Mugison announces fall U.S. tour

Mugison, the Icelandic rocker with the eccentric sense of humor, just announced nearly a dozen dates for his fall U.S. trek, his first true American tour after the occasional stray show here and there. Born Örn Elías Guðmundsson, Mugison is touring to support his third studio album, Mugiboogie, which was released in his native Iceland last year (where it quickly became a commercial and critical success) but finally made it stateside back in July. With songs like "Jesus is a Good Name to Moan" and "Two Thumb Sucking Son of a Boyo," Mugison's music definitely has an endearing oddness to it.

There still seems to be a shortage of American press coverage on the singer/songwriter, but Paste caught up with him in 2005 in his hometown of Reykjavík (Iceland's picturesque capital city). In the interview, Mugi talked about his family, celebrity status in Iceland and childhood pet monkey. Yeah that's right...pet monkey.

"As a kid, it was fun for me, living in Africa. I had a pet monkey...there was a sailor there who’d bought the monkey while he was drunk, but it was ruining his apartment. So he said if I cleaned his apartment—there was shit and piss everywhere—I could keep the monkey. It took me like one or two days to clean the apartment. I had to put Old Spice in a cloth and cover up my nose because it smelled so bad.”

Dates (probably sans monkey):

September
20 - New York, N.Y. @ Mercury Lounge
22 - Philadelphia, Penn. @ North Star Bar
23 - Washington D.C. @ D.C. 9
25 - Atlanta, Ga. @ The Earl
27 - Austin, Texas @ Austin City Limits Festival
27 - Austin, Texas @ Stubbs BBQ, Austin City Limits Afterparty
30 - Albuquerque, N.M. @ Launchpad

October
1 - Tucson, Ariz. @ Plush
2 - Las Vegas, Nev. @ Beauty Bar
3 - San Diego, Calif. @ Casbah
4 - Los  Angeles, Calif. @  City Hall, L.A.  Weekly Festival

Related links:
Feature: Mugison, A Song for the Guilty Hero
Review: Mugiboogie
Feature: 22 up-and-coming artists you ignore at your own peril!

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.