Somewhere between navigating the global pandemic, becoming a father and riding his personal rollercoaster, Arnór Dan Arnarson — the frontman of energetic prog-rock band Agent Fresco — vanished from the music scene. Seeking to reset and reinvent himself, he began practising yoga and breathwork, gradually turning that into his primary source of income while music faded into the background.
“A lot of people have asked me where the hell have I been and what’s been going on,” he says when we chat a few weeks before his first concert in a really long time. “I haven’t been on stage for four years. The gig at Iceland Airwaves is sort of my return to the stage.”
Arnór Dan, 39, musician
I’m a singer and musician. I worked a lot with the music business back in 2020 right before Covid. When the pandemic hit, I was becoming a dad and, at that moment, I just felt so disconnected from everything. I needed to unplug and reset.
Now, I’m in a great position where I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing, I think. I’m a juggler and I know many people connect with that — I’m not a nine-to-five kind of guy. I can do it, I can do it intensely, but I like having a lot of things going on and being a part of many communities. Man, my LinkedIn is ridiculous right now. I’m an educated life coach, a Yin Yoga teacher, a Reiki healer and a 9D breathwork facilitator. I help people go through breathwork journeys and give them the tools to get in touch with their own selves, regulate their emotions and thrive as themselves in modern society.
I combine that in a hybrid kind of way. I do some shifts as a counsellor for a company called Klettabær, for instance. We work with people who need support to live as normal a life as possible, whether short or long-term. I also do group sessions focused on breathwork and private sessions for people who want to combine breathwork with coaching. You know, whatever I needed to learn when I crashed back in 2020 — I’m just using that in my work.
Lessons lived
I’ve always been a very open and emotional kind of guy, so I guess the gift of that is that people feel like they’re allowed to be who they are around me. I feel good being in my own body and with my own emotions, and I want to help people if I sense there’s some kind of struggle going on. After Covid and some personal struggles, I realised that I’m not as connected as I thought I was. What I mean is that I wasn’t really in line with my values. Who am I? What do I want to do? What are my talents and gifts? Where am I? I’ve been trying to force things I thought were good for me instead of allowing things to evolve.
Everything I’m doing today has helped me a lot at some point in my life. That’s why it’s so easy for me. It’s such a nice state of flow, it’s just natural.
Scheduling shenanigans
The mother of my child and I separated a year ago, so we have alternating weeks with our daughter, which took a lot of time to accept, embrace and adapt to — now I’m just really trying to figure it out. How do I make things work? For me, it’s just the difference between the weeks of me being a dad with my girl and being here with my other girl, Kíra [Arnór’s dog]. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s intense. It’s an emotional ride to schedule everything. Your kid could be sick for maybe three days and then you have to rearrange everything, such as private sessions at my home, the office, or the studio. The last year has been a lesson in just fucking allowing things to be as they are and just going with the waves.
Music used to be my main source of income six or seven years ago, until the Sony job started [Arnór used to be the A&R and business manager for Sony Music Iceland before the branch closed down]. Now it feels like we’re going back again into music being hopefully a bigger income. There are so many projects; the band will be releasing our third album, which was put on hold in 2020. It’s been a long time, but time flies when you have a baby and start completely resetting everything in your own life.
My favourite thing about what I do is the connection, the community, the heart growing bigger every time. I know I’m doing the right thing and it’s supporting me in everything I do, whether in my personal life or music. My least favourite is, of course, scheduling. I’m still getting used to it. Also, financial stability gets a little bit rocky. I’m not employed 100% anywhere, so finding projects is my own responsibility. But at the same time, I wouldn’t change it for anything. This is where I thrive, it’s just a part of the game! Most of the time, when I felt a little bit stressed about income, I could flip it over. It’s a great way to get focused or more disciplined.
Connecting with your inner self
I had to unplug music for a while to realise how fucking important it was.
I am treating the performance at Fríkirkjan at Iceland Airwaves as a celebration of what has helped me. It’s going to be a combination of honouring the past, playing some of that music, and playing some of the new stuff as well. It’s a celebration of getting back on stage and embracing the gifts I’ve received in the form of collaborations, and being able to perform, sing and write music.
I’ve come to realise that you need to take care of yourself. Everything is going to be alright. Everything will be in its own time, but trying to create, love and connect in a state of stress — when a nervous system is just running on fumes, thinking you need to do and do and do — won’t work. Be with your feelings. Be with sadness. Learn to slow the fuck down. Whatever gets you there — whether that’s meditation, walking, connecting with people, breathwork, or alternative medicine — whatever you need to do to connect to yourself so you can slow down, figure out who you really are, what your values are, and where you’re abandoning yourself. The rest will follow.
Catch Arnór Dan at Fríkirkjan on Nov. 8. He hits the stage at 19:50 as part of the Iceland Airwaves official programme.
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