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Hildur Guðnadóttir (IMX, 2009)
She released her first solo album, “Mount A”, under the artist name Lost in the Hildurness, on the Reykjavík based label 12 Tónar in 2006. Guðnadóttir is also a member of Stórsveit Nix Noltes (The Nix Noltes Big Band), a rotating cast of 7 to 10 Icelanders playing traditional Bulgarian and Greek dance music. The group has toured the US twice supporting Animal Collective.
Guðnadóttir has collaborated, played and recorded with other artists such as Skúli Sverrisson, Hilmar Jensson, Hafler trio, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Nico Muhly, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Angel, SchneiderTM, Ben Frost and Stilluppsteypa. As a composer she has written music for plays, dance performances and films, pieces for chamber orchestras, various instruments, voices and electronics.
Guðnadóttir likes to explore the nature and movement of sound, and often turns her experiments into sound and visual installations. She recently co-composed a live soundtrack to Derek Jarman's 1980 film In The Shadow of The Sun with legends Throbbing Gristle, arranged choir for performances by them in Austria and London.
Anyone reading your ridiculously busy biography might get the impression that you’re either in your mid-50s (which you’re not) or you don’t ever sleep (which you obviously do). How have you managed to cram so much into your career so far?
Hahaha, no I am only half way to my mid 50´s and I usually sleep quite well unless I have an early flight. I don’t think there is a secret really. What I try to carry around with me in the projects I work on is openness, respect and positivity. When people are at ease while creating, it helps the process a lot and I believe better and more honest things can be created that way. I have worked with a lot of incredible people, and I hope the reason for people wanting to work with me is because they can feel at ease while working with me. Of course it is very hard to state things like this about oneself, and people might have completely different view of working with me. But this is at least what I try to bring to the table. Most things I have done in my life are somewhat music related and most people around me are in one way or the other connected to music or sound, so the snowball effect of that is what seems to you like a "packed bio", but for me it is just a way of living.
In any case you seem to be a very natural and versatile collaborator…
I think the essence of collaboration is how people connect together as people, regardless of gender, genre, or instruments etc. Making music or performances with people you love is one of the greatest things I have experienced. I am extremely lucky to have met kindred spirits and many incredibly good friends through music. I share a sound-world with them on a personal ground. I like to focus on that while I am playing, instead of thinking about or analyzing whatever it is called that we are doing. I guess that could be one of the reasons why some of the things I do could seem versatile. I am also very curious by nature, so I like to explore as many ways of working with sound as I possibly can.
What was it that interested you in playing cello?
My mother claims she knew all along that I would be would be a cellist. Apparently she was listening a lot to Jacqueline Du Pré while she was pregnant with me, and was sure that I was responding to the music. When I first went to the music school, and was supposed to pick an instrument I wanted to play, I picked the cello. I was so young I can’t remember if that happened naturally or if my mother hinted to me - but she claims I picked completely on my own. We had a long and bumpy relationship, me and the cello, and I never intended to play it "seriously". In my late teens my interest shifted to programming and computer music so I took a long cello break. Then because of certain people and coincidences I started playing again, and fell completely head over heals in love with it. That is when I really started playing, or at least when I really felt that what I was playing was some kind of link to my feelings and personality.
You started your music career early; presumably you had support from your family…are they also musicians?
Yes, both my parents and a large part of my family are musicians. Music has always been around me, and to me it always seemed like a natural thing to do. To be honest, I never really thought about it too much, and I never thought of "starting a career". I just did what I felt was natural with my family and friends - and for some reason that was usually music related.
You’re a member of the wonderful Kitchen Motors collective, and collaborated with everyone from Pan Sonic to Throbbing gristle; from where does your interest in avant-garde or experimental music come from?
My interest in experimental music is strongly linked to my sound curiosity. Experimental music is the perfect platform to snoop around in the sound spectrum.
You also play other instruments, sing and arrange – was all this learned during your studies or did you pick these ‘extra’ skills up along the way?
I have been singing since before I can remember. In choirs as a child, and pop bands as a teenager. Icelandic people tend to be "do it yourself people" and in the music scene you can best see that in people playing whatever instrument they come across - no matter how well they play it. I am no different in that sense, so I have also just played whatever instrument is around me. It always creates extra excitement and gives you certain freedom, playing an instrument you are not familiar with. I like that very much. My classical background gives me a bridge into the world of a certain musical language, and arranging for classically trained musicians is a part of that language. I find it very exciting to build bridges between the experimental world and the classical world because both worlds have such an incredible sound range, so I will certainly continue experimenting with arrangements and different musical settings. I am always trying to add strings to my bow though. The fantastic thing about music (like so many other things) is that there is always something more to explore and always something new to learn.
