A ‘Monster’ Look at one Student’s Global Co-op in Iceland’s Music Scene
August 11, 2016
In January, Northeastern music industry major Madison Murphy bundled up to trek across some of southern Iceland’s most picturesque landscapes, from the Sólheimajökull glacier to the famous Blue Lagoon. But this wasn’t a scenic tour of the country; it was part of a dream-come-true co-op in the music industry.
Murphy, AMD’18, joined the Icelandic band Vök as they filmed the music video for their single, “Waiting.” Ignoring the frigid winds that she recalled at times turned her face bright red, Murphy collected a bulk of behind-the-scenes footage of the band and created a video she used to help promote the single via social media.
The video project only scratched the surface of her work on co-op. She spent the first three months of 2016 in Iceland, dividing her time between working for two bands—Vök and Of Monsters and Men—and for Iceland Music Export, which promotes the country’s music scene at home and abroad.
“Most of the time the work I was doing didn’t feel like work,” Murphy said. “It was something I wanted to do. I love these bands, and it was amazing to me that they were letting me work for them and be such a big part of what they were doing.”
Murphy managed Vök’s social media presence and launched the band’s newsletter. She even joined the band for a few days in Germany on their monthlong European tour, doing more social media, helping with logistics around the band’s radio interviews, and working merchandise tables.