Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.07.2015, Blaðsíða 30

I arrive ten minutes late, but so does
Ólöf. We grab a seat inside the wonderful
white gazebo outside the entrance. She’s
brought her son along, who sits at the end
of the table drinking Appelsín and playing
Minecraft.
“Well, this was meant to be a rainy
day,” I said. “but I guess the weather’s ac-
tually pretty nice. Maybe we’ll just imagine
it’s a rainy day.”
“Yeah, we’ll do that,” she laughs.
The joy of touring
and coming home
After doing a headliner tour in Spain and
Portugal in May, Ólöf has been rather qui-
et, as those shows came on the back of a
major tour with José Gonzalez. “I played
sixteen shows in Europe with him in
March and April. Then we played twenty
in America too. A lot of concerts! It was
a lot of work, but it was fun as well,” she
says. “It’s a really good experience to play
every night.”
While Ólöf has enjoyed many years of
success both at home and abroad with
múm, her most recent album ‘Palme’ and
the tour with José Gonzalez represent
major steps for her already prolific solo
career. “Of course, it’s a different situation
when you’re opening, because while you
have some people who already know you,
at the same time you’re playing to a lot of
new listeners. It makes you a little bit more
vulnerable to play every night to people
who don’t know who you are. But I really
enjoyed it and I think José is a great artist
and a really good person as well.”
Touring can be hard work, but Ólöf
says she enjoys it immensely. “I love to
perform,” she tells me. “I don’t see it as
a chore—of course, it can be quite taxing
on your energy, but it’s such a privilege to
have the opportunity to perform your own
music to people. I’m immensely grateful
for that.”
She’s always happy to come home
though. “I love Reykjavík. I enjoy being
here so much.” she says. “I think it’s a
really good place to live—especially with
children—and I can feel it. If you don’t go
anywhere for a while it gets a bit claustro-
phobic because it’s very small, but when
I come home I always feel so lucky to be
from here and to live here.”
On performing and
eating at Café Flóra
Her relationship to Café Flóra is an inter-
esting one. “It’s funny,” she says, taking a
sip from her Pepsi. “Before the Secret Sol-
stice festival was started, I used to perform
here for at least three summers on what is
now the first evening of the festival—doing
something on a much smaller scale here in
Laugardalur. I sort of took over the solstice
concert at Café Flora from Páll Óskar, who
used to perform there. Of course, now it’s
a little different and probably not possible
because of Secret Solstice. But it’s great.
I think Secret Solstice is a great festival–
haven’t played it yet, though,” she laughs.
In addition to playing here during the
summer solstice, Ólöf says she has some-
times played a winter solstice concert.
“It’s a completely different vibe though!”
she laughs. “It’s completely dark—not
completely light—and the weather can be
anything. It’s actually very nice, the space
is heated, and it feels good. It has a nice
Christmas atmosphere!”
Café Flóra isn’t just a venue for Ólöf,
though. “I actually meet friends here quite
a lot and, in fact, the food is very good.
The lady who sort of started the busi-
ness, she’s a very good chef. Her name is
Marentza Poulsen—I think she is originally
from the Faroe Islands—she’s just one of
those people who just has endless energy
and good ideas. She started this off of her
own back.”
Looking at the selection of cakes
by the counter and the Japanese-style
wooden bridge across a stream, I don’t
think she’s exaggerating.
Writing music and the weather
While going to Café Flóra is certainly cosy
on a rainy day, Ólöf admits that her perfect
rainy day involves not having to do much.
“Yeah, I enjoy reading a book and talking
on the phone with good friends–not hav-
ing much to do,” she says. “But if you let
a rainy day turn you into a couch potato
every time, you would not be able to do
much in Iceland because we have a lot of
rain.”
It is fortunate then that Ólöf works bet-
ter on a rainy day than a sunny one. “Well,
it’s not that I don’t like sun,” she says, “but
only in small portions. I find it hard to work
when there’s too much sun, because you
just feel like doing nothing. The rain is
good that way, it doesn’t really stop you
from doing anything.”
Rain or shine this summer, however,
Ólöf will be busy. “Well, I actually have a
project now where I’m scoring a film.” she
says. “I can’t say too much, but the funny
thing is that the film is a drama-thriller, and
I’m very sensitive—I almost can’t watch
any violence. I’ve read the script and it
has a lot of violence in it, so I’m thinking,
well, what if I can’t watch the film?” she
laughs. “What if I’m too sensitive to watch
the film—what am I gonna do then? It’s a
good opportunity to overcome my fear.”
I ask her if she thinks that could im-
prove the film’s score.
“Maybe it will,” she grins. “Maybe I’m
the right person for the job because I’m so
sensitive.”
Touring isn’t over for her yet though.
“After that, I’m gonna be playing some
festivals in Scotland, France, and Italy,”
she says. “Eventually I just want to work on
some new material, and ultimately I want
to make another record. I always want to
make another record – it’s like I can’t stop
that.”
Tools of the trade
I’m always interested to talk to multi-
instrumentalists, in part because it’s
interesting to see what their favourite
instrument is. “I think the guitar is my in-
strument.” Ólöf says, thoughtfully. “That’s
the instrument I use to write music and
it’s the instrument I play the most. But I
feel a little bit like I want to rekindle my
relationship with the violin and viola now
because I haven’t really picked that up in
while. Maybe I can put some of that into
the scary movie.”
That’s what they’re made for, I say.
Glissando.
She laughs. “Exactly!”
Café Flóra (Flóran) is an unassuming—but rather beautiful—little place, way out in the waste-
lands of Reykjavík botanic gardens (in 105 Reykjavík). It’s received a number of accolades
from the Grapevine, including Best Kept Secret in 2014, and this year the Best Place To Spend
A Rainy Day. It’s great. Ólöf Arnalds is an immensely talented musician, known for her multi-
instrumental abilities and singing voice. She’s also great. After hearing that her relationship
with Flóran goes way back, it seemed like the perfect place to catch up with her.
Photo
Anna Domnick
30 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 9— 2015MUSIC
Hanging out At Café Flóra
with Ólöf Arnalds
Words
Ciarán Daly
Icelandic art songs
and folk music.
English introductions.
Warning: Some songs
may contain elves,
ghosts, outlaws and
other creatures.
Concert dates:
July: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 21. 22. 23.
24. 25. 26. 28. 29. 30. 31.
August: 1. 2. 6. 7. 8. 9. 11. 12. 13.
14. 15. 16. 18. 19. 20. 21
Concerts in Harpa
www.pearls.is