MIKAEL MÁNI

The music that I’m playing now, this is a love song to the bus where I got the time to listen to and get to know the music that inspired me the most

Here’s something I did a few years ago when I released my 2nd album ‘Nostalgia Machine’. This is a cover of my all time favorite song ‘Birthday’ by the Sugarcubes.

Here’s something I did even longer ago when I released my debut ’Bobby’. This feature a lot of improvisation connecting two songs together

…Also I’m playing solo guitar. I’m inspired by lyrics even though the music is instrumental

This is a song I wrote for my first solo album ‘Guitar Poetry’. The video is recorded in an old cave in Iceland. It was extremely cold but I could still forget my stiff joints when playing the song.

What Once Was was the working title for ‘Guitar Poetry’. Here I’m in the studio and at that time I didn’t even know I was going to release the album because recording it was something I decided to do spontaniously.

Innermost is 1 years old this week!

I can still recall the feeling of me and the band laying on the comfy sofa in the studio, exhausted after 3 full days of recording. But it honestly mainly felt good because the music was really singing.

It is a v

Playing at @rvkjazz was incredible! The northern lights hall (as it’s called in Icelandic) is one of the most beautiful concert halls I’ve ever seen, and we used it to its fullest. We had a special lighting for each song to catch the atmo

Hi, I’m Mikael; you're reading this because you probably have heard one of my songs. I’m a guitarist and composer from Iceland, and I like to make instrumental music that chases moods and stories from my own life. So while I have you, here are a few things about me.

My dad owned a record shop and label, so he had more than 10.000 LPs at home and was always listening. I started learning classical piano at a young age but began losing interest in it in my teens; my mom convinced me to keep going. By chance, an uncle of mine gave me an electric guitar when I was 12. Initially, I wasn’t thrilled about it and thought, “Oh no, this is another instrument I’ll have to practice every day.” But soon I fell in love with it; it became my best friend and has been since then.

I recently released ' Innermost’ with my quintet and my first solo guitar album, ‘Guitar Poetry' is coming out early 2024. ‘Innermost’ is a jazz album with cinematic soundscapes and lyrical melodies. However, 'Guitar Poetry' is an intimate album, probably my most personal one. I recorded it on a whim because I had been writing songs to process my emotions and get my confusion, happiness, sadness, and frustration in song form.

In the future, I aim to tour more and share my music with as many people as possible. In addition, I will continue playing solo guitar and with my ensemble, I'm putting new moods and stories into song form daily to share with you! So glad you’re here; I hope to see you around. (:

Albums