Interview with Isbjörg: “ Even when you’re at your lowest, you can find the will to push through and overcome anything”

Today, we had the pleasure to ask some questions to a Danish 6-piece progressive rock band Isbjörg, who is about to release their sophomore album “Falter, Endure”. We discussed how the band came to be, and what to expect from the new album.

You have released your debut in 2019, however for many fans you remained under the radar for some time; can you please give us a short history of how Isbjorg came to be, what does the name mean?

Sure! Most of us know each other from high school and have played together in different bands back then. After high school, we started a new band together – and since we were all huge Agent Fresco fans at that time (and still are), the piano became the lead instrument. This was all back in 2015 and since then, we’ve had some lineup changes.

The band is actually named after our drummer, Frederik’s ex-girlfriend. They were still together at the time, of course! It is her middle name, and she told us that she would make us breakfast at every rehearsal if we named the band after her! And besides that, we just think the name just suits our sound, of course.

 On both debut and new albums, I can see your own style, and I admire how much you expand the boundaries of what is considered math rock. What inspired you and what shaped your style?

We found common ground in Agent Fresco, but other than that, we have very different tastes in music. Some of us come from metal, some from the musical theatre scene, some like funk, some like indie rock and so on. We try not to let ourselves become locked in a single genre, and the term math-stadium rock seemed to make sense when we listened back to our music. We like to be tech’y and experimental, but we always have the basic building blocks of melody, groove and and flow as our main goals when writing music. We want the prog/math stuff to enhance the good songwriting, not get in the way of it.

A lot of conversations around progressive music genres are trying to put it into certain boxes, which we try to avoid(Don’t be fooled by the name, we go beyond prog!) You define yourself as math-stadium rock. Can you tell us what that means for you? Frankly, I have never heard such a definition before so I am very curious to hear.

We just thought that we sounded like a math band playing stadium rock, haha. Like Coldplay in ⅞, you know!

Your debut album came out back in 2019. Why did it take 5 years to release the second album?

We started writing the album while finishing Iridescent actually. Most of the new songs came together within a couple of years, but unfortunately our former singer, Niklas, left the band just before we planned to start tracking the new album. This was at the start of 2022 and luckily we knew Jonathan from his other band Lara Luna. We contacted him immediately and he was down! But Jonathan and Niklas are very different singers and Jonathan really wanted to put his own spin on the album – which we all also encouraged him to do – so we spent a couple of years re-making the album, so that it would be Jonathan’s as well. And we are so happy that we did. We are extremely proud of the end results.

You mentioned that all 6 members of the band contribute to the music you write. What’s your approach to songwriting? Do you sit in the room all together to come up with the ideas?

We usually kickstart our writing process by going away to a vacation house for half a week or so and just come up with all sorts of ideas. We never jam together, but write music at the piano, with a guitar or by the computer. Someone comes up with some nice piano chords, someone else goes for a walk while listening to them and comes up with the melody and someone else sits at the computer and tries to piece different elements together.

This is how songs like ‘A Storm To Weather’ and ‘Afterglow’ came to be, but not all songs are written this way. Frederik, our drummer, is the main composer and producer. Some of the songs are completely his creations apart from the vocal melody and lyrics, but most of the songs are actually created by Frederik combining different ideas from all the band members. Dines, one of our guitarists, is great at coming up with math-rock type riffs and Mathias, our pianist, is great at creating epic piano pieces.

We usually then brainstorm vocal melodies together, or Jonathan records some demos at home and then it all comes together in the studio. The lyrics are mainly Jonathan.

Do you have any concept in your lyrics you are trying to follow?

“Falter, Endure” circles themes of dysfunctional relationships, self-doubt, religious reflections, loss and hopelessness, but we always strive to have a sense of hope and belief in there as well.

The title Falter, Endure reflects these themes: Even when you’re at your lowest, you can find the will to push through and overcome anything. The songs on the album describe personal conflicts where hope and despair is constantly battling, but with a sense of uplifting belief that everything will work out in the end.

Isbjorg – Band Photo

Do you plan any European tours/festivals outside Denmark?

We have three Danish shows planned to support the release, but nothing outside of Denmark yet. Maybe someday, if enough people listen to the record!

The Danish progressive scene seems to be booming in the last few years, and it’s great to see. Can you tell us a little bit about the scene? Which Danish bands would you like to tour with?

The Danish progressive scene has always been pretty small. Denmark is very much a pop-country, but VOLA has definitely made an impact on the scene and proved that youCAN break through with “weird” music. But VOLA are still not considered big here in Denmark, even though they are pretty big on the international prog scene.

If you want to play prog, you have to go beyond the Danish borders to really get noticed.

We are lucky to have some great bands supporting us at our three shows. Press To Enter and Æterbrand in Copenhagen (November 8th), Danefae and StorFølt in Aarhus (November 23rd) and, Press To Enter and Frekvent in Odense (December 14th). All great but very different bands in the alternative/progressive genre. Besides them Feather Mountain is definitely worth checking out and if you like your prog very proggy, check out Advocacy as well!

 Please tell us how we can support your band – are you planning on releasing new merch?

We just got the new album on vinyl! Limited to 100, so of course we hope that people want to buy that – we’ll be setting up pre-orders very soon! Besides vinyls we just got some new t-shirt made as well. All of this can of course be purchased at our shows but they will soon be available at https://isbjorg.bandcamp.com/ as well!

Anything you want to add or share with our readers? Can be anything really!

Peace!

We would like to thank Isbjörg for your time and we are really excited to feature you on Progspace. We are hoping to see you on the road!