Jóhann Jóhannsson - The beating heart of Iceland's musical scene

“Pleased to meet you, my name is Jóhann and I come from Reykjavík. I started my career together with a bunch of friends, trying every which way to introduce the dirtiest European rock of the Eighties to my hometown. I didn't manage to, not the way I wanted anyway, and so I decided to try the reverse path: to introduce isolated Iceland to Europe, to bring the continent closer to the island. Together with two other friends I founded a label, Kitchen Motors, and I believed in it. It seemed impossible, but the present shows us we pulled it off. Today I make my living writing soundtracks for Oscar-nominated films, and along the way I've also found time to record for Touch and 4AD, to work with Marc Almond and Jaki Liebezeit, to perform at the Beaubourg and to form my own 8-bit quartet”. This seems to be what he's telling us with his eyes when we meet him, this true sage of Iceland's musical scene, this living institution to whom we owe almost all of the hype that now surrounds every sound coming from the island of ice. This gentleman from another era speaks to us as if he were still the boy full of dreams he once was, his elegant clothing clashing just as much with his reddish beard and the leftover traces of the metalhead that never quite died in him. We meet him just a few months before the Oscars, for which the extraordinary soundtrack he wrote for “The Theory of Everything” is among the most credited nominees. He welcomes us warmly, even though time is short, and tells us how many interviews he's had to give in recent months, too many for his taste and his shyness: “I'm still a bit Icelandic inside, I'm thrilled about all this attention for my music, but I like it less when it falls on me personally”. He asks us to focus our questions on his latest projects and doesn't answer the few curiosities about his past. Leaving intact, in this way, that aura of mystery surrounding his story, one of the most incredible and unimaginable stories in recent decades of music.

I'd like to start by asking you something about your relationship with cinema, since you've worked a lot in the world of soundtracks lately…

What can I say, I'm a film buff and I take cinema very seriously. I consider myself quite lucky to have had the chance to work as a composer with so many important directors.

And where do you find the correspondence between music and cinema? And how do you relate, through music, to the images, dialogues and stories of the films you compose for?

The role of music in a film always depends a lot on the film itself, but being able to serve the needs of the movie is definitely a factor of primary importance. A film is the sum of many components, and music can be one of the fundamental ones among them.

How did you get into the world of film music?

Through the classic scores of Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone: they are undoubtedly my earliest influences.

Let's talk a bit about your latest experience, the one with the wonderful soundtrack for the highly anticipated “The Theory of Everything”: how did you get involved in the project?

Quite simply, James Marsh, the director, contacted me asking me to work on the soundtrack. I was interested right away, mainly because I was and still am incredibly fascinated by the figure of Stephen Hawking (whose life the film "romanticizes" through his love story with his wife Jane, ed.). And also because I love James's work, especially "Man on Wire".

Stylistically and in mood, this is quite different from all your previous work, starting with last year's "Prisoners"...

Yes, the two films show two different sides of my music. "The Theory Of Everything" is much lighter and more accessible than "Prisoners", which is a much darker, more meditative and melancholic work. Much closer, in mood and atmosphere, to what I usually do, in short, unlike "The Theory Of Everything", which is indeed much lighter and more melodic than usual. That's because it's the soundtrack for a warm, emotional film full of life, whereas "Prisoners" was decidedly darker: one of the things I like most about working on soundtracks is precisely being able to play with different colors and moods. Besides, I felt the need not to fall back once again on the "usual" dark mood that I've been developing and evolving for years, and to create something that would broaden my range as a composer.

What does each soundtrack represent within your artistic journey? Do you see each new work as a new chapter in a single, linear path, or more as an additional piece of a less defined puzzle?

I don't like repeating myself, and I like to challenge myself by diving headfirst into things I've never tried before. I think it's quite easy to risk repeating the same thing too many times, varying it too little. But I definitely feel I have a fairly defined range of action, within which I like to move spontaneously. I think there's an underlying logical and thematic unity to everything I do.

How much, and what, changes in your approach when you work for film or on "commission", compared to when you compose and produce your own solo albums independently?

Basically, I work the same way for both things. Film music obviously has more defined parameters to respect. I could say that, in a way, I'm no longer really a composer when I work for cinema, but rather a filmmaker in every sense. Your only duty, the only thing you devote your focus to, is the film itself. But the "trick" is to keep your personality and individuality intact even while staying within those parameters. When I work on my solo material, I start from a blank slate, so it's up to me to create my own parameters and restrictions - in that sense the difference is substantial. But as far as the core writing process goes, it stays the same.

Has your way of composing evolved over the years? And how important, at the performance stage, are the collaborators you surround yourself with?

I always write alone, but when it's time to record or perform, I always work with lots of friends and collaborators. That's often the part of my job I enjoy most, when I manage to gather so many wonderful, talented people to play together in a room: it's something priceless.

About the past, I just want to ask you this. Before reaching such a huge audience as a composer, you spent years working on the cultural promotion of your homeland, Iceland, embarking on a mission that seemed complicated but ultimately succeeded. The explosion of hype around Icelandic music of every kind in recent years proves it. Now that you mainly work in Europe, how do you experience this massive export of Icelandic music? And what's your relationship with your homeland today?

Iceland is a fantastic place to create music, full as it is of sensational musicians and boasting a hugely active, vibrant scene. So I'm not at all surprised that so many Icelandic artists have finally managed to break through!

I'm curious to hear something about your new work with BJ Nilsen. You've collaborated with him a lot, on many projects, even though you started out as two completely different artists... What can you "reveal" to me about it?

It's another soundtrack, which I wrote and produced with Benny (Benny Jonas Nilsen being the full name of BJ Nilsen, ed.). A decidedly close collaboration, even though it mostly took place through exchanging material remotely, through which we tried to forge a genuine hybrid of our styles. A wonderful experience - I really hope to work with him again soon!

I've rarely heard about your concerts... So let me close by asking: what's your relationship with the live dimension? Any chance of seeing you perform "The Theory of Everything", maybe in Italy?

I love playing live, but I don't have much time to do it these days because of all my studio commitments. I hope to be able to play more this year starting after spring, and since I love Italy, I'd really love to play there too.

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