Lithium Magazine

By Laurie Lonsdale

www.teitur.com

Teitur, an accomplished singer/songwriter from the Faroe Islands, quickly made his mark among his peers, including John Mayer, Aimee Mann, and Suzanne Vega, and has gone on to prove that music isn’t his only talent. With a flair for drawing and art and a DIY knack for music business procedures, he has carved out an amazing career that spans far and wide. A new album called “Let The Dog Drive Home” is set to drop on January 31st, and a tour to hype the release will follow, including a Toronto appearance at The Great Hall on March 6th. I recently had the opportunity to ask Teitur a few questions about his music, both past and present, as well as what is to come, and received some interesting and thought-provoking answers.

Laurie: From the Faroe Islands and Copenhagen, Denmark, you were thrust into two very different locations to record your first album, Poetry and Aeroplanes – the chaotic locale of LA and exotic locale of Spain. How easy was it for you to adapt, and why were such polar opposites chosen for the recording process?

Teitur: By the time we started recording my album I had travelled between LA and Europe lots of times because of my publisher and label being based there, so it seemed kind of natural for me to make the record that way. Rupert Hine, my producer, was also based in LA and owned a studio in Spain.

Laurie: Did you find it odd that the songs weren’t picked up for regular radio airplay, but instead were optioned for movie soundtracks, like My Super Ex-Girlfriend and Aquamarine? Were you disappointed by the lack of radio interest?

Teitur: Many artists craft their music and production to fit the mainstream and especially radio. I never did and never will. So personally, I've never felt any disappointment in radio stations, although probably my labels and manager have. I'm only happy that my music has landed wherever it did, and for the most part it's because I have played many shows in front of an audience. When it comes to movie soundtracks, it's as much the credit of the people who work for you to make this happen. Musically, there is not so much of a difference between sweet-voice-A-with-guitar and sweet-voice-B-with-guitar as the backdrop to a scene. I just write music. The music business is very random, money driven, and full of surprises. I want things to find their own way and I believe they usually do.

Laurie: Yet despite the lack of airplay, you certainly received praise from your peers, including some pretty positive words from John Mayer. Were you surprised that your music was touching other artists?

Teitur: Yes, that was surprising. John Mayer was very cool to me and without him I would not have reached as many people, especially in North America where he invited me on tour. I went straight from playing small clubs to opening arenas.

Laurie: I understand that you name your guitars, two of which are Arlo and Betty and formed the name of your record label. What inspired you to name your guitars, how do you decide what to name them, and what other names do you have and use?

Teitur: Both of my guitars I got in California, so for me they are Californian. I have a sort of Californian mom, who is my old publisher, and she was the one who started naming them. I would often have them lying around in her house in Santa Monica. Other than that, I don't really name things. My dog is called Dexter, like Dexter Gordon, the American saxophone player who based himself in Copenhagen. My piano does not have a name. It would complicate things. Arlo and Betty and...? Joe?

Laurie: Cute! Yeah, I guess there really is room for only two names on a product or brand name, otherwise yes, it does get complicated…… unless of course you’re naming a law office. After your first album, you parted ways with Universal Music as you label and formed Arlo and Betty Records. What were some of the negatives and positives of letting go of the support of a major label and striking out on your own?

Teitur: The good part was that I could judge for myself what music I wanted to share and play every night, what path I wanted my career to follow. The bad part was losing all the hard work and the people I had worked with who were great…… and the lawyer bills – I’m still working on those. I'm fine with it all today. I made it through and I've made a nice career for myself.

Laurie: Certainly congrats are in order, and indeed it is an era of DIY for artists given that the industry has changed so much. Luckily for you, you knew how. Okay then, amid such success for your first two albums, what made you return to your homeland to do your third album entirely in the Faroese language?

Teitur: The Faroese records were just a pile of Faroese songs that grew. So I felt I should record them and release them, simple as that. It was not a business strategy.

Laurie: You’ve collaborated with several different artists over the years. If you had your chance to collab with absolutely anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?

Teitur: I'm boring in that respect. No one really springs to mind. It's always very random. I like working with my circle of friends and the people that I meet. I'd love to have coffee with Ravel, Jesus, Leonard Cohen, and Jonathan Franzen, but I can't figure out what we'd do together as a collaboration. And they would never answer my calls. (Laughs)

Laurie: For your most recent album, Let the Dog Drive Home, again you returned to Copenhagen to record it. Given the success of your first album recorded in LA, where I’m sure you made plenty of industry connections, what caused you to go back to Copenhagen instead of giving LA another try……… ironically when one of the songs is titled ‘You Never Leave LA”?

