Mikael Máni

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

I started playing music at an early age learning classical piano. My dad owned a record shop and label, so he had more than 10.000 LPs at home and was always listening to music. (It was often very experimental music which I didn’t like too much as a kid). I started losing interest in the piano in my early teens, but my mom convinced me to keep going. Having two older sisters who had also been in music school, my mom took our education seriously and always supported and encouraged my musical upbringing.  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 very quickly, I fell in love with it, and it became my best friend and has been since then. I remember when my dad showed me a live performance of ‘Heartbreaker’ by Led Zeppelin and learning Jimmy Page’s solo on that song changed my life.

These days I’m focusing even more on composition than guitar playing. I have two albums coming out under my name this year. My third album featuring my quintet, ' Innermost,’ and my first solo guitar album, ‘What Once Was! ‘Innermost’ is a jazz album with cinematic soundscapes and lyrical melodies. It features some of my best friends, in my highly subjective opinion, some of the best musicians in the world. But, on the other hand, what Once Was is an intimate album, probably my most personal one. I decided to record it quite spontaneously because I had been writing many songs to process my emotions and get my confusion, happiness, sadness, and frustration in song form.

In the future, I aim to tour more in Europe and the states and share my music with as many people as possible. In addition, I will continue playing with my ensemble and solo guitar and am putting new moods and stories into song form daily to share with you!

So glad you’re here, hope to see you around. (: