KROQ 2001-03-22 By Kevin & Bean Sent to bjork.com messageboard by Naota "Interview transcript" Kevin&Bean: It's the world famous KROQ 106.7 K-R-O-Q, and this is the Kevin&Bean show @ 8:43...Ladies and Gentlemen, our next guest is an internationally acclaimed singer and song-writer. For the past few months, she's been nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy! Please welcome Bjork! Bjork: Thank you! (*very cute and high-spirited!*) K&B: Hey Bjork! How are you? Welcome back! B: Oh thank you!...I'm...yup!...Thank you! K&B: I'm...yup! (laughs)...It's been along time since we've seen you. You have been a very busy little bee. My gosh, you've got a lot of stuff goin' on. You're in town for the Oscars... B: Yeah! K&B: and you're gonna be performing... B: Yup! K&B: Now, you've performed for many many years, but when you're talking about performing at the Oscars, you're talking about lots of people watching, aren't ya? B: Yeah! It's a very different affair. K&B: Does it feel different to you or just another performance? B: I'm looking forward to it and um...I've been to a lot of award ceremonies last year, and sort of been introduced to the 'film' world. It's uh...very interesting universe for sure. But I feel a bit different about this one because it's the only one so far I'm mostly singing. Y'know when you walk up and down those red blankets and in a fancy frock and sort of almost forgot why you're doing it the first place...and uh, but this time around, I know, 'cause I'm gonna be singing. K&B: ...Cause you're working...you're working the event. Now, you're working with the orchestras. Now this is the orchestra that's gonna be there all night, doing the intorductions for music and everything...55 pieces, is that right? B: Yeah. K&B: ...And you'll be doing your Oscar nominated song the one called "I've Seen It All", and Thom Yorke is on the record and we originally heard he was gonna be performing in the ceremony with you, but I guess that's not happening right? B: Yeah...What happened is, um, they want...it's a 6-minute long tune, and they wanted to cut it down to 3 minutes, and then I sat down in the studio and was kinda trying to work-out some edits with the tune, and to make it work with 3 minutes and the only way to do it is kinda do the intro...(giggles)...and once the intro is over, do the outro! (Bjork and everyone laughs)...so, to put it into a more sensitive, deeply communicative duet, and sandwich that somewhere in there, I just thought it was a disrespect to Thom, being, y'know, my favorite singer in the world... K&B: Is it a disrespect to your music for you to have to do that? B: I guess I kinda understand that I'm a visitor, I'm a guest. It's their universe and I don't sort of...I mean, I'm lucky because I've been able to create my own universe, for sure, where I can have things my way. But this time around, I'm a visitor and I can adapt myself to that sort of situation, but, it's different...If I'm inviting like a guest, I mean, I feel responsible...I mean, I didn't ask Thom to do anything with me for years because I didn't have a good enough tune for him. K&B: Have you guys been friends for a long time? B: Well, I wouldn't say "friends", because the way I...the place I come from, Iceland, you're not friends unless you kinda, y'know, um...received each others' children, you kinda been there for each other for like 10 years, and then you've got friends. K&B: WOW! That's a strict policy for friends! 10 years?! (Bjork laughs)... WOW!...So you were acquaintances and mutually respected each others' work... B: Yeah, I would put it that way. Yeah. K&B: Now I heard when you had him in the studio, you finally found this project would be perfect for Thom, and as you mentioned he's your favorite male singer, that it was very difficult...a lot of work to record your song together. It's not like he showed-up one day and did it in an hour...I mean you guys really bunkered-down. B: Yeah. I really rrrrrespect...I guess every person I work with. I find it quite exciting to kinda become their other half and I'd be working with someone from the classical world and then I have to show-up with like musical notes and then I would work with someone else...like that different universes that we meet-in, and I guess with Thom, it was very interesting because he came to the studio probably straight then doing "Kid A" like 3 years of kinda being in a room with 5 people, and kinda trying to communicate and where's I guess part of my music now is sort of about that solitary walking-up-the-mountain-for-a-few-days and until you hit the sublime, but of it's sorta a relationship you had between you and yourself and um, so you can cope with the rest of the real world. K&B: Right. B: Whereas with him, it was excellent that he came into the studio and he wouldn't just kinda blast it out...It'll be kinda - few days singing it over and over again, over and over... K&B:...So he's a pain-in the ass, pretty much... B: No no...that's the last thing you would say about him. Not at all. He's very graceful, very charming human being, and he would kinda just do it smoothly until there was actually a real connection there, and the song, when I sing it on my own, I probably belt it out a little bit, but it wasn't about that, but sort of me bonding with a mountain but it was kinda whispering and getting a closeness up-close, more. K&B: Y'know after spending an hour with Dave Matthews [from the Dave Matthews Band] yesterday, and now I'm talking to Bjork today...Now I'm gonna need therapy or something, just to get my head straight! It's fun to be with people like you, who are real artists and you speak a different languange than we do, y'know, we don't think about that kinda stuff, but, I never been one with the mountain with anything, even climbing a mountain! (Bjork laughs hysterically!). Now, we're gonna play the song that is nominated for