Re: KT Interview Transcription

[Jeffrey C. Burka <jburka@silver.ucs.indiana.edu>]

Interview #2; 1985, concerning "Hounds of Love."  Transcribed
by Jeff Burka from limited edition CD picture interview disc
CBAK 4011 on the Baktabak label.  Proofread by Stephen Thomas.

Interview takes approx. 20 mins.

The interview was recorded in what sounds like a large room,
based upon the echoes.  The interviewer appears on the left
track with Kate on the right.  The interviewer is Australian,
but he is never named.

K = Kate.
I = Interviewer.

Comments in [] mady by transcriber
Comments in <<>> made by proofreader

I:  When you launched the album, you had a laser show at the
London planeterium (giggle)

K:  Yes. (laughing) Were you there?

I:  Yes, I was.  Why did you do that?

K:  That was actually an idea of the record company's.  They
wanted to launch the album, which I was into, and I think it
was their idea to use the laserium so that it would be
something special.  I thought what the guy did was incredibly
impressive.  I actually didn't realize that lasers could do
quite so many different things.

I:  So you were in agreement with it.

K:  Yeah, it seemed like a good idea (laugh).

I:  Is "The Hounds of Love" [sic] your new album, is that an
exorcism for you?  Or not?

K:  An exorcism.  In what way?

I:  Well, in the way of getting something out of your system.

K:  I think every album is.  Every song, in a way, is
channeling or releasing a form of energy.  Yes, so every song
is, really.

I:  But having done it now, do you feel content, as it were?

K:  Yes, I was very pleased when that album was finished.  It
took a long time and a lot of work, and I think, for what we
were trying to do, it's quite pleasing.  Yes.

I:  Why is it split into two sections, like "The Ninth Wave"
and "The Hounds of Love" [sic]?

K:  One of the first ideas I had was to try a concept.  I've,
for some time, wanted to play with a piece of music that was
more involved than, say, three to five minutes.  And I had
the idea a good few years ago, but I never really put it into
action, so it was really the concept side that came first. 
And I was a bit worried that it wouldn't work, so until I'd
written, say, four or five songs, I wouldn't really know if
it was going to be successful.  So, I thought it was wise to
just use one side of the album, so there'd be like half an
hour to play with rather than going for an hour's worth.  And
the other side, I thought it would be nice to balance with
five or six completely different songs, not linked in anyway,
that were perhaps more positive and up-tempo, so there was a
nice balance between the two sides.

I:  Right.  In Australian surfer mythology, it's always the
seventh wave that's the big one.  Y'know, like waves come in
groups of seven.  Why the ninth wave?

K:  That's very interesting.  "The Ninth Wave"--I needed a
title for the side.  A lot of people think that the whole
side was actually inspired by a Tennyson poem, but it was
actually finding this quote, um, looking for a title for the
whole thing; it was the last piece in the jigsaw.  I was just
looking through books and quotes, anything I could just to
get an idea for a title, and that particular quote from the
poem seemed quite appropriate, and his idea was that they
worked in nines, rather than sevens.  (laughs)

I:  When you write, do the words or the lyrics come first--
uh the words or the music--come first?

K:  It's different with each song.  And sometimes you
actually get a piece of music in your head that's got words
with it--it's like they just sort of go together.  But
generally I'd say the music comes first, and the lyrics are
worked in around that, or with it.

I:  "Cloudbusting," the current single, which is--where is it
in the UK?

K:  Uh, twenty.

I:  Right.  "Top of the Pops" and things like that--would you
go onto that?

K:  It's something you consider, I mean, it's really the
choice of can you perform it well, and would it really help
the record.  I mean, you do; it does help to have a
successful record, it helps the album and it helps future
projects, to finance them, et cetera.  I mean, I do depend on
the success of each record to be able to do the next one. 
But I think with some songs it's very difficult to perform
them on television and make them look good and to really do
justice to, performing.  I think it's something there should
always be a lot of thought behind.  And, when you put such a
lot of workin to a video, which a lot of people do nowadays,
it's sad that you can't get that shown more, and that you
have to go on and perform.  There is no choice; it's a shame.

