Mannlif 1993-06 By Svanhildur Konradsdottir Translated by Albert Sigurdsson sigurdsson@katk.Helsinki.FI "Passionate moment(s)" We last met over seven years ago, Bjork had then just moved into a little apartment by Laugarvegurinn (in Reykjavik). Then, the Sugracubes seemed to be on the verge of world famousness, Bjork had just separated with her child's father, Thor Eldon and seemed to be going through some positive changes. Bjork said then that she wanted to tell more of the truth instead of being lost in some abstract feelings, she wanted to make her own music and live for the moment. Now, we met on a hot summers day in the outskirts of London. Toys and books were scattered around. Her little boy just became seven, was learning English at school and loves words like his mom loves music. Bjork had just finished with the Sugarcubes, who never became as famous as predicted, and did not care too much. She'd moved from Iceland which she'd never expected to do, bought a house which she shares with her boyfriend, Dom. She has her own buisness, has made her first solo album since 'Litli Arabadrengurinn' (The little arab boy) seventeen years earlier. A lot has changed since we last met. Bjork has changed - of course. She's tougher, more determined, stronger. Maybe a little 'primadonna' in a positive meaning. But, some things don't change, she wont talk about love or her music, even if what she says is full of both. This is an interview about music, passion and the magic of the moment. They call her the ice queen or an elf and other names. Many say her new CD, Debut, will be the most interesting and most original this year. The British press has fallen for Bjorks first album without the Sugarcubes. Mandi James from the magazine The Face says she plays her voice like an extraordinary instrument. Bjork is as usually, not very impressed. She is at the moment in the middle of introducing her new single 'Human Behaviour', she jumps between England, Europe, US and Iceland. She says she does not have any time for herself, tries not to answer the phone, when at home, but she's happy. She's dressed in a grey and blue t-shirt and stockings, no white 'arrangement colours' to be seen. When asked about moving from Iceland, Bjork says that with the Sugarcubes, the record companies were always pushing them to move, but they just wanted to live in Iceland. They weren't interested in getting stuck in the world of big music business. They just turned on their answering machines and didn't pick up the receiver until they heard somebody say a nice number. "I have always pictured Iceland as my nest and was probably the last to realise that I didn't live there any more. I had been travelling very much, and when I finally announced that I was moving to London everybody laughed and asked if I really had thought I'd been living in Iceland! I though it would be a shock to move because I love Iceland so much, but it surprised me how little effort it was. I think that where you live is only a kind of feeling. I could just as well have moved to N.Y. or Paris, cause the record company also has its offices there. But I feel London is comfortably close to Iceland. My friends visit from Iceland and meeting them here has some special feeling, I have them more for myself". "Then it was a question about Sindri (her son), I've been lucky because he is a tough kid and determined enough to say he had enough of all the travelling. When he was little I could take him with me wherever, and he has the most colourful passport I've ever seen. Then he started school in Reykjavik last fall and I realised he might need me more than some silly interviewers in N.Y. or elsewhere. My mother was really a pearl, taking care of him at my home, but I didn't want that kind of relationship between me and Sindri. If you have a child you have to fit your lifestyle according to that. If I was alone I wouldn't have bought a house, would be perfectly happy living in a rented apartment somewhere, preferably in a lively where you can see life in all its colourful images. But a child needs security and support. When asked if having a child hadn't changed much on her behalf, "Of course, but there is nothing I regret or have done without thinking it over. Maybe change isn't the right word, it's more a question of what lifestyle one chooses. I was quite stupid, I thought he could just begin school here like in Iceland, but I found out that people here start looking for a school as soon as the child is born. I've been in four interviews, which I think is ridiculous, cause I am a total anti-snob. Here the schools are owned by some kind of families or all the fathers go to the same club and the school is chosen depending on if the child is going to be an electrician or a lawyer. Separation of classes is very strong here, I don't want my boy to grow up believing he's better than some kids and I have no idea what he is going to be when he grows up. He likes words and books, so I think it's my duty to find him a school that fits him. He holds his breath when he hears a beautiful sentence and has got much more feeling for languages than I". "I had been making songs since I was a tiny little girl, they were part of the things I saw, people I met. These songs were just for myself, and sometimes those songs kept me sane. But I didn't have this urge to climb up mountains and show everybody my songs. It was my privacy and I was selfish about it. I thought music is something you write and keep for yourself. But it became more than that, it became a pressure from inside and I would become crazy to hold it within. Kind of like need for sex, "says Bjork and grins. "I took the decision to collect the songs orderly, write down the lyrics, and when I started recording last summer, every note was on paper". It came as a surprise that the Sugarcubes would quit so soon. Even if they weren't very popular in Iceland, they were