an Oscar, that you'll see on the show this weekend. We're gonna play coming up next, but let's talk about the movie from which it's from...the album is called "selmasongs" and it's Bjork's latest that's been in the stores, although we're gonna talk about her new record in a minute too, um..."Dancer In The Dark" was the film that is just out on video/DVD this week in the US, so people do have the oppurtunity to see it if they didn't see it in the theaters. It was one of the strangest movie ever, and I heard it first that it was the first acting you ever did, and then I heard it was the first acting you've done since you were a kid. Which is actually more accurate? B: (giggles)...Well, from my point-of-view, it's the first time I acted because it's the first time I kinda put everything aside and put like, y'know, cut my chest open and brought the hearrrrrrt out, and just gave it, y'know, and I'm sort of the person that "all-are-nothing-kinda- person" and that's I think I've done the work properly if I've done it like that. I did act in the film when I was like 3 months that I had my child, and I was just in this dream gorgeous bubble that y'know, that children are the most enjoyable things ever, and you breast-feeding and just constant sort of "Bambi Music" in your ears...and... K&B: ...Kevin, did you get the "Bambi music" in your ears when you were breast-feeding? (Bjork laughs) Kevin: Not exactly!!! (Bjork laughs). B: ...and then you kinda, I was asked to do this film and like "Yeah, okay...", and then I would be brest-feeding and then my sisterrr would hold my child and I would kinda walk-through and do a scene and then recite some lines, and smile, and then I would just go back to breast- feeding, so... K&B: You weren't acting 100%... B: I guess I didn't felt "present"...I think I was probably "absent- minded"... K&B: ...Yeah, but this movie [DITD], apparently... B: I'm very present! (laughs) K&B: ...and this movie, you're so honked-up, it's hard to explain. It's the saddest thing in the world because Bjork's character is goin' blind, and she gets robbed, and she works in the factory, and she gets involved with a guy who's trying to kill her, and it just gets worse and worse and worse the further you go and you see every second of that on your face, and then on your body's performance. It looked like, and I heard someone described that you weren't acting. You were being, I mean you became "Selma". B: Yeah because I guess of 2 reasons, 1 of it it that as much I believed that you can be disciplined and organised when you're doing music and stuff, because obviously 60-80% of what I do is about what discipline and y'know like doing vocal-excercises, being in the studio 500 hours a day, and all that sorta stuff. I think aside to my job, singing, has to be very intuitive, when you kinda blocked your brain-out and you just jumped the deep-end and then it's completely like a dream-world, if you want, and I'ved always felt that when I watch films, that I would like it to be a little bit more of that, y'know... K&B: Were you miserable making the movie because the subject matter was so dark and you were so far into it? B: Yeah, but because I'ved written the music a year before, and it kinda swirled around the character like a satellite for a whole year, I knew about all the emotional locations this person went to, like all the sadness, all the pain, I mean, I've written a song for each emotional place she had. So when I finally agreed to act her a year later, I knew what I was leading myself into, so I would kinda "Okay, this is gonna be no-joke". You've got to jump into [the] deep-end and not really knowing if I was gonna come-out the other end. K&B: Were you shocked at how positive the response was - your nominated for dozens of awards, including the Golden Globes, you won the Cannes Film Festival "Best Actress" [award]...I mean, did that all of that acclaim surprise you? Being as new to the craft as you were? B: Hmmmmm...that's a good question. I don't know. I still don't think I've got my head around that...um...give me 10 years and I'll look back and say "Okay, y'know, it wasn't that bad". K&B: But you said at point you knew this was gonna be your first and last film. Why did you say that? B: Well I guess the experienced I had when I was a teenager, I kinda knew, okay, some people are born to do certain stuff, y'know, some people are born to be ambulance drivers, and certain people are born to be dentists, and other people to be priests or whatever, and I've always felt I was born to be a singer. So, I thought, I think it's great when you dabble with 100 things...that's a great thing every teenager should do, but then you should stick to one thing and loyal. Because you're not gonna bear any fruits unless you are... K&B: But if the phone rings at the end of this interview, Bjork, and it's the guys making "Dude! Where's My Car? 2", they want you to be in it. (Bjork laughs hysterically)...You're not gonna slap them in the face, right? You'll do it! B: Well, I don't wanna brag, but I've been gettin' quite a few offers (laughs)...and I will only say "Yes" like if I can appear in a bikini? (laughs) K&B: I think in "Dude! Where's My Car? 2", you might want to. That's a good one! Alright, we're gonna take a quick break. Bjork is in the studio, we're gonna talk some more, we're gonna play that song we're talking about that's been nominated for the Oscars that you'll see performed this weekend, and then we'll talk all about the new record "Vespertine" which your fans are dying to hear all the details about. ~commercial~ K&B: Bjork, will you introduce the Academy Award nominated song for us please. B: ("I've Seen It All" begins to play)...uh, this song is called "I've Seen It All" and it's from "Dancer In The Dark", and it's me singing in it and Thom Yorke... ~the whole song being played on-air~ KB: That's one of the best