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My Iceland Adventure: Spákonufell
For two months earlier this year, I had the wild privilege of traveling to the small town of Skagastrond, Iceland, as a part of an artist residency. Each day, I woke up and looked out my window to see a breathtaking view of the mountain Spákonufell.
In the freezer of an old fish factory in this tiny town, I wrote and recorded my newest album — which I named “Spákonufell” for the mountain that greeted me every morning. This is also the mountain that graces my album cover in artwork by the massively talented Lena J. Fahlén. The collaborations and experiences that brought this album to life changed me and allowed me to be myself fully. Now, I am beyond excited to share them with you.
A Window Into My Journey
One of the most powerful parts of music and art is the process of creating it.
It’s that quest to capture the vastness of space or loneliness or some other feeling that an artist will try to shape from nothing. In my music, I try to capture a story, a feeling, or a moment in time.
This process can be hard to explain or share with others. But this was the beauty of my time in Iceland.
I got to be immersed in my own creative process, and I got to witness this same quest in everyone around me.
While I can’t take you back in time to be a part of my residency, I am inviting you to catch a glimpse of it during an evening filled with music and stories.
It’s an open window that lets you peek inside my journey to create each of these songs.
Who I am
The music I create with just my voice and looping violin continually evolves and changes as I explore new frontiers of sound and emotion. It can’t be pinned down to one particular style. Instead, it’s a wild fusion — blending elements of classical, pop, and electronic into a unique and mesmerizing sound.
Highlights
- Full multimedia show: Experience the album come to life with visual projections.
- Special guest performances: Joining me on stage will be talented musicians Cami Gliga | Alina Herasymenko | Beatrix Mckenzie
- Throughout the evening, I will share stories into the album’s creation — taking you on a journey through my time in Iceland and the fish factory.
I can’t wait to share this music, these collaborations, and the unique atmosphere of my album release event with you.
Please follow me on social media or visit my website for more information and updates.
Event: An Immersive Evening Featuring the Album Release of Spákonufell
Date: October 12, 2023
Time: 7:00 PM
Venue: Container Brewing
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
This album includes collaborations with
Anne Renahan | Ann Kaiser | Naakai Addy | Dylan Fitzgibbons | Linda Saul | | Damian (Parent) | Filip (Son)- Iceland | Lena Fahlén (Artist)
Joining me on stage will be talented musicians and artists who will contribute to the event’s unique atmosphere.
Cami Gliga | Alina Herasymenko | Beatrix Mckenzie
I can’t wait to share this music, these collaborations, and the unique atmosphere of my album release event with you and look forward to seeing you there!
Please follow me on social media or visit my website for more information and updates.
You are welcome to get a ticket
Astronaut or Blues Singer
On a snowy evening in Iceland, I returned home from the studio to find that AK~ had left a copy of her book, Glint, on my bed.
I sat on my small bed at midnight, listening to the wind whistling and watching the snow fall, and flipped through the book. I looked for a piece that might work as a song. I landed on a page of words where I could feel Iceland and its loneliness and isolation.
The next day, I started the bones of this song. I got AK~ to listen to ensure the poem’s integrity was not altered. Then I realized that I only took the last page of the poem. I missed the first part (that’s what happens when you do things at 2 in the morning). So I decided to layer those extra words into the background as texture in the song.
A Collaboration With Poet & Translator AKaiser And Her Poem, “Astronaut, Or Blues Singer” (Glint, Milk & Cake Press).
One morning, a group of us were talking about the birds that fly in swarms outside the fish factory and how they look like shoals of fish.
Anne mentioned a friend who had given her a necklace with a fish and how she thinks of her friend every time she sees fish. And now, when she looks at those swarms of fish-like birds, she’s also reminded of that friend.
A few days after that conversation, Anne handed me a poem. It’s a vulnerable thing to give someone a poem. Turning that poem into a song and handing it back is also vulnerable.
But I did, and it’s so beautiful.
A Collaboration With Words by Anne Renahan + Sounds of the Ocean by Dylan Fitzgibbons + Music by Lara Kroeker
You Left And Now I'm Thinking
Scavenger, Fed
Collaboration can be scary. But when Naakai reached out to me to express her interest in collaborating, it gave me the courage to express my interest in working together.
We connected on that first day, and then, a few days later, she gave me a beautiful piece of prose to work with. I started randomly playing around, singing the words, and experimenting with different rhythms and layers.
When I use other people’s words, I need to feel a connection with them. This particular set of words became a song about remaking myself. I find that I am always in the process of doing that, which is one of the reasons why I came here — to reconnect with my musical self, embrace it, and share it with others.
A Collaboration With Words By Naakai Addy + Music By Lara Kroeker
During my residency, I often stayed at the studio late. One night, Dylan and Anne came in too.
We were waiting to see the Northern lights, but it was too cloudy. So instead, we turned out the lights, and I played for them.
It’s strange to play songs that are not quite finished and perfect. They sat on the couches in the freezer as the snow fell outside. It was so lovely, and because they both understood the creative process, it was easy to repeat sections that were not quite right. The beauty was in the imperfection and that I could share with them (even though it WAS uncomfortable).
After I played one of the songs, Anne told me she found a poem in one of the snow drifts near the studio. She didn’t want to remove it, but she took a picture and sent it to me. Then, I wrote this song.
A Collaboration With Words Found By Anne Renahan + Music By Lara Kroeker
Found Words
Fly to Mars
“Fly to Mars” is a song about creating those little snippets of experiences that, when collected together, don’t make sense or even go together, but they are what make us whole.
The inspiration for the video came from Linda’s sketches of the landscape of Skagastrond. When I saw them, I knew I liked them but didn’t know exactly what to do with them. I photographed the sketches and added them all to Premiere, and it all just came together as an animated background.
I like that idea of putting together random things, and somehow, in the end, it all makes sense. The dancers don’t make sense, and they are from different genres. Still, together, they represent a life that we imagine and create for ourselves — a life that doesn’t fit together perfectly but is somehow beautiful and in sync in its awkward way.
Naakai met Damian in the local pool one afternoon and mentioned me to him.
He had noticed my equipment in the basement of Bjarmanes and wanted to see if we could play together. Of course, I said yes. I thought that he could put beats on one of my songs.
Damian moved to Skagastrond 10 years ago from Poland to work in the bait factory. He met his wife there, started a family, and created a life here. But he said that what he missed was music. And I felt that.
We experimented for a few hours one afternoon on a song (which didn’t quite work), but he asked if he could come back the next day to try out some ideas for his own rap song. When he returned, I sat beside him and helped put them into Ableton. His son came to watch for a bit, and then he sang the chorus.
A Collaboration With Damian
Damian's Song
Enjoy the Show
“Enjoy the Show” was written a long time ago in Vancouver as one of my first looping songs.
I abandoned it because I felt like it was a little too simple and silly. Since then, I have come around and finished the song while in Iceland.
It’s a song about opening your mind and being in the moment.
