Ásgeir seems to be the name on everyone’s lips at the moment. Following a huge amount of support from Triple J, the Icelandic singer-songwriter’s debut album In The Silence is currently sitting at a comfortable #15 on the ARIA charts after having been released in Australia a fortnight ago.
Despite being the man of the moment, however, the young multi-instrumentalist isn’t new to the music world. His record was actually released in Icelandic in 2012 before being translated and re-recorded into English for worldwide distribution.
Chatting from Liverpool after a sold-out show in a small club venue, the artist – born Ásgeir Trausti Einarsson – says his big break really did come out of the blue.
“I was never really showing anyone, or recording anything, or doing anything with my music. One day I showed a good friend of mine a little demo I had done at home, and he said, ‘you have to do more with this – go to a studio or something!’ So I did. I gave that demo to a producer, he called me the next day and we ended up working on the whole album together.”
The decision to re-record the album for anglophone countries, he says, was to allow audiences to connect more with the ethereal, emotionally-charged music.
“When people hear something in Icelandic for the first time, they don’t necessarily connect to it very well, so that’s where the idea came from. About a month after the Icelandic release, we got calls from people and labels around the world who were really trying to get the music out of Iceland.”
“Also,” he laughs, “a lot of the Icelandic lyrics in the album were actually kind of made up. I was never planning on playing the songs or doing anything with them, so I just made up words – like (fellow Icelandic band) Sigur Rós!”
“When people hear something in Icelandic for the first time, they don’t necessarily connect to it very well, so that’s where the idea came from”American singer-songwriter John Grant (who, fun fact, speaks Icelandic quite well) did a lot of the record’s translation, which Ásgeir says was completed within a week.
“It was just about finding time to work together, you know. He was all over the place and I was getting busier. Eventually we found a week to just sit in the studio and get it done!”
Translating simple phrases can be hard enough, but interpreting something as emotional as lyrics while being conscious of rhythm and melody must have been a huge challenge.
“I thought about that, but at the same time it was really important for me. I knew I wanted to do it; I wanted to try to get it to more people, but I wasn’t planning on any success with it. I really trusted John – his vocabulary and his capacity as a lyricist and a musician to do a good job. When we found the time to do it together, it became clear straight away that it would be good and as poetic as the Icelandic version. Of course there are some changes that we couldn’t translate directly, but I really think we did the best we could.”
For someone not planning on any success, the reception of In The Silence’s English version must be quite overwhelming for the young musician.
“It’s a huge life-changing thing, really. You’re always touring, never in your home country and never in your comfort zone. I knew I had to get used to that, try to appreciate it. I mean really, now I get to travel the world with my friends and I really love it and I know we’ll keep doing it. All the publicity and stuff, it’s not too much. I just try to get people to hear my story; listen to my music.”
Despite having achieved worldwide success so early, Ásgeir’s biggest achievements have come from his home country. Over 30,000 copies of the Icelandic version of In The Silence were sold in Iceland. This equates to 10% of the population owning the record.
“It’s also going really well in places like France, Japan, and Australia, actually! The Nordic countries are doing well, but they mostly buy the Icelandic version – obviously it’s close to home so they like that.”
“When we found the time to do it together, it became clear straight away that it would be good, and as poetic as the Icelandic version”Ásgeir’s music is a fascinating and almost indescribable fusion of chilled electronica, folk, and melodic ‘indie’ sounds. His influences are easy to pick out; despite not being a carbon copy of any artists, the ones who inspired him are exactly who you’d expect.
“Going into the recording, there were a few. I’ve always been a huge fan of Sigur Ròs, Antony And The Johnsons, Justin Vernon’s work – Bon Iver for the folky side of it, and around the recording I was obsessed with James Blake, and I think that was a big part of the electronic side.”
Just to cement his impressive taste in music, Ásgeir names his top three albums of all time without even pausing to think.
“Ágaetis Byrjun by Sigur Ròs, In Rainbows by Radiohead, and the most influential album while I was growing up, which was what got me into music, was Nevermind by Nirvana – when I was six years old!”
Having displayed his talents at the world’s biggest music conference, South By South West, for the past two years, the artist is still sceptical about his newfound fame, as well as being perpetually humble and appreciative of his whirlwind career thus far.
“It’s definitely a festival that’s helping artists grow and the festival is growing too. Even between the two years, I can definitely tell the difference! We met a few artists like us, and we all have the same feeling about this, you know,” the musician says.
“You try to think of it as a privilege to be able to do something that you really love to do and to be professional at it. It’s pretty rare where I come from, you know! I try to keep it in mind, always.”
Ásgeir will perform at this year’s Splendour In The Grass in Byron Bay. To view the full lineup, click here
Splendour In The Grass 2014 Dates, Tickets
Splendour In The Grass 2014 lineup revealed on Wednesday 23rd April
Friday 25th, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th July
North Byron Parklands, Byron Bay
General Public Tickets for Splendour In the Grass 2014 go on sale at 9am AEST on Friday 2 May through moshtix.com.au and 1300 GET TIX (438 849).
3-DAY (Friday to Sunday [also includes Thursday access]) = $355 + booking fees
SINGLE DAY (Friday or Saturday or Sunday) = $149 + booking fees
(Event tickets also have an optional Carbon Offset add-on – $3 per ticket.)
CAMPING TICKET
5 NIGHTS (Wednesday to Monday) = $99 + booking fees
Full details at http://splendourinthegrass.com/
