Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.05.2018, Síða 34

Girl Talk
Sillus on the importance of letting go, and why you
don’t need to have it all figured out

Words:Alice Demurtas Photos: Therese Precht Vadum
Icelandic musician Sigurlaug Thora-
rensen never pretends to have it all
figured out, but there is a clarity of
mind behind her tentative words
that doesn’t go unnoticed. Pensive
but firm, this is Sillus—one of the
most interesting emerging artists
in the Icelandic music
scene.
Despite her exper-
imental approach to
creating, it’s this qui-
et determination that
makes her music spon-
taneous and effortless.
Just do it
“Before starting, I
thought I had to have
a specific idea of what
I was doing,” Sillus
explains. “I’d always
wanted to make music
but I didn’t know how
to, so I hadn’t dared to.
But then I just decid-
ed not to think about
what it’s all supposed to sound like
and see what I could do instead.”
Sillus was not new to the stage,
having performed with both elec-
tro-pop star Berndsen and choir
project Kórus, but playing all alone
is a whole different experience—
and no small feat for an introvert
like her. Yet, on she went, from
playing at Húrra to appearing on
the off-venue schedule at Airwaves,
sharing moments of intimacy in
a process that was both exhilarat-
ing and terrifying.
On a learning
curve
“When I’m creating
things on my own
the process is an
outlet, kind of like
writing a diary—it’s
a very personal pro-
cess,” she says. “In-
stead, when you’re
live you’re show-
ing that process to
the public, and it’s
frightening. But I
kind of decided for
myself that it would
just be a learning
pro c e ss —t h at I
should give myself space to not have
it all figured it out on stage.”
The results are compelling. She
may still be on a learning curve
when experimenting with beats, lyr-
ics and vocal manipulation, but her
warm, sultry voice ties it together,
and feels ripe with possibilities. Add
to the naiveté a touch of R&B, and
you’ve got something like ‘Touch-
ngo.’ If Sunday morning sex were a
song, this would be it.
Empowering thoughts
As of now, Sillus is still happily ex-
perimenting and building up her
confidence, but fun projects are al-
ready lining up, including a collabo-
ration with Örvar Smárason for his
latest single ‘Photoelectric.’ To find
spiritual and musical inspiration,
she listens to other female musi-
cians, from contemporary R&B, elec-
tronic and soul to classics like Billie
Holiday. “It’s a way to seek an em-
powering inspiration,” she explains,
“like a role model to look up to.”
Sillus is also conscious of the
importance of sharing that feeling
of empowerment with like-minded
young women. To that end, she vol-
unteers with non-profit organisa-
tion Stelpur rokka, teaching young
girls how to play instruments. It also
provides her with food for thought.
“Working in that environment
and seeing girls being empowered,
doing their thing without think-
ing about other people’s opinions I
thought ‘wow, if 10-year-old girls can
do it, I think I should also be able to!’”
she laughs. Wait for her to release
more of that incandescent energy
and see: soon enough, she’ll take the
world by storm.
Share this: gpv.is/music
Experimental Sillus in the sun
“Creating
things on
my own is
an outlet,
kind of like
writing a
diary—it’s
a very per-
sonal pro-
cess.”
35The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07 — 2018
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