by chris duffy (photos by brittany bartley)
It began raining as I made my way from the nearest subway station to the dimly lit recesses of Union Hall in Brooklyn. I was happy that the venue wasn’t too far from my home in Crown Heights and was enjoying my saunter through the calm of the surrounding Park Slope neighborhood, guided by the orange light spilling from windows.
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And then the first sneeze of thunking drops started seeping from the sky and, as I often do, I cursed my decision to be an optimist and leave my umbrella at home.
Once I was damp the interior of Union Hall welcomed me with its warm embrace and homey four walls upon my entrance. I was early for my meeting with Ólöf Arnalds and so I collapsed on one of the couches in the back, soaking in the hoots and hollers of jovial indoor bocce players as I tried to dry myself. I was abruptly filled with a wave of sudden exhaustion while sprawled on the sagging cushions and felt almost too at ease in the atmosphere, ready for a nap.
Ólöf soon arrived with her entourage and any feelings of sleepiness were suddenly melted as I sat down beside her to conduct a mini interview. Well, not so much an interview…To both of our liking there were no notes taken and my pad stayed clamped between my palms throughout our discourse. Her energy and warmness dashed my nap neediness and she was quite charming, bright and her personality was as bubbly as the wine she indulged in throughout the evening.
Now as my pad was unopened and my pen never milked of its ink I cannot provide any quotes–and I was reminded of this upon the conclusion of our conversation. So I’m sticking to that understanding and not using any ” “.
My first question to Ólöf was what inspired or influenced her to begin writing her own music and lyrics, but the question put to her was more specific after researching her background. I knew that the musician Skúli Sverrisson was a very influential figure in her career. Mr. Sverrisson is from Ólöf’s homeland of Iceland and he is primarily a bass player and composer. He has released albums of his own compositions and has collaborated with or arranged music for various groups and fellow musicians including Laurie Anderson. I knew from reading a previous interview that he was a large piece of the puzzle that composed Ólöf and her own music and I was interested in knowing what about him had influenced her to embrace her own creative potential.
She told me that she was to perform, as she often did, with Mr. Sverrisson and he urged her to create her own lyric for a song they were to play live. So she did. And it was the first time she really secreted personal words to accompany the music. As all good mentors do, he put her in a spot, on the spot, knowing her potential and from this first attempt at original lyrics and music, the dam began to lose twigs and Ólöf’s desire to create her own personal music coupled with original lyrics began to flood from her.
I then asked her what sort of musical influences she had–yes, a boring and standard question, but I was interested in her answer as I thought she would divulge names of musicians I’d never heard of that I could research later. Her answer was interesting, but not what I was expecting. She said that her influence would have to be Music with a capital M. She gave no specifics, though she did mention Sigur Ros, not as an influence in terms of making attempts to mimic their music or sounds, but as fellow creators of her craft that she soaked in and inspired her to keep creating her own music. She said that she was not an impulsive music collector or seeker and preferred to listen to new music when it was played by a friend or she happened upon it accidentally. In this way she could experience it for what it was and let it wash over her without any thought into its origins or categories. It’s all Music.
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Lastly I was curious as to what the music community is like in Iceland and how it compares with the New York ’scene’. And yes, I said ’scene’–I was quite embarrassed after letting it stumble awkwardly from my tongue and I could tell she was not a fan of the term, saying that she seems to avoid any ’scenes’ at all, if there are any…Which is a good response and one I understand.
Anyway one of the main differences that was explained to me concerning musicians and moreover all people in Iceland is that everybody is forced to interact and come to terms with opposing viewpoints, stances and modes of thought. There aren’t enough people to be segregated into different communities of like-minded folks. The villages, cities and the society in general are too concise for there to be groups of people with blinders on indulging in their preferred tastes. Rather they are put in situations daily where they are forced to consider varying points of view in politics, art or culture.
This differs from the mentality of the Big City here in New York as there are so many sub-categories and denominations to affiliate with that you could choose to only interact with a handful of like-minded folks and not have to come into contact with any challenging mode of thought or preference if you truly wanted to. I gathered that the music community is a lot more nurturing and open in Iceland and the need for labels or categorization in terms of creating separatist factions of music lovers is completely unnecessary and also undesired.
Our conversation ended with the promise that I would not use ” ” and a handshake as she prepared for her performance. So I kept my promise. Just look above. No ” ” to be found anywhere.
It should also be noted that the above is all recollection with a whole day in-between so some information is very much filtered through my memory. I’ve tried to stay true to the points being made, but again, without ” ” there cannot be complete accuracy. And you can quote me on that.
Ólöf’s performance was very similar to her personality. Her stage presence is engaging and enchanting. Her demeanor is refreshing and off the cuff which made for a very lively and enjoyable show. Her set began with a singalong and ended with a singalong.
She was joined by an Icelandic friend of hers Davíð Þór Jónsson who accompanied her on drums, guitar, vocals and a toy piano brought by her mentor and good friend Skúli Sverrisson who was present with his wife for the performance.
As she played the opening song Ólöf provided a narrative explanation when she wasn’t singing of missing musical elements. She described the various orchestration missing that could be heard on the recording as Davíð Þór Jónsson attempted to fill the void as best he could.
The night’s performance was dedicated to Ólöf’s sister since it was her thirty-third birthday and a toast was made. A song was played for her older sister which was interrupted briefly by a slight burp of feedback. Ólöf claimed this was the angels singing with her and Davíð, one of many of her very amusing remarks throughout the evening. Her older sister’s song was preceded by a song called ‘Klara’ dedicated to her younger sister.
Over the course of the evening, the muffled rumble of thunderous bocce ball playing rolled overhead, slightly distracting from the very elegant and ornate fingerpicking melodies on the instruments and Ólöf’s beautiful crystal voice. I tried to ignore this and wished there was a ” no bocce playing ” rule for nights the Hall was filled with acoustic folk music.
The playfulness of the set was again demonstrated when Davíð Þór Jónsson created a new baseline for a song of Ólöf’s much to her delight. She erupted into giddy laughter and continued giggling at the new series of notes attempting to nestle her higher melodic composition. It took her several attempts to compose herself before she very abruptly dashed back into the song, unwavering and as confident as she was at its beginning.
One of my personal favorite parts of the night was when she covered a Hank Williams song, ‘ Please Don’t Let me Love You’. I’m a big Hank Williams fan and her inclusion of the song helped to demonstrate her openness of musical influence as we discussed earlier (check out the video of her playing Johnny Cash’s ‘Lucky Old Sun’ below).
The show was a very enjoyable experience, an extension of the wonderful artist and person that Ólöf is. I am very glad to have met her and to have experienced firsthand her magical and soothing music. I urge all to check out her myspace page and to get your hands on her unique album Við og við. And step out in the rain–”it’s some of the best music to dry to”.
One Comment
love her.. great pics