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Think about it. Who is the perfect interviewer for a person as singular as Björk? Who possibly could have the depth of insight to even guess what might be an appropriate question? The only good answer is thus: Björk herself, which is exactly why the people at W magazine asked her to ask herself some questions. Here are her greatest hits, interspersed with her streams of consciousness about how weird it is that she was asked to do this at all.The big one. The one you've always wanted to know the answer to. I mean damn, this one just comes right off the bat as the first "proper" question, after she warms up for a bit: How does Björk feel about the flute? Her first choice of instrument as a child was the oboe, naturally, but she had to learn flute as a second choice because her mum couldn't afford oboe lessons. Thankfully, she is now grateful for the training her flute practice gave her:It's kind of easy to think of Björk as someone who like, eats marbles for breakfast and only speaks Japanese after 3PM in her living room, but actually she is also into normal stuff. This is nice, if only because it allows you to think, even slightly, "hey, I'm just like Björk!" and honestly the world would probably be better if we were all a bit more like Björk. Asking herself "when do you feel freest?" she answered simply, "making music. being with friends and family. walking in nature." Actually pretty simply pleasures.She asked herself "what kinda essence would you like to leave behind once you're gone?" and the answer was pretty fascinating and unexpected:Literally only Björk could follow up a really perceptive statement about the essential humanity of making art with a self-deprecating comment about self-help. I love Björk.'Surf' and 'bloom' may well be the two most Björk-esque adjectives, and, when she asked "do you like people you can control?" she balks, saying she "thrives on equals." "i love that feeling when you reach a balance of 2 very different creatures letting each other surf and bloom in the best way." I'm not sure there's anyone who could claim to be Björk's equal, but it's nice to know that she's interested in mere mortals, right?Read the full interview here and marvel at the beautiful brain of Björk.Follow Noisey on Twitter.
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Bjork Has a Complex Relationship with the Flute
"i think also looking back it really trained my lungs well with breathing and stamina so when i started singing which was also my second choice (wtf) because i wanted to be a drummer, i probably had a very naive clumsy voice but i had killer lungs even though i say so myself."
She Likes Basic Stuff Too!
Björk Would Like to Leave Behind a 'Sense' of Herself
i enjoy most often with musicians on recordings like breaths, or coughs, or in lyric-writing, the sense of them and reality erotically merging or not merging…that kinda soft, truthful coordinate where the 2 touch effortlessly and unknowingly. if how they deal with it or how they don't deal with it is captured, i guess its called the human condition? that sounds super self helpy though. damn.
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