Icelandic record-breaker Ásgeir gets found in translation

So there you were, at school in Iceland, not at all planning on becoming one of the most successful musicians on the island. And then one day it all changed. Can you join the dots for us?
I was playing some demo music of mine to a good friend; this guy was my first guitar teacher and coach in sports – someone I looked upon as my big brother, to be honest, until I was about 17. Through the years I've trusted him with a lot of decisions concerning my life and so on. After playing him those demos, he said he really believed in the music and that I should send them on to someone who could critique them professionally.

So what happened next?
Well, my brother is a musician, and that same night I called a producer acquaintance of his. Although I didn't really know him at all, his reputation as a very good producer was known all over Iceland. I was nervous , and asked him would it be okay if I went to his home with a CD with about five songs on it, and would he listen to them? He said yes, and then the next day he phoned me, and said he loved what he had heard. It all started from there.

Is it fair to say there's a perception that virtually everyone in Iceland plays a musical instrument?
That's truer than not, to be honest. When I was growing up as a child – say from six to 10 – in my class was about 20 kids, and I'd say at least 18 of them played musical instruments. It's something that people just do. Partly it's government-related, but it's also very much to do with the fact that – apart from those in Reykjavik, obviously – so many of us live in small towns and villages. There are
limited opportunities for young children in these small areas to pass substantial amounts of time, so the parents send them to music school and to do sports. At least, that's how I grew up, but I know I'm one of many.

Interesting point – your lyrics are mostly written by your father. This seems, well, odd to some people.
Well, I love my parents, I love my father, and so it doesn't seem odd to me at all. In fact, my music is becoming something of a family project because we're all working quite closely together. My father is a former teacher and school principal. He started writing poems at a very young age; it's his passion in life, and what he likes to do the most.

The really interesting thing, however, is that he self-published a book of poetry in the 1980s, got about 500 copies of the volume, read through it and thought it wasn’t good enough. So he stored some of the books under his bed. But when people started to hear my music, the books started to sell again. My father is retired, and his poetry is now getting out there now, so I love the idea of that.

That's a very happy ending, for sure – but did you write any lyrics for your songs, even the early ones?
Initially, I wrote the lyrics for the demo material I played for my teacher and the producer, but most of the lyrics were in a nonsense language. When we got to record the songs properly, we all knew it would have been weird to release songs with nonsense words, and so the first name that came into my mind for real poetic lyrics was my father. I understand that in other parts of the world sons singing their father's words isn't usual, but it works for me.

Something else extraordinary happened, didn't it? Icelandic resident John Grant heard your songs on the radio, and then contacted you to ask if you'd be into having the lyrics translated into English
That was crazy, wasn't it? I'm still amazed by this, but you don't hear too much of anyone who isn't from Iceland having such an understanding of the language that they can perfectly translate them into English. That's truly remarkable. And all of that happened in the studio – he was just sitting on the sofa, listening to the songs, and then coming up with the words.

There's a sense that when the album is released there will be a sharp rise in your international profile – does success matter to you?
Not at all. Since all of this started it has been
evolving naturally, and everything has been beyond my expectations. I really couldn't ask for more. It's all about getting the music out there.

Ásgeir's plays Dublin's Sugar Club on Friday, April 11th