Sigur Ros' Jonsi Birgisson Talks Plans, Interviews
"I think definitely we'd make different music probably if we grew up in Jamaica or something."

Photo by Chris Owyoung

Some bands love to talk. And some bands like to let the music do the talking. You may have seen the somewhat (okay, totally) excruciating video of Icelandic gorgeous-core act Sigur Rós dodging the questions of NPR's Bryant Park Project left and right early last month. However, Pitchfork's interview with singer Jón "Jónsi" Þór Birgisson wasn't quite so disastrous. Birgisson was friendly and understanding through a spate of sound problems, even laughing while telling me one of my questions was on his "hate list." But he's certainly not going to win any prizes for chattiness, and the talk did end with an abrupt hang-up. It's okay though, we were pretty much done at that point anyway.

Pitchfork spoke with Birgisson in the middle of a whirlwind North American trek to promote the band's stunning new live DVD Heima and lovely rarities/acoustic LP Hvarf/Heim. (Heima comes out in North America on November 20; Hvarf/Heim is out now on XL.) We talked the productive year his band is about to wrap, their plans for the immediate future, and exactly what happened in that other interview.

Pitchfork: Back in April, you posted a long list on your website of everything the band planned to do this year. It was quite a docket of stuff, and with the release of Hvarf/Heim, you've completed just about everything on it. Do you feel a sense of accomplishment at this point?

Birgisson: Yeah, definitely. I mean, we've been touring for a long time, so I think that's really good. Because when you're touring, you can't do anything else. You can't do a lot of things while in motion.

Pitchfork: Do you feel as though you've been working especially hard this year?

Birgisson: I think I've been working hard. You're always leaving a lot of stuff unfinished. But when you're touring and stuff, it seems like much, much harder work. All the traveling is ruthless, and always going from place to place. But this year, we could sit at home. We haven't actually done a lot of the things before, too. Later in the year-- the end of the month, actually-- we're going back into the studio. We have a lot of ideas. And songs. We have some songs written and some ideas.

Pitchfork: Will that be for a proper album?

Birgisson: Yeah, what we're going to do now in November is going to be a full-length album.

Pitchfork: You've performed acoustically before some screenings of the film, and Heim is all acoustic. What was behind the decision to focus on acoustic music this year?

Birgisson: When we were touring in Iceland, for about two weeks excepting one concert in the Highlands, it was only acoustic performances for the whole time. We only played the acoustic songs, and it was a little bit of an eye-opener. We had never done that before. I kind of liked it, to hear the songs really raw and naked. It was really hard to play them. They're so naked! It kind of helped me at the same time, I was just learning sort of how to do it. I think that's why I wanted to make an album like that. We had decided that it would be a more exciting thing to do than a live album. We kind of didn't like the idea of a live album, how to display the songs from your last album, because the songs could end up sounding worse.

Pitchfork: Certainly you've seen many beautiful locations all over the world, but you chose to shoot all of Heima in Iceland. Other than the fact that you're from there, is there something about Iceland that ties in with the music that you make?

Birgisson: We have got this question so many times-- it's just one of the questions on the hate list [laughs]. Maybe it is. Maybe, I don't know. Of course, like you said, you are from there, you grow up there, you are raised there, so definitely I think in some ways. Maybe it's just more unconsciously than something planned. It's kind of hard to say, but I think definitely we'd make different music probably if we grew up in Jamaica or something [laughs].

Pitchfork: Makes sense to me. With all of these plans complete, and now this move right back into the studio, does it feel as though your work is never over?

Birgisson: Well, there always seems to be a lot of stuff to do, and lots of things stewing. But it always seems to be good. And it is good. I think this year, we wanted to finish a lot of old ghosts or something. And we got kind of delayed because we had been doing something else. But it's good to finish up the old stuff so we can focus on something new and fresh. We're going to do that in a month or so. Then it's the Odin's Raven Magic release on a DVD-- we're working on that too.

Pitchfork: So, I have to ask: The whole band gave an interview to NPR a few weeks ago that a lot of people have now seen or heard on the internet. You didn't seem to have a whole lot to say in response to what was asked of you, and some people have wondered if you were being purposefully difficult. Can you explain what happened?

Birgisson: I think mainly it was just the four of us together. When you put four together, something just locks, and nobody says anything and somebody's waiting for the other guy to say something. So it gets really confusing. And I think it's mainly that. And nobody was in the mood to do an interview.

Pitchfork: That's understandable. So it was just that day, that particular situation?

Birgisson: Yeah, yeah. It was just kind of like, probably, wrong? [laughs]

Pitchfork: Does it seem as though there's something about your music that doesn't necessarily lend itself to being discussed?

Birgisson: I remember when we were starting out, we really hated interviews and all this stuff because we thought we were kind of digging too deep, and we were talking about something that you shouldn't be talking about. Like, you're erasing the magic of the music or something by talking too much about it. That kind of thing. Now, we're kind of all right doing interviews. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's like being at a therapist or something, if you have a good conversation. But, of course, we get tired of the same questions over and over and over. It can be frustrating.

Pitchfork: Are there certain questions you don't like to be asked? (In addition to questions about the influence of Iceland on your music, that is.)

Birgisson: No, I don't want to talk about that. [laughs]

Pitchfork: Ha, fair enough. Your music seems to lend itself to serving as kind of a musical backdrop to things, and the list of soundtrack credits you have amassed is staggering. Do you think your music is being well utilized in this way?

Birgisson: Yeah, in some places, yeah.

Pitchfork: Can you recall which?

Birgisson: We quite like The Life Aquatic.

Pitchfork: Do you feel like it was just a good movie and it was nice to have the song in there, or was there something about that particular use of the song in that context?

Birgisson: Yeah, it was just a good movie and just quite lovely, I think.

Pitchfork: What can you tell me about Hvarf/Heim in terms of the song structures? Does it feel like you're moving in any particular direction with this?

Birgisson: It's just like our old stuff, you know. Like old songs, some old recordings and some are new.

Pitchfork: Do you feel much pressure as a band to sort of continue to evolve or change?

Woman in background: You have to go now.

Birgisson: (hangs up)