Sindri Sigfússon of Seabear

Sindri: Hello?

Claire: Hey, this is Claire, I’m calling from The New Montreal.

Sindri: Hi, wait a second I’m gonna walk out these doors, I can’t hear anything…(lots of loud music in background)…hello?

Claire: Hey, so is now a good time for you to talk?

Sindri: Yep

Claire: Ok cool, so how are you doing today?

Sindri: I’m good thanks, how are you?

Claire: I’m good. Are you in Austin for South by Southwest still?

Sindri: Yep

Claire: How’s that been going so far?

Sindri: It’s been really fun, it’s our first time here. So it’s just fun walking around and all that.

Claire: Every one of the members of Seabear has a variety of musical projects going on, so how did the band Seabear come about?

Sindri: Well it started as my solo project and then everyone just started playing and they ended up joining the band.

Claire: Cool. So what’s it like recording with so many talented people?

Sindri: It’s nice.

Claire: (laughs)

Sindri: There haven’t been any problems yet.

Claire: That’s good

Sindri: It all depends. We record in little groups, not all at once.

Claire: That’s interesting. You also have solo recordings out on Morr Music, would you say it’s hard to balance everything in terms of time and energy?

Sindri: Sometimes, most things have a certain period of time, it’s like you release an album and then you tour for a while and then the next project. But yeah, most of the time it’s only one project at a time.

Claire: How are you handling all the exposure you’ve received since We Built a Fire came out?

Sindri: Pretty good I think.

Claire: I mean is it exciting?

Sindri: Yeah, I think so. Probably, I don’t know. It will be fun to see how it goes. We’re playing for lots of people now, it’s really fun.

Claire: It seems like Iceland just turns out one great band after another. What do you think it is that makes Icelandic musicians so appealing to international listeners?

Sindri: I think musically it’s definitely very good for some reason but I’m not sure why. And I think a lot of people just like Iceland, or kind of have a fascination with Iceland, it’s a weird place kind of. So that might be a part of it, I think it’s generally considered cool being from Iceland when you’re doing music for some reason.

Claire: Ok, we have a couple less serious questions we always ask too.

Sindri: Yep!

Claire: If you could collaborate with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?

Sindri: Tom Waits.

Claire: Tom Waits? That’s a great answer, probably one of the best answers we’ve gotten so far.

Sindri: (laughs) Yeah he’s a musical hero of mine.

Claire: What’s your favorite city to play in?

Sindri: I’ve only played New York once but I thought that was really fun, we’re playing there next week. But I think sometimes in Europe you go in with a certain expectation, that it was so fun the last time you played it. We’ve played in Europe a bunch of times, so I would have to say Vienna, in Austria. Oh my goodness. I’ve been there three times in the past 1-½ years, so I mean it’s really fun.

Claire: Oh cool! Who’s the band that you’ve most enjoyed performing with?

Sindri: I don’t know, I think I’ve played mostly shows with Seabear so probably that one.

Claire: Ok and lastly, what are your three favorite albums at the moment?

Sindri: Well I’m just gonna go with what’s on my iPod. The Yeasayer album Odd Blood.

Claire: That’s a good album.

Sindri: Yeah half of the songs I really like, but half of them I don’t like so much. And Beach House, Teen Dream. Not very original.

Claire: No it’s fine!

Sindri: And I’ve been playing Fever Ray’s album, lots of that too.

Claire: Awesome. Well thanks a lot for taking the time out, and I’ll be seeing you when you guys come up to Montreal in a week or so.

Sindri: Ok cool, see you there, thanks for calling

Claire: Alright no problem

Sindri: Bye

Claire: Bye