You recently co-composed a live soundtrack to Derek Jarman's 1980 film In The Shadow of The Sun with the legendary Throbbing Gristle, and arranged choir for performances by them in Austria and London. How did this project come about - and how was it to work on?
TG and Pan Sonic have the same manager who came to see a show that I was playing with Pan Sonic. He apparently liked what I was doing with them, and suggested me as a collaborator on this project that TG were working on. It was a very interesting experience to work on this project. TG gave me a lot of freedom to try out things with the choir that would not have been possible in most other contexts. For me it was exactly what interests me the most - this bridge building between worlds that don’t often meet. They are also lovely people and the film is fantastic, so all together this was a lovely experience.
Your first album was recorded as Lost In Hildurness and was recorded solo– but for your new record you’re using your real name and have involved more musicians. Why the change?
My first solo album is probably like most people’s first record. It is very much about soul seeking and trying to find a sound and a voice for what you want to describe to the people listening. In my case, the album became so personal that I didn’t have any space for anybody else – it had to be done completely by me, all up until the point of mixing, when my dear friend Valgeir Sigurðsson jumped in and saved the day. At the time I was not used to this newly discovered voice of mine, and was a bit shy of it, that’s why I decided to hide behind an alias. Now I am more comfortable in my sound, playing and compositions, so I can rest and relax more into my music. Therefore I had space for opening my music to very carefully selected people and I got comfortable enough to release the music under my own name. One way to put it is that I´m not lost anymore.
How did you become involved with Touch for the new record?
Without me knowing it, my friend Jóhann Jóhannsson (who was working with Touch at the time) sent a demo of my first album to Touch. They liked it and got in touch with me and wanted to release it. I had already decided to work with 12 tónar, so it didn’t happen then. But we kept in close contact, and both sides were excited to work together which is happening now.
What was your principal creative motivation for making “Without Sinking”: is there a concept, or overriding theme/motif?
My aim with this record was to create a feeling of breath with a bow on string. I wanted to create a sky and cloud-like feeling in the compositions. I wanted to have open space for single notes and let them breath, like single clouds in a clear sky. As a contrast I also wanted create denser and heavier compositions which were more thundercloud like. I like the way clouds form, how many tiny droplets can form such dense forms and then slowly evaporate into thin string-like forms. This was my main influence while I was writing and recording the album - probably because between 2007-08 I was travelling and flying a lot, and spent a lot of time looking out of windows of planes. I found it very calming looking at clouds.
In terms of its construction, were the songs co-written/arranged, or did you arrange/write and then invite people in?
The songs are all written by me. Sometimes the compositions came to life while I was improvising and then I restructured the improvised parts for the recordings. Other times I wrote the music in before hand without having a cello in my hand, so my composition methods were varied.
How did you set about choosing the collaborators for the record?
It was clear to me from the beginning of recording this album that I wanted a handful of my closest collaborators and most musically related friends/family to play on it. After recording all my parts, I sent the tracks to Skúli Sverrisson, Jóhann Jóhannsson and my father Guðni Franzson. They pretty much had free hands with what they recorded and I edited their parts afterwards. For me the biggest "editing" part in collaborations, is choosing people you trust for your music. When you have complete trust in people you can give them freedom and breathing space and something beautiful always comes out of it. At least in the case of "Without Sinking" that certainly happened and they all brought so much life and beauty to the tracks with what they played. And of course Valgeir Sigurðsson who mixed both "Mount A" and "Without Sinking" is an incredibly big part of the overall sound for both records. If it were up to me I would want to work with him on all my future records!
Will you perform the album live, and if so, which form will the performances take?
I will certainly perform at least parts of the album live. I am working on ways of being able to perform the album in a way that breaths new life to the music, but is still true to the original compositions. Exactly how I will do that I am not 100% sure yet, but I am pretty sure it will involve the cello...
And no doubt you have some musical projects and collaborations lined up for 2009?
I usually have quite a lot of projects cooking in the pot. The biggest one I’m working on at the moment is a church organ composition. It will be performed in Riga in May. I am working on this piece with my friend and visual artist Elín Hansdóttir - who will do a visual installation in the church with the music. Other than that I think life will roll on as usual. I will be recording and playing shows with my regular collaborators, doing film scores and baking sour dough bread.