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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 we look into the musical minds of entrepreneurial artists and creators like Pharrell, T Bone Burnett, Imogen Heap and Hank Shocklee. When Michael moved to Iceland he was blown away by the ingenuity and creativity of so many people he 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 R. Michael Hendrix, the former Global Design Director of IDEO, and Panos A. Panay, president of the Recording Academy, presenter of the GRAMMYs.
Episodes
Monday Apr 27, 2026
Monday Apr 27, 2026
Ása Dýradóttir is a Reykjavík-based musician and cultural leader working at the intersection of live performance and music policy. As a bass player, she has been a central figure in Iceland’s independent music scene, performing with Mammút and collaborating across a wide network of artists including Rakel, Kaktus Einarsson, Benni Hemm Hemm, Salóme Katrín, and Nanna from Of Monsters and Men. Alongside her work as a musician, she serves as Director of Tónlistarborg (Music City | Reykjavík), where she works to strengthen the conditions for live music in Reykjavík by connecting artists, venues, policymakers, and industry stakeholders.
In this episode, Michael and Ása explore what it means to be a “bass player” in both music and civic systems. She reflects on Mammút’s return to the stage at Iceland Airwaves after several years apart, and how the band’s relationship has shifted from ambition to presence, reclaiming the simple act of playing together. She describes their early process of writing without demos or sheet music, relying instead on memory, intuition, and the physical experience of sound, and contrasts that with the more fragmented, individual workflows that came later. Across the conversation, she returns to the idea that true creative work emerges through shared time, friction, and trust.
They also discuss her role at Tónlistarborg, where she operates less as a front-facing leader and more as connective tissue by supporting venues, advocating for policy change, and working to sustain a fragile live music ecosystem. Ása speaks candidly about the erosion of venue infrastructure in Reykjavík, the pressures facing artists and promoters, and the importance of maintaining momentum in the face of structural challenges.
Finally, she shares a deeply personal account of using music as a form of connection while caring for her parents during illness, reflecting on the relationship between sound, memory, and the brain, and why music remains one of the most powerful ways we understand and reach one another.
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