train-track accompaniment that I think I'd ever heard on a song. That is from the "Dancer In The Dark" film and soundtrack called "selmasongs"...with Bjork and her good friend Thom Yorke right there, nominated for an Oscar. You'll see Bjork perform that with a big orchestra coming-up this weekend. Now, they moved the release date of your brand-new CD. I guess it's done and it's coming-out on May and now they moved it in the fall, Bjork? Is that right? B: Yeah, I guess I've been pretty loyal - I work with the same people since I was a teenager, like the record-company people, and I guess I've been pretty difficult to deal within this sense that I've kinda ignored the (giggles) record industry so far, so I kinda, my songs are ready and [I'll say] "Put it out!", and they'll like "But...aaaaaaahhhh...We wanna do our job"....And I'd just say "FFFFfffff..." y'know, that word I almost said. (laughs). Sorry. K&B: (laughs) We understand. B: Yeah, and this time around they kinda begged me... K&B: ...they talked you into making it work for them a little bit, to make it easier for them to do the job... B: Yeah, I guess that's fair y'know, when 10 times I get to do it my way, and then one, they get it to do their way... K&B: But this is the last time isn't it? B: Yeah, and then I get 10 times again, my way...so... K&B: That makes sense. Now this is the first studio-album you've done, I mean, ["selmasongs"] isn't the first album since 4 or 5 years. It's been quite a while since the last Bjork-album, full-length album... B: Yeah, I guess when I did the film, it took 3 years. K&B: Wow... B: ...so I just put everything in it...I moved to Denmark and everything else was blocked-out because I guess I just see too many films that people just kinda send a tune in the post and they don't even get involved with the plot, or [there's] no connection between the soundtrack and the film, and I'ved always knew that I wanted to do one soundtrack to a film, I didn't know I was gonna act in it, but I always knew that I wanted to do kinda be a real deep, sort of connection. It wasn't an artificial one. So I put everything aside for 3 years and gave it my all. K&B: Which more means to you - being nominated as an actress on the Golden Globes, or being nominated as a singer for the Oscars? B: Definitely in the music side. K&B: Really?... B: Yeah, for sure...Don't get me wrong, because I'm not an actress to be nominated, it's like being, y'know, asked to go to the Olympics and be a high-jumper or something, and you're like "...I'm at good at jumping???"... (laughs)..."Okay"...y'know...or "Best-Teeth" or something, y'know, at the Dentist Convention. K&B: Right (laughs). "Vespertine" is gonna be a little different. I heard from you that it's gonna be a "winter-record", is what you said in your website. What does that mean? B: Um...I guess it's sort of "cocoon-style"...y'know, it's sort of a...Well, maybe "Homogenic" was very extrovert, confrontational, maybe a bit [aggresive]...with the beats kinda distorted on purpose and the violins kinda being over-emotional, dramatic, sort of the romantic- style...and the lyrics is very sort of eye-contact, in-your-face...So on all levels, it was confrontational...I guess [Vespertine] is sort of the opposite, when you're living, like maybe inside your house at winter time, on your own, and it's snowing outside, and it's sort of you whispering in little corners and sort of cocoon-style, sort of like when you don't have to speak for a week, and you just get into that trance- like peaceful state, it's sort of euphoric, but very private. So, I guess it's that kinda album. I like it when you're on your own, kinda have a day off or a week-off, and you're in your house and you just put music on that's sort of comforts you in that way...it's like silk-cloths and... y'know...pancakes and stuff. K&B: Silk-cloths and pancakes folks! That's the new record is all about! (Bjork laughs hysterically)...Right there, that sums it up for you! Well, we can't wait for 'Vespertine', I guess the new date is gonna be August 28. What does that word mean, by the way? Is it an Icelandic word or... B: No, not at all. My friend e-mailed me a very strange dictionary and I found it that there, because I sort of wanted to sum up...First the album was gonna be called "Domestika", because it's about finding paradise in your kitchen, it's about playing a symphony with a teaspoon or something...that is all there, you don't have to go around the world to search for it...So I started off like "Domestika", and then I thought once I established that whole idea with musical instruments...I thought I maybe I didn't have to be so literal about with the title, so I thought "Vespertine"...'cause it's sort of about slight of a 'prayer- like aspect' to this album and 'Vespers' are kinda evening prayers...and also it's about everything in the twilight...and because the winter- element to it that it's sort of when it's dark outside, but you've got candles inside and it's sort of got a dark quality to it that I like...magical dark-quality... K&B: You are one-of-a-kind Bjork. You're something, we really appreciate you coming in to KROQ. (Bjork laughs) Kevin: I tell you why [Bean] says that, 'cause most of us live in this fast-paced city and we kinda give each thing that we do kinda about a fourth of our attention and we kinda don't pay attention...and you seem to just throw yourself whole-heartedly into something...You have a depth to you that most of us admire. We really seem to enjoy and experience your life so full, is what we're saying. B: I'm getting nauseous, I know. Thank you. (Bjork and everyone laughs). I appreciate it. K&B: Okay, "Vespertine" - August 28th...Bjork will be on the 73rd Annual Academy Awards this coming Sunday night on ABC...Have a fantastic time at the Oscars and I hope we get to see you soon. Thank you for coming. B: Thank you. Thank you.