Icelandic people are really educated. But maybe we are at where the people in the States were 50 years ago, where they think that stuff that isn’t done with a hammer or physical power is not a job. It’s that backwards.
When I write a song, I see a tunnel, and then the chorus is an open space, or the bassline is doing this shape. I see songs as a more of a geometric, spacial experience.
I’m not that keen on fierce dictatorship. I think that sort of the point of working with somebody is them coming up with stuff and feeling free to do that.
I’ve written arrangements for choirs and strings in the past, but I usually write music with my voice or a keyboard and then I’ll get someone who is good at writing scores to write it out. Or, if I have the luxury of time.
You want people to take risks, and OK, they fail, but you don’t get the great stuff unless people are willing to risk and not play it safe. And maybe the Icelandic characteristic is better harnessed in these places than on the stock market.
People ask me questions like, “Oh, you look so theatrical in your photographs. Is that what you’re like when you walk down the street?” It’s like, “Of course not.” It’s such a silly question – it’s like being theatrical is a crime.
I knew if certain people recommended something, it would be good. There’s always going to be those people. It just depends on what they’re called: curators or radio jockeys or bloggers.
