Further Information

In late 2016 Magnús Þór Sigmundsson rang up one of Árstíðir's founding member Daníel Auðunsson. Magnús told him he had woken up that same morning convinced he needed to record a new song with the band. The song that Magnús was referring to - "Ein róandi" - he had composed few days earlier and he thought it would fit perfectly to the vocal sound of Árstíðir.

Soon after they rehearsed the song together, a good friendship formed between Magnús and the band, and they started to try out more songs. They felt they had created something special with this collaboration and eventually decided to do a whole album together. The result is "Garðurinn minn," an album with previously unreleased songs written by Magnús Þór.

For those of you reading this who don't live in Iceland and are not familiar with Magnús Þór Sigmundsson and his music, then we should perhaps add a few words about him: Magnús is a living songwriting-legend in Iceland who has been writing music and performing for nearly 50 years. He has written some of the most beloved songs this nation has, and his music is know by every living Icelander.

Of course Magnús has always been a hero of the members from Árstíðir who grew up on his music. When Árstíðir began playing ten years ago one of the inspirations was Magnús’s old band from the 70’s "Magnús og Jóhann" - a band that mastered vocal harmonies, much like Simon & Garfunkel and CSN, and it was ultimately the shared love for vocal harmonies that eventually led Árstíðir and Magnús together.

To make matters more interesting, the aim with this album, "Garðurinn minn," was to make it the way things were done "back in the days." No fancy studio-tricks, no click-track and no tuning or "fixes in the mix." Every song and every note had to be caught in the moment and feeling would always override any technical detail. Magnús had quite strong opinions on the matter, and Árstíðir were happy to learn from the master.

To capture the magic the album was recorded live in studio Sundlaugin in Mosfellsbær (the old studio of Sigur Rós), with all instruments recorded at the same time. Most songs on the album were recorded in 1 or 2 takes. No song got more than 3 takes. To help make the magic happen were keyboardist Tómas Jónsson and drummer Magnús Örn Magnússon. Both were instrumental in creating the feeling crafted in the studio, which is what you hear on the album.

Additional recordings and mixing took place in Hveragerði in the home of Magnús. The backing vocals were recorded with all three members of Árstíðir singing into one microphone at the same time. Like everything else concerning this process the mood and the energy in the recording session was the most important thing. And the band and Magnús would often spend more time talking about life and feelings than working, only to hit the record button when the feeling was just right.

During this process several of their musician friends dropped by and and lent their talent: Matthías Hlífar Mogensen, Kristján Kristjánsson, Unnur Birna Björnsdóttir, Björn Þórarinsson og Sigurður Halldórsson, as well as Magnús’s children Aðalsteinn Magnússon & Þórunn Antonía Magnúsdóttir.

Lastly the album was mixed in Magnús's livingroom by Christopher Omartian, while Magnús's grandchildren ran around, dogs barked and chickens - from the garden - occasionally peeked inside. The title "Garðurinn minn" means "My Garden."

Not many albums are made this way these days, which makes this a special one, and one that we are very happy with and extremely proud of.

The aim of this crowdfunding is to recuperate some of the money we spent on recording equipment, studio rentals, and the cost of mixing and mastering. Also this will help us pay for the printing of CDs and vinyls.

We're very grateful to all of you to help us make this happen!

The goal of this crowdfunding is to recuperate the cost spent recording equipment, studio rentals, mixing and mastering, as well as to finance the printing of the album on CD and Vinyl.

Timeline for this crowdfunding:
Mixing and mastering is underway, and will be ready by the end of September.
The album will be printed in October, and be ready to send out in the beginning of November.
Vinyls usually take longer to print, so these will be sent out by the end of this year.

All tiers for CD and vinyl also include a digital download of the album.