There are some stunning visual moments in ‘Arrival’ that are out of this world, but it’s all on the earth, and it’s about an academic, a woman that is dealing with a personal tragedy, but there’s a circular view of time that makes things more complicated. Johann Johannsson Read Quote
I don’t want to make light of the importance of my musical upbringing, as you cannot avoid being influenced by the area you grow up, but I will say that Reykjavik’s geography is very different from, say, New York, Paris, or Copenhagen. There’s big skies. The buildings are low. The landscape is spread out. Johann Johannsson Read Quote
I was completely fascinated by the studio process and layering sounds and creating soundscapes out of layering massive squalls of sound. Johann Johannsson Read Quote
There’s very little synthesized sound in the ‘Arrival’ score. There are a couple of synthesized beats in there, but 99 percent of the sounds in there are acoustic in origin and either played or sung by a musician or a singer and recorded in a room. Johann Johannsson Read Quote
I think that the essence of being an artist is to break rules. You have to learn rules, and you have to break them, because if you make art only by the rules, then you make very boring art. Johann Johannsson Read Quote
I think there’s very little interesting in art that is not transgressive in some way. And I don’t think that’s a very revolutionary thing to say. Johann Johannsson Read Quote
I am not very extreme in my life. But I’m very attracted to art that works with extremes and works with limits, that transgresses limits and transcends limits and crosses borders and has a certain boldness. Johann Johannsson Read Quote
I like to work with people that I find interesting and stimulating artistically, and the field in which they’re perceived to work is secondary and not that relevant to me. Johann Johannsson Read Quote
The drone is a very fundamental part of my music, although it’s not always present. Johann Johannsson Read Quote
