Can you think of anything more unique and one-of-a-kind than an Icelandic Afro-Fusion artist? This is a perfect way to describe the way ISSAMWERA managed to shape their music, bringing some unique and excellent vibes to the audience. Their music is like a journey to the sunny side of the world, with organic and spontaneous melodies that capture so many different styles and influences. From the edge of Afro-beat, to world music, jazz, fusion, soul, and funk, anything goes.
It all started with Yara also known as monace, in 2013, Mozambican born Icelandic multi instrumentalist, felt what she refers as “the screams of rhythm”. Fuelled by missing home, Mozambique, she began recording original material at her home studio. It was only after she met Andres, Argentinian Icelander with amazing bass rhythms, Cheik and Kwami Guinean Brazilian Icelanders with powerful percussion, Ellert, Icelander with sweet keyboard melodies, Ingo, Icelander with his signature guitar licks, who spiced up the sound with strong African and Latin vibes, which led her to believe that the sound they were making was something unique and worthwhile.
Our first album was crowdfunded on an Icelandic Crowdfunding platform called KarolinaFund where we surpassed what we initially asked for with 130% of full funding, so after 3 years of intense studio work we finally managed to get all the songs together and prepare an amazing energetic set for the end of the Icelandic 24h daylight Summer August 2022. And the funny thing is the album has the same name as the band, Issamwera.
The bands name comes from blending the meaning of two words: “Issam-wera”, which is a words from Sena a language from Beira, Mozambique, that means “to come”, Mwera referencing the Mwera tribe in North Mozambique, and” Samvera” from the Icelandic language, meaning “togetherness”. Uniting all these meanings to place Issamwera as being “welcomed.”
Online:
Instagram
https://instagram.com/issamweraband
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/issamweraband/
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/artist/54F3gdBPgbzrqnSXwDTA2Q?si=jNhoqqseTaCnwiJzwlPNGQ
Website
https://issamwera.com
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQxt2XjFpZWuYL9vYoi-yEQ