doing good abroad. Bjork told Sigtryggur ('Siggi', the drummer) first about her decision to go her own way, and he said in his Bogomil Font style "a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do!". "It was a question of me loving my friends and holding on to them or following the dream of the perfect song. We had been through much together, its hard to describe in words. The music was only one tenth of everything. We did everything peacefully, took all decisions together, if one was against that was final. There were lots of politics, we had deals with over 20 companies around the world and had to deal with all the 'money men'. It was more than a marriage, we in the Sugarcubes were more like some kind of a religious group, we travelled together, took care of each others kids, knew each others friends and family, went to each others birthday parties and went out to drink together. It was a wonderful time, we'll probably never live anything like it again. We were only the Sugarcubes when touring, in Iceland we were more of a gang". "The Sugarcubes were, for us, a hobby kinda' like golf. We didn't take it seriously. We didn't listen to the same kind of music, so everybody brought his own thing to our music. We were never interested in becoming world popular, the Bad Taste slogan 'World domination or death' was just a joke. We turned down most of the offers we got. If we'd wanted to go to the top, we'd said yes to them all and toured continuously. We decided to do only the most necessary things, and maybe that's why we were respected". "Since I moved here, I've read and heard more about peoples opinion of the Sugarcubes and many of the new grunge bands seem to think us as the one of the main influence. We had a certain mystic, unusual music and beat, Thor is an amazing guitar-hero, me and Einar were probably viewed as something special. We never reached the surface, we just peeked once in a while. And that's OK, fat businessmen with cigars tell me the albums are still selling steadily". "I feel like I've been like a babysitter all these years. I loved these children, but now I feel I got a baby of my own and am fighting for everything being best for that baby. It's different when you've got something to fight for. It reminds me of when I was a teenager and was selling poetry books for other people. Then I made my own book and sold it in cafes and it sold very well. It's kinda' like a mixture of selfishness and not. Kinda' like having a baby". Mothers love is the most selfish love in the world and one does everything for ones baby. At the same time one shows very much selfishness because one is finding the genes a safe place, to see ones own blood and philosophy is taken care of. I think the longing to leave something behind is a printed in us all. Making music is just a part of that. Bjork is already talking about one of the two things she says she doesn't want to talk much about; her own music. But she doesn't say much about her style, "Just my style" or the lyrics "Just my philosophy", but her music reflects her feelings about life. When asked about the others who worked on her record she answers in an apology tone: "It was mostly me. I first wanted just a few musicians but then I was introduced to a new computer technology, a wonder of the 20th century," she says and laughs. "I found out I could put whatever sounds into the computer and also get out whatever sound I wanted. It's an amazing trick but then there are also some guests, Oliver Lake on sax and Corcy Hale, the harp player who has played with Sinatra and Dean Martin. She is a terrific old woman that smokes cigars!" You have before mentioned the importance of the moment and magic in music. Doesn't the computer prevent these? "Look, that's just crap" she answers. "First when computers came people thought they could just push 'on' and go to vacation. My experience is that the more possibilities you have the more you need strong ideas and decisions about what you want. It's just like with painters; if a painter has only one green colour it wont get him far, but if he has fifty green tones then there is lots of difficulties choosing only one. I think that those who critizise computer technology are confusing who is the master and who the servant." When asked if she would use her old pals from the Sugarcubes to play with her on her tour, she answers no. "I doubt that because we are too good friends and I can't picture myself telling them what to do. Now there's a different basis 'cause this is my music and everything has to be to my liking. A guest musician has to fulfil my dream by giving his best, just like I have done on other peoples records. That would never work within the Sugarcubes where friendship was number one and music number two." Bjork says always have written and sung pop music. "At least it's what I've always wanted to do, maybe it's a question of how it has worked out. I went to an musical school from when I was nine and didn't get to play anything but classic, then I lived in a hippie commune where there was only played hippie rock. Both are total fascism! But I want to try everything, hear everything and I think pop music is the strongest music because it helps you through the day. Pop can change the world and it is a big misunderstanding that it has to be something lousy." "Everybody remembers moments since you were a teenager and nobody understood you and you didn't understand anybody - and then all of the sudden you heard a song on the radio and started crying which solved the problem and left something behind. Music undresses feelings. I'm not saying music is better than people; people are the best in the world, but there are some things music can do to you that people can't. It is something as important as sleeping, eating and fucking!" Bjork has never been much of an average person, showing off or not saying or doing what she likes. "I don't