This is the second time that the Icelandic musician visits Hungary, now with Nils Frahm in his magic hat! Before the show he could take the time for a quick interview.
Az interjút magyarul is olvashatod!
Hey Óli. What will we see and hear on Tuesday? Do you have a pre-planned line-up, or are you gonna improvise?
Most of it is pre-planned, but we leave a lot of room for surprises and actually try to do 2-3 complete improvisations every night.
You and Nils tour a lot together. Your first common EP called Stare was also just announced a couple of days ago. Did you guys find the perfect collaborator in each other?
Me and Nils connect very well yes, we have very different strenghts and compliment each other in nice ways. He is also just such a great guy, which is the most important thing…
What do you think is specially unique in Nils' music?
His production quality is unprecedented. Felt is one of the most interesting sounding piano albums of all time.
Tell us a bit about Stare. How did the whole thing start? Will you guys go on making music together?
After doing a few live improvisations when we were touring together I suggested I would visit him for a few days in Berlin and just do ’something’. We didn’t plan on anything but ended up spending 4 days making ambient bliss until 5 in the morning. We will of course continue making music together but nothing very formal at this point. We just like to play around.
You also got the chance to compose your first motion picture soundtrack for Another Happy Day. I guess it's a whole new experience of composing music. Tell us about the differences and the difficulties you had to face with. And of course the sunny side of it, too!
Actually there were not so many difficulties, apart from the 2 week deadline I had! But I find making music to a pre-made ’blueprint’ so to speak, is very helpful. It limits your choices and often that can be a good thing. And it can inspire things you otherwise wouldn’t have thought of.
Your latest solo project, called Living Room Songs was very touching. These short tracks surely have an intimate feeling, as for me, it was like sitting in the same room where you played. Are you looking forward to do a similar project, or was it just a one time only experiment?
I don’t like repeating myself, so I guess that was a one time only thing, but I would love to develop the concept further and do something similar but do it differently. I have some ideas…
Modern classical music have become very popular in the last five or six years, in which you have an inevitable role, too. Why do you think it has such a wide audience? Maybe it's a response to nowadays' ultra-electro pop and dance music?
I think it’s just the normal streams that come and go. But of course it’s great to think that we have managed to start something new and important! Hopefully we wont already fall back into obscurity in a few years…
Many of your tracks are composed to a piano and a string quartet. How come you like so much this combination?
This is just something that I have grown accustomed to and I feel at home with these instruments. So I usually use them as the basis to my music even though I often mix them with other instruments as well. The piano especially is just MY instrument. It speaks to me and I speak to it.
Who (or what) influenced you the most in the way you listen to and create music today?
My brief classical education had a great effect on me and opened a lot of doors, specifically Bach’s fugues and chorales (which the theory of harmony is based on). Films and soundtracks as well (one big influence is the great Hungarian director Bela Tarr). But over the last few years I have had the honor of working with so many great people who have taught me and influenced me more than anything else.
And who are your favorites right now?
Jon Hopkins, Nils Frahm, Clint Mansell and more…
Finally, do you want to say anything to your Hungarian fans?
I look forward to the show!
Thank you very much, Óli, hope to see you here again! :)
