Two Beats Ahead Live! Is a podcast inspired by the book of the same name, “Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About innovation.” In the book my co-author and I look into the musical minds of entrepreneurial artists and creators like Pharrell, T Bone Burnett, Imogen Heap and Hank Shocklee. When I moved to Iceland I was blown away by the ingenuity and creativity of so many people I met. They all could have been in our book too! This podcast felt like the best way to share their stories with the world.
Two Beats Ahead Live! Is recorded in front of—you guessed it—live audiences in Iceland. Recording in nontraditional spaces creates an immediate energy that a quiet studio just can’t deliver. The trade off is that you may occasionally hear a passing car, a crying baby or even some microphone interference. But these sounds only add to the vibe and never get in the way of the conversation.
If you want to learn more about the creative process, and how creative mindsets lead to entrepreneurial behaviors, then this podcast is for you. And of course, check out our book too, written by me, R. Michael Hendrix, the former Global Design Director of IDEO, and Panos A. Panay, president of the Recording Academy, presenter of the GRAMMYs.
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Two Beats Ahead Live! Is a podcast inspired by the book of the same name, “Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About innovation.” In the book my co-author and I look into the musical minds of entrepreneurial artists and creators like Pharrell, T Bone Burnett, Imogen Heap and Hank Shocklee. When I moved to Iceland I was blown away by the ingenuity and creativity of so many people I met. They all could have been in our book too! This podcast felt like the best way to share their stories with the world.
Two Beats Ahead Live! Is recorded in front of—you guessed it—live audiences in Iceland. Recording in nontraditional spaces creates an immediate energy that a quiet studio just can’t deliver. The trade off is that you may occasionally hear a passing car, a crying baby or even some microphone interference. But these sounds only add to the vibe and never get in the way of the conversation.
If you want to learn more about the creative process, and how creative mindsets lead to entrepreneurial behaviors, then this podcast is for you. And of course, check out our book too, written by me, R. Michael Hendrix, the former Global Design Director of IDEO, and Panos A. Panay, president of the Recording Academy, presenter of the GRAMMYs.
Haraldur Thorleifsson on Understanding a Creative Identity
Two Beats Ahead Live!
46 minutes 10 seconds
6 months ago
Haraldur Thorleifsson on Understanding a Creative Identity
In this episode, Michael interviews Haraldur “Halli” Thorleifsson, an entrepreneur, designer, musician, and philanthropist. Halli founded Ueno, a design agency that worked with Google, Uber, Airbnb, and many others and was acquired by Twitter in 2021. A musician before becoming a designer, he put music on hold until 2023 when he launched his project Önnu Jónu Son. Since selling his business, he’s launched a program to build wheelchair-accessible ramps across Iceland, opened and closed a restaurant, and launched a podcast.
Halli has spoken previously about traumas that have formed him, from losing his mother during his childhood, to being confined to a wheelchair as an adult, and his struggle with alcoholism. He also made headlines when Elon Musk erroneously fired him from Twitter and then had to walk it back publicly. So I didn’t want to lead with any of these things because they have been well documented—though we did occasionally refer to them.
In this episode of Two Beats Ahead Live! I went deep with Halli about his identity as a creator—how did he understand the connection between design and songwriting? Why has he taken up drawing? Why did he design and open his restaurant, Anna Jóna, and then close it in the course of a year? Our conversation covers these topics, as well as how Halli is letting go of perfection and embracing a beginner’s mind. We also discussed the chemistry of collaborating and how the early days of Ueno bore a remarkable resemblance to the making of his album, The Radio Won't Let Me Sleep.
Two Beats Ahead Live!
Two Beats Ahead Live! Is a podcast inspired by the book of the same name, “Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About innovation.” In the book my co-author and I look into the musical minds of entrepreneurial artists and creators like Pharrell, T Bone Burnett, Imogen Heap and Hank Shocklee. When I moved to Iceland I was blown away by the ingenuity and creativity of so many people I met. They all could have been in our book too! This podcast felt like the best way to share their stories with the world.
Two Beats Ahead Live! Is recorded in front of—you guessed it—live audiences in Iceland. Recording in nontraditional spaces creates an immediate energy that a quiet studio just can’t deliver. The trade off is that you may occasionally hear a passing car, a crying baby or even some microphone interference. But these sounds only add to the vibe and never get in the way of the conversation.
If you want to learn more about the creative process, and how creative mindsets lead to entrepreneurial behaviors, then this podcast is for you. And of course, check out our book too, written by me, R. Michael Hendrix, the former Global Design Director of IDEO, and Panos A. Panay, president of the Recording Academy, presenter of the GRAMMYs.