like when people try to fit into the system. Then everything becomes so grey and boring. There is a terribly strong force that tries to make one big, grey mud out of everybody. It saves my life when I meet persons that dare to go their own way without stepping on others. I can't stand wimps," she says with expression. She recalls her youth and the beginnings of her troubles with fitting into average life. "In such small societies as Iceland you are either normal or a freak. From that point of view I fall into the latter category, because decided when I was a tiny girl that I had only two choices, either I did things as I like and have lots of fun or I give into the others and live sulking and with complexes over everything I do, for the rest of my life. I decided to follow my own nose and if people couldn't take me as I am then that's that." "That was until now, when this selfish or unselfish phase hit me," she says and laughs, "I got a lot out of working with other people, and most out of those that surprise me the most. It becomes like a kind of love affair; under four eyes and incredibly close. I've always fallen for people with a view - Megas is one of those," she says implying to her work with Megas on his last albums. "He is a whole world on his own and an incredible personality." Even if you make so much out of close relationships you seem to me like a kind of a loner. "Yea, I am really most private and don't want to talk to people unless I have something important to tell them. Just take it or leave it! Either go all the way, shake off all bounds and forget myself or be alone. I went often camping alone and it was terrific. I can't stand the in-between, talking 'bout the weather that you have to learn." "When I moved out here I was looking in old diaries and I think I'm still the same silly, with the same childish philosophy about just doing what you want and be happy. But even if I have not changed much I started to realize that you don't have so much time and can't afford mistakes. We only have one life. Now I value life and appreciate what I have; I hope I'm a little more humble since I met many people who had to fight more than me and maybe don't have as much. I think you only get one chance to do each thing and each time you have to be ready to jump the cliff. When you stop daring to jump you might as well lay down permanently. This refers to everything, especially music and relationships. Bjork says she's just living for the moment and says that's both her weak and strong sides. "I never cook the same food twice, even if turns out very well. I have to try something new and that goes for everything. My record is very much like that -moments- the moment when you wake up, scratch you ass and are very sleepy, next you're in the train and somebody stupid sits beside you and then you're suddenly here and I'm telling you something I wouldn't tell anybody". She smiles shyly. Is this an impatient lust for life - curiosity, or is it just impatience? "All of the above, I have all these qualities." Talking about music again; Bjork describes record companies like 'picture development stands'. But isn't the whole idea of music to share, even if we call it selfishness to publish your own things, or unselfishness giving and sharing with others? "Yes, it is of course very selfish to just enjoy and not give and in the last few years it has become clearer to me. I'll never forget the first time we toured in Kukl and had to do interviews. I thought an interview was the stupidest thing in the world. Me and Einar Orn had recently met and fallen for each other; maybe because we are the same - both fanatics and full of wanting but still so unlike when it comes to dealing with other people and things around us. Like I said before I just wanted to make music at home because of the magic it made, but Einar loves human contacts and uses the music as a tool to get to people. We have now known each others for 10 years and infected each other, but it took a long time to put myself in the positions necessary to lay out my requirements about how I want my record to be and thereby pushing up my selfishness." About being famous: "I have a limited longing to be in the media but have to do it for my record. It is of course best when one can be as invisible as possible," says the woman that has by her dressing and behaviour envoked a lot of talk among the Icelandic average public. "I always try to change into the song I'm singing, the image you have then comes automatically. The reason I don't wear my hair this or that way is that some things fit better with my music ... maybe I should get some curls," she adds grinning. "I just look at myself as a mirror. The more invisible you get, the more visible you get." What do you mean by that? "Look, you can't avoid being yourself," she patiently explains. "But to succeed you can't define yourself. People are always changing and when you try to nail something down everything goes apeshit. Understand?" Well anyway. What image do you think you have among people? "I don't know and don't think much about that. The people that liked the Sugarcubes seems to have the misunderstanding that we are very intelligent and comes to us to talk about literature and philosophy. That's very relaxed and just fun. I usually don't meet people that want to sleep with me, have my socks or take the napkin I was using," she laughs at the idea. What does Bjork think about the world famous people she has met? "I never liked U2. My father listened to them a lot but they get a point for the optimism and cleverness in setting up excellent concerts when we played with them. It was once thought that Bjork would work with Sinead O'Connor: "Well that was a long time ago. We got drunk together and had lots of fun. We were in a similar position and we needed to vent off. It kinda' felt like I wasn't alone. Otherwise you don't get to know these