QX  1996-12

By ???


"Björk"


1996 has been a year of highs and lows for Bjork. She's accomplished an 
international sell-out tour, and she has scored her biggest hit to date 
with 'It's Oh So Quiet'. She has also made international headlines for 
assaulting a journalist, split with her partner Goldie and had an acid 
bomb sent to her North London home by a psychotic fan. The indie act 
from Iceland has become one of the hottest artists in the world without 
losing any of her trademark quirks.

The cliched word for Bjork is "child-like" but in the flesh it's 
remarkably accurate. She's 5 foot nothing, a post modern pixie, with 
that innocent face shining out from under her long auburn hair. Today 
she's wearing a little blue embodied cocktail dress and see through 
clogs. "I think it's a bit of an accident that I am so popular" she 
starts out in her thick East End cockney accent which is mixed with the 
odd rogue Icelandic vowel.

Not what you'd call an introverted girl, Bjork Gudmundsdottir has been a 
music biz star since the age of 11, when she recorded her first album. 
It went gold in Iceland, and today a copy of it fetches up to 1500 
Pounds - Bjork herself doesn't even have one. "I'm bad a keeping things 
like that. I think my Gran's got a copy of it though" she smiles 
swinging her legs like a toddler.

Nineteen years later her horizons have expanded and she has two 
critically acclaimed albums, made up of undefinable music which seems to 
instantly captivate listeners. Bjork started her solo career in the 
early 90's when she teamed up with ex Soul II Soul guru Nellee Hooper. 
She released her first, aptly titled album, 'Debut', which sold two and 
a half million copies. "When I did Debut, it was to do something that I 
could be proud of. Something that I could play to my grandchildren and 
not blush. If people like it that's just a bonus."

The follow up album 'Post' continued Bjork and Hooper's musical 
experimentation, and was recorded at Compass Point in the Bahamas. "When 
we were preparing to record 'Post', my accountant called me very upset, 
and said unfortunately we might have to go to the Bahamas. It was to 
save a lot of money on taxes, so we got our bikini's sorted and left."

'Post' spawned five hit singles some of which have been remixed for her 
new album 'Telegram' which is released this week. 'Possibly Maybe', the 
haunting 'My Spine' and her epic 'Hyperballad' are among her recent hits 
to benefit from studio trickery. "I really wanted to make something 
sharp this time" she explains.

The highlight of fame for Bjork isn't selling albums, or touring or the 
wealth that follows or even scratching journos' eyes out but simply the 
fact she can make music. Sharp music. "I can think of any song in my 
head and make it become reality, which for me is 500 thousand times 
better than champagne or toyboys or chicks or whatever" she smiles.

Reflecting on 1996, it has been an amazing year for her. In February 
Bjork assaulted a journalist in Bankok. "That was probably the fourth 
time in my whole life that I have lost my temper. Basically there were 
eight camera crews there and my son was there too. It was like mother 
instinct. They were asking me questions and I said I will give a press 
conference later so they started asking my son personal questions! They 
were abusing the fact that he was a kid." Bjork says with a combination 
of sorrow and anger in her voice. "I know it was the wrong thing to do, 
but this energy came out of me that I never knew I had. There were three 
grown up males on my back and I just threw them off. I was just ready to 
kill anyone who touched my son's innocence."

Bjork was an only child herself but says her son Sindri isn't as spoilt 
as she was. "I was spoilt rotten. After I was about three, my Mum just 
let me do what ever the fuck I wanted." Sindri is slightly more 
disciplined, and kept away from the show business circuit. "He does his 
homework, and I don't get involved and I do my homework and he doesn't 
get involved. We don't discuss my work. I have calmed down a bit which 
is maybe because I am bringing up a child. I don't swear in my songs 
anymore. I keep telling Sindri to use "fuck" sparely, because if he says 
fuck every other word, it won't do him any good when he is having a 
proper argument because he has run out of fucks." Bjork says. As a 
mother so fiercely protective of her son she was terribly worried for 
her son's safety when a crazed fan sent an acid bomb to her home, and 
then killed himself. "It was probably the most dramatic week of my life 
to be honest. I had such a lot of police protection, that I was probably 
the safest person in London for those next few days" she recalls.

One of the reasons the man committed suicide or decided to "leave" as 
Bjork quaintly words it, was because she was dating Goldie.

"When he decided to...leave, he filmed himself with my music in the 
background. Four days later he started to, you know, smell and his 
neighbours called the cops."

Bjork was on a plane flying back to London from Miami when he sent the 
package, and had to phone Sindri explaining why he couldn't open any 
mail. She tells of another obsessive fan who harassed her, but he ended 
up "leaving" too.

Bjork says she "cried her heart out" when she found out, but insists all 
she does is make music and these men obviously had huge problems and 
were wrong to try to bring her into them. "What I do is make music. It's 
all about love to me. If I start looking at what I am doing too closely, 
I will lose the kick I get out of doing it. Then I may as well go back 
to Iceland and work in the fish market."

The prospect of scaling fish seems unlikely as Ms Gudmundsdottir 
continues to "explore and experiment" and create her own unique style of 
futuristic dance rhythms. "I'm still learning, but I've got 55 years to 
live, so I am hoping to get it sorted out by the year 2050."

After a quick listen to Telegram, it seems she's got it pretty sorted 
already!