77 Quotes by Johann Johannsson

Give the composer time to experiment, time to try out ideas. Also, the time to fail. When the composer has very little time, the temptation is to reach for stock ideas - ideas they know will work and have worked in the past.

I'm fascinated by the ruins and remains of industrialisation.

In this post-industrial society, when we're moving away from what was the norm, we have to deal with what it has left in its wake in terms of the impact on people and the environment.

Brass bands are part of my upbringing. Brass band records were among the first records I listened to.

I am a trombone player, and that was my first instrument.

I had three older sisters whose record collections I borrowed, so I was listening to The Velvet Underground as well as Bach and brass band music.

Very early on, I started improvising. I was more interested in the music that came out of me than any music I heard.

Sometimes you write music to a script or while a film is being edited. Sometimes I write without seeing any images, but that's rare. The approach is often based on practical decisions, but I'm interested in the narrative and physical space that music can occupy in a film or play.

Brass has a very distinctive sound. It's delicate but powerful, but it's also melancholic and plaintive.