Kate Bush - Archive Interviews talking about Lps, Lyrics,Touring & more - Radio Broadcast 07/02/2023

Kate Bush - Archive Interviews talking about Lps, Lyrics,Touring & more - Radio Broadcast 07/02/2023

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thank you [Music]   running up that hill from hounds of Love Now the  new cable shop them or one side of the album I   should say it's really cool that three years  Kate it seems a very long time what have you   been doing yeah so I think this is the one  question that is inevitable really isn't it   um well after the last album I had to take a a  break in order to create a new energy for this   album um if I'd have started writing straight away  without getting new stimulus it would have been   exactly the same energy that was on the last album  and I wanted to go for a very different kind of   music um more positive I think and also I wanted  to be brave enough to go ahead with the idea of a   second side of the album actually being a form of  concept which took a bit of time to actually get   up the courage to do and it must obviously take  a long time to write I think we'll talk about   that in detail when we when we play some tracks  but I mean everyone's got a you Greta Garber and   Lord Lucan and people like this aren't they to  disappear for three years you know it must have   been quite a difficult decision to take that long  over it really well I think the best decisions   that I've made have happened in the nasty is I  moved out of London I spent some time at home   which I needed to do um got in some new stimulus  found a new dance teacher and most importantly   built and equipped our own recording studio which  we then recorded all the material in so does that   mean then that you you've got the freedom and the  time to really experiment absolutely one of the   worst things about working in commercial Studios  is besides the distractions about Outsiders and   phones all the time is that it's costing a  phenomenal amount of money every hour and if   you want to experiment with things that take maybe  a day and you want to go away and think about them   it's just prohibitive you can't work that way but  now you see one of the reasons that people must   think that you disappeared was that the last  album didn't go down terribly well with a lot   of people who did it I mean is that disappointing  and depressing well no it's not actually I mean I   what I find strange is that the particularly the  media approach to the record was that it was not   successful but for me I thought it was incredibly  successful and it it made the um top three in this   country straight away and I think the problem was  that the singles didn't do well um but the one   single that did do well off the album was timed a  year before the release of the album so perhaps it   wasn't timed very well but I was really pleased  with that album and I think the feedback that   I've been getting as people gradually get into it  is wonderful I'm very pleased and what I wanted   to do is get rid of the problems I'd had on the  last album I.E demos that I then had to totally   recreate from scratching the master Studio which I  can do properly here where I come in and actually   write the tracks in the studio well we've talked  about that they're being two distinct sides to the   album and the hounds of loved one which is like  individual songs as such um they all seem to be   interested in a particular round you know you're  going into to the way relationships work and is   this a preoccupation in terms of your lyrics  do you think um I think it's to do with my life   that relationships are incredibly important as I  think they are in everyone's life I think really   well the vast majority of pieces of work that  are written about how to do with relationships   between people because that's what it's all about  really isn't it the feedback and the interlinking   and the not working of people together it's a  fascinating thing and funnily enough of course   it goes back to Wuthering Heights doesn't it  really I mean that sort of um you know that   sort of almost destructive relationship the  destructive attraction has it always been an   interest in a lyrical interest for you um yes I  think so and again it's it's a lyrical interest   because it does interest me the way that um  people can tear each other apart and yet they   love each other and I think it's an irony I think  it's the irony of situations that are fascinating   I don't want to to to to press you and talk in  personal terms but clearly that it has a personal   reference as well doesn't it I mean a personal  relevance I suppose any lyric that you write   um I think so and as much as it's expressing how  I feel at that time but then it's not necessarily   autobiographical which is something that does  tend to be pushed on writers as soon as they   sing a lyric from a personal point of view where  they sing I do this I think this um it's not   necessarily autobiographical but it is expressing  something that you feel at that time perhaps about   someone else rather than yourself your records  also sometimes they quite scare me you know well   that's great if they scare you because I think  definitely some tracks um that they're meant to   be scary and it's always very difficult for me  to know how people do interpret the stuff at the   other end um so if you're getting scared by some  of it if it's the right tracks you know I'm really   pleased I think what definitely inspires me is  um is films that I watch that I find really scary   and there are a lot of people who do enjoy being  scared by films but I think what I like is the   um the intensity of films when they start scaring  you when they're good night for instance don't   look now it's just such an incredible experience  and when I I write things so ideally would love to   be doing to people what happens to me when I'm  affected by these things um so I think that's   definitely the inspiration there we also talk  about the other side now really didn't we The   Concept side it must have been a bit worrying  a bit daunting really just to just to approach   the idea of a whole side of an album about one  subject because I mean you know everyone everyone   says that sort of thing went out in the 70s don't  they I mean it seems an old-fashioned idea yes   which was in a way why I felt I had to think very  carefully before I went for it because of all the   preconceptions that are very negative about such  a thing but I feel that's so wrong because if   anything music is so much more akin to that kind  of thing than being short stories like pop music   is I mean