Jonsi On His Stunning Debut Solo Album 'Go'

This April, Jón 'Jónsi' Þór Birgisson unleashes his stunning debut solo album 'Go' on the unsuspecting public. While it may feature his inimitable falsetto voice, the singer has fully embraced pop music to create a joyous, uplifting and beautiful work that stands equal to any of Sigur Ros' releases. Gigwise editor Scott Colothan caught up with the genial, very jetlagged Jonsi at EMI's headquarters in Central London to discuss 'Go', singing in English, decamping to the US of A, Sigur Ros' music getting raped and that Tiesto collaboration.

Gigwise: Let's kick things off by talking about working solo on 'Go'. Was it a liberating experience working without your Sigur Ros bandmates?
Jonsi: “Yeah, it was good actually. I was really lucky to be working with super-talented people in every way I turned. They brought so much to the album.”

The record was produced by Peter Katis and featured strings by Nico Muhley. What was it like working with such well respected names?
“Peter Katis was a super-nice American boy. He's good-hearted and was perfect to work with. I didn't have to worry about a thing. With Nico Muhley, I was looking for something that didn't fall into the Sigur Ros category so he was a really good choice because he was on the weirder, kind of different side. He brought a lot of life and colours to the album.”

Why did you decamp from Iceland to Connecticut to record the album?
It was kind of like an accident and spontaneous. There was no real reason to do it other than I listened to some of his (Katis') albums and they sounded really good. At first I was going to record at home in the studio, but then Peter Katis got recommended to me, so I just went to him and it was amazing.

Are you anxious about how your solo work is received by the record buying public?
“No. I hadn't thought it until you said it and then I got really nervous! [laughs] No I haven't thought about it at all actually, the album was really cool to do and we'll just see what happens.”

You've previously only sung one song in English with Sigur Ros – 'Alright' from 'With A Buzz In Our Ears'. Why did you decide to sing predominately in English on 'Go'?
“I think because my boyfriend (Alex Somers who previously worked with Jonsi on 'Riceboy Sleeps') is American and we speak a lot of English at home. Also, I thought it would be a good challenge for me to try and write English lyrics and sing in English and I haven't done that properly before. It was definitely more difficult, but I think it was healthy for me to do it.”

Are you hoping (singing in English) will open your music up to a bigger market?
“Because I'm singing in English it might make it more accessible, but really it's hard to say.”

Lyrically, the record is quite optimistic in parts. The first half of the record is particularly upbeat. Is that the direction you set out to go down?
“It actually started off quite quiet and acoustic, but I was too bored of it. I was happy to be really over-the-top and pop in some ways.”

What do your Sigur Ros band-mates think of the record?
“They haven't all heard it yet [laughs]. Our keyboardist Kjarri is the only one who's heard it all the way through. He told me he liked it, but he was really drunk so we'll see what he says when he's sober!”

You've been extremely busy over the past two years – a Sigur Ros album, 'Riceboy Sleeps, collaborating with Tiesto and now 'Go'. How do you fit it all in?
“It's not that hard actually. Usually I'm quite lazy but it's just doing what you love, doing it while it's fun. As long as it's fun that's the main thing, keeping it real and keeping it fun.”

Seeing as you're being so prolific at the moment, are there any future releases in the pipeline?
“I'm leaving it as a blank canvas at the moment. We'll see what happens, it's quite open.”

The Tiesto collaboration took me by surprise on 'Kaleidoscope'. I didn't have you down as a cheesy dance music fan. How did it come about?
“[Laughs] Tiesto had been a fan of Sigur Ros for a long time. He came to one of our concerts and he asked me if I'd sing a song on the album and I said yes. I listened to the music and it sounded alright, kind of good melodies. I just recorded my bit at home and sent it to him. I think the gay man in me really liked it, I guess I have this soft spot for good euro-trance techno!”

If you could collaborate with one musician on a record – living or dead – who would it be?
“I think it would be Billie Holiday. She has an amazing voice and I listen to her every day. For a living person, maybe I'd say Leonard Cohen – that would be amazing.”

'Riceboy Sleeps', released last year, received some mixed reviews from the critics. Do the negative reviews affect you or do you just ignore them?
“I try to read as little press and magazines as I can. I think it's healthy to not read it, it's good to live in your own bubble and do your own thing. With Sigur Ros I think we got some really bad reviews in the NME with our early stuff. It's a really bad paper anyway, classic toilet paper [laughs]. When we were starting they called us 'slow motion Pink Floyd'. It was funny but no one takes NME seriously anyway.”

I first saw you live back in April 2000 when Sigur Ros were supporting Godspeed! You Black Emperor in Manchester at Planet K. How have you developed in the past ten years since then?
“Wow, that's a really long time ago! Maybe I'm a little more carefree now, I don't have as strong principles as when I was younger. I've learnt to let go a little bit more and have more fun which is a positive thing.”

If you could jump in a time machine to 1994 when you first started your career, what one piece of advice would you give yourself?
“Just have fun!”

You have toured with quite a few big names through the years. Who has been your highlight?
“Yeah, we've toured with some really amazing bands at the peak of their careers. We toured with Radiohead just before Kid A, so they'd already released their best album 'OK Computer'. We toured with Godspeed! when they'd just released that EP (Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada) and we toured with Low when the amazing 'Things We Lost In The Fire' was released so we've been lucky to be part of these moments in these bands careers.”

Did you get to hang with Radiohead much on tour with them?
“No [laughs]. I think we were both equally as shy bands, so it was kind of awkward. But they were super-nice guys.”

Last year there was rumblings about the new Sigur Ros album, you said it was nearly complete now. Have you finished now?
“We haven't quite started actually. We started and we decided to chuck everything away. We're back to the start now, starting out fresh. It feels exciting just feeling like you're 13 years old, rocking out at your parent's house.”

When are you hoping to reconvene?
“We're hoping that it will be some time next year.”

You've achieved quite a lot in your musical career so far. Have you got any ambitions for the future?
“No [laughs]. Yeah definitely, something, but I don't know if they're musical. I don't know, I don't want to say, I want to keep it secret.”

Sigur Ros's music has been used quite a lot on television adverts and shows in the UK. Do you get any control over where your songs appear?
“'Hoppipolla' has been raped on British TV. In some weird way, the national TV here in Britain doesn't have to ask permission to use songs if it's in the kind of background of TV shows or whatever. So they can just take it and use it. That happened a lot with 'Hoppipolla'. The David Attenborough show was cool though (Planet Earth), we're all big fans of his.”

Are you jaded when you see your songs being used everywhere?
“No, not jaded but you become self conscious. You think this doesn't work well with the scene, y'know if it's in a movie. But it's also one thing I've learnt to let go, you just live for a while and you die. Nothing else matters that much.”

 'Go' is released on Parlophone on April 5th.  www.jonsi.com.