Interview: Múm
Múm have played over the years a very influential role in the Icelandic music scene -- sonically and ideologically -- and are undoubtedly one of the country's biggest music exports to date. With a brand new album in their sleeves ("Sing along to songs you don't know"), the band will soon be coming to the US for a series of gigs. Co-founder Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason gives It's a Trap! an all-inclusive interview about Baltic choirs, changing Icelandic values, the IMF, and balloons.
In what way is "Sing along to songs you don't know" different to "Go go smear the poison ivy"?
Well it's two years younger. It's quieter, more easy-going, more relaxed and maybe more untangled. In "Go go smear the poison ivy" there were so many layers and so many things going on. This one is much simpler.
Was it easier to write as well?
I think so, yeah. It was mostly technically easier. On both albums the songs came out really quickly.
What do you mean with technically easier then?
On "Go go smear the poison ivy" we used approximately 160 channels. On this one a lot of the songs were really simple, we had one with only just vibraphones, strings and voice. And another one with only marimba, strings and voice. We've never really done stuff like that before and it was really fun to do.
It was apparently recorded in many different countries, Iceland, Estonia and Finland. I read something about Latvia as well.
We could actually say five different countries. Hildur recorded a lot of her vocals in Berlin and a lot of the early stuff like pianos were done in New York. But actually not Latvia. Well, there's a story about this: we went to Estonia to record the album and we needed a choir for few of the songs. But we hadn't actually contacted any choir before going to Estonia. We talked to some people and they started making phone calls in order to get us one. And all of a sudden we ended up having two choirs instead of none! One was a Latvian (Balsis) and one was an Estonian choir (Suisapäisa). Eventually we decided to use the Estonian one for the album and in parallel to do some recordings of old Múm songs from "Finally we are no one" and "Summer make good" with the Latvian choir.
What are you going to do with these recordings then?
As soon as we're done with the tour we will start thinking about releasing them, because they sound really good.
What do the songs on "Sing along to songs you don't know" talk about?
The lyrical part hasn't really changed throughout the albums. There's always this dream world-theme. But there are maybe more love songs on this one.
Are there any other projects in the pipeline?
Well, we might do some live stuff with the Balsis choir as well. We've been doing some radio theatre pieces. We did one last Christmas in Iceland and that one has just been nominated for the European Prize for Radio Theatre, so we are doing another radio theatre this autumn. Radio theatres are definitely one of our favourite things to work on.
Are there any artists you would like to collaborate with in the future?
I don't know, maybe. The thing is, we mostly like working with our friends. We live in a very local community and we keep on doing it like that.
What's the mood in Iceland right now after the protests?
There's a lot of disappointment in the air. People had many hopes. They felt something was changing. Thing is, we wanted real change, not just a change in government, just bring in new parties that act exactly the same way like the old ones. Actually we wanted a new constitution. But as soon as a new government was put in place everything went forgotten. So people are disappointed.
Do you feel something has been achieved?
Yes, I feel people now know that they have the power to change at least something. There has been a little bit of a change in the people's attitude from since the banking crisis happened, which is very good. A lot of the former materialistic thinking is not as highly-regarded now. Before there was only one rule in Iceland: money. It was getting extreme. You couldn't talk about any values or any ideals. The only thing that validated you as a person was how much money you earned.
What do you think still needs to be done?
We need a new constitution and a new way of thinking about democracy in Iceland. On the other hand, we shouldn't have entered the IMF programme and we should have been able to deal with Icesave in a better way. This makes no sense. We cannot pay this sort of loan. Normal people never saw this money. We never came close to it, but we end up paying it.
How everything that has happened has influenced the artistic creativity in Iceland?
Energy is always released when something changes. This definitely has a big impact on any creative thing.
And Múm in particular? Were you influenced artistically?
That's a really hard question. We wrote three songs in January while the protests were happening, but they weren't necessarily in any way connected.
The Icelandic music scene is thriving. Initiatives like Kitchen motors in the past, the creation of Iceland Music Export, and now Gogoyoko and Brak Records are interesting steps. What would you like happening in the future?
More of these collaborative things. Getting together and doing different stuff. And also being spontaneous. The best thing is when you don't know what's going to happen the next year. And actually these initiatives become boring when people know what to expect from them.
How does the Múm collective work?
In a non-structured way. There is no system. We keep the way we work very deconstructed. We just see what happens, we never had any plans. A lot of changes happen on their own. And this is definitely how we are keeping it.
What does the future hold for Múm?
We can't really see beyond the tour. We have a couple projects lined-up. Like I said, the radio theatre and the choir thing. When you're touring it's like being inside a balloon. You can't see anything outside.
Words and pictures by Vasilis Panagiotopoulos