classical music Opera they all explore  extensions of Music they get you involved again   more like films than short stories and I think  when it works it's even more effective active   than a short piece of work so what's the story of  the ninth wave about someone who is in the water and it's about the past present and future coming  to wake them up to keep them awake they're very   tired and they just have to keep going till  morning and in many ways it's about someone going   through an experience and coming out the other  end hopefully Having learned an awful lot about   themselves during the process but is this person  drowning or what they're trying not to drown   they're trying to stay awake until someone  comes to save them talk us through because   I mean there's something like uh I don't know how  many tracks now and what five or six tracks that   to get up to make the one the one piece waking  the witch what's actually happening at this point   at this point they've just been woken up by  friends who've come to stop them drowning   as they go under the water and as they  surface they see someone in the distance   who comes close and as they do it's a witch  finder and it's the whole thing of having just   saved themselves from drowning there's now this  Apparition that is trying to drown them again   um in this sort of parallel story of a  witchfinder trying to drown the witch   whether she's innocent or guilty she will  die and the water is the linking fountain [Music]   it seems to be based on Tennyson I mean there's  some words anyway on the on the sleeve from   Tennyson yes that was really something that  came after the concept in that I felt it was   always nice to have a passage that was used to  to quote a situation that came from a poet I've   always liked that again when I've read books  or whatever and there's a little passage at   the front that sort of sums it up and the quote  that we chose was from the coming of Arthur and   it's really Tennyson talking about how he  feels that waves work in a series of nine   and so there's a big build up and a complete  cycle within nine waves which seemed rather   nicely relevant to what we were doing here it is  it's very demanding I think uh a very demanding   piece I mean lyrically especially by which I mean  I'm not absolutely certain about what goes on but   I think that's probably a good thing isn't it  yes I would very much like the idea of people   listening to the album again and again and  as they hear it more they go deeper into it   um but what's nice is the feedback I've had so far  people are so aware of what's happening in there   um it's very pleasing because again you're never  sure if it's a bit too obscure for people to grasp   but especially say two three listens but so many  people really have understood what's happening in   there is that a compromise that you feel yourself  having to make all the time it's something that's   satisfying to you still has to be direct enough  to get through to people fairly quickly at least   um no no I think I always tend to just write  something um hoping that I've done the best for   that particular song or whatever it is and then  just hope that people understand and like it I   don't think you can compromise because you're not  sure because they could well be where you are in   your head so you I think you have to play to that  people seem to come to music from two ways they   either want to go up on stage and do it or they  want to sit in the studio and write and create   that way yes I get incredible enjoyment out of  both and they're two totally different worlds   which is again why I enjoy both because they  are so different from each other there's the   spontaneity of a tour which you just can't beat  being up on the stage and if something goes wrong   you just got to cope with it and everyone's out  there with you hopefully it's wonderful and the   studios so rewarding because you can spend as much  time hopefully creating the best thing you can   for that song which is so important but you don't  have a dumb one too didn't you like it the first   time I loved it I really loved it and I learned  such a lot from it that was very important for   the things that have come since but my projects  become so involved once I'm in them that there's   just been no time to do one since that last two I  needed another two albums worth of material which   left me at the end of the last album and  it just didn't feel the right time to tour   so here I am at the end of this album and if  anything I feel a very strong urge to try and   get some visual projects happening before  another tour um but it's not that I don't   want to it's just really finding the time in the  moment are you going to do it again though well I   have been saying for the last six years it must  be now that I would love to and uh I would love   to and we hope to see what happens when you put  so much effort into that one too and people are   still talking about I remember seeing it on TV I  think is where it was on there wasn't it yeah I   mean are you gonna have to do all that again  are you gonna have the same approach to the   tours you seem to have the album you know  that's that's again the thing that where   you enter a project and you know you think you're  walking into a quite a small room like the Tardis   but when you get in there it's enormous and I  think that's a bit like nearly everything I do   um and that that's again why doing a tour requires  so much thought because it is a time consuming   process but I'd love to and I think actually it  could be much better than the last tour because   some of the material lends itself very well to  theatrical visuals it's the Simon Mayo record   of the week well we normally do this chat on a  Monday but uh it matters not because uh Tuesday   second play for the record of the week and I'm  really excited about this because about I would   say gosh I've forgotten that 19 well anyway about  10 or 12 years ago I was listening to the radio   and this record came on and it went whiny he  said it was an awful lot more impressive than   that and I thought this has got to be the record  of the decade I was so excited I dashed out and   bought it and bought everything that the lady's  done since that was of course a terrible version   of Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush and Kate's on  the line okay hello Simon what did you think of   that little rendition of Wuthering Heights uh you  had the wrong key actually was it what key should   it have been a major a major just a flat I'm just  a totally flat absolutely right anyway Kate good   morning good