Bergur Þórisson

Bergur Þórisson[a] (transliterated as Thorisson; born 1993)[1][2] is an Icelandic musician, composer, and audio engineer. He is one half of the neo-classical post-rock duo Hugar, musical director for Björk, and frequent collaborator of Ólafur Arnalds.

Career

Bergur grew up in Seltjarnarnes[3] and played the trombone.[1] After graduating from Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð in 2012, Bergur was accepted into Juilliard but decided not to pursue it.[1] He took one semester of engineering at Reykjavík University.[1] Bergur joined Ólafur Arnalds in writing the music for the 2013 British TV series Broadchurch,[3] for which Ólafur was awarded the BAFTA awards.[1] Bergur then toured with Ólafur around Europe.[1]

Bergur was the audio engineer on Björk's 2017 Grammy-nominated album, Utopia, and then toured with her on stage on her Cornucopia tour.[4] Other collaborators include Sigur Rós,[5] Jóhann Jóhannsson,[5] and Arnór Dan.[3]

Bergur has a small scale production of microphones he makes by hand.[1]

Hugar

Bergur started the neo-classical post-rock[6][7] duo Hugar (meaning "minds") along with his childhood friend Pétur Jónsson in 2012.[3] Their self-titled album was published in 2014[8] and was given out for free online.[9] They signed with Sony USA[10][7] and published their second album, Varða, in 2019.[8] The band performed at Iceland Airwaves in 2017, 2018, and 2019.[8] As of 2019 the band has 50 million plays on Spotify.[10]

Bergur and Pétur wrote the score for the 2019 film The Vasulka Effect about artists Steina and Woody Vasulka.[8][11]

Notes

  1. ^ This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Bergur.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Björk Brynjarsdóttir (2014). "Bergur Þórisson". Blær (in Icelandic). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Aftur í tíma by Hugar". Records of the National and University Library of Iceland. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Dedman, Remfry (11 April 2017). "Hugar ft. Arnór Dan: Ethereal euphonies from the Nordic tundra". The Independent. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  4. ^ Ouellette, Natalie (18 April 2018). "Utopia Found: Björk's Lush New Live Show Reviewed". The Reykjavík Grapevine. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  5. ^ a b Davíð Kjartan Gestsson; Guðrún Sóley Gestsdóttir (9 October 2019). "Ævintýri líkastur tónlistarferill". RÚV. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  6. ^ Snitkjær, Christine Engel (9 August 2018). "The Architect And The Engineer: Hugar Expand Their Horizons". The Reykjavík Grapevine. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  7. ^ a b Stefán Þór Hjartarson (3 October 2018). "Hugar skrifa undir hjá Sony í Bandaríkjunum". Fréttablaðið. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d Gaitens, Josie (16 August 2019). "Mentally Sound: Hugar Back With Long-Awaited Second Album". The Reykjavík Grapevine. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  9. ^ Baldvin Þormóðsson (26 July 2014). "Gefa út plötu ókeypis á netinu". Vísir.is. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  10. ^ a b Sigrún Guðjohnsen (20 September 2019). "Lönduðu samningi við Sony |". Mannlíf (in Icelandic). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  11. ^ "Vasulka áhrifin frumsýnd í gær". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 1 November 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2020.