Upclose with Sigur Ros
Critics and fans alike have frantically thumbed dictionaries in a futile effort to describe unique post-rock act Sigur Ros, the Icelandic band with accolades including Iceland’s “Best Album of the Century.” Keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson talked to Scott Murphy ahead of the group’s first concert here.
HK Magazine: Does it seem strange that your unique music has traveled around the world?
Kjartan Sveinsson: We think it’s amazing. It’s great, especially since we’ve never been to China, and it’s not a place the record companies are thinking about too much. So it’s amazing that people in China have started their own Sigur Ros fan clubs. We’re really happy that our music can reach that far.
HK: People and critics always describe your music as “glacial.” How does the band describe it?
KS: It’s always hard to say. We might have another understanding of how we describe sound. We were trying to describe our new album “Takk,” and the best thing we could think of was “rock and roll.” People were expecting us to say, “screaming guitars” and all that. Not so. So it’s kind of impossible for us to describe it. But if we really have to, we would say atmospheric, maybe.
HK: It’s well known that singer Jonsi sings in the made-up language Hopelandic. Does he sometimes make up new made-up lyrics while on stage?
KS: He usually sticks to what he recorded. What he creates is an accident.
But when it’s recorded and he sings the lyrics over and over again in the studio,
he starts remembering them and sticking to it. Sometimes he might change them when he sings old songs he hasn’t sung in years. But all of the songs are quite easy and simple. Playing them isn’t that hard technically. We never rehearse really.
HK: When you first started out a decade ago, did you know you would make an impact as a band?
Sveinsson: We knew people outside Iceland would like this music. We were kind of arrogant. We were quite positive. They were great times, but very stressful as well. There was the record company, publishing, all this bullshit. It kind of took a toll on us. We were four boys from Iceland mucking about and stepping into the professional world was kind of scary. But it all turned out fine in the end. We survived it.
