| Jón Þór Birgisson | |
|---|---|
Jónsi playing live in 2008 |
|
| Background information | |
| Born | April 23, 1975 |
| Origin | Iceland |
| Genres | Post-rock, ambient, baroque pop, World fusion |
| Instruments | Guitar, bass, vocals, synthesizer, organ, piano, harmonium, mellotron, banjo, ukelele, harmonica |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Associated acts | Sigur Rós Jónsi & Alex Klive |
| Website | jonsi.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson Les Paul | |
Jón “Jónsi” Þór Birgisson (pronounced [ˈjouːn ˈθouːr ˈpɪrkɪsɔn, ˈjounsɪ] ( listen)) (born April 23, 1975) is the guitarist and vocalist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is known for his use of a cello bow on guitar and his falsetto voice. He is also blind in his right eye and is openly gay.[1][2] His boyfriend Alex Somers has done much of the graphic design for Sigur Rós. They also perform together as an art collaboration called Jónsi & Alex. They released their self-titled first book in November 2006, which was an embossed hardcover limited to 1000 copies,[3] along with their first album, Riceboy Sleeps, in July 2009. Jónsi is a raw food vegan.[4]
On December 1, 2009, Jónsi's official website, jonsi.com, was launched in anticipation of his debut solo album, Go, which was released the week of April 5, 2010. After the release of the album, Jónsi promptly started a worldwide tour across North America and Europe, featuring songs from the album plus a few other selections, planning to tour from March–September.
In late January 2010, Jónsi had announced that Sigur Rós was on "an indefinite hiatus," as the band had scrapped plans for a new album previously announced to be released in 2010, saying that "they were just rumors." The band has decided to take the year off, as several members of Sigur Rós recently had children, and as Jonsi's solo career has been developing.[5]
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In 1995, Jónsi fronted a band called ‘Bee Spiders’, under the alias ‘Jonny B’. He wore sunglasses on stage throughout whole concerts. Bee Spiders received the ‘most interesting band’ award in 1995 in a contest for unknown bands called ‘Músíktilraunir’ (Music Experimentations). The band played long rock songs and was compared to The Smashing Pumpkins.[6] Jónsi also fronted a grunge band called Stoned around 1992–1993. He also uses the alias Frakkur to release his solo material, e.g. the contribution to Kitchen Motors Family Album which marks the first release under this name.
Since then, Jónsi has been the frontman for Sigur Rós since the band formed in 1994, and released their first album, Von, in 1997. The group released 4 other studio albums over the next 11 years together, until 2010 when the group announced their "indefinite hiatus," for the band members to spend some time with their families and solo careers.
Aside from his many years with Sigur Rós, Jónsi collaborated with his boyfriend Alex Somers[7] on their album, Riceboy Sleeps, under the moniker of Jónsi and Alex, which released in 2009. In April 2010, Jónsi released his first solo album, Go, and began a worldwide tour to promote the album from March–September across North America and Europe.
Jónsi recorded "Sticks and Stones" for the score to the 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon,[8] for which DreamWorks Animation released a music video on December 17, 2010.[9]
Jonsi's song "Around Us" was used to for the American promotional trailer for Hayao Miyazaki's film, "The Secret World of Arriety."
Jónsi and his boyfriend Alex Somers completed their first album together, entitled Riceboy Sleeps. The instrumental album was recorded in Iceland and played solely on acoustic instruments, with appearances by Amiina and the Kópavogsdætur choir.[10]
The 68 minute album has 9 tracks and was released July 20, 2009 on Parlophone Records.[11]
A post that appeared on the official site on May 26, 2009, stated that Jónsi was working on a new solo album that will feature predominantly acoustic music and string arrangements from classical composer Nico Muhly. The album was set to be produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, Tokyo Police Club).[12]
On December 4, 2009, a free MP3 of the track "Boy Lilikoi" was made available to mailing list subscribers through his website. The MP3 announced the title of the album to be Go and gave a worldwide release date of 'the week of April 5, 2010' through Parlophone and XL Recordings.
