Catching Up With... Teitur

Paste: Tell me about writing and recording The Singer. What was your main inspiration?
Teitur: The picture on the cover of the disc pretty much set the tone. It is a cartoon character standing inside of a dollhouse. We also recorded the album in a real dollhouse of sorts-- it was in the summer residence of a Swedish princess in 1860s on the island of Gotland. It is now a summer hotel run by my mother-in-law. All the antiques are still there and it still feels like a Royal Victorian summerhouse. The title song of the album The Singer was the first song that paved the way for the rest of the album material.

Paste: How did you record it?
Teitur: We shipped a lot of gear from Copenhagen to Gotland-- this island in the Baltic Sea where we recorded. We set up the gear in the concert hall and stayed in the villa. My friends came by to make food and hang out. There was a lot of preparation. I worked on the arrangements with my arranger for many months before we did the actual recordings. Then the musicians came to Gotland and we also used some of the local musicians on Gotland. Like a local brass ensemble, a woman's choir and some woodwind players.

Paste: How many instruments do you play? Do you have a favorite?
Teitur: I play most instruments that have strings or keys on them. My violin playing is not that great though. My main instruments are guitar and piano. I enjoy writing on the piano mostly, because it can make the most of sounds. It's much easier to travel with laptop and guitar, so I work on those when I travel.

Paste: How did you get into music?
Teitur: I started to become seriously interested in my early teens. I have always played music as far as I can remember. My father used to play the organ in church when I was small and my mother sang in a band in her younger years, so there was lots of music around. On the Faroe Islands, where I am from, music is everywhere in people's homes.

Paste: When did you write your first song?
Teitur: I wrote a lot of instrumental music on my keyboard when I was small, but the first song I wrote with lyrics and all was when I was around 13. It was a song about my sister. The first good song I wrote and still play is called "I Was Just Thinking." I wrote it when I was 17.

Paste:Tell me about where you're from. How did that environment influence your songwriting?
Teitur: Imagine [what] the Shire in The Lord of the Rings looks like. That's pretty much the Faroe Islands. Google it, and you will be amazed that this place actually exists. And everyone here feels like they found the ring and brought it back themselves. I got into songwriting from playing guitar when other people sang. Mostly as a teen at drinking parties in the weekends.

Paste: Who taught you to play?
Teitur: My cousin gave me my first guitar. I loved playing along to records when I was small. I am self-taught.

Paste: How do you think people of different backgrounds will relate to your music?
Teitur: Everyone can relate to any type of music once they get to know it. Just depends whether they are interested or not. I have fans all over the world very much because I have toured quite a lot. I used to tour in America more than in Europe. I just did a tour in April and May in the States. I find that people respond to music no matter where they are from. I assume that people are relating to my songs since I play more than a hundred shows every year.

Paste: What is your ultimate musical goal?
Teitur: I don't have a particular goal with my music other than to be able to express myself to my best ability and get to know music better. It used to be just to be able to make music. Now that I have been making a living of it since I was a teenager, I just want to learn more and have fun at the same time. This summer I am performing at Roskilde Festival on the main stage in front of 70,000 people. I had never in my life imagined this would happen. I guess that my goals are not to expect anything and just to play music. It's full of surprises and it has been very rewarding for me. I also love making new friendships with music. I have just started to work with Nico Muhly, a young American composer, who is very inspiring.

Paste: What made you do a cover of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire"?
Teitur: I was writing a song about schizophrenia and started to play "Great Balls of Fire" real slowly in the key of minor. It was spooky how the words took on a new meaning.