Phone Conversation 1995-01-15 By Gunnar Hjalmarsson Sent to BEP by Gunnar Hjalmarsson dr.gunni@centrum.is "Who's in charge?" Phone conversation on the 15th of January. Done in Icelandic. Worked from my lame memory and my notes. Note this: it is the first interview (if you can call it that) with Björk about her upcoming releases so now you BEP people are a group of privilege! Dr. Gunni: It was nice seeing you on the Unun gig (on the 12th). I thought you had left Iceland already? BJÖRK: No, I delayed my flight a bit. Dr. Gunni: Did you enjoy yourself? BJÖRK: Well yeah. It was so crowded that I didn't see anything for a long time from the bar. I jammed my way up front for the last 3 songs. Dr. Gunni: Well, I am calling because there is this Blue eyed pop thing on the Internet all about you and the Cubes and I thought I should give those people some new news. Did you know about Bep? BJÖRK: Well, slightly. Who is in charge? Dr. Gunni: No one really, except this guy in Canada who formed the channel I think. This is anarchy at its best. BJÖRK: Sindri just got a modem and a slip to this thing and he will be teaching his old mother all about it soon. Dr. Gunni: Well, obviously everybody wants to know about upcoming Björk material. BJÖRK: I have recorded 20 songs and I am picking the best ones for the album now. The album will be mixed in February and will come out in the spring. I don't know exactly when as of now. The first thing to appear - probably in Feb. - is a Beastie Boys mix of "Army of me". I really like the Beastie Boys and they were great to work with. Dr. Gunni: Isn't Army of me a bit like a Laibach song? BJÖRK: Yes there is a little Laibach feel to it. Dr. Gunni: What other people are you working with? BJÖRK: This whole album will be like duets with me and other people except I am the only one that sings. I am working with Graham Massey, LFO, Tricky, Black Dog and Evelyn Glennie - she is a percussionist from Scotland my age. Also the Brodski Quartet that worked with Elvis Costello recently. I don't really care for Costello but I really liked the Brodski Quartet. Dr. Gunni: Who is producing? BJÖRK: I wanted to do it entirely myself but then when it got too complicated I got Nellee in as a safety net. He is doing lot less now tho than on Debut. Dr. Gunni: How is the new album compared to Debut? BJÖRK: It is more experimental but at the same time more simpler. Debut was very safe, you know, choruses and all that, but this is very different. For example there is one country and western song with an opium feel to it called, well I haven't decided yet, but the middle bit goes "Possibly, maybe, probably love". There is a slide guitarist on that track. Dr. Gunni: Is that someone world famous? BJÖRK: Yes he must be. He has worked with Bjorgvin Halldorsson (Laughter)! (BH is a veteran Icelandic Tom Jones kinda crooner.) Dr. Gunni: Can you tell me some more song titles. BJÖRK: Well, there is "Modern Things", "Blow a fuse" and "Cover me"... Dr. Gunni: Didn't Springsteen have a song called Cover me too? BJÖRK: He did? Oh shit! (laughter) Dr. Gunni: Do you still make the lyrics in Icelandic first? BJÖRK: Well to be honest they grow in both Icelandic and English now. Its good to be able to find good phrases in both languages. Dr. Gunni: Are planning tours already? BJÖRK: Not really, but I wanna do a massive tour in Asia - probably 3 months. They have a MTV Asia now, you know, and the food there is much better. You know, it is destructive to tour Germany (laughter)! Dr. Gunni: Are you doing something more with Madonna? BJÖRK: No, I just give her this one song, this packet. I have never met her actually. Dr. Gunni: What about Polly (Harvey)? BJÖRK: That is much likelier. She is the one artist I expect the most from now. Her new album is gonna be unbelievable. She is using much more instruments now. Dr. Gunni: There is one thing that the people on Bep wanna know, real bad it seems. They wanna know how tall you are! BJÖRK: (laughter) Well, I am 1.63 M - I don't know what that is in the English systems. Dr. Gunni: They will just have to find out for themselves. AND THAT WAS THAT.