On April 5, 2010, as promised, the album was released in Iceland and the United Kingdom, with a worldwide release date of the following day. The album featured the tracks: "Go Do", "Animal Arithmetic", "Tornado", "Boy Lilikoi", "Sinking Friendships", "Kolniður", "Around Us", "Grow Till Tall" and "Hengilás". The album was sung mainly in English, making a change from the majority of Jónsi’s previous work, which was sung mainly in Icelandic and Vonlenska. The album charted at #20 on the UK album charts on 12 April 2010,[13] and reached #23 on the Billboard 200.
The "Go" limited edition box set also included Go Quiet, a 45 minute film, directed by Dean DeBlois (director of the Sigur Rós concert film Heima), that features all nine songs from the album performed acoustically at home in Reykjavík, over New Year 2010.
Jónsi went on tour with his album Go on the 6th of April 2010, and was until later in the summer. The tour does not include any venues within Jónsi’s home country of Iceland. Jónsi touring band includes Alex Somers on guitar, soundeffects and keyboards, Thorvaldur Thór Thorvaldsson on drums, Ólafur Björn Ólafsson on keyboards and Úlfur Hansson on bass and monome.[14]
Jónsi makes a guest appearance on Tiësto's title track "Kaleidoscope"[15] on his album of the same title which was released on October 6, 2009.
Jónsi also appears on the album "In A Safe Place," released by The Album Leaf, on the song "Over The Pond."
In 2003 he was escorted off the premises while protesting against Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Project in Iceland.[16]
Jónsi's first language is Icelandic. He also speaks English, according to the official Sigur Rós web site:[17]
On the first three Sigur Rós albums (Von, Von Brigði, Ágætis Byrjun), Jónsi sang most songs in Icelandic but two of them (“Von” and “Olsen Olsen”) were sung in ‘Hopelandic’. All of the vocals on ( ) are in Hopelandic. Hopelandic (Vonlenska in Icelandic) is the ‘invented language’ in which Jónsi sings before lyrics are written to the vocals. It is not an actual language by definition (no vocabulary, grammar, etc.), but rather a form of gibberish vocals that fit to the music and act as another instrument. Jónsi likens it to what singers sometimes do when they’ve decided on the melody, but haven’t written the lyrics yet. Many languages were considered to be used on ( ), including English, but they decided on Hopelandic. Hopelandic (Vonlenska) got its name (from a journalist, not Jónsi himself) from the first song which Jónsi sang on, “Hope” (Von).[18]
Like a few other players of bowed guitar, Jónsi plays mainly variations of the Les Paul.[19] He also plays Ibanez Les Paul copies, model PF200. The first Ibanez used to be his main instrument during the Bee Spiders era all through Ágætis Byrjun. It was largely refinished and decorated (as can be seen in Ágúst Jakobsson's documentary Popp í Reykjavík [20]). That particular instrument got stolen and broken but was on display in Reykjavík Art Museum in the summer of 2003.[21] During the recordings of "Takk..." Jónsi bought another PF200 to replace the Les Paul. Since summer 2006 Jónsi has been using a guitar that was made on the road by his then guitar tech Dan Johnson. The guitar is usually referred to as "The Bird," after the band's bird designs seen on previous album designs/artwork that adorn the neck and frets of the guitar. "The Bird" is based on the body of Ibanez PF200. He also has been seen playing a variety of other instruments, like piano, harmonium, mellotron, baritone ukulele, and the banjo.
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICL [22] |
AUS [23] |
DEN [24] |
FIN [25] |
FRA [26] |
GER [27] |
IRE [28] |
ITA [29] |
NOR [30] |
UK [31][32] |
US [33] |
|||
| 2010 | Go
|
— | — | — | — | 86 | 100 | — | — | — | 20 | 23 |
|
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Go Do
|
| 2011 | Go Out
|
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Riceboy Sleeps
|
| 2010 | Go Quiet
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Go Live
|
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| 2011 | We Bought a Zoo
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| Song | Artist | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Over The Pond" | The Album Leaf | 2004 | In a Safe Place |
| "Kaleidoscope" | Tiësto | 2009 | Kaleidoscope |
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