One of the men behind the remarkable success of the Icelandic musical legend, Björk, is stepping out from behind the shadows of the recording studio to begin his own musical journey in the spotlight.
Valgeir Sigurdsson has long operated a recording studio from his homes in the suburbs of Reykjavik. He has invited artists such as Bonnie “Prince” Billy, CocoRosie and Maps to live in his home while working on their music.
“Taking musicians into my home feels like the right way to make music,” Sigurdsson said. “It’s obviously very personal, because you can’t escape. I get really involved emotionally. Ending a project feels like ending a relationship.”
Now Sigurdsson is branching out. He recently launched his own label, Bedroom Community, and has released his own album under the label. Sigurdsson’s solo debut is entitled Ekvilibrium, music known for its “warm, liquid, organic-electronic sound”.
Sigurdsson’s studio was instrumental in Björk’s early work. Known as ‘the Greenhouse’, the studio is remote and cut off from the world.
“[Björk] would bounce crazy ideas off me, like making a song out of all the sounds in the kitchen,” Sigurdsson said. “Quite early on, the conceptual side existed in [her Vespertine of 2001]: the intimacy of the vocal performance, and using chamber music, because that was created in the home.
Sigurdsson learned to play a guitar at the age of nine, by imitating what he heard on his cousin’s punk records. He explored classical music at an early age and bought a drum machine and sequencer when he was still a teenager. His big break came when Björk invited him to engineer the songs she was making for the Dancer in the Dark musical.
Like all of Sigurdsson’s records, his own production is characterised by a sense of intimacy. Speaking about the concerts he attended when growing up, Sigurdsson said: “I was always disappointed by how distant things were, how messed up it sounded. My records are how I hoped a concert would be. In the studio I have the ability to focus on things you can’t hear normally. You can physically push closer and closer, like you’re putting your head inside the instrument, until you feel it tremble.”
Sigurdsson’s album Ekvilibrium is now available on Bedroom Community.