morning and uh thanks for having  a chat with us brand new single This Woman's   Work from the album What's the inspiration  behind that where does the song come from   well I was asked to write this song by John  Hughes the American film director who just   finished making a film of his chord she's having  a baby and um he had lots of material for the the   film generally which is quite a light-hearted film  apart from one sequence where the film gets very   heavy and um he's actually waiting for his wife  in hospital whose baby is in a breach position and   um all through the secrets in the film really he's  having to sit there with himself and his memories   and he's obviously in a lot of distress and um  the song is very much from his point of view and   exploring the sorrow that one feels when you're  waiting for someone you care very much about and   um that's what the song's saying they're actually  there are very few songs about pregnancy we played   the 10 000 Maniac single the other day which is  called eat for two and when you were talking about   that I just remember the kick inside and um from  the tracks from your first album is it something   that you consciously try to write about is it just  like a recurring theme well I think probably for   all writers Simon there are key themes in birth  life and death are for all of us three major   events you know they're what life is all about and  I think birth is obviously a very symbolic thing   as well as a real physical thing and um it was  a real honor for me really to be asked to write   this song for this piece of film I'm not sure I  would have written something like it otherwise   yeah I know what you're saying well I think it  works wonderfully we'll play it in just a second   um I heard I think actually it might have been  in the end one of the last interviews that Roger   Scott ever did for the Saturday sequence when he  was having a chat with you about your your album   and uh he asked you the question which I know I  know you know I'm going to ask this and everyone   else does and as he asked it I went through a  tunnel and I missed the answer so I'll ask you   now on behalf of all the people who know us about  to speak to you said you must ask her when is   she going to play live we demand that we see Kate  singing live so I'm just asking on behalf of them   and I think we're going through another Tunnel  right here I can't hear you very clearly okay   well I'll I'll fax the message through you're not  getting off the hook with this I are you going to   play Live Kate please the thing is Simon I  haven't toured for such a long time and as   as I think I said to Roger yeah I'm astounded  at how I've got away with what I do really the   fact that I'm not seen in public so much and it  takes me such a long time to make albums I would   love to tour again but I've been so wrapped up  in making albums it just hasn't happened and   um believe me if if I do decide to everyone  will know immediately so you're still thinking   about it it means a tremendous amount to me that  people still would like to see me live but it's a   combination of fear and and commitment and touring  is something you really have to want to do and   I guess I just haven't hit that point okay well  when you do there'll be a whole Army of people   waiting to see you oh thank you so much and uh  thank you gosh I could carry on chatting like   this for a while uh but I better not we'll play  the record this is the record of the week this   week Kate Bush and This Woman's Work Kate thank  you very much thank you Simon foreign [Music] first album since 1993. does it feel like a  long time to you yes why is it taking so long   well I suppose when I finished the last record I  really didn't want to go straight back in and make   another one it was I thought I'd take a year out  because which takes us to 1994. yeah it's been a   long year after about a year I decided that it was  just something I wanted to kind of stay with a bit   longer especially since I was about 17 or 18. I'd  gone and made a record promoted it and then gone  

straight back in to do the next one and because  they take such a long time there's the impression   that there's these big gaps in between where I'm  not doing anything but with a lot of those records   I was actually working on them for a long time and  it's quite an intense process and I think it got   to the point at the end of the last one where  I just thought I didn't want you know I didn't   want to just go straight and then do another  one I want to just take a break and do some   other stuff why does it take so long well it's a  very good question I asked myself that the actual   writing is normally very quick yeah with a lot of  them what I do is go in and just write straight   onto tape right so that's the first time the song  exists out side of your head is when you go in the   studio yes so it's all just in there and it just  all flows out in one take no no it just [Music]   it's a bit different with piano vocal tracks  that would be written at the piano as opposed   to written onto tape and then once I've written  it I've been just put it onto tape so that's a   different process because that's the way I always  used to write when I was a little girl really I   just used to sit at the piano and write the  songs and in a way it was like I was the tape   machine I guess but once I started working in my  own Studio I wanted to stop making demos because   the problem was you'd make a demo and it would  be really good but you couldn't use it because   it wasn't you know technically different  sounding right so you tried to reproduce it   and it would never sound the same it wouldn't  have the atmosphere or the buzz so I thought   well let's not make demos let's just put it  straight onto Master tape and that way even   though you might redo elements of it you've  always got that initial energy and atmosphere   it's called Ariel there's a sea of honey and a sky  of honey what's the concept that's driving it well   one of the things I thought I did wrong with an  Arts record was I think it was too long and what   I was trying to do was give people as much for  their money as possible but the last record I was   making a CD as opposed to a vinyl record there's  a problem isn't it I think a lot of my favorite   albums there might be eight tracks on them and  it's great you can turn it over and everything   and there was this thing with CDs where people it  takes 70 minutes therefore we should do 70 minutes   and it's a mistake isn't it it can be a mistake  I think it's very difficult because I think as an   artist you want to give