The Reykjavík Grapevine, issue 20, 2017

Page 31

Music

The Reykjavík Grapevine 31 Issue 20 — 2017 on the record so I don’t really remember making it, except that I started writing it late one evening and completely lost track of time. I remember coming to at about eight in the morning with a finished track, having forgotten to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom. 4.

The Dream

I had been listening a lot to King Tubby and was really keen on injecting some dub vibes. The title and feel of the song refers to my view of life as a dream. Consciousness follows a sort of non-linear, dream-like structure and although we live in the supposedly Newtonian “real world” it is our elusive thoughts and feelings that give meaning and depth to any of it. 5.

GJC performing at Iceland Airwaves TRACK BY TRACK

‘Aeons’ by Gunnar Jónsson Collider

A contemplation on death and our ignorance Words: Gunnar Jónsson & John Rogers Photo: Magnús Andersen probably the most hip-hop influenced song I’ve ever done, but maybe I’m the only one who hears that. The title refers to a personal experience, where I thought I had learnt an important lesson about life. So I made a song to remind me. What was the lesson? I’d prefer not to say. 2.

LP 'Aeons' is out now

Gunnar Jónsson Collider is a musician and producer from Reykjavík, Iceland. After a couple of storming sets at Airwaves 2017, we asked him to talk us through his excellent krautrock and ambient-inspired album, ‘Aeons.’ 1.

Realize/Remember

I built this song around a sample from some terribly cheesy ‘80s commercial I found online. It’s

DNB3P

DNB3P is one of the first songs I wrote after buying my old Roland JX3P synth, which is a wonderful analog synth. I really wanted this song to have a drum and bass attitude without being 100% drum and bass. I love deconstructing genres. I also mess with the recipe when I’m baking. That’s just the kind of bad boy I am! Hopefully the song works both as a dance number and an almost-pop song. 3.

Doomsday/Surrender

This is the dystopian counterpart to the first song’s utopian leanings. It plays with the idea that humanity is done for. It’s the oldest song

[Silence]

This song is mostly silence. It’s a tribute to silence, and the lack thereof. I was going to use a sample of Eckhart Tolle’s voice at one point, but his team didn’t allow it. Note to self: spiritual gurus also have lawyers that suck! No disrespect to Tolle, though. 6.

End Scene

The sound at the beginning of the song is a sample of my voice that I turned into a synth in a program called Renoise (the sampler is excellent!). It’s fun to decontextualise your voice like that. The title is a reference to death, which I’ve thought a lot about lately. I’ve lost people over the last two years and it’s just really sad, mind-boggling and a reminder that I don’t know anything. You need to try to love the people in your life, because they won’t be there forever. 7.

Kringlan

Hagasmári 9

Fitjar

KEF Airport

IF YOU WANT IT

Happy Christmas from John & Yoko (and The Laundromat Cafe)

Terraformer

This is the longest song I’ve released. It’s very new age-y and I had some reservations about it, but I’m glad I released it and people have really been responding positively. It’s basically a drawn out ambient exercise with some dub elements thrown in to subvert the whole “relaxing vibe.” It’s still pretty relaxing. For me, the song conjures up images of a world a thousand years in the future, inhabited solely by terraforming robots and machinery. It doesn’t have to do that for everyone, but I’d love if they do their own daydreaming when they listen to my music!

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BAGELS FROM 599 ISK

Grab a bite at Dunkin’ Donuts. We’re open every day.

WAR IS OVER!

All you need is

love!


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