people very much. Often in concerts or when there's lots of excitement in the air and people have said it would be fun to do something together then it can be very dangerous. You need a special connection and feeling for it to work out." Bjork has opened her own record publishing company -Babsy- which is Bjorks nickname. The reason is not a traditional one like that's she's interested in business, on the contrary, she says: "Because I hate business!" Her tone gets rougher when talking about the business side. "These business men are such babies, it's really a joke and I fortunately had some experience in handling them since the Sugarcubes. There are all kinds of ridiculous rules and power games like some kind of stupid mating games. You can't just talk to people like people but have to send faxes, call them by all kinds of rules and then they can never admit they are wrong and spend lots of money to cover some mistakes. When you're wrong you just admit it and say you're sorry." "I thought since I'm doing is making lots of money I want the responsibility to be mine. That way I can take care of everything and see to that they are done to my liking. Babsy publishes the record, but One Little Indian takes care of the distribution and then I make deals with record companies all over the world. I hire people straight to handle different things, like directing, handling the press and the law side. That way I can relate to people like humans instead of fighting around in some kind of sharkwater. It's a tough business and you have to learn to distinguish between friends and others. That means not to take things too personally or be bitter if you can't see the difference." At that moment Don walks into the living room. He just woke, he's a DJ and musician who works late. They kiss and after having talked over some daily things Dom is out of there. Last time we talked Bjork said she probably wouldn't marry again. Then she said: "When I think of my man in the future its only because of qualities that I don't have and am too lazy to adapt. Someone to better myself." When she hears her old remarks she answers surprised: "Did I really say that? Well, it's true, me and Dom are kinda' like jam in a jar." Which one is the jam? "Definitely me," she laughs. "I am the beef and the fireworks while he is like a ruler and is very steady. But I just can't talk about people I love; not that I don't want to - but some things you just can't put into words." You are obviously very much in love? "Very!" she says shortly and then adds: "I was used to so much fighting and maybe I liked it in a way. I thought there had to be some life in the relationships for them to be worth anything. Then I suddenly find that I can just be calm while still having open feelings. Until now my relationships have had to have lots of fireworks to prove themselves. But now it is just jam and a jar." Was it love at first sight? "For him. Not for me. It was not on my schedule to fall in love when we met in LA. two years ago. I didn't get it until I was back to Iceland." Is this the future man that betters you? "You know, I long since stopped expecting things like that. You never know how everything turns and twists. I don't have a clue about the next record, if I will do another, and much less what Sindri will be when he grows up. It's a question of appreciating and respecting the gifts of life, without any conditions, the best gift is how unpredictable and changeable everything is. I always considered myself as some kind of boy-girl and was never much for the company of other girls at school. But now I feel, when I grow up, how much of a woman I just am. That wanting to control and rule everything that happens and plan everything is very much male chauvinism." "Trying to control love is like trying to control the weather. It's bound to fail and also you would live life. It is all a question of choosing and priorities that come automatically. I don't want to be fanatic and say that one thing rules out another." About six years ago she said in some interviews: "I wish I could always be pregnant" and "Maybe I'll one day be a female farmer in the countryside. I always wanted to have a swarm of kids and found a music school for kids. Then I like cows." Bjork laughs when reminded of these words and says: "Yes, I once applied to the farming school in Hvanneyri, Iceland when I was sixteen, I was even accepted. But it was the same old story because I was in a band and wouldn't have made the rehearsals if I'd been studying to be a farmer. My family has a farm and I could just as well have become a farm woman. I can well picture myself somewhere in the countryside looking forward to being fifty. When I was little I adored my grandmother, in that age, because while my mother was paying all kinds of loans and shit then everything was steady at granny's and grandpas. In that age life is more a question of enjoying it and you can do things that really matter; camping, going for walks and just living. When I get fifty I want to live somewhere where I can walk barefoot!" What about having babies? Do you feel you have to choose between having babies and your career? "No, if I would want to have another baby then I'll just do that, that's that. But I don't want to right now. I've got time." Bjork says she feels good and it shows. Even when she's busy travelling and all that excitement, she seems to be relaxed and on top of things. She says it's the first time since she left home at 14, that she is experiencing a steady family life. "Now I live in my own house, go to work in the morning and come home at night. I sleep in the same bed as last night, can leave everything and come back to it untouched. My boyfriend and son Sindri live with me and I'm very happy with that. What I want most in the world is to have my life like this right now. But tomorrow something else can tickle me. Anything can happen."