people their money's worth  and in a lot of ways people with attention span   doesn't really last that long what was so great  about vinyl records was you had that forced Gap   I suppose also I always really liked  the process of making hounds of Love   which was a similar idea except that was one  side of a Race So in some ways this is a bit   like a kind of larger version more of like  a sort of Irish Wolfhounds of Love yeah yeah   well I think a lot of people haven't got a clue  what it's about and you like that though don't   you yes I do I think it's brilliant and I think  whatever I have in my head when I write here is   important to me but I think it's very important  how that works for people who then listen to it   or see it or whatever art form it is because then  they become a part of the process it's like when   you read a book part of that process of reading  that book is you as the reader you're you're   you know as important as the book really I mean  it couldn't actually exist as a book unless you   were there reading it I think you become part of  the process so how you interpret it and mishear   lyrics and ideas is great so you don't want to  say all this about because you think that that   kind of negates that process for people then  yeah I think so in a way I mean I thought it   would be interesting to put this out as a first  single because people might be intrigued by the   lyrics because you know they're not terribly  straightforward I don't think of myself as   somebody's going to come up with writing a hit  single so I thought that might just give it a   bit of my knowledge you know that there would be  a story there for people to try and discover you'd   rather not have to talk about it at all yes I  would but I want people to know that the record's   out there and so I have to let people know that  it's out there but you know I just get on with my   life and so this for me is just a very small part  of it and yet for people standing at the outside   looking in this is the bit that they see and then  they have this impression of me just retreating   away you know into some sort of big Vampire Castle  or something but simply it's it's mad because you   know this is just a little bit where I I come and  say hi you know the album's out please go buy it   well you're always reluctant to be a celebrity  right from the beginning but I don't think of   myself as as a celebrity I don't think that to me  that's a dirty word for me well I mean reluctant   to be a pop star then or reluctant I know you  don't you've laughed I mean now famous you can't   argue is famous Infamous I would prefer celebrated  cherished who cherished is lovely I can't find   that and then I find it completely ridiculous this  obsession with celebrities the important people   are surgeons and doctors and people who actually  put people back together and make a difference   to people's lives not somebody who's in an ad  on telly I mean okay so that's valid for what   it is too but why so much attention on something  that's so shallow some people seem to kind of want   fame just for itself maybe there's nothing wrong  that I can't understand I mean you find that kind   of difficult because Fame which you undoubtedly  attained is almost like The Unwanted byproduct of   what it is that you do isn't it really has there  ever been a time where you enjoyed the fame when   you were younger did you enjoy being Kate Bush the  pop star I noticed you laughed when you said pop   star because you obviously don't see yourself as  a pop star but you were a pop star I saw you on   top of the pops doing the number one it's single  so you must have been did you ever enjoy that I   think still there are some times when it's fun  and I think that's again that's important if   you can to try and keep it fun because you know  in a lot of ways it's quite ridiculous really   what I desired was not to be famous and I think  that's a difference I didn't want to be famous   I wanted to make a record that was the big  thing and I was on a mission from God and   that's what I was going to do were you always  nervous about that I mean at the beginning it   must have felt as a young girl in the music must  have felt great no it's about what being known   being famous being bothered when you go out no  I thought it was absolutely hilarious at first   even at that age he was kind of you know yeah it  was fun yeah and it was my first record was very   successful yeah which was I think a big surprise  to everybody really was it a surprise to you   yeah it was I didn't expect you to do as well as  it did I mean I hope she would do well but it was   extraordinary success for a first record you'd  worked quite a long time on that and you could   just very big now and go through all the thing  again I mean you were kind of signed to Emi for   a long time and they let you alone to sort of find  your feet a bit didn't they well that's what they   say right so they were pressurizing you all the  time no they weren't pressurize me it was quite   the opposite I wanted to make a record and I think  in a lot of ways what they did was they signed me   because they could see that there was potential  there then they just left me and I think there   was an element of them not wanting somebody else  to sign me I mean through the help of Dave Gilmore   I had at least two of the tracks that were on the  first album that was what was presented to the   record company so man with a child in his eyes  basically got me signed looking back on cables   at that time and I used to present things I had a  flashback to that not the nine o'clock news Pamela   Stephenson what was it oh England my leotard or  something do you remember that yes I do did you   find that flattering maybe you found it insulting  or maybe you thought no I've arrived because I'm   being taken off on not the nine o'clock news which  was the biggest TV show of that era well I was   I was very flaccid because I mean she was very  beautiful I think at the time I was very nervous   because I was worried that people were just taking  the piss out of me because I was having the piss   taken out of me so much by everybody but I  saw it a couple of years later and I thought   it was brilliant it was really wonderful you were  marketed in quite a sensual or sexual way weren't   you at that I don't think that was marketed well  the photographs that came out at that time were   being a very sensual photographer weren't they  very womanly photographed there's nothing wrong   with that but there was that kind of did you go  along with that or were you quite surprised to see   some of the images when they came