy to the studio.

“The first EP was like a studio experiment, whereas we played the new songs a lot live before we started recording them so they’ve really evolved,” he expands. “The songs are like grown versions of the first EP but more live, more energetic.”

Written and recorded over the past 18 months with co-production from Arnar Gudjonsson of critically-acclaimed Icelandic band Leaves, the first taste of superserious’s forthcoming full-length can be sampled via last year’s single ‘Bye Bye Honey’. An anti-love song of sorts, its insatiable hooks and earworm chorus act as the deceptive counterfoil to lyrics inspired by a far sadder tale. “When I was about 20, I met this older man in a karaoke bar and he was swirling around, very charismatic, and you could tell he was probably a real ladies man when he was younger,” remembers Heida “He was telling us how he’d always break up with people because he was looking for the ‘better deal’, and he’d lost the great love of his life because he was shallow. That story always stuck with me.”

As with all things superserious however, the story might be the initial inspiration, but the resulting track finds a cheekiness and winking spirit that takes over. Forthcoming single ‘Duckface” lyrics were written by Danni’s ex-girlfriend: a former vegan who riffed on the idea of how twisted cartoons – such as its titular Disney franchise – can be to animals. “She’s not vegan anymore though, so then she started to write it based on the idea of watching cartoons and maybe it makes you get a bit hungry…” Danni laughs. “It might as well have been called ‘Confessions of a Former Vegan’.”

Heida also earmarks ‘Superstar’, with its “subtle power like a silent explosion”, as a forthcoming highlight and, across their new material, it’s these sorts of feelings and moods that superserious are truly striving for. They’re a band that unashamedly want to wield big, insatiable tunes. “We just want to write bangers!” says Danni. “We take it song by song, but the main thing is that it’s exciting and fun.” And heading into their debut, the quintet have exactly the right balance of ambition and easy agreeability to make being in their band look like all kinds of fun.

“We’re going all in with this,” grins Danni. “We want to make playful music but we also want to see how far we can take it. We know that, no matter what happens, we’re gonna be making music forever.”