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By: Stuart Benjamin
Icelandic emo-rockers Agent Fresco have set something of a new standard for emotionally engaging metal. First with A Long Time Listening, and now with new album Destrier (both of which are well worth your attention), they’ve raised the bar for other bands who aspire to produce angsty anthemic rock. Common in both albums is an honest and open wearing of emotions on their collective sleeves and the bravery to engage with the dark under-currents of our psyche. With the new album in the can and a tour on the cards Arnór Dan Arnarson from Agent Fresco joins Echoes and Dust in the psychiatrist’s chair to talk about music, emotion, and The Mars Volta.
(((o))): We really enjoyed A Long Time Listening and are looking forward to Destrier – how is Destrier different from the last album?
Arnór: For me personally, it’s first and foremost the lyrical themes and emotions. A Long Time Listening was a conceptual album dealing with the loss of my father, so I explored the grief and tried to create something beautiful out of it. Destrier on the other hand, was written while I was dealing with a lot of anger and anxiety, so I experience the album more lyrically aggressive and dark when comparing it to A Long Time Listening. Tóti also explored some really interesting rhythmical and harmonic ideas that we then combined with the lyrical theme of the Destrier. I know that we’ve continued to push some emotional and musical boundaries with Destrier and hopefully it just sounds like a natural and experimental step forward for us as a band.
(((o))): Would you say the new record is darker in tone?
Arnór: We consciously worked with a lot of opposites and contrasts for Destrier, so in no way is it a completely dark album. That being said, I definitely feel like this was a very difficult and dark album to create. In hindsight it just got way out of hand with the whole, me trying to explore angst and anger and desperately trying to use devastation as a mean of creation. It was just, psychologically an unstable and self-destructive period of time, I also always lost my voice during the first few takes of a recording and was just not feeling on top of my game. So yeah, I definitely experience this album as dark, but there’s always hope and there’s always beauty.
(((o))): The emotional spark for the record was the attack on you three years ago. Does the new record also reflect wider conflicts in our world?
Arnór: The attack was definitely the catalyst, but I’m only dealing with that incident head on during ‘See Hell’, where I flirt with the act of revenge. I just originally wanted this album to be a way for me to animate and get close to the violent and destructive emotions, understand them and then let them go, but I ended up realising that it’s just not the way it works. It’s our own modern society that has created taboos and failed procedures in how to deal with certain natural emotions and actions. For one, a far more open conversation and focus on mental health are desperately needed. But yes, there are other wider conflicts that are addressed on Destrier, such as violence and war. We as human beings can be quite the fucking poison to this earth and each other and I wanted to explore this further, aaaaand now I’m angry again, haha.
(((o))): Reading about the creative processes for both albums it seems they are based on deeply felt personal experiences – how easy/difficult is it to connect those experiences with those of your listeners?
Arnór: I’m pretty much an open book, so I always take the time during our electric and acoustic sets to talk about the stories behind the songs. I’ve just returned from performing at UK Tech Fest and the amount of hugs and talks that I shared with other people regarding the loss of lives or violent experiences were overwhelming. Music can be such a powerful way to connect with people and I’m incredibly flattered that people give us their attention and open up to me. Just amazed.
(((o))): At Echoes and Dust we’re very interested in the therapeutic value of music (see here), or to use Cruz’s phrase about art, it should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. Do you see this concept at work in your own creative process?
Arnór: That’s such a great way to describe art! I couldn’t agree more.
(((o))): Many Icelandic bands cite the natural wonder of your home-country as an inspiration for their music – how does that inspire you, but also, what about it is unique for you?
Arnór: I’m raised in Denmark, so the main thing that affects me mentally in Iceland are the summers of non-stop light and winters of almost complete darkness and I still find the midnight sun to be an absolutely stunning scenery, if not my favourite. So yes, the nature is breathtaking, but I sadly most admit that it doesn’t serve as any inspiration for the lyrical themes for Agent Fresco, at least not consciously and I know that the same thing goes with Tóti, who writes almost all of the instrumental parts of our music. Kinda sounds like we have no soul and don’t appreciate nature. Sorry about that!
(((o))): When I first heard A Long Time Listening it made me think of The Mars Volta – are you guys fans? What music influences you? The Mars Volta strike me as another deeply-emotionally engaged band with a massive, inventive, heroic sound like yours.
Arnór: Thanks for making me go through their entire catalogue, I really mean it, it’s been a long time since I last really listened to The Mars Volta. But At the Drive-In were a major influence, when I was younger. I loved the fury that they brought, so I remember being devastated when they decided to split up, but out of that came two wonderful bands, The Mars Volta and Sparta. I remember the time one of my best friends and I went to their show at Vega in Copenhagen. They hadn’t even released Deloused in the Comatorium, only an EP, so we didn’t really know what to expect and we were absolutely blown away. Back to your question though, I can’t speak on behalf of my boys though, don’t know how much they’ve been influenced by this band, but I’ve been thinking a lot about influences, like why did I connect to certain types of music, even though they’re all madly scattered on a musical scale and I think I just always chased music that evoked strong emotions. Music that sounded honest and forward thinking. I’ve just always had an intimate relationship to music and treated it as a companion rather as some kind of entertainment.
(((o))): Your lyrics are very abstract, how do you think their abstract nature makes a connection between you and your audience?
Arnór: I admit that my lyrics aren’t written in a direct manner. It just never fascinated me as a listener nor as a songwriter. I use a hell of a lot of mythical and religious allusions, I love creating a layer of imagery and you’ll find poetic references here and there as well, but I believe that by doing that, I’m giving the listener an opportunity to experience the songs in a more unique kind of way.
(((o))): Which other lyricists do you admire?
Arnór: I would have to go with The Blood Brothers. The lyrics just had everything that I loved. They were thought provoking, fun, perverted and political at the same time. Hot damn, I love them.
(((o))): Music is one thing that can bring a fractured humanity together, while there is music do you think there is hope for humanity?
Arnór: I fucking hope so!
(((o))): Are you looking forward to touring the new record? What are your plans for touring it?
Arnór: We’ve got a very short run coming up in September in Germany around the Reeperbahn Festival, but we’ll be doing a European Tour in November and December. Yes, we look very much forward to do the shows, it’s been far too long since our last run in Europe and I’m eagerly hoping that we can visit countries and continents that we haven’t had the chance to visit before. Fingers, toes and eyes crossed!
(((o))): Are you already thinking about album number three, or will you give yourselves some time off now? (But hopefully not another 5-years, we’re greedy to hear more)
Arnór: As much as I want to write a new album right away, I feel like I’m still recovering from Destrier. We just also need to focus on promoting Destrier and do the live shows justice, plenty of work to do! We’ll know what we want to do with the next album early next year.
(((o))): Finally, dumb question time, where does the name Agent Fresco come from? Was there an actual Agent Fresco? Is he like the Icelandic James Bond?
Arnór: The music animates the name, so no need to answer this question. Thanks for reaching out to us!