out I thought  you make it sound like it was something that was   put together against my world I don't know whether  it was or it wasn't to mean you were young it   would be quite understandable photographs yeah  you know because at that time I was a dancer and   I think that was what you saw yourself as first  and foremost no no I saw myself as a singer but I   was also a dancer and how do you present yourself  as a singer in a photograph and this standing in   front of a microphone I was very comfortable in  my body I was a dancer those dancers are you know   all the dances when I was in dance classes used  to wear the guitars there was no big deal yeah   okay welcome to the show thank you very much for  letting me get pop around to see you now so we are   here to talk about the album 50 words for snow uh  wintry and title and in sound and I did read that   you'd been wanting to make a wintry record for  ages what what did you mean by that yeah yeah   I did I mean I'm not sure why really but it just  I suppose I really love winter and um I just love   the idea of trying to create an album that had  that kind of atmosphere that goes with winter   and when um I started writing um quite soon it  became honed down to just snow right and what was   it about snow why just snow well I just think it's  incredibly fascinating I mean it's you know since   I was a kid I'm sure like like all of us you know  it has this incredible magical quality and because   we're lucky here we don't get tons of it we don't  get snowed in for months on end it still has a   sort of you know sort of preciousness without  it being you know a complete pain in the art   it's been here a few weeks but no you're right  I think the interesting thing about snow is that   when it arrives it makes everybody into a child  in a way doesn't it because you do feel there is   something wonderful about it um so there is  that quality but there's also like you know   with winter and snow a lot of that imagery is kind  of often used to convey sort of sadness and loss   is there any of that on the record do you think  well I suppose there is I mean I think in a lot   of ways once I kind of focused in on this idea of  snow then of course Offspring all these different   imageries that go with snow I mean the fact that  it's so fleeting that you know it's there and then   it melts away and uh you know the sort of sense  of Silence that you also get with with snow and   um you know the magical side but like you say also  perhaps the sort of more desolate connections as   well you talk about it being atmospheric and  it certainly is I mean it's a very atmospheric   record but I find that interesting that you have  this kind of it's like it's a constructed approach   to something that actually you might think is  is kind of done in an intuitive way because you   know you're looking to capture the atmosphere of  something would you say that you have a kind of   planned approach to making when you're actually  starting on you know a specific track or or are   you an intuitive worker songwriter well I  suppose it depends with each album you know   with this one what what happened I think was that  because I immediately before starting this been   working on the album director's car which is a  really difficult album to make as soon as I'd   finished that there was this incredible sense  of elation because suddenly I could start from   scratch I could write new songs and I could go  wherever I wanted and also I was still in that   mental space of being mental space mind space  or mental space of being in the studio without   you know it's sort of being taken off into you  know promotion or whatever you would normally   you when you finish an album and it was it was  weird because this album that she had a real   kind of flow to the whole process and was fun  and actually quite I wouldn't say easy but it   wasn't a difficult album to make it had a kind  of freedom to it yes it did and a lot of it was   um me just kind of sitting at the piano letting  these songs evolve it's interesting that you you   know you've done these two records in a year which  is no small undertaking um but that one is kind of   you know the idea of revisiting music and then the  other one is very much the absolute blank page um   which was scarier or the revisiting it was scary  because I thought it was going to be really easy   and it wasn't and I hadn't expected that well I  thought you know all the songs were written it was   just a matter of banging some new vocals down and  you know just kind of you know stripping some of   the tracks out and putting more space in and but  but it wasn't like that at all it was really it   was quite um technical on a lot of levels because  we edited a lot of the tracks to make them longer   and put more space in them and then when I came to  actually sing the tracks it was just it was so not   what I'd expected because I was trying to be that  person then and of course then I'd put so much   work into those vocals anyway I didn't actually  quite know if I was going to be able to better   them or equal them or and then what happened was  I worked out that if we took songs down in key I   could get in as me now and that was that was the  Turning Point once once I did that I could then   sing them as me now and not this person from years  ago so there were all these kind of weird elements   that went with the album that I just wasn't  expecting and how do you feel having had such   a creative year I mean you know to put two records  out and you know be reaching the end of the year   now do you feel a sense of satisfaction or is it  sheer exhaustion where where are we at this point   well I think shock is it I still can't believe  I've actually managed to finish this record in   time for this winter because you know it's not  the sort of Records you could put out in the   summer so if I hadn't been able to get it out  for this winter I would have had to wait until   next winter and I really didn't want to I wanted  it to be quite fresh and so huge relief and shock   sorry about the shock but congratulations on the  relief there are some interesting contributions on   the record from a few people that I'd like to ask  you about Stephen Fry Elton John and and your son   as well as Bertie is is he the first voice we hear  that on the record yes yeah how did how did they   come about starting with Bertie why did you decide  to get him involved well um he's got at the moment   his he still has his very high high voice he can  reach these incredibly beautiful pure notes very   similar to a chorister and quite soon as you know  he'll lose that voice