I:  "Cloudbusting" has a got a very grand video, I think. 
How did you come by Donald Sutherland?

K:  We were very lucky.  We had a friend who made the contact
for us.  We sent him the script and I talked to him and he
was very interested, which was fantastic [kind of giggling-with a
hint of awe or "what incredible luck!" (various interpretations of her
tone of voice] , and just happened to have the four days that we needed
to shoot the video in.  He was free for that time.  It all
seemed to come together so well and so quickly.

I:  But why Donald Sutherland?

K:  He was our first choice.  I'm a big fan of him as an
actor.  And he really was perfect for the part.  There
couldn't have been anyone better--he looked so right.

I:  Why is it about a father and son--why write
"Cloudbusting"

K:  I found a book, nearly ten years ago now, on a shelf.  I
didn't know anything about the writer.  I just pulled it off
the shelf, it looked interesting, and it was an incredible
story.  It's written by Peter Reich, and it's called _A Book
of Dreams_.  It's about himself as a child, through his eyes
as a child, looking at his father and their relationship. 
It's incredibly beautiful, it's very, very emotive, and very
innocent because it's through a child's eyes.  His father was a
very respected psychoanalyst, and besides this, something
that features in the book, he made machines called
'cloudbusters' that could make it rain, and him and his
father used to go out together and make it rain; they used to
go 'cloudbusting.'  And, unfortunately, the peak in the book
is where his father is arrested, taken away from him; he was
considered a threat.  So, suddenly, his father is gone, so
it's a very sad book as well.

I:  The machine that features in the video--what's become of
that now?

K:  Well, it's at the moment resting in a garage not far from
here.  (laughs)

I:  Do you think that "The Hounds of Love"  [sic] is much
more controlled than the previous album?

K:  Controlled.  (pensive)  I think it's probably more
constant.  The last album was dealing with a lot of very
different things, and very different places, different
atmospheres, in tracks maybe next to each other.  I think
there's more a sense of a theme on this album.  Obviously on
the second side, but even on the first side, although they're
separate songs, I think they are still, they have a flavor
that's consistent.

I:  So you'd say it was more consistent than the previous album? (you
idiot!  She just _said_ that!)

K:  Yes, I think there's more sense of flow from track to
track.  But I was very happy with the last album, it was
certainly a mark for us.

I:  Are there any things that you've done so far which you
look back on and you cringe at?

K:  Yes, lots of things. (laughs)

I:  Like?

K:  Too many to mention, and I think most people do tend to
look at themselves very critically <<Oh, well evaded!>>.  I think it's
quite productive to be like that, though, or perhaps you don't feel
nervous enough about what you're doing next!

I:  Are you a perfectionist, then?

K:  I don't know if that's a word that is a real word, if you
know what I mean, because you can never make anything
perfect.  You can strive for it, but I think if you continue
to strive for it you would never get anywhere.  I think you
have to recognize a point where things are as good as they
can be, within the limitations, before they start going off
again.  It's definitely a peak and then it can go off.  So I
think you just hopefully have to recognize where more effort
will make it better, but when to stop.

I:  Who do you use as your person to tell you when to stop,
or is it just something you know within yourself?

K:  It's almost like the music itself dictates it.  When a
track is sounding right, when it's ready, it _is_, you can
just feel it.  And then you mix it.  That's when you sort of
play with all the little raw edges, but you just know when
everything's finished recording.

I:  With "Running Up That Hill," the last single that's here
in Britain and is just happening in Australia--you mention
the line "I could make a deal with God."  What do you mean by
that?

