Born in a chiaroscuro
I discovered her thanks to her first album Amateur (2010) and when I interviewed
her the idea of freedom as a way of life made me title the interview Free love. By then, her song Mood astonished me as a wonderful
chiaroscuro. “Uendelige valg og
muligheder. Gør det svært at dømme / Infinite choices and opportunities. Makes
it hard to judge” he sang trying to get some light from all the confusion
in which we are living. Now she presents a second album in which she definitely
tries to play with that light in order to make people feel happy. It’s titled Songs I
made when I was supposed to be working on my album (2012) and there’s more
light but that doesn’t mean there’s no shadow on it. Of course, there are a lot
of shadows from the opening track called Can
you tell to the last one, You lied to
me. After listening to the whole album, one can’t avoid wondering about the
album she was working on when she made the songs of the present one. Because
this one is really good, subtle, elegant, great lyrics and very good tunes. It’s
true that the first one had a darker sound, but nothing is wrong in give some
light to the music when the talent is so deep.
Songs I made when I was supposed to be working on my album. Where's the album?
The album was a catchier, upbeat affair compared to my previous work.
I’d been longing to get out of gloomsville, and make music that might make
people feel happy, make them snap their fingers and stomp their feet a bit.
Creating this kind of sound does not come naturally to me, so I decided
to join forces with someone who really knew what he was doing. So the album got
lost along the way, in the hands of a producer who was extremely talented in
his actual work, but completely unable to keep his word. He strung me along for
a year, by which time I’d lost patience with the project, which was the sound
of me trying to go pop, but never being able to fulfill the songs potential on
my own.
During that time I’d written so many new ones I thought I’d just go it
alone one more time, with my usual Kat-style music.I still have the songs though, and they might get resurrected if I find
the right people to work with.
One of the songs you present in the nau nua festival
is called Don’t ask me. What
shouldn't I ask you about this song?
If we are in a relationship, don’t ask me to be ‘true’ to you in the
originally perceived meaning of the word. If the fundament of love and mutual
respect is solid, I really don’t think it is such a big deal to flirt, kiss, or
have sex with someone else than your partner.
The love you have for the one you’re in a relationship with, and the
physical desire that drives you to a sexual encounter with a stranger, I see as
being two completely different things, which does not need to be compared. If we’re together, I will be there for you, you will be able to count on
me when it matters, I will not lie to you, I will treat you well. I will also
not deny you the simple pleasure of a random fling. And I hope you will do the
same for me.
The second song presented is You lied to me. How can we survive without lying?
I’ve no idea! I guess most people tell white lies all of the time. Isn’t
there some statistics on that? In this song it was not even a lie, as much as a withholding of the
truth, and the point was, this person, (a very good friend of mine), chose to
do this purely for the reason that he knew I would feel hurt if he told me. So
there’s this whole gray area of when it is ‘ok’ to lie, and how it can somehow
be justified if you consider the intentions behind it.
The opening song is Can you tell. It has a dark electronic sound. Which ones are your
references in electronic music?
Not much of what I listen to is all-out electronic. Apart from The
Knife, and Fever Ray, which I adore, and is a big inspiration to me.
Do you enjoy silence?
Absolutely! I don’t listen to the radio, and don’t watch TV. So there
are often long periods of silence at my place. I also very rarely have
visitors, and with so much communication happening online, and using SMS,
sometimes a day goes by without me speaking a word. (Though those are usually
the days I work on my music, so it is not ALL silent.)
Imagine a naked ship, what would you do with it?
Put
in on the mantelpiece in my giant house.
KAT BOELSKOV VIDEOS here
An interview by Juan Carlos Romero
Kat Boelskov www.katboelskov.com
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