as he starts to grow older   and I wanted to try and capture his voice on tape  at this point in a song that I really hoped would   show him off so I I wrote the song for him but  also was kind of drawing this parallel between   the fleetingness of his voice and the life of a  snowflake yeah and what about what about Elton   John I know that he was a big hero of yours when  you were growing up and you wrote the song for   him that that he appears on there yes um you know  he's still a big hero of mine I I think I think   he's very special and he was a huge influence  I mean when I was starting to write songs and   um when I was writing this song and suddenly  realized that it was going to become a duet   um I just thought of him immediately and thought  how great it would be if if he could get involved   and was it fun to do in the studio  the two of you no it was fantastic   what about Stephen Fry who who does not sing oh  no we should just in case we're about to play the   tracks and people will hear it but um is he you  know how did how did he well he just sing but he   is very Musical and um when I'd written all these  words which of course most of them are made up the   idea was that they'd start off quite sensible  but would gradually get sillier and sillier and   I wanted someone who had a you know a great voice  of authority and of course the thing about Stephen   is he's so intelligent that everyone thinks that  anything he says is really important but he also   has an incredibly beautiful sounding voice I mean  you know he's a fantastic actor he's a comedian   he was uh I don't think anybody could have done  it better so again I was so delighted when he   could come in and do it he also has a sense of  playfulness though I would say in the sense of   fun yes is that something that's important to  you yes very much so and I think this this song   in particular creates an important balance on the  album because it is just fun really and some of   the tracks are quite long and possibly intense  so she just have something that's a bit of fun   is important yeah well especially again you know  returning to the the wintry team there is a kind   of poignance about winter and about and about snow  as you say it is something that is this magical   temporary State really because you know that that  you know that it's it's not going to last for long   um I wonder if that influenced the the actual  recording of it you know the idea of capturing   something that's what you do with a song when  you're making a song really you are kind of   capturing a moment and you can never quite  capture the same one twice very poetic do you   think that's true yeah I think it's very true  and I think in a way this is what I started to   find so interesting when I was writing about  snow the imagery just kept coming I mean I I   think I could easily have written another  album's worth I mean I say that you know   I I don't know but it was I certainly wasn't  lost for inspiration dealing with just that   one subject so perhaps in some ways that's where  the myth of 50 words for snow comes from because   again the idea of having so many words about  one thing is is such a beautiful idea isn't it panic your music sits at an interesting uh kind of point  which is the point that is sort of straddles and   is both pop music and art and I think that's an  external perception I think that's something that   other people would say I don't think of those  two things as different I think pop music can   be art enough in his art but I wondered what you  thought about that yeah I mean I think you're   right I think you know pop music can be art and  I think art can be so many different things and   um I guess you know I've never really thought  of myself as being part of the you know the   pop industry you know uh it's it's kind of just  something that I do I make albums and I suppose   I feel there's quite a naturally evolving process  that I've moved through that is gradually starting   to move away from pop music and you know probably  connected with me getting older and also the idea   that each time I start an album I want to  try and do something different and also I   really like working in these longer forms like  you know before I've maybe worked on a side of   an help them or a CD that was conceptual and  with this record it was playing with the idea   of longer song structures so rather than just  working within a three or four minute structure   to just kind of let them unfold and let the  story be able to um you know just become much   more uh and more involved Journey so that's  something that's developed over the years how   long did it take you to get to that point I  mean you know say when you were working on   the kick inside was your was your songwriting  process very different to the way it is now   no I'm not sure it was I think in a way this album  is probably the most similar to that album because   so much of it was to do with sitting down at the  piano and writing the songs before I went into the   studio and with some other albums I've actually  written in the studio you know just put rough   ideas down and then developed them listening to  your records listening to all of your records I   think you always get a sense of someone who's very  sure of themselves and very sure of of what they   want to say in some ways but I wonder whether  anybody can really feel like that at 19. when   you listen back to the records that you made at  first you know because when anybody's a teenager   they're not quite themselves you become yourself  I think as you get older do you look back at those   records or listen back to those records and kind  of hear a different person hear a different you   um well I don't really listen to my older  but if I ever hear you know bits from my   really early albums I mean yeah I mean it's  just a completely different person I mean I   think you know in essence I'm the same but  I think I think you know my music sounds   really different to me but I I would want that  I wouldn't want it to sound the same I think you   know hopefully you want to evolve and change  through life you mentioned the music industry   and and kind of you know feeling at arm's length  from the the kind of industry aspect of of Music   um but I was interested to ask you about that  because obviously you've seen you know been   making records for a long time now and and seen  the music industry change a lot you know going   from this kind of it seems like you know in the  70s it must have been a time of great sort of   hubris and and really high tide and now in some  ways you know people say the music industry