Magnum Opus

Iceland: a world where nature reigns and man knows his place. On the eve of this one-sided war, Iceland's greatest export, Sigur Rós, is making its first full sweep of the U.S., offering a grand escape from boob-tube bloodshed with their unique world of sound. A world of snow-capped mountains, lush meadows, and steaming geysers, a world of beautiful melodies and words without language, best encapsulated on Sigur Rós' magnum opus, 2000's Ágœtis Byrjun.

The glacial, bowed guitar and amorphous cries of Jón Thor "Jónsi" Birgisson have become the obvious focal point for the music press, but it's keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson who provides the piano-driven backdrops of the group's most recent album, known simply as ( ). On the third night of the tour, Sveinsson and the group found themselves in our nation's capital only hours before the outbreak of war in Iraq.

In his thick, Nordic accent, Sveinsson seemed uncomfortable elaborating on the mystique that surrounds Sigur Rós, but he did confirm that people have been known to pass out at their revelatory live show -- coming to the Austin Music Hall April 1. Here's hoping those folks come to with something deeper implanted in their skulls.

Austin Chronicle: I imagine things are pretty interesting in Washington right now.

Kjartan Sveinsson: Yes, they seem to be. There are lots of things happening, but you really don't notice them yet.

AC: Will this be your first time through Texas?

KS: We've never been to the South. It'll be really interesting. We're all looking forward to it. It's gonna be hot, no?

AC: It's pretty nice right now, actually. You're set to release another album later this year, a soundtrack to an Icelandic film called Hlemmur by director "lafur Sveinsson. The pieces are short and all instrumental. Can you tell me a little about that?

KS: It's a documentary about the main bus station in Iceland, about all the people who hang around at this bus stop, people who have nowhere to go. Our vocals are just another instrument, so it isn't much different I think.

AC: The music of Sigur Rós sounds like you've incorporated the physical sounds of Iceland itself into your music. What musical groups inspired you?

KS: None in particular. We all listened to lots of different stuff, and still do. We all think it's very important to be open to music and let things inspire you. But there was nothing in particular that made us do what we do.

Like you're saying, our music sounds like Iceland, and maybe in a way, that makes sense. It's not just music that inspires bands; I think it's also the environment, books that you read, movies that you see, everything really.

AC: Jónsi's reverberating bowed guitar has become a staple of Sigur Rós' sound. How did it develop?

KS: It was very incidental. The bass player [Georg "Goggi" Holm] got a bow as a Christmas present, and he tried it out. It didn't work, so Jónsi picked it up, and it worked really nice.

AC: Sigur Rós translates as "Victory Rose" in Icelandic. Does that have any particular meaning?

KS: It's the name of Jónsi's sister. She was born at the same time we formed the band in 1994.

AC: ( ) came out with no title and no lyrics, and you solicited people's interpretations of the words [see sidebar]. On your Web site there's an engine that overlays five or six drastically different interpretations of the lyrics. What's the idea behind that?

KS: We didn't have any lyrics when we wrote the songs. The vocals were just vocals, and we hadn't come up with any ideas for lyrics, so we just decided not to have any lyrics.

On Ágœtis Byrjun we had Icelandic lyrics, and no one understands that, of course. People were always getting their own ideas about the songs, their own interpretations. We thought it was nice to tell people they could do that, that there's no bigger meaning behind it. We just thought it was interesting to see what people might say. Sometimes it was funny [laughs]. A lot of the time it was very funny.

AC: The vocal style is different from Ágœtis Byrjun, where there was a lot more variety.

KS: Yes, we had Icelandic lyrics on that album, except for a couple of songs that were just this gibberish language.

AC: The language you've dubbed Hopelandish?

KS: Yes. Back then we were inspired to do lyrics, and we wanted to do a concept album. We wrote the lyrics in a week before recording the vocals. So it was very quick. You know, it's just not our thing, maybe, writing words.

AC: What sort of concept was it?

KS: There are many ways to interpret it. I might interpret it in a different way than the other band members. Also, it's very open. The lyrics just tell a small story, and people can get their own meaning out of it.

AC: What were some of the lyrics about?

KS: There was one lyric about a boy who was saving flies out of water, and some other lyrics about just experiencing emotions.

AC: How was the reaction to the new album in your own country as compared to Ágœtis Byrjun?

KS: The other one was more of a big hit, but the new one is more subtle. The reaction now is similar to how it is in other countries.

AC: What's your reaction to this war?

KS: I think it's just terrible. I think it's madness. It's just so weird that it has really come to this, and the logic behind it is just so far beyond the Earth. I just don't get it. I'm just really shocked.

AC: Your music is so tranquil despite being very emotional. Touring at a time like this, do you take pride in having a positive, soothing effect on people?

KS: Going into the tour, I was thinking, "Hey, I don't want to go to America if they are going to war." I was also thinking, why should the American people just go on with their lives like nothing's happening while they're invading another country?

But then I thought maybe it's good that we come and play for people. Maybe people can get something out of it, get a lift, get away from this crisis. Yeah, I think it's positive now that we're here. But I was very doubtful at first.

Also, we have this anti-war [banner] pop up on our Web site. We got mail from a guy in Washington who returned his tickets because he didn't want to come to a concert because we were Saddam lovers.

I've been told that our music releases something in people. Maybe people can come and get something out of it and clear their heads and their hearts and get a clearer opinion about things.

Sigur Rós plays the Austin Music Hall Tuesday, April 1. A very few tickets are still available.