Because I’m a live singer, I’m very aware of the fact that a song is not going to sound the same twice and it shouldn’t. So you just take advantage of what you’re feeling at the moment. It’s even better if you sing a cliched, happy tune when you’re really upset. It brings a lot of edge to it. When I was in the punk band Kukl with Einar though, that was fucking therapy ; every gig was like cutting your chest open and tearing out your heart. It just became ridiculous after a while.
BJÖRK : Drugs ? What are you talking about ? (Laughter)
POLLY : You mean drugs as a tool to help write ? Only really alcohol and then not much.
BJÖRK : I sing best without anything. I know this sounds really hippy, but being on top of a mountain in the middle of the day would be best for me. But to be able to socialise with all these people, because I’m quite an introverted sort of person, I’ll have a cognac before I go on stage. But even that’s more of a ritual than anything. And maybe a bottle of wine afterwards to chill down.
I’ve been singing since I was a little kid. I used to sing walking to school, whether it was raining outside or snowing. In Iceland, you can sing at the top of your lungs, and no one can hear you. Most of my youth was a very euphoric experience, me walking and singing at the top of my lungs. I never thought I’d sing for other people. It was always my secret and my survival kit. I’ve been singing for many, many years, long before I sang for others. It wasn’t really until I was 27 that I sang for others. But singing outside on my own while walking was where my voice developed. It’s very acoustic on its own, without microphones.
How did you feel when you were losing your voice ?
I was basically faced with, ’If I can’t sing, it’s not only me and my life, but a lot of people rely on that’, you know ? It was kind of strange to be confronted with it.
But I heard that you had nodules (whatever they might be) on your throat.
I got nodules, but basically it is physical exhaustion. It’s so clever the way the body functions ; it makes you crash and makes you rethink everything.
How long did you crash for ?
I crashed for a few days, but then I did the whole tour very carefully. I called it my ’monk tip’. So my last few months of touring has been Björk on the monk tip. If you’re sort of really bored, Jefferson, and you want a new angle on life : don’t do drugs, stop talking. It’s amazing. The amount of energy that goes into communicating is just outrageous. And you end up just writing what is dead important. Everything becomes so precious. And it’s very interesting. You start very quickly listening to completely different music as well, and reading completely different books and you get this urge for completely different films as well.
Larissa : what would be the worst thing for you : losing your sight or losing your hearing or losing your voice ?
bjork : i have lost my voice and it’s the most scary thing i can imagine. i guess, biologically, i have exceptionally large lungs.
Apparently people who have big lungs, they get obsessed with oxygen so they celebrate it when they sing. to sing, for me, is inhaling the most oxygen and let it go in and out and in and out as much as you can per minute. so i guess, biologically, that’s sort of my prime, what i’m about.
My ears come up pretty close though out of the three things you mentioned. i’m probably least upset about losing my sight, second my hearing and number one my voice.
Singing is very pure for me : it’s my own way of dealing with other things going on in my head. I use my voice to think, in the same way that Buddhists use their ’Om’ chanting. I love to sing in the wind, in the rain, during a storm, at sea, on a lava flow... me against the elements. Even for ’Post’, for some of the songs I used a special microphone with a very long chord so I could sing on the beach instead of the studio.
I love singing live, that’s the ultimate... but you sing one hour and you have to hang around two or three days to do it. Then you come off a three-month tour and realise you’ve spent all that time for maybe having done 30 hours of singing.
It’s some sort of movement similar to cream I think. You know when they squeeze the cream out of the gas thing. Like really pretty when It’s got a spike at the top, and it’s got a circle. Sort of slow circle movement in the same way whipped cream would move. Very still and very satisfied.
