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MUSIC INTERVIEW: Jónsi Birgisson
Jónsi Birgisson is trying to explain exactly what it feels like to be on stage when a gig is going well.
"It's hard to say..." he puzzles for a moment in his Oslo hotel room. "It's really fun – that's when you feel you have a really good energy from the audience.
"You feel good, you perform well, there's nothing like it.
"It's exactly the opposite when you have a s*** show," he chuckles. "You want to go home and lay in bed."
Fortunately things have been going pretty well of late for the 35-year-old singer since his since launching his solo career this spring.
Having temporarily left the comfortable environs of multi-million-selling Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rs while his band-mates pause to raise young families, he's very much emerging as his own man.
The universally favourable critical and popular reaction to his solo album Go has been "really cool", he says in heavily accented English.
"I'm happy about it. Having a kind of solo project when you have been in a band for 10 years, it's a different thing. It's a litle bit more low key. But it's turned out really good."
Had diehard Sigur Rs fans been resistant to the poppier charms of his new material, Jnsi wouldn't especially care anyway. "I never read anything whatever happens on the websites," he says.
Here at last he feels more of his own personality is shining through. "When I had half-way done this album I realised I could do whatever I wanted," he says. "It's a refreshing thing to know.
"You don't have to compromise to anybody or give in. You can do whatever you want to do. It's quite healthy."
In Sigur Rs inevitably there are other opinions to take into consideration. "You are like a group of four people. You have to compromise, meet in the middle."
As we speak, Jnsi is about to embark on a series of appearances at rock festivals in Europe's most northerly reaches.
As a fellow Scandinavian, does he get a particularly warm reception in countries such as Sweden and Finland? "I hope so," he says. "The first show is tonight in Norway. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully it will be good.
Discovery
"I went to Australia and Japan before this – that was really fun."
Jnsi is a seasoned traveller. I ask him what has been his most interesting discovery this year. "It's just meeting people and seeing new cities and countries," he says.
"It's a different way of travelling, in a bus with a group of people. You never get to see anything or experience a country as such. It's a limited way of travelling, but it gives you glimpses of cities and cultures you want to visit again maybe later."
The stage show for Jnsi's tour was designed in collaboration with 59 Productions, a company with a reputation for cutting-edge multi-media performances normally seen in the theatre.
The aim, says Jnsi, to give audiences something totally out of the ordinary for a rock concert.
"It's always nice when somebody comes to a show and has never seen anything like it," he says. "It's fun and positive, when people leave inspired – that's my goal. It's the best compliment I get after a show.
"It was something else to try. We are always into visuals and different shows when we play live in Sigur Rs. I wanted to take it a step further, to get different people in and expand it a bit. I'm really happy with it."
Despite the technical complexity of each show, there is freedom to improvise. "I requested of them when they were doing the stage show that it would not be totally stuck," explains Jonsi. "We can experiment with the songs, play around a little bit. They (59 Productions] would have to play with that.
"They are used to everything being really organised. In theatres it has to be really nailed down. It has been a good challenege for them and also for me."
Another unusual challenge awaits Jnsi this autumn when he goes head to head with the likes of Paul McCartney, Randy Newman and Leona Lewis at the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent. Jonsi has been nominated for 'best original song written for a film' for the track Sticks and Stones, which was featured in the animated movie How To Train Your Dragon.
Nominated
How does he rate his chance against the former Beatle? "Really good," he jokes.
"There are some quite big names among the nominations..." he adds, considering the quality of the competition again.
"(Actually] it's probably very slim. But it's fun to nominated, it's cool."
Sep 8, Leeds O2 Academy, Cookridge Street, Leeds, 7pm, 18.50. Tel: 0113 389 1555. www.ticketweb.co.uk
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