Just after their Sophomore album Puzzle was released in Austraila, I had the opportunity to talk with violist Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir of the Icelandic band Amiina, perhaps best known for their collaborations with Sigur Ros. We chat briefly about the new album, working on a soundtrack to Lotte Reiniger’s animations and what’s coming next for the band…
Where are you at the moment?
I’m at home in Reykjavik.
How’s the weather there this time of year?
It’s actually very sunny and nice! We had snow 10 days ago. But it’s getting better and better. Summer is almost here I think!
You’re about to jet off to Singapore I understand?
Yes! Three of us from Amiina are going to play a concert there.
You’re performing a live soundtrack to an animation… a show you have already brought down to Perth in Australia!
Yes, we’ve been making music to Lotte Reiniger’s animation, playing underneath the films, which are otherwise silent. It’s only three of us, it’s a sideproject for Amiina. It’s very family oriented. The crowds in Australia were really nice, they went really well. We did five concerts in Perth at the festival I think. We love being in Australia – we didn’t want to come back home!
You released Puzzle a while ago overseas, but it’s just been released in Australia this week!
Yes, we are very excited to finally have the album released in Australia!
Though it’s your second full length release, I understand it’s actually an extension of an EP (Re Minore) that you released back in 2009?
Yeah. We used to be a four person band, then in 2008 we brought two male members into the group, so now we are a six person band. They came on when we were invited to play a show, and we liked collaborating with them, it went very well, so we decided to keep working together. Then we made the EP and then Puzzle came afterwards. It took two years to make the album. It was slow at first, bringing the new members into the band. Maggi (Magnús) is a drummer (which before this point had never been a part of Amiina’s repertoire), so we have a lot of new rhythms. It brought a lot of new energy into the band.
And I imagine this is the same for the live show as well.
Yes, it brings so much to the music. A new dimension has been opened up. It’s a bigger sound, and it’s a lot more fun to play at concerts. It was a lot more low key before, now it’s a lot more energetic. I like it a lot more now, there are so many new things coming into every show!
Do the new members add to the liver renditions of tracks from Kurr (the album you made before they came into the fold)?
Yes, on some tracks they do, they come in and change them. There’s actually a remix by Kippi Kaninus (the other of the two new members) of “Hemipode” (off their debut EP AnimaminA) on the Australian release of Puzzle. So they work with us on changing some songs, and then on others putting beats under it just isn’t going to work.
What will the rest of the year be holding for you? Will you be doing much touring?
No, not much over the Summer, because Sólrún (Sumarliðadóttir) is expecting a baby. So we’re doing one concert in July in Germany, and then we’ll be doing some more shows in the Fall hopefully. So over the Summer though we’ll be making some new music in Iceland.
When do you think we might see you down in Australia again??
We didn’t tour Puzzle a lot. It’s been rather difficult to coordinate it – some have families, others are in school – to get everyone together to travel. We do want to go to Australia next year though. We’re trying to coordinate that!
Amiina’s new record Puzzle is in stores through Inertia now.
