Brit Awards  1994-02

By ???

Typed in by Adam Dawes (5/May/94), Email:FidoNet - Adam Dawes@2:441/93.5
                                         InterNet - AD32@vms.bton.ac.uk


"Happy Happy Happy BJORK"


   When you've been famous since you were 11 years old and pointed out
   on every street corner in old Reykjavik, then you're probably 
   entitled to view fame as an uncomfortable travelling companion.


THE FACT that Bjork is currently Iceland's number one star, established 
as a major name in the UK and fast emerging on the international circuit 
doesn't help when you want to retain your privacy. "I spent long enough 
in bands in Iceland -- I began singing on albums when I was 11 -- to 
know that I'd had enough of fame. I've grown used to being recognised 
since I was a child. I didn't like it then, but I have grown used to the 
fact that id you want to do your music then all this other stuff comes 
along."

Bjork (full name Bjork Gudmundsdottir) is the lady who used to share the 
vocals for The Sugarcubes, went solo last year and proceeded to make one 
of 1993's best-received albums. The aptly titled "Debut" went top three 
in the UK, produced three hit singles and brought her not just success 
but solo success.

"I thought it would be really difficult and I would have to close my 
eyes, rush in and do the album and then rush back to Iceland and become 
a housewife. But it was more effortless that I thought and wasn't 
focused on me as much as I thought it would be.

"I've been working with designers one day, video directors the next and 
musicians on another day and that has taken the focus off me. Even 
working with lawyers is interesting!!"

The making of her debut album brought Bjork into contact with producer 
Nellee Hooper, honoured for his work with Soul II Soul and Sinead 
O'Connor. "I had five tunes already in my head for the album before I 
even met Nellee. I had no idea who he was, had no idea of his past, but 
he was very charming and obviously very talented and it was clear that 
we had something in common in that we were both tired of pop music as it 
stood. We both wanted to create something different in pop music which I 
think really one of the most important parts of your life."

The end product was an album described by one journalist as "a 
surprising playful collection" on which Bjork "reclaims all her wit and 
jouissance". Is this what she set out to create when she embarked on a 
solo career?

"I'm pleased that people say that my album is happy. I do get pissed off 
with people who moan about things and with music that's full of self 
pity. Miserable music does nothing at all for me. Nobody has an easy 
life and people should look at it in the face and get on with it. 
Iceland is that sort of country but the UK is very different ... people 
here are preoccupied with small things".

Going solo means that Bjork has now become the centre of attention on 
stage, no longer able to be just one of the band, and she loves it. 
"Being the front-person gives me a kick. I love making music and 
performing in front of people. There is a risk element that it will go 
wrong when you do things live and that's such a kick. But I still love 
best of all writing and arranging music, working in an intimate way with 
good people. Being able to sing is just convenient; is makes it easier 
for me to explain what I am about."

Hit records, BRIT Awards nominations and great reviews -- what could a 
girl ask for in her first year as a genuine solo artist? "I've been 
extremely lucky. Everything has gone kinda my way and it's been so 
effortless. When I made the album it was done as a private thing after 
working with other people and on other people's projects for so long. I 
didn't really expect all the attention but I would be lying if I said id 
didn't make me happy.

"I had got used to being misunderstood in Iceland over the years and 
this was the first time my music has really been appreciated."

After visits to Japan and Australia in the early part of this year, 
Bjork will set about making her follow-up album and she's hot to trot. 
"I wanted to go straight back into the studio right then. I did record 
five tracks almost straight away and I can't wait to start making the 
second album. I've spent ten months promoting the first album and when I 
make the next one it will once again become a very private affair -- it 
is something only I can do.

"Of course, people will expect something special. Everybody really 
overestimated my first album -- I'm not pretending to be humble -- but 
they really have and, while it's great to get support from the public 
and the media, I have got pretty tough about people's opinions and can 
function without that support when I have to."

Being a sensible Icelandic person with a canny grasp of the fluctuating 
fortunes of the international music business, Bjork has made provision 
for the future. "I have already made sure financially that I can make 
the next album, and the one after that. We'll start the next one this 
year and it may come out in 1994 but I don't like things to be planned 
out like that.

"If it's finished, fine, but if not then it'll come when I'm ready."