Virgin Orchestra’s LET IT BURN EP is a lush, orchestral record that fuses post-punk and electronic elements with orchestral strings. Through interviews, profiles, and by the nature of the music itself, I suspected they might have an interesting set of inspirations.
I’m not disappointed!1 Below, Starri, Stef and Rún from Virgin Orchestra each take us through some of their inspirations – including a classic novel by Knut Hamsun, the classic post-punk of The Birthday Party, and the orchestral classics of Krzysztof Penderecki and Dmitri Shostakovich (who I recently learned of thanks to Julian Barnes).
Many thanks to Starri, Stef and Rún for taking the time to put this together.
Starri Holm – guitar
Rowland S. Howard
Rowland has been my biggest inspiration when it comes to guitar playing. The dirtiness and simplicity of his guitar lines immediately drew me in when I first heard The Birthday Party and I am still to this day so impressed by all of those wild sounds he could make with his guitar using only two pedals. He also just had this ability to seamlessly shift from the wildest, pure chaos style of playing into incredibly elegant and heart-wrenching beauty.
Everything from The Birthday Party to his solo work in his later years is just a constant source of inspiration for me.
David Lynch
I don’t think there is anything I can say that hasn’t been said about the works of Lynch a million times. The way he combines mystery, surrealism, psychological horror and quirky humour is something that can never be copied by anyone. His works have often served as inspiration for me in the sense that they present such interesting ideas and concepts and so I feel inspired to think outside the box and really pursue some wild ideas.
Krzysztof Penderecki
My favourite classical composer by far. He was very prolific and there was huge variety in his compositions but I am always drawn to his darker pieces like Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima. When I first heard it, it really broadened my perspective on what classical music could be as this piece doesn’t sound anything like what I had previously believed classical music sounded like. He has been a big influence on me when composing for classical ensembles and such.
Cheap/broken instruments
I have a small collection of instruments that I bought specifically because they were cheaply made or broken. I often feel that if I get stuck during songwriting it helps to pull out one of those instruments and see if it lights some spark. I really like it because those instruments will have their own unique character or sound that a higher quality instrument won’t have and it can often serve as the basis for a song.
Stefanía Pálsdóttir – bass and vocal
My grandfather’s old kind-of-broken boombox
I inherited it when I was a kid. It was big and sounded great but had some of the wiring messed up. Therefore it only played left or the right side of stereo records, which made my dads Beatles collection sound fascinating. I think that boombox really laid the foundation of my appreciation for layers and the building blocks of a soundscape.
More distorted Beatles
I found this 11 minute sample/remix of I Am The Walrus on the internet when I was twelve or something. I was obsessed, it was the greatest thing I had ever heard. I believe it was the first time I really felt music consciously. Perhaps it also stuck this much in my memory because my dad told me to “turn this shit off”.
(this isn’t the same remix, but it’s a pretty good one – Hugh)
Courtney Love and Hole
That female rage. No more words are needed here.
Resistance and Rebellions
They give me hope for the future. Free Palestine.
Rún Árnadóttir – cello
Viktoria by Knut Hamsun
I collect this book called Viktoria by Knut Hamsun. I have around twenty copies of various translations, mostly in Icelandic. It gives me great inspiration. The subtlety of language and the soft approach to pure existence gives me a true feeling of beauty. It’s a love story but has this humane aspect to being. It’s a bit dark and gloomy at times. Some of the copies I have are early releases, the oldest one is from 1914. My favourite copy is one that had been bound again by a previous owner, and I have scribbled into a lot.
Dmitri Shostakovich
A soviet-era Russian composer. Fascinating in so many ways, making music with ironic expression in the face of the authority, coloured with deeply felt tragedy and fear. I could spend hours looking at the sheet music and listening, it has a hold on me I can not explain.
(Note: Symphony No. 5 is often cited as the best place to start with his music. Here’s a gorgeous full-length performance – Hugh)
About Virgin Orchestra
Virgin Orchestra is an experimental post-punk band from Reykjavík. The band combines post-punk with electronic music, dreampop and noise. The members’ diverse backgrounds lends the band a unique sound – the combination of the live instruments of guitar, cello, bass and vocals; along with programming and experimental soundscapes.
Review: LET IT BURN
Listen: LET IT BURN
What’s Your Backstory?
“The Backstory” is a feature where artists share the things that shaped them. I’d love to hear what’s influenced you and your work. If you’d like to share your own story, reach out.
