Ólafur Arnalds

Given his ambient approach to music-making, it’s hard to believe that Icelandic composer and multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds started his career as a hardcore drummer. Having created a demo of “badly computerised” strings and piano for a German metal band, he was requested to further develop his ideas in that direction, igniting a career in atmospheric classical pop signified by Arnalds’ deeply emotive arrangement of strings, piano, loops and beats.

Arnalds’ Satie-inspired debut album Found Songs (2009) really captured the public’s imagination, followed by further critically acclaimed solo works, the experimental techno project Kiasmos and soundtrack scores for the hit TV show Broadchurch and more recent crime drama Defending Jacob. Operating from his newly built studio in Reykjavik, Arnalds’ latest album Some Kind Of Peace ruminates on his personal and creative growth while employing his ground-breaking Stratus piano software.

Is the piano the starting point for all of your compositions or would that be too obvious a conclusion to draw?

“I’d say that it’s equal parts piano, electronics and strings, but with this latest album it was not usually piano as the record is very string-heavy and that was often the first thing that came to mind. I’m also using my Stratus software, which I’m finding to be an inspiration machine.”

Do you have techniques to counter writer’s block or is that something you haven’t encountered yet?

“I literally have Brian Eno strategies stuck on my desk and use them, but I’ve been thinking about writer’s block a lot over the last couple of years and what it really is. In most cases, I’ve realised that when you’re in the studio and start to think that nothing is going to happen, the moment where you get that feeling of giving up is when creativity is just around the corner. The hardest part of climbing a mountain is just before the peak, right? Once you get there, you’ll see in all directions and things become clearer. That’s the biggest