Sólveig Matthildur es el proyecto en solitario de la encargada de los sintetizadores en la banda Islandesa de Cold wave y dark punk: Kælan Mikla. Además de cofundadora de la revista «Myrkfælni», publicación sobre la escena de la música underground en Islandia.
Ella ha editado su álbum debut, «Unexplained Miseries and the Acceptance of Sorrow», en agosto de 2017 que recibió los famosos premios Kraumur. Este Junio de este años, Artoffact Records volvió a lanzar el álbum en vinilo rojo rosado, en una edición super limitada.
De gira por Japón y actuando en el Roadburn Festival, Sólveig continua grabando nuevo material que saldrá al mercado en Noviembre de este año, donde Madrid será la fecha para su presentación.
Sólveig, define su música como un muro de sonido formado por principalmente por sintetizadores, cuerdas y voces circulando alrededor de 40hz de ondas sinusoidales que eventualmente penetran en tú alma y comienzan a latir en tu corazón.
Nuestro compañero Josechu Egido ha hablado con Sólveig Matthildur para conocer más a la artista y saber de sus planes de futuro.
THE INTERVIEW
Why Sólveig Matthildur choose music styles like Synth-punk, Darkwave, melancholy Pop, for your personal musical project?
As a musician you never really choose what kind of music you make! The audience end up deciding what they want to call it. For me it is just a form of expression.
We love the sound of Sólveig Matthildur in your album “Unexplained miseries & the acceptance of sorrow”, what do you consider that has evolved in your music and is different in your other project Kælan Mikla ?
Thank you! 🙂 In Kælan Mikla we are three individuals that come from different musical
backgrounds and different experiences of life. So Kælan Mikla is shaped by the three of us while my solo project is shaped by only me, my influences and my experiences. Different from Margrét and Laufey, I am more into trip hop like Massive Attack and Portishead, classical music, black metal and synth-pop/disco.
Your songs contains fantastic melodies, music precious, intimate, enveloping nostalgic and very evocative air almost melancholic sound. Songs, where not only music is given importance, but you have also worked on the lyrics in a special way. What can you tell us about it? What inspires you when it comes to making your songs?
My process of making music is either from something that I have been working on in my mind for many weeks before I sit down and write it or from wandering around in my room with a glass of wine and candle lights, repeating loops and sounds that I record and slowly start to puzzle them together. Most often I have a concept in mind but some of my tracks are very accidental and improvised.
I have always written a lot of poetry, thoughts, dreams and short stories. So when it comes to making lyrics it is easy. Right now I am working on an album called «Constantly in Love». I write mostly about being in love and being heartbroken, about dreams and nightmares, hopes and lost hopes and the thin line between all things.The balance of time and space, reality and unreality.
What expectations do you have with these songs?
Honestly, I don’t expect anything else than some peace inside myself. Hopefully it can help other people aswell.
We assume that these songs are the prelude to a lonely long walk in Music, maybe a new LP with more songs?
Yes, these days I am finalizing the mix of my upcoming album Constantly in Love. It will be released on Artoffact Records in March 2019.
What are your plans for this 2018 and next 2019? We suppose that to turn around the world, but something that you can advance us? Important events?
I have many plans. The new Kælan Mikla album, Nótt eftir nótt, will be released in a week! At the same time I am very soon releasing the first single of my upcoming album and now going on this solo Europe tour. 2019 will start immediately with a big Europe tour with Kælan Mikla and right after that my solo album comes out. Then I will tour again with that album and play festivals, both with Kælan Mikla and solo. I don’t think I can share too many details now but it will be a very eventful year 🙂
Do you think the digital world will end with music as we know it today? What do you think is the future of music?
I have many things to say about this. I wrote a whole essay 2 years ago called “the romance of the future has become the romance of the past”. It is about how the internet, especially Youtube and Facebook, have changed the way we look at music and even how musicians write music.
In the 60s, 70s and 80s, artists were very inspired by the future, the space and the unknown, always looking forward. But nowadays artists have everything in front of them. We are so inspired by the past that we maybe forget to look ahead, evolve and try out things that are unknown to us now.
Still I think the future of music will just keep on going. I’m excited what happens. Will there be some new format of music? Have we yet discovered everything about how it works? There are so many questions we should be asking ourselves. The evolution of technology will never stop.
How is a normal day in the life of Sólveig Matthildur ?
I do not have any normal days. I am either travelling or making music at home. Occasionally I eat, sleep and meet friends and strangers at bars.
What do you think about the current economic and social situation in the World in general?
I think it’s interesting. I look forward to see what the future has to offer. At the same time I am stressed. My friend is very interested in this topic and the other day we were talking about this exactly. At some point he feels like our generation will either experience the collapse of capitalism or the end of humanity…and I agree with him. The world is changing very fast and we can’t be sure what will happen.
MISCELLANY
Could you tell us about…
…a book?: The last book I read was Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. It is about an
American man in Paris, struggling with understanding his sexuality in the mid 20th century. I really enjoyed.
…a movie?: I recently watched The Great Gatsby, based on the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I really love the story about Gatsby and I was very interested in how it would be put up as a movie, 90 years after the book was written. Instead of having it in B/W with old music, it was was very colorful and had very modern music, like, hip hop and techno and all the pop music that is big now and I really liked that. They put the story in such a modern costume and it worked very well out.
…a song?: This summer I listened a lot to I go to sleep by Anika, it’s a cover of a band from the 60s called The Applejacks. Very beautiful, amazing how the harmonies are divided by the instruments.
…an album?: My newest discovery is UR. I was cooking for their concerts in Leipzig a couple of days ago and they were amazing. Their album Grey Wanderer is beautiful . Check them out here: ur-doom.bandcamp.com
… a group or soloist ?: IDK I IDA is a danish musician that moved to Reykjavík a couple of years ago and we started working together at a cafe. We became friends and performed together in Europe and Iceland. She is an amazing artist. Working with her own samples of washing machines and I dont know what! She recently released her debut album The Bug. Check it out here: www.idkida.bandcamp.com
…a hobby?: Biking. Biking and singing. I love going out, bike very fast and singing. Nobody can hear you. If they hear you, they only hear it for a second, because you are biking so fast.