is   at a low ebb certainly the business side of  it is is in in Dire Straits pardon the pun   um you know what do you what do you think about  the way things are now do you think there's a lot   to be gained for artists to to release their own  stuff to kind of Take Back Control or or is it   more difficult that people you know people can't  get signed they don't have the financial support   of a big record label to help them along well I  think I think you know all businesses are having   real problems everyone's struggling because of  the economic climate but also you know just this   enormous kind of period of change that we're all  going through with uh you know technology and I   think just the whole planet is going through this  incredible sort of changing scary time and I think   uh you know probably a lot of stuff that we're  going through now will settle down in a few years   and then change again and I think um I think the  great thing about the music business is that it   does and should ultimately revolve around music  and music will always be there and will always   be important in a lot of ways um and I think the  one thing I do get concerned about is that at the   moment I feel there's this sense of Music being  made um disposable in a way that there's so much   of it and there's it's almost being devalued by  a lot of the processes that are going on you know   I would hate to see the album as an art form  uh you know being left behind because I think   I I love albums you know I grew up listening to  albums not just a track and I think you know it's   great to listen to Just one track but it's nice  to keep that longer form as well so I think it's   gonna be very interesting to see what happens and  in some ways I think it's more difficult for new   artists but in other ways it's easier so it's  just this whole process presumably will settle   down into something but what that's going to be  yes yeah another kind of defining characteristic   of Music at the moment is that you know irony  intended the the female solo artist is King at   the moment that is you know very much kind of a  dominant Trend and and obviously you are someone   who always comes up when we get you know when a  new female singer-songwriter comes through often   I mean Florence is the obvious example Florence  Welch has been you know compared compared to you   um do you think that times have changed for  women making music and that there is a more   of a concentration on on what they create  rather than what they look like for example   um yeah I mean I hope so and I think like you  say there's such a wealth of female Talent at   the moment it's great about time too I mean  when you were first in you know part of the   pop scene and say released your first record  was was there kind of a prevalence of sexist   attitudes do you think in in the music industry  that you wouldn't really be allowed to espouse   or kind of behavior that you wouldn't get away  with these days did you ever come up against that   um I think I was really lucky  in a lot of ways because   um I I had such a lot of support from the people  that I work with and also from my family and   and I was so driven I'm not sure I would have  been aware of a lot of stuff that was going on   around me anyway in that kind of way because it  was just I just had this incredible determination   and focus to to you know make an album was the  first was the first goal and then to make another   one did you did kind of find Fame and stop making  music at a very young age what was that experience   like what was the experience the the kind of  famousness part the part that you know you've   always seemed to have shied away from well I  suppose you know it was kind of my first hit   was was that you know I mean none of us  thought that the album or the singer would   be particularly successful at all and it was um  it was a shock you know it was uh not what any   of us thought would happen and quite surreal  and you just kind of get carried Along by it   and you just go with it and it was it was quite  funny in a lot of ways and and exciting and and   um then I suppose quite early on I began to  realize that all my time was being spent promoting   and traveling around the world which was a lot of  fun but it meant I wasn't spending the time on the   actual creative process which was what that's  what I'd wanted I'd never really been driven to   be famous that wasn't the desire so I realized  that it was all getting turned upside down so I   then made a decision to just turn it back round  again and make the main bulk of my time spent   making albums you said that you did actually love  playing live you very much enjoyed it but that you   wanted as you say to focus on making records of  being in the studio is that where you're happiest   um yeah I mean I love making albums and it wasn't  that I'd ever thought I'll never tour again but   it's just it's just kind of the way things  went I became much more involved in the whole   um process of production and and  the album started to take longer and   um so you know that's that's just how it happened  what happens after you've made a record usually uh   you've made two this year and as you were  saying you know a little bit in shock but   equally delighted uh will you take a break now or  are you somebody who always likes to be working   now I definitely take a break yeah I've uh I've  got a lot of catching up to do lots of piles of   stuff around the house to to try and clear  I click a clear out yeah I think a clear out   time definitely right is this a sporadicate  brush activity well uh you know it's it's   been really intense actually the last few years  because especially when I finished director's car   because um when I was then sort of halfway  through this album I had to start promoting   director's car and I almost at some points got  confused about which album I was meant to be   talking about and so there was these two really  consuming projects going on at the same time and   um yeah so I mean so it's been very busy and and  fun really fun but very busy and uh you know I'm   looking forward to have some time to just  chill a bit well listen we're very glad that   you completed them so successfully thank you very  much for talking to us oh thank you very much it's   been lovely to me it's lovely to meet you too  okay thank you on the 26th of August 2014 Kate   Bush walked on stage at the Hammersmith Apollo in  London kicking off her first series of concerts in   35 years the 22 show residency entitled before the  dawn was as inventive and original as anything in   Kate's remarkable musical back catalog the scale  and Theatrical ambition of the production stunned   audiences it was unlike any concert before  or since these legendary gigs have now been   documented in a new live album also called before  the dawn and to Mark the release Kate has done   a rare interview her first in five years in fact  to talk about the concerts the themes behind them   and her experiences returning to the stage her  previous tour the tour of life actually came to   an end at the very same venue that hosted before  the dawn the Hammer Smith Apollo which is where a   conversation started so this is 14th of May 1979.  