Atlantica - 01.11.2002, Síða 18



16 A T L A N T I C A
“ S O M E T I M E S I D R E A M O F H A V I N G A N I N E - T O - F I V E J O B . . . ”
It’s been three years since the release of
Ágætis byrjun and expectations are now
running high for the release of the new
album. Does this amount of pressure get
in the band’s way?
We don't care about stuff like that; we just
make the album. We don't think, "Oh no,
people won't be into this stuff, let's do
something else." The album is exactly as
we want it to be.
What kind of music does Sigur Rós com-
pose?
I don't know, just music. There are certain
feelings imbedded in our music; it's not
like the pop concoctions you hear on the
radio, or at least I don't think so. I think the
feelings are contagious – people experi-
ence something when they listen to the
music, some kind of feeling towards it.
The band owns its own studio in
Mosfellsbær. Why did you decide to build
your own studio, instead of renting?
When you have your own studio, you have
an indefinite amount of time to work in.
You don't have to reserve a session from
six to six. We have an endless amount of
time, so if we get an idea we can just go to
the studio and start recording. When we're
practising, we can even record our ses-
sions in high quality and with sound mix-
ing, which is very convenient. It's a world
class studio, one of the best in Iceland,
matching the best studios found else-
where in the world. It's also an investment
because other bands can come and use it.
Sigur Rós’ producer is Ken Thomas. He
took part in the making of Ágætis byrjun
and joined forces with the band again for
the new album. Who is this man behind
the buttons?
Ken Thomas is a Brit, whom we met
through Bad Taste Records when we were
recording Ágætis byrjun. We wanted
someone to join us, someone very talent-
ed, and he's done a lot of work for Bad
Taste Records, so they recommended him.
He's worked for The Sugarcubes, travelled
to Iceland many times and done a lot of
impressive work abroad. He’s taking part
in the soundtrack for War of The Worlds [in
production], for example. He suits us very
well, he's comfortable to work with and
very clever at producing the right sounds.
We can even describe sounds to him in
colours or hand gestures. I can say to him
that I want the sound red and round and
he'll understand me. He has a special way
of looking at things and he's very good at
what he does.
The band has held a fair few concerts
abroad, but which concerts have been the
most memorable so far?
There are lots that have made their mark.
It’s great to go to countries which you
would never have dreamt of going to. The
best concert so far had to be the one in
Dublin last year. The concert was amazing
and the Irish are absolutely great people;
they greeted us with open arms. They’re
kind of like Icelanders. There’s always a
good atmosphere at concerts there, and
even though they’re loud, they’re not loud
in a bad way. It’s okay that they’re mur-
muring through the entire concert, it just
makes the concert more enjoyable.
When the world is so enormous, how does
it feel to get the chance to travel and see
so much?
No, the world is tiny. Icelanders recognise
this fact better than anyone else. When
they go abroad they always meet Icelandic
people, even though we’re only a nation of
280,000. It’s fun to travel, but the drawback
is that we’re always at work. When we
went to Japan, we had to stop for a couple
of days because there’s such a big time dif-
ference and everyone was dizzy from jet
lag. If you hold two concerts in Japan, you
have to rest for five to six days. When
we’re touring, a lot of our time goes into
sitting and waiting, doing nothing for a
very long time and hanging in hotel rooms
and at concert venues, which are not the
most interesting places to hang about.
Concert halls become a second home, and
it gets tiring.
“Working people” think that being in a
band is just an excuse for being lazy. How
do you feel about such an opinion?
Sometimes I dream of having a nine-to-
five job in an office building or at an
assembly line factory so that I could turn
my brain off for a while and stop thinking.
Being in a band is actually a lot of work,
but it’s something that I want to do; it has
a purpose.
Sigur Rós has a couple of tracks in the
movie Vanilla Sky, starring Tom Cruise.
How did that come about?
The director Cameron Crowe came to two
of our concerts and we spoke to him a cou-
ple of times. We made a good impression
on him, so he asked if he might use a cou-
ple of our tracks. We have seen his other
movies – some are good and others are,
well, I don't know. But it was a bit of a mis-
take really. I thought the film was fine, I
even saw it twice, but the other members
of the band didn't enjoy it. I thought the
last scene worked very well; the music fit
well and I thought it improved the film.
It was pointed out to me the other day in
an interview that Vanilla Sky and Englar
Alheimsins [Angels of the Universe] by
Icelandic director Fridrik Thór Fridriksson,
[which also has a soundtrack by Sigur
Rós] end in exactly the same way. I'm pret-
ty sure that Cameron has never seen
Angels of the Universe. It's a much better
film, and very different to Vanilla Sky.
There was a lot of pressure on us to give
Cameron an answer. We didn't get the
chance to see the film before we put our
music into it, so we had to make a split-
second decision. We made a mistake, but
hey, we're only human.
Örlygur Thór Örlygsson
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