Post by 3 on Dec 9, 2005 2:02:11 GMT 1
Goggi Holm speaks about the new Sigur Ros album, the joys of touring and the sound of pens hitting the floor.
Your new album is called 'Takk...' Can you tell me what that means?
It quite simply means thankyou.
Is there any reason you chose that particular title...?
Well yes there is actually...but...well let's just say it's a very long story.
Is it true that your lyrics are all written in an invented language called Hopelandish?
Yes and no. Not a lot of our songs. It was our last album really and it's not written, it's just gibberish. Mostly we use Icelandic lyrics though.
This is your fourth album, and is already being hailed as a masterpiece. Does it feel like a masterpiece to you?
Ummm...yeah in a way I mean every time you finish something it kind of feels like oh this is the best thing we've ever done. Every time we finish a record it's the best one we've done. I guess that's just progress. I still look back on the other records just as warmly as this one. Then again I can sit down at home and put this record on and I don't think I've done that before!
How do you start writing a Sigur Ros song? Where does the inspiration come from?
Normally...well...it can be anything. It can be somebody dropping a pen on the floor which makes a strange sound. We just don't think about it basically. It just comes out the way it comes out. It's quite accidental in a way. We have tried writing something and then bringing it to the studio but usually it's just the four of us in the studio...and something gets created. Normally it would be about two songs a night.
...two songs a night!?
Yes normally we'll come up with the basis of two songs in one night and then continue working on them for a couple of weeks. Then we'll come up with another two songs and work on them for another two weeks and just continue.
You're in the middle of a large tour at the moment. Is touring something you enjoy doing?
I think all of us really, really enjoy playing live. We really enjoy playing concerts. I for one hate touring...the concept of touring. It's always the same, you never see anything. Just the inside of a tour bus, or a hotel or the venue mostly. But there is a love hate relationship with it generally. The enjoyment element of playing a gig and the hate element of the travelling. You go to places that you've always wanted to go to and you don't see anything which is frustrating. I love travelling but touring is not travelling.
Your music has a very epic and euphoric quality to it which is often linked to your home country of Iceland. If Sigur Ros were from a different country do you think you would sound different?
Probably if we were born somewhere else and had lived somewhere else all our lives then we would sound fairly different yes. I guess the reason our music sounds the way it does is because we are who we are. I can't say that it's a direct influence from nature or our environment or anything...but there must be something from the way we were brought up in Iceland in our music. There must be a certain Icelandic mentality, different from everywhere else.
What do you think that different mentality might be?
I guess it's quite hard for me to see because I'm so close to it. But I think Icelandic people in general are rather sarcastic. We don't take many things for granted and I think we try to live life to the fullest.
What's next for Sigur Ros?
I think what's really important to us is that we reach as many people as possible. Our music is a message and I think its very important to bring it to as many people as possible. I think we are all looking forward to making the next record...and having a break!
source: www.bbc.co.uk