can you remember do you remember how you felt like   walking off stage on the last night uh completely  exhausted because there was this kind of myth that   like it was difficult and maybe you didn't you  didn't have fun but you've seen the kind of said   actually you did really enjoy this oh yeah yeah no  it was great fun yeah yeah it was a bit like being   in a circus Troop s it was a lot of fun yeah but  really it was so physical and a long show as well   I was completely exhausted because we know why you  stopped playing live which is to spend time with   your family and focus on being a recording artist  but how long before the offers kind of started   coming in did the phone start ringing quite soon  after that at 279. well the intention had always   been to actually do another set of shows after I'd  done another two albums so that I could have a new   material for the next shows but then as I got to  that what would have been the fourth album I'd   become much more involved in the whole recording  process and and was starting to produce and it it   just became a kind of slightly different path than  the one I'd imagined a few years beforehand so I   there was no never an intention to go for such a  long time without doing shows at all it just kind   of went off in a different direction did people  call you up and try and convince you to do it   um I can't remember it's a very long time  ago and there were a couple of points where   I thought that I would get a chance to do some  some live work but for whatever reason it just   never it never really happened I suppose you  know when albums have taken such a long time   to make and then there's always this sort of  process post album where you know there's an   element of uh promotion but also making  visuals to go with it which I always get   very involved in and then before you know  it you know the the time has kind of rolled   on and it almost feels like it's it's the  time to start a new project and I suppose   the longer that it got the more I just started  to feel that perhaps I wouldn't do shows again   so what changed your mind I guess this is the  question this is the first big question isn't it big succession and I really felt like doing  something different I really wanted to do   something that wasn't going to mean sitting in  the studio for a couple of years just putting   an album together so it just felt like the  right time it was it was a fun idea to toy   with but actually pushing the button to go was  something that I had to really seriously build   up to was there a certain amount of fear before  kind of making that call and going right I don't   know when but it is going to happen were  you quite nervous yeah I was terrified I   the idea of putting the show together was  something that I found really interesting   and really exciting to be able to put a visual  theatrical piece together but to actually step   into it was something that I had to really  I had to really work hard on because I was I   was terrified of of doing live work as a performer  again what role did Bertie play in your son Bertie   played in your decision to kind of come back he  was really key because um it was something that   I wanted him to be involved in because you know  he's he's very um he's very creative and he was   very positive about the whole idea of of doing  some shows so you've said okay I'm gonna do this   whether certain I don't know kind of criteria  that you put down okay if I do it then don't be   like right we're gonna do six dates at the Wembley  then we're gonna spend four years on tour I mean   how did it what were the parameters that you put  for yourself again yeah well again you know that   I had toyed with ideas uh beforehand you know if  I were to do some live work and I think the thing   that made it really interesting for me was that I  wanted to mainly base it around to the conceptual   albums that I'd done so that it was working with  a narrative rather than just uh individual songs I   said there was already a kind of sketched shape in  the I knew I wanted to start with a bunch of songs   that would seem as if it were just a straight  concert that would then slip into the ninth wave   and then the the other half of the show  would be Sky of honey so that there would   be this enormous contrast between the two pieces  because you know they're completely different   they're sort of opposing in their atmospheres  and um Journeys I mean it's it's quite an obvious   question but did you did you enjoy it did you  enjoy the shows did you have fun um because   it's a simple question but with something this  large you know it's a complex one as well I think   well I was I was pretty terrified most most  nights really and it was like I said it was   that thing of trying to hold on to the now so  that I would know where I was in the song which   I think you know probably did give me an  element of um real kind of concentration   genuine concentration on on what I was doing um  towards the end yes I was just starting to feel   relaxed enough to enjoy parts of it the bit  I really enjoyed was the end because I knew   that I wouldn't uh have to try and remember  the ones for much longer do you regret not   doing it earlier were you like oh this feels  brilliant why why did I not do this before   well I don't know that's a hard thing to say  isn't it because I think you know had I done   it before then perhaps the same level of material  wouldn't have existed I was up there as somebody   who had lived their life up to that point it  would have it would have been a different show   I don't know if I can say I wished I'd done it  before but I'm really glad that I did do this   it was a really incredible experience it was it  was wonderful working with all those people and   it was very moving uh filling the response from  the audiences every night to have that connection   it was very special I'm really pleased that  that we all got up there and did that [Music] foreign

2023-02-14 12:05

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