If it weren't for the fact that Gus Gus are supremely talented, both collectively and individually, the seriousness and conviction with which they discuss their art could easily be construed as conceited. They rarely crack a smile, and their humor is so beneath the surface, you need a pretty good grasp of irony to work out when they're being funny (let's not forget: This is a group whose biggest hit to date, "Ladyshave," is about shaving off your girlfriend's pubic hair...that's funny, right?). Their records have been criticized for being meandering. But at the same time, they're also charmingly diverse -- just like the individual members of the band.

"We let everybody grow within their own specialties and try to create the necessary space for each to have creative freedom," affirms gúst. "Being from Iceland, you don't get as pushed around with material that you should be listening to, so there's no need to cling together to form clubs around certain lifestyles. It's a very healthy place to be an artist. Being able to filter what's coming in, we're able to exclude the bullshit."