K:  Well, it's about a relationship between a man and a
woman.  They love each other very much, and the power of the
relationship is something that gets in the way.  It creates
insecurities.  It's saying if the man could be the woman and
the woman the man, if they could make a deal with God, to
change places, that they'd understand what it's like to be
the other person and perhaps it would clear up
misunderstandings.  You know, all the little problems; there
would be no problem.

I:  A perfect world, then.

K:  Yes.  Idealistic.  But then I think a lot of art is that. 
It's not necessarily real always.

I:  How do you feel about being, shall we say, marketed like
in the pop music world, when it seems like you obviously put a
lot more care into things than your average three minute pop
song person?

K:  I don't know if I feel like I'm marketed.  I think you
make an album and the outlets for it--there are no other
outlets for it, really.  A lot of things go into that chart
that are very diverse.  It's a very versatile chart, and more
so than the name suggests, really.

I:  With "The Ninth Wave," it's all about a man drowning. 
Was that, perhaps, inspired by the aircraft that crashed into
the, uh, into a frozen river in the States.  There was quite
a big news story about that a few years ago.  Do you remember
that?  There was the case of the man--they called him "the
man in the water"--who kept on going back and dragging people
out from underneath the ice.

K:  No, I didn't hear about that.  It sounds really
interesting and horrific.

I:  I just thought that might...

K:  (interupting)  A plane went under the ice?

I:  Yeah, no, a plane actually crashed and hit a bridge over
the road and all the people were spilled into the water and
there was one particular man that they had TV film of; he
just kept going backwards and forwards and dragging people
out, and eventually he didn't come out.  He was like, what
they called "the man in the water."  I just wondered if that
was...

K:  (interupting again)  Incredible.

I:  ...at all inspiring.

K:  No.

I:  You hadn't known that all before?  (laughing, along with
Kate)  Well, there goes that!  Okay, then, why then all the
ninth wave and water and ice.

K:  I think it was an idea I probably got a few years ago of
someone being in the water for the night, and hadn't really
tried it until this album.  It's hard to say where it came
from.  I can only pinpoint certain war films as imagery that
would suggest it, things like _The Cruel Sea_, those kind of old war films,
where the people were being cast into the water, having
really been through kind of a heavy experience already.  And
the thing of actually launching from that, so that's the basis of the
body in the water, but then the head travels off as the night goes on.

I:  Would you contemplate turning that into some kind of
visual images?

K:  Yes, it's something I will seriously be thinking about. 
But it's the feasibility of it, especially in terms of time
and money.  So I don't know.  When all the promotion is at an
end, by the end of this year, I'll be able to sit down and
think what's the next thing to do.

I:  You don't think that making a video image of it will
perhaps spoil people's own idea of what they've got of it?

K:  Yes, I think it probably could! (laughing)

I:  Have you got people in mind to do that?

K:  No, that's really why I need to have space to think about
it.  All this promotion has to be done; I have to have all
the videos made before I can think about it.  You really need
to direct attention into something like that.

I:  There's lots of credits on the album to comic characters
and people involved in comedy.  Why them?

K:  Because in some way they've been involved or helped,
either with the album or something connected to it, and it
was a way of saying thank you. <<deliberately uninformative?>>

I:  They didn't all come and give you handclaps and all that. 
(laughs)

K:  (laughing) No, I'm afraid not.  I wish they had!

I:  You had success at an early age.  Do you feel you've
missed out on anything?

K:  No I don't, really, I'm glad that it happened so early,
because it's enabled me to be able to do what I'm doing now. 
For instance, being able to build our own studio, and having
had that much more experience behind me because I started
younger.  No, I think I'm very lucky.

I:  Having built your own studio, are you like a gadget
freak?  Do you like all the latest toys, electronic toys, or
not?

K:  Yes, I think everyone likes new toys.  And it's really
getting the time to look around, and also the money, of
course, is the big thing, to get new equipment.

I:  "Mother Stands for Comfort"--have you got a protective
family?

K:  I think it's quite a natural instinct for families to be
protective.

I:  Yeah, but what about you?

