Reykjavík Grapevine - jan. 2022, Side 18

Renaissance Man
Ma!nús Jóhann: pianist, producer, composer, arran!er, synth wizard, vibes dude and
the hardest-workin! man in Icelandic showbiz
Magnús Jóhann is a tad late for his
Grapevine interview. Not rockstar
late, you understand, although given
his emergent position in the Icelandic
music scene he could probably pull that
kind of crap and get away with it, if he
wanted. But that’s not really Magnús.
Instead he politely excuses his mild
tardiness, revealing that he has just
been for a COVID test in order for him
to play six gigs in two days; clearly,
Magnús is a musician with a remark-
able work ethic. And a refreshingly
candid one, to boot. “I guess if I’m su-
per honest I almost forgot about this,”
he says of the interview as he settles in.
“But I’m very happy that I didn’t.”
No tinkering, no tarting
The theme of candid honesty perme-
ates ‘Án Tillits’, the remarkable record
that Magnús made last year in collabo-
ration with legendary bass guitarist
Skúli Sverrisson. All ten tracks were
laid down live by the pair in a single
day, with none of the overdubbing,
tarting and tinkering that can rob a
performance of its vital organic na-
ture. Instead this was an exercise in
two elite musicians being present in
the studio together, and simply weav-
ing their magic to capture a moment.
“In this day and age when every-
thing can be edited and fixed, it feels
refreshing to do it this way,” Magnús
reflects. “Just like ‘OK, we're together
in the studio. And the takes are just
gonna be the takes. And no bullshit.’”
The resulting record is a beautiful
bullshit-free jazzy blend of Magnús’
piano and Skúli’s acoustic bass gui-
tar, based on scores
sketched out by Mag-
nús for use as improvi-
sational springboards.
Skúli has decades of
experience as a pro-
fessional musician,
working with the likes
of Laurie Anderson
and Ry uich i Sa ka-
moto, and was always
the collaborator that
Magnús had in mind
for ‘Án Tillits’.
Mutual
appreciation
“He has incredible
chops,” Magnus says
of his musical coun-
terpart. “What I really
like about him is that
Skúli is one of the most
accomplished and most skilled, dex-
terical musicians I know. Like he can
play sixteenth notes at 300 beats per
minute, but it’s never about musical
showmanship; he plays what is being
called for.”
The admiration is mutual. The
pair met in 2018 when Magnús needed
a tutor for the final year of his stud-
ies at FÍH/MÍT, a jazz conservatory in
Reykjavík. He approached Skúli who
agreed, having been impressed by the
potential he saw in Mag-
nús. Their professional
relationship grew as the
mentorship developed,
with the album emerg-
ing from the music that
Magnús composed for
the two of them to play
at his graduation con-
cert.
My generation
Since graduating Mag-
nús has released a solo
album but also carved
himself numerous oth-
er niches in Iceland’s
musical landscape, re-
flecting his skills not
just as a composer and
keyboard player, but as
a producer, arranger
and musical director; he
even played vibes on last year’s album
by Ingibjörg Turchi. Consequently he
has become the go-to guy for many
young Icelandic musicians—such as
GDRN, Bríet and Hipsumhaps—who
need someone with the experience and
the chops to take their craft to the next
level. But, crucially, also someone who
is still in their early twenties, and is
rooted as much in Icelandic hip-hop as
in le conservatoire.
“I tend to get involved with my gen-
eration of musicians when they’re do-
ing big shows, or want to start playing
with a band or something,” he says.
“Then I'm one of the guys that has
experience in arranging some of that
modern music for performance. Pro-
gramming the playback, synthesiser
sounds, drum pads and so forth. So
I've been heavily involved in that whole
scene in various different ways.”
You might need a sit down
after all that
Asking Magnús about current and fu-
ture projects elicits a dizzying torrent
of examples, including: a solo album
sculpted from material he wrote for a
theatre piece; a score for a short film;
a piano and vocals duet record with
GDRN; and the release concert for ‘Án
Tillits’, denied so far to him and Skúli
by the pandemic.
It sounds like his recent experience
of six gigs in two days will have been a
good rehearsal to get Magnús through
the next 12 months. It’s already in his
diary to meet up with The Grapevine at
the end of 2022 to tell us how it all went.
Let’s hope he remembers.
You can buy a vinyl copy of albums by
Magnús at shop.grapevine.is
18The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01— 2022
gpv.is/music
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Music
Words:
John Pearson
Photos:
Dóra Dúna
“In this day
and age, when
everything can
be edited and
fixed, it feels
refreshing to
do it this way.
We're together
in the studio.
The takes are
just gonna be
the takes. And
no bullshit.”