Ragnar Árni Ólafsson

Ragnar Árni Ólafsson is a Reykavík-born and Berlin-based experimental musician, appearing and acting variously in the capacities of guitarist, improviser and composer.

As a guitarist he explores known and unconventional playing techniques at different intersections between the composed and improvised. His current solo performance practice (and upcoming album) explore a wide range of playing techniques utilizing a single drumstick for the timbral and expressive expansion of his instrument. With this simple addition he creates a polyphonic sound world harkening toward folkloric textures and the sounds of pitched percussion, bowed instruments and more elusive timbral curiosities.

Ragnar forms one half of the performance and filmmaking duo Quantongue Lessons with long term collaborator Luke Deane. The pair explore improvisation and the creative act from the vantage points of absurdist comedy, experimental music and video art.

2026 will se the release of a series of works realized through a 3-way collaboration with composers and various older prototype LLMs. The working method of the project, dubbed Vitmót, includes a seance in which the Language Model is prompted to describe a fictional musical work, which is then realised through its human indermediators.

Ragnar has performed at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), Dark Music Days (IS) and numerous eclectic concerts and concert series in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Czechia and Portugal.

contact: ragnararni at pm dot me

portrait by Sam Walton