Sigur Rós are one of the most artistic bands in the industry. They have a sound that is more than just unique. They have created a style of music which is so fresh that it defies imitation. Sure there are similar bands, but as with My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins or say Isis, you know the real thing when you hear it.
Formed in 1994, Sigur Rós have managed to maintain complete control of their art despite over one million sales world-wide and recently signing to Capitol Records. They are four extremely talented and versatile guys with a serious passion for making pieces of art – not just songs. After speaking with Goggi (pronounced Yoggi) I was lucky enough to catch them at the Enmore and was treated to what was probably the best show I’ve been to. The lighting was superbly done with the band performing behind a semi-opaque curtain with projections flashing over it. Things got more and more intense and emotional so that by the end I was all but blubbering.
It would not come as a suprise if many of you have not heard of Sigur Rós. They like to keep a rather low profile with the idea that this will ensure that only serious music lovers tend to hear about them, but I believe that everyone should have a listen.
The band have some rather complicated song and sound structures and I wanted to know how they approach their song writing. The pieces are so intricate that I couldn’t even hazard a guess. “It’s sort of like the songs write themselves” says Goggi. It has to be the four of us together – starting something. I could be anything. It could be a noise or a new instrument. Somebody starts playing something. It’s very much just plugging in our instruments and starting to play. We might play the same thing for a long time then think ‘last week we did something else which could fit’. Also it’s very natural. It just happens. It must be the four of us though”. They don’t have a lead songwriter at all, it’s very unified. “We’ve written more in rehearsals. A lot of the things we write we just forget. Some of them we’ll play for a couple of weeks just because we like playing but we know we’re not going to put it on the record because we know it doesn’t represent what we do in general. I think we definitely write more in the studio”.
Although they had Iota for their first support, surprisingly they chose to bring Amina along as their main support. You would think that such a forward-thinking band would have taken on some obscure and artistic local act but they have their reasons. “A lot of the songs have strings but when we started touring it was just the four of us, but we wanted to be able to play these parts so we got a few string players. We just became friends touring with them. Just recently they formed their own band, but we’ve always been like two bands in a way. Recently they started making their own music and so we thought we should bring them”.
Unlike many bands, Sigur Rós don’t whore themselves about the place giving false impressions about what they can deliver. In fact, you’ll rarely even see a photograph of the band. Their marketing seems to consist of telling a few people and letting word spread. A very risky way to approach things but these guys are quite extraordinary and don’t really require anything more. I asked Goggi what he thought about marketing and what he thought would happen if they were ever asked to change tack.
“We really don’t think about marketing and things like that. We do everything on our own terms. We have a say in what EMI do. But the whole point of making music – making albums and putting them in record stores is to actually sell some records as well. We want people to buy our art like any artist would. So it’s fine, putting up posters or whatever they do. We want our music to be heard but we keep it under control. We’re not going to sell our music to any TV ad that comes out. We consider our music art. It’s not just a product”.
I was lucky enough to be given a chance to hear the new album in its entirety. The pre-release copies have been water-marked and cannot be easily copied. EMI have also been very careful to make sure that it is not removed from the office or recorded in any way. It is similar and yet different. Many of the songs have a tempo and energy which has not been a part of their music since their original release entitled Von which was not released outside of Iceland although bootlegs and downloads are available. The new album is called Takk which is Icelandic for “thanks” and, although there is still a lot of the kind of material we heard on their last album ( ), it is a lot more energetic and there is even a track which you could dance to if you were so inclined. I asked Goggi if it was a conscious move back to their creative roots.
“I think it just happened. One of the reasons why it happened was that there was a long period of the band’s life where we released the record in Iceland, then we started touring and it was released somewhere else and we continuously toured the same album and wrote songs on the tour which became the last album. When that was over we said ‘that’s done and now we start over again’ so we were feeling really refreshed and energetic – going into the studio and doing something new. We were all feeling quite happy as well. Things just seemed to go back to normal in a way”.
“We are all good friends. There are no arguments. There are discussions but we always come to an agreement. It wouldn’t be the same with just two or three of us. It wouldn’t be Sigur Rós. Something just happens when we get together. We’re very close although we have very different personalities. But with our music we always agree”.
I have always been curious about what their roles as musicians are and was surprised to find out that they work in basically the same way as any rock band. “We do swap around. A lot of the time when we find a new instrument, somebody will start playing it and we’ll write a new song. It doesn’t matter who it is. Of course we might write a song like this and then swap again. We each know our own instruments better than the others. We do mostly stick to our own instruments. At the moment, our favourite toy is the Celeste (organ) but we also just bought a vibraphone in a New York flea market which has been a big hit. This tour, we’re using more samples than we ever have before. We like to use lots of different things and samplers are just another instrument in a way. It’s also because of all the different sounds we make in the studio. We might make them with a guitar or something but it’s sort of impossible to reproduce over and over.
It’s hard for any band to make it in Australia, and almost impossible for a band who are anything like Sigur Rós. I asked Goggi how, with their scant marketing and inate weirdness, they have been able to achieve such success. “I don’t think that there’s any trick to it. It’s just a matter of not getting walked over. Just stick to your own belief and do it. I think people can do whatever they want if they just stick to what they believe in. It’s quite a boring way to put it but I think that for a lot of bands it’s quite easy to give up half way there. I think it’s possible to do what you really want if what you do is good, you don’t have to change it. I’m not saying you can’t evolve and there are always compromises but if you’re happy with the compromise then its fine”.
So it’s as simple as that. Don’t be a coward. Just get into it and stick to it and make sure it isn’t crap. Sounds easy doesn’t it?