Teitur: It struck me that I had never recorded an album in my home environment. I had also made a decision to travel less. To work in a base that you know well is a good way to open up the environment even more. Also, for me it makes more sense to sing "You Never Leave LA" when I'm not in Los Angeles. That's what the song is about - that it will always stay inside you, no matter where you go.

Laurie: What inspired the songs on Let the Dog Drive Home?

Teitur: I tried to write an album about letting go, about letting things happen, about making everything simpler. I wanted it to be more middle-of-the-road, with a more at-ease pulse, partly because I was tired of singing about funerals and death in my previous and very intense album "The Singer". I did try and channel what I call "Night Radio Music" or driving music. You know, the kind of music that you play when everybody's asleep but you. When it's just you in your car and the lights are out. For me it was a break - a time out.

Laurie: Is there a particular song off this album for which you are most fond, or most proud?

Teitur: I like them all. Every time I record a song I make sure that I'm fine with playing it over and over for 30 years. It's fun to play "Freight Train" on the guitar and I like playing "All I Remember From Last Night" on piano. Some of the songs like "Very Careless People" I can't really play live because of the instrumentation. I've never worked out a solo piano version, it wasn't meant for that. Normally, my goal is to write the songs in such a way that you can play it on a plate with a fork and sing it. That's when it's a good song. Arrangement is something different.

Laurie: You developed the cartoon dog character that accompanies the album, on the cover art, in the video, etc. What inspired that particular drawing? Do you draw a lot? Would you say it’s another aspect of your creative outlets, or were these drawings a one-time thing? What other characters have you created?

Teitur: I've drawn artwork for all my albums, but on the recent one it's more out in front. The drawings were a way of tying the songs together as a journey. I often make little drawings with the lyrics that I write, to illustrate the scene or the mood. I used to draw a lot when I was a kid and I made cartoons for my school magazine on the Faroe Islands. When I am at home I sometimes sit down and draw, to wind down. It takes me forever to make something decent. Comic strips remind me a lot of songwriting - how three little pictures can say it all. It's storytelling in its minimal form. I just love pictures in any form, still or moving, to capture things and explain them.

Laurie: That album is now over a year old, so are you writing again and preparing for the next record as you’re currently still touring or will you take some time off to rest once this tour is complete?

Teitur: I always write, even when I am on tour and on holiday. I could never understand those who can just take a week off to write their next record. I wish I could do that. I would probably freak out, because of the pressure. Maybe I should try it. My whole life is based around writing and I feel like doing it everyday. It's literally the best thing I know. You need to have time, sure, but that's really all you have. I try to make sure that I have space all the time, or else the songs are shitty. You can even write when you're walking or when you're waiting for something. I'll clear my schedule after a tour. That's usually when I edit all the dispersed stuff I write on tour. Then I figure out if there is anything good and go from there. Usually, I'm working on numerous songs at a time. Then I document the best ones and move on. I write everything into scores and try to find the essence, the song itself, the words, the melody, and the minimal defining accompaniment. From there you can arrange them into all sorts of styles depending on what album or project you want to make. When I make a record I have lots to chose and edit from. I've also started to write longer songs. At the moment I am working on a 30-minute song for The Netherland Wind Ensemble. We'll perform it in the Netherlands in November.

Laurie: Interesting! What do you see in store for your career in five to ten years from now – more of the same, or would you like to steer your talent in another direction?

Teitur: It's always been the same direction for me. I'm not going to change course, because I'm not there yet and there is no turning around when you have come this far into it. I feel like I can finally begin to express myself clearly. My main priority is to get better all the time. That's also the best investment I can make as a creator and artist. It just involves a lot of writing, practising and studying. I have composer friends who I collaborate with and converse with about stuff and I challenge myself a lot with taking on projects that I find will make me grow as a writer and artist. I think I'm pretty good, but I will only become really good when I am much older because of experience. I feel like I am still in school, but I am extremely ambitious when it comes to music. Storytelling and music only gets more and more exiting the deeper you get into it. I'm trying to write the music that only I can write.

Laurie: Do you have something in particular that you would like your fans to know, or perhaps a final thought you would like to wrap up this interview with?
Teitur: Only that I am really happy to come back and play in Canada. I have so many great memories from my previous years when I used to come over a lot. It's been a while now and I'm happy if there are still fans. I just told my mom that I was going back to North America to play for the two fans I had left there. She said, “That's really nice”.