Iceland review - 2014, Qupperneq 28

26 ICELAND REVIEW
the Gamut
The 27-year-old former punk rock drum-
mer, Ólafur Arnalds, has not only made
three studio albums, eight EPs and seven
soundtracks for films and television
series, including The Hunger Games and
Broadchurch, he is also a newly crowned
BAFTA winner for the score of the lat-
ter. When you first meet him, you think
you have met a handsome athlete, a long-
distance runner, a marathon winner. And
maybe that’s where his success lies: the
attitude. Day in and day out he sits in his
studio, creating sound for the millions.
Success is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. Here
he talks to Iceland Review about his sound
and his silence.
páll stefánsson: Watching movies, do you
sometimes miss the images and lose track
of the plot because the soundtrack takes
you over?
Ólafur arnalds: Yes definitely. It happens
all the time, and it annoys me a lot, I miss
an important part of the story, most often
at the end of the movie, when the music
reaches its culmination.
ps: What instrument has the most beauti-
ful tone?
Óa: The piano is my favorite.
ps: On your latest record, For now i am
Winter, for the first time—your previous
albums have all been instrumental—and
out of the blue, we hear a gentle voice
belonging to heavy metal rocker Arnór
Dan Arnarsson. What happened there?
Óa: Arnór and I have been friends for
a while and we wanted to make music
together. We simply went to my studio to
record, not necessarily intending the music
to be on my album. But when I started the
album, I wanted to continue working with
him.
ps: You just received a BAFTA award,
what does that mean for you?
Óa: It is a great opportunity, besides being
the greatest honor. Job offers are piling up.
ps: What’s your favorite place in
Iceland—a place that inspires you?
ÓA: My family owns a summerhouse by
Lake Álftavatn [Swan Lake], South Iceland.
The quietness there helps me when I have
writers’ block. I enjoy being there, listen-
ing to nature, emptying the mind—it’s the
complete opposite of being in fast-paced
Reykjavík.
ps: First song that pops up into your
mind?
ÓA: It’s difficult to say something other
than the song I have in my ears right now.
But I would say the pop song ‘Chandelier’
by Sia, which has the best music video in
recent years, in my opinion.
ps: Favorite band or musician in your
youth?
Óa: There were so many, the categories I
went through, but the first album I bought
was by 2Pac.
ps: Making your albums, you concentrate
for weeks and months until you reach per-
fection. Are you never afraid to overwork
the songs; lose the impulse?
Óa: Absolutely. And I am not afraid to
admit that. I often try to push myself into
a corner, where I have no possibilities of
overworking the music. I assign myself
projects like: write one song a day.
Meet the first Icelandic musician to win a BAFTA: Ólafur Arnalds.
WORdS ANd PHOTO By PÁll StefÁnSSon
ps: As a former drummer in a punk band,
is there any music genre, you cannot con-
nect with?
ÓA: No, not a special genre, but I do not
enjoy over-produced music without spirit,
honesty and soul. It happens too often in
modern pop music—as much as I like pop
music—but my least favorite kind of music
is pop/country music, popular in some
parts of North America.
ps: The scores you compose are very differ-
ent from your albums; more minimal. Do
you think your two different musical paths
will someday come together?
Óa: I don’t think there is that much dif-
ference, to be honest. They don’t have the
same possibility to grow and stand alone.
It’s a part of the movie and has to reflect
that. Writing a song for a film, you have to
keep feelings at a minimum; not be too dra-
matic. And you must avoid clichés. For me,
it’s the same music as the one that you hear
on my albums—just on a different scale.
ps: You don’t sing on your albums. Don’t
you ever sing? Not even in the shower?
Óa: Yes, I sometimes sing in the shower,
and while driving.
ps: You have your own studio. Is it the
best there is, or do you have to go to other
studios to get a fresh feeling and different
inspiration?
Óa: No, I’m very dependent on my own
studio environment. I have a certain work-
flow and my own sound in my studio. That
is my place.
ps: In ten years’ time, where will you be?
ÓA: Good question. Maybe working on a
digger. *