What do you mean by “Without Sinking”?
Without Sinking refers to a feeling of going up, but still holds the quality of going down. It also gives a feeling of water, which is a strong influence on my music.
The music on your album is very melancholy. Is there a story behind it?
I understand why somebody would get the feeling of the music being melancholic, but this is not all my aim and there’s no melancholic story behind the music. For this album I was thinking a lot about clouds, and their connection to water, how many tiny droplets form different forms all from black thunder clouds to airy string like clouds.
Is your previous alias Lost in the Hildurness retired? If yes, why?
Yes, I have laid “lost in hildurness” to rest, and I strongly doubt the alias will come alive again. It was important for me to distance myself from my music when I released the first solo album, but now I feel I don’t have to do that anymore. Therefore I will release under my own name from now on.
Tell us a little about your experience in recording Mount A in Auðunarstofa, which I believe was entirely made out of Norwegian wood.
It was a lovely experience. Firstly the house being completely wooden, it fit the cello sound incredibly well. Also the bishop and people who run the place were really lovely, so all in all it was the perfect situation for me to record my first album. The remote location was also something that I really needed at the time.
Who are you favorite classical composers?
Wow, that’s a hard question, I always try to avoid to categorize music and composers… But some of the people I listen to a lot and are an inspiration for me include; Bach, Ligeti, Pauline Oliveros, John Cage, Arvo Part, Morton Feldman, Steve Reich, Moondog, La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Charlemagne Palestine, Arnold Dreyblatt, Arthur Russell, Meredith Monk and the list goes on and on and on and on… Although the biggest musical influence for me is without doubt the people I collaborate with.
Who would you love to collaborate with in the future?
For me collaborations are all about how you connect with people on a personal level. The perfect collaboration is for me, when you hardly need to speak about what you are doing and there is natural flowing energy surrounding the project you are working on. I would love to collaborate with people in the future that I connect to in this way. So basically I would love to continue working with most of the people I have been collaborating with the last years, because I connect in this way to most of them.
What are you working on right now?
At the moment I am working on music for a couple of video installations. I am also writing a church organ piece that will be accompanied by a light installation by Elín Hansdóttir.
