Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.09.2016, Síða 23

means working with a large produc-
tion team.
“That collaborative edge gives a dif-
ferent kind of freedom,” he says. “In my
own projects I have freedom, but in the
score work it opens things up—I allow
myself to explore a wider spectrum
than I would in my solo work. You have
to do what the film asks for, and cre-
ate a world that works for the film.”
“I’m very lucky to work with direc-
tors who understand the potential and
power of music,” he continues. “They
understand what the music can do,
and they give me the time and resourc-
es necessary to achieve what the film
needs, and to avoid the cookie-cutter
standard-ness that a lot of film music
has. It’s easier to do that on a Euro-
pean auteur art film, but it’s harder
on a $120m budget production. Denis
manages to create that auteur feel,
though—he manages to work with
genre material and put his stamp and
vision on it. The dialogue is between
me, the director and editor, with no
interference. His work has a more indi-
vidual touch than a lot of stuff you see
from that environment.”
Arrival
The next chance to experience Jóhann’s
work on the big screen will come this
autumn, when a new collaboration
with Denis will be released. It’s a big-
budget sci-fi called ‘Arrival’, starring
Amy Adams, Forest Whitaker and
Jeremy Renner.
“‘Arrival’ is maybe my most ex-
perimental score yet,” smiles Jóhann,
“which is funny, as it’s the biggest
movie so far. The weirder, more ex-
perimental end of what I listened to
when I was younger is coming to the
fore now.”
It’s this restless creativity and broad
frame of reference that drives Jóhann’s
work forwards. “To keep myself inter-
ested I have to find something new in
a project,” he says. “There has to be
something that challenges me. Film
scores certainly offer that. Each proj-
ect offers the possibility to try some-
thing new—something I haven’t tried
before.”
Jóhann also keeps his process
fresh by pursuing new collaborations,
whether with directors and editors,
art filmmakers, theatre productions,
or the musicians that he writes for.
“As a composer you’re always working
with musicians,” he says. “I’m always
working with string quartets, classical
players, orchestras, ensembles. You’re
always collaborating and writing with
the player in mind. I’m a reasonable
piano player but I can’t play violin or
cello. These are sounds I use a lot. So
it’s always a collaborative process. I
like to work with people whose voices
and styles I know intimately.”
“It ’s always been about working
with people that are interesting and
nice to be around, and that make chal-
lenging and interesting work,” he con-
cludes. “In the last years I‘ve worked
increasingly on my own—since the
Kitchen Motors years. A lot of it is a very
lonely process—you do it alone, in a
room. But I also regard these projects as
springboards or potential avenues to col-
laborate with someone that has a unique
sound or personality. Collaboration is a
very important part of what I do.”
History Of
Jóhann
Jóhann’s career has taken him
through a broad range of bands and
collaborations, some of which are
profiled below. He cites Reykjavík’s
scene as a formative factor on his
working method, saying: “One of the
great things about growing up as
a musician and an artist in Iceland
is the closeness of the artistic com-
munity. It’s collaborative—people
call you up and ask if you wanna do
something in the studio and you say
‘Sure, why not!’”
Daisy Hill
“My first band was Daisy Hill—a
droney guitar feedback pre-shoegaze
band that was very interested in
J&MC, Loop and Spacemen 3. We did
a couple of EPs with a British label
in the late 80s, which was a big deal
at the time. We were played by John
Peel and got a fan letter from Steve
Albini. But it slowly atrophied—it
was a three-piece, then a two-piece,
then me on my own with a sampler,
a sequencer and an Atari in a garage
somewhere, sculpting sound by lay-
ering guitars. And it’s still basically
the same—I layer and sculpt sound,
just with a slightly faster computer.”
HAM
“HAM kind of coopted me into the
band, and brought me during the
last days of the band’s first phase.
HAM taught me a lot about how to
create a massive sound onstage, and
how to collaborate… and how not
to. It was a good experience—HAM
is a powerful band, especially live.
I think their last album is the best
thing they’ve recorded. It really cap-
tures the live sound.”
Kitchen
Motors
“Kitchen Motors was definitely for-
mative. It was mostly a curatorial
project. We were three people from
different backgrounds. Hilmar Jens-
son was an improv/jazz player. Kira
Kira was from an experimental elec-
tronic art school background, and
then myself, from the electronic and
alternative rock bands. But I was
getting interested in contemporary
classical and old electronic music—
musique concrète, music of the 50s
and 60s, and Andrew McKenzie and
Hafler Trio. Andrew himself had a
big influence on how I work now—
he had a vast tape and vinyl collec-
tion, when things weren’t as acces-
sible as today, when you had to spend
the time and dig for good music. It
opened out my perspective.”
Apparat Organ
Quartet
“Apparat started as a one-off musi
cal installation. I rang some people
I didn’t know well, but knew of—Úl-
fur, Hörður and Sighvatur—who I
knew shared my interest in organs.
The idea was to do something vague-
ly inspired by the Steve Reich piece
“Four Organs.” But maybe inevitably,
given the equipment, it evolved into
krautrock. We got a new new drum-
mer, Addi from HAM. It was a con-
scious move—the music was becom-
ing more abrasive and mechanical,
and we wanted to try and put some
real rock ’n’ roll power behind that, to
propel it. We all enjoyed that process.
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