DANIEL AGUST may not be a name that is on everyone’s lips at the moment, but his debut album, “Swallowed A Star”, may change this state of affairs. It’s a huge step away from his (already hugely successful) previous work with Icelandic dance collective Gus Gus: using classical string arrangements, trippy sound effects and gorgeous melodies to create an atmospheric, eerily beautiful album which is on a par with his anything his Icelandic counterparts are producing at the moment.
The music here describes the varied landscapes of his homeland, and the lyrics tenderly express affections he has in his personal relationships. The album flips from being warm, almost soporific in parts, to being downright creepy – I wouldn’t advise listening to “Intersection” on your own at night.
The album would fit perfectly as a film soundtrack, what with it being so moody and full of character. In fact, Agust shares a close relationship with the prestigious Icelandic Dance Company, having produced music for their performances, both with Gus Gus and as a solo artist.
Agust is already a celebrated musician in Iceland, and has enjoyed
international success with Gus Gus, before embarking on a solo project to create his debut album, which has been 5 years in the making - mainly due to a lack of funding (Agust had to compose many of the string arrangements himself, without any classical training), and the off-the-wall nature of the music, which most record labels shied away from. However, now signed to One
Little Indian, Agust can now focus on bringing his music to the masses.
W&H caught up with Agust over the phone during a well-earned break, at his home in Iceland. He was softly spoken, astute, and very laid back, just as you would expect him to be after listening to his album.
W&H: Five years is a long time to create an album, it sounds like it might have been a bit of an Odyssey, how did it come about?
DA: I just had this idea that I wanted to put something personal down, the most appropriate instrument to use was the strings, but it was a case of trying to find someone to work the arrangements, and that took some time. We gave some demos to 4AD [the label Gus Gus were signed to at the time] and they couldn’t do it. Well, they wouldn’t do it.
W&H: That sounds like incredibly hard work.
DA: Yeah it was. A good friend of mine, and a great musician, Bix [who produced Swallowed A Star] was in LA, so we contacted some people in the film industry and we recorded four tracks. After that, we started to find a home for the music, but none of the labels understood it. So after a break of about 6 months, I did all the arrangements myself on my computer at home, because we couldn’t find anyone to do it for free. I’ve no classical background, so I enjoyed the process of learning how to do that.
W&H: “Swallowed A Star” is a lovely name. Does it mean anything?
DA: It’s from a dream! My wife dreamed it and she had been writing poetry herself, so it’s from her poem. It’s the only lyric on the entire album that’s not mine.
W&H: There is a definite spiritual feel to your music, it’s obviously
something that’s very personal and emotional. What inspires you?
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DA: My inspiration is… well, I’d say it’s my immediate surroundings, the way I look at life, both inside and out. And the people around me, my relationships. Probably there are some musical influences, Nick Drake and stuff, and even Tom Waites, you know, more dramatic and melancholic music.
W&H: “Intersection” is a particularly creepy track, it could be from a horror film!
DA: Haha, yeah! That’s the only instrumental track, we did it to create a relief from the pop-ness surrounding it, to create a broader variety of sounds and textures. Me and Bix worked on it for the Icelandic Dance Company.
W&H: You’ve worked with the ICD before, how did this come about?
DA: The director of the company approached me and asked me to do some work for them. I liked the idea of taking my music to the dance stage, it expands my experience. It was totally something else to see your music in that context. Exhilarating.
W&H: Your music can be fairly abstract and complex, how does the sound on the album translate into live performance?
DA: The set-up has been different recently. I prefer to play with a quintet and playback, but at the Luminaire [his recent London gig] we had a piano player and cello. They were great musicians, they really took it some place else. I like to put the tracks in the right order so it’s a journey for the listeners, they fall right into each other.
W&H: The nature of what you have done previously has been collaborative, what prompted you to go solo?
DA: It’s like, when you have a thing like this, that you want to make personal, you realise that you need to do it on your own. So I had to leave Gus Gus, the set up wasn’t there for this. So I took on this excursion.
W&H: Did you learn anything from this experience?
DA: Absolutely! Just learning to do the arrangements was a learning experience. And I learnt to wait, it definitely tried my patience. I know myself better, I know the music inside out.
W&H: Was there any points where you felt like throwing the towel in?
DA: Not really, I believed in the album, and definitely at some point someone would want to put it out there.
W&H: What are you listening to right now?
DA: I haven’t had much time to listen to anything! It’s very hard to pick anything out. There’s no-one I’m into at the moment.
W&H: Have you got any other plans for 2006?
DA: I’m just going to commit to bringing this music to as many people as possible. I’ve piled up a few songs and am ready for making more music, definitely.
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