Iceland, Reykjavik - Svavar Knútur, a singer-songwriter, has released a new track, 'November,' off his upcoming album, 'Ahoy! Side B.' The song is a genre-bending voyage from a gloomy blending of guitar, string trio, and the Icelandic troubadour's cloud shrouded driftwood voice to a stormy frolicking autumn wind conclusion, which is perfectly in keeping with Svavar Knutur's style. 'November,' a love song to a much-maligned month, creates a vision of a gloomy and melancholy, yet stormy and transforming month. The yearning for summers gone by, but also the unavoidable descent into the peculiar beauty of midwinter, culminating in the embrace of the revolving wheel of time.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Svavar Knútur, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What have you been up to over the past year in this big old mess?
Hey Kamil, great to connect! :D Well, it’s been a really interesting time, lots of challenges and lots of growth in unexpected places, including my family. One wonderful thing was I got to spend a whole year with my kids and just play, create, hang out, be a really present father. That was absolutely wonderful and counteracted against a lot of the depression that covid was causing. Also, I had the honour of participating in the Global Music Match, an international initiative of joining countless artists from around the world in cooperative and collaborative projects. That was an amazing time and I learned so much. It really challenged me to become a better artist, and also helped me grow a lot of new skills.
What jobs have you done other than being an artist?
Before I was an artist, I worked as a farmhand and a fisherman, I went to University and studied philosophy, anthropology and environmental studies. Then I was a journalist and a social capital consultant and prevention innovator for the city of Reykjavik, before music basically took over my life. After I quit my job in 2008, I have never looked back. It was pretty hard during the banking crisis, but I guess that prepared me for Covid in a way.
Your latest song is 'November'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
It is a song born out of these covid times I guess, but not necessarily about covid, but actually my appreciation for the things people normally think are bad and undesirable. The nice thing about it was that it was such a journey of discovery of arrangements and sounds. I don’t come from a background of a lot of sounds and soundscapes, but more of “meat and potatoes” storytelling and songwriting. So, arrangements and soundscapes have basically been my focus of growth my whole career. There was a really depressing development in the recording process that I had to go on tour before it was finished and all of the recording and mixing was delayed, so the song didn’t come out in september like I wanted, but in late november. But hey, if it touches one person, I’m happy.
What do you dislike about the art world?
It really bothers me how dependent and beholden the art world is to capitalists. And when I say capitalists, I mean powerful actors in the world that really don’t see art as beauty, truth, sincerity or earnest searching and serving the community, but as vehicles for making money. Music has become slave to big tech, and artists are supposed to be “content monkeys”, forever churning out pictures on instagram of whatever they’re doing, sacrificing more and more of their time, creative energy and privacy to provide “engaging content”. That’s kind of depressing. And it causes all kinds of weird side effects, such as growing ageism and tribalism. Also, a rejection of native languages for the imperialist lingua franca of English. Also, all these things considered, it makes me sad to see the effect this has on a lot of people, treating life as a cutthroat competition instead of a wonderful cooperative village. They say “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Well, of course! Could we just please maybe stop playing Monopoly and play Dungeons and Dragons instead? Stop playing a game that makes one winner and 10.000 losers and instead try playing a game where we all face interesting challenges and strive and succeed through teamwork and diversity?
Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?
In Iceland, I feel a sense of duty to play old folks homes, partly to connect with our past and our stories and the spirit of those people, but also as an accessibility thing. These guys can’t come to concerts anymore and they deserve music just as much as the next instagram posting, tik-toking teen, even if it’s not as “profitable”. I’ve had a lot of amazing interactions with the old folks, because they are super grateful to get a visit and they love to hear new songs, if you just sing them gently and without loud and aggressive noises. So this one time, I was singing a really interesting song from the 40’s, a composition by an old Icelandic composer to a powerful and mysterious poem about the sea, to a group of five old people in a remote fishing village in the East Fjords. I described to them how the composer had taken the words and really evoked the elements of the sea into the accompaniment of the melody. And when I finished, they were all smiling and so happy, and this one just over 80 year old lady giggles and says “Teehee! That’s wonderful! I had never thought about it like this! This is such a revelation!!!” And I just thought. Wow… You’re never too old to have a transformative experience.
What accomplishments do you see yourself achieving in the next five to 10 years?
I believe in a gentle grade of growth in life. But I’d absolutely love to see myself playing more folk festivals and doing more touring in the UK, Scandinavia, Canada, Australia and Europe. That would be grand! Also, I’d love to experiment a little with transporting classical songs by Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Fauré and Mendelsohn to a troubadour style, and maybe make an album of those songs just for fun. Another thing I want to do is follow the words of my friend Moddi, and find a “house by the sea” to live in. I have a fishing village in the Westfjords in mind. ;)
What’s your scariest experience?
This one time, a couple of years ago, I was playing a squat in Hamburg and this dude, that is notorious for violent and abusive behaviour, just shows up with his attack dog and sets it on me. I’m standing there, playing my guitar, with a gigantic dog barking, snapping and spitting just centimetres from my face. And no one could do anything because the guy commanded some kind of tiny militia in the area. So, I just kept on playing and singing, almost soiling myself with fear, and he got bored and left. Ever since, I’ve had a bit of a traumatic relationship with dogs. I also almost drowned a couple of times and I fell down a mountain on a snowmobile when I was 19. But this one took the cake.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Annie Lennox. She is my childhood hero, and her voice is just the tonic for my heart. I would love for her voice to grace my music just once in my life.
Have you ever taught or mentored another musician?
Sure, I give a lot of young and upcoming artists pep talks and sound advice, but I also have a sweet working relationship with my friend Tryggvi, who is an amazing artist in Iceland. We basically meet twice a week in the mornings and sit together drinking coffee and working our asses off on our respective projects until he needs to leave for his job.
What are your plans for next year?
A new album coming out, a bit of touring, some theater work in Germany on a new play, writing the music to it and playing a couple of roles I think. Also, trying to be with my kids a bit and write some new songs. But the funny thing is, the Icelandic word for “Plan” is much more like “intention” or “rough estimate”, because our climate and nature don’t give us a lot of opportunities for “real” planning.