Hjortur was born in Reykjavik, Iceland. The nature in Iceland is very rough and at the same time it was a huge inspiration to Hjörtur. At the age of 14 he started playing his elder brother's guitar, a very bad guitar that only had 2 strings and missing 4 of the strings. But that did not stop Hjörtur from composing his first song. Ever since he has played everything that was around. This was his way to communicate to the world and still is. And there are things to communicate. On Hjortur's 14th birthday his father died. Hjortur was in the country at that time and he waited for a call from his family back home. He was wondering why they did not call. Had they forgotten his birthday? In the evening there was a phone call – with the bad news. But being 14 years old is also a very good age to fall in love. And the colors are extra bright, the mountains extra blue and the rivers extra clear – especially in Iceland. And Hjörtur fell in love. And he is still falling in love - all the time. He started playing in a band at the age of 17. And he has played in many, many bands. It was like he did not find what he was looking for. He started the first private recording studio in Iceland - mostly to be able to record his own music. He released his first record in 1974. All made by Hjortur – music, lyrics, instruments, recording and production. This process fitted him. Unfortunately he had to work a lot as a technician and producer to make this all happen. So after a few years he sold everything and became a fisherman. But it was just a question of time until he had to break out of his prison. In the meantime he moved to Denmark and started his own studio, now with much more time for his own ideas and creativity. In 1982 he got a phone call from Polydor Denmark. They wanted to release a single. But nothing big happened. Once again Hjortur had to fight for his ideas. It took a long time. The good thing was that in the mid-'90s Hjörtur found his own sound and a very special way of expressing himself and without any genre limits. He just makes it the way he wants it to sound! In 2000 he released his first album Humanize. This was like opening a cage and letting the bird out. Since then he has released albums, singles, made videos like a mad man - also under other names like Alfarspace and The Mercuriis. It’s like nothing can stop him. And nothing can!