The Martlet

Icelandic singer-songwriter hero Mugison is about to shake up Canada in his upcoming tour with Queens of the Stone Age.

Performing in Victoria at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on May 1, he will showcase his third album Mugiboogie. Its raw rock n’ roll sound will have Canadians doing the Mugiboogie in no time.

Mugiboogie, released last year in Iceland, came out screaming with its honest sound, and is already platinum in Iceland, having sold more than 10,000 copies. At the 2007 Icelandic Music Awards, the album earned Mugison best rock album, best album cover and best video for “The Great Unrest.”

Mugison was born Örn Elías Guðmundsson, and gained his show name after touring Malaysian fishing villages, drinking and singing karaoke with his father. The Malaysians knew his father as Mugi and were amazed by his deep voice.

“Everywhere we went they would get him to sing karaoke for drinks,” Mugison said. “During breaks over a drink he would introduce me as his son... They called me Mugi-son.”

Mugison’s goal with Mugiboogie was to make a rock ‘n roll album “like you’ve never heard before, spanning every note on the emotional scale while at the same time being the most honest rock ‘n roll album you’ll ever hear,” notes his website.

In order to develop his sound, Mugison embarked on a research project.

“I listened to lots of ‘best-of’ albums — over 200,” he said. “What I liked about these was that there was a very schizophrenic quality to them. They spanned over 20 to 25 years.”

He tried to recreate that quality with Mugiboogie.

“I want you to be able to buy this album in a flea market in a few years and not know what time it had come from,” said Mugison.

The result is a sound that is hard to pinpoint but is soulful and emotional with elements of sex.

The single from Mugiboogie, “Jesus is a Good Name to Moan,” comes with a video and a myth behind it. The video, which can be viewed on YouTube, is “slighty pornographic,” said Mugison. And the story?

“It is a theory of why women moan ‘Jesus’ when they are climaxing,” he explained. “My theory is that Jesus’ mother didn’t get an orgasm — Jesus was just planted inside, so she didn’t get to come. So since then, all of womankind are cursed: all women are bound to scream ‘Jesus’ or ‘God’ when they are coming.”

Mugiboogie’s rock n’ roll feel is vastly different from his previous albums — Lonely Mountain (2003) and Mugimama, Is This Monkeymusic? (2005) — which have an electro-folk quality.

He attributes the change in part to his short attention span.

“If songs sound similar to another I get very bored and frustrated,” he said. “It is a natural thing for me to keep trying new things.

“I used to do the electro-folk thing — a one-man band with a laptop. I started in 2002 just looping and recording and being drunk on stage. Then a lot of people were doing the same thing. But they could do it better than me, so I thought I’d better find something that makes me sound good.”

In 2005, he exchanged his laptop for four flesh and blood band members, who are all long-time friends of his.

Audiences can expect a high-energy show.

“The guys have a supernatural power on their instruments. We get sweaty and horny and very excited,” said Mugison.

Mugison’s next project has the tentative title of Music for Cafés and Commercials, which he describes as background music “that would make your neck move like a goose’s or chicken’s.” He quickly added, “But it depends on my mood. Maybe I will do another rock album with the guys. It is fun.”

For the moment, Mugison is excited to be touring with Queens of the Stone Age in Canada.

“It was like Christmas when they called and asked me to do the tour. I will definitely be taking lots of pictures and have lots of stories to tell when I am in some old-folks’ home.”

According to Ipecac Records, Mugiboogie will hit shelves in North America in mid-to-late June. Oh Jesus.