K:  I think they're of the norm.  I think they're as all
protective of each other.

I:  Was that song written for your mother?

K:  No, not at all.  I mean, she's a wonderful mother, but
the song's dealing with a different energy, really.  I mean
it's about a mother and her strong maternal, protective
instincts, but it's dealing with some--a son who's committed
a bad crime.  And to her, her instincts overrule what's right
or wrong.  I think that's what's interesting--it's how some
mothers will actually overrule their sense of morality
because they love their son or their child so much.

I:  Have you ever been in a similar kind of situation, where a
reason goes out the window?

K:  No, certainly not on that level!  But I have read
reports, heard of things--through news, etc.-- in the past,
where that has happened.

I:  Do songs come easily to you, or not?

K:  No.  Some do, but the majority is something I have to
work for very hard.  It's extremely frustrating, but it's
worth it to get something in the end.  Something I got hooked
on really quite young.  Just playing with the piano and the
whole excitement of actually creating something out of
nothing. 

I:  Reading the press that's come out recently, it's
mentioned again your love of people like Roxy Music and David
Bowie.  Are there any more contemporary people that you like?

K:  I don't listen to very much contemporary music at the
moment, and I think my love of people like David Bowie and
Bryan Ferry --I was normally making the point of what a big influence
those two have been.  They're true originals, and there are so many
people mimicking their style of voice, they're style of song structures,
etcetera, and I think they should be credited for their influences.  I 
think Peter Gabriel's had a very big influence, too,  on a lot of people.
His third album was very influential, I think.

I:  He's got a new one coming out.

K:  Yes!

I:  Have you heard any of it?

K:  No, I haven't.  

I:  I've heard a couple of tracks; very good.

K:  Great.

[I find this exchange interesting for the fact that since
this interview was in '85, the album in question is _So_,
which, of course, contains "Don't Give Up," a duet with Kate
herself!]

I:  Yes, it's excellent.  When you're not presenting a public
eye, you're like a very private person.  Nobody can seem to
get through to you, as it were.  Do you feel the need to have
a certain amount of isolation?

K:  Yes.

I:  Is that essential to your creative feelings?

K:  Yes, absolutely.  They're two very separate things, two
completely different energies, and I can only really
concentrate if that's all I have to do.  If there's other
things to do besides make an album, they just become
distractions.

I:  You talk about energies quite a lot.  Do you subscribe to
a particular theory or religion or anything like that.

K:  (laughing)  Subscribe to a monthly manual.

I:  You know what I mean.

K:  No, I don't, really.  But I do think certain things help,
like I think trying to be positive about things is a very
helpful thing.  It can just stop you getting down, and to try
and enjoy things if you can.  But I don't have any kind of
religious beliefs, really.

I:  Do you have a favorite song that you've recorded?

K:  It's very much a love/hate relationship I think any
author has with the thing.  But there are ones that you're
always quite glad you managed to achieve, especially when
they were difficult.  I was quite pleased with "Houdini" and
"Breathing" and "Running Up That Hill."

I:  Do you ever feel that you're going to run out of creative
energy?

K:  I think if you feel that you have to take a break and I
think quite often it's like a battery that needs charging up. 
As long as you keep the energy topped up, you should be able
to keep going.

I:  If somebody asks you to do a benefit concert, or if you'd
been asked to do Live Aid, would you have done that?

K:  Yes, I would.  I don't think there's anyone that would
have said no, unless they had to.  A really important reason.

I:  Even though you hadn't actually performed live for a
long, long time, you would have still done it?

K:  It's hard to say.  I wasn't asked, but I would have said
yes, I'm sure.

I:  Okay.  I think that's about it.  Oh!  One more thing.  Do
you follow world affairs, with what's going on?

K:  I don't follow it very--I can't think of the word! 
What's the word?  Ooooooh!  Ohhh!  <<doesn't transcribe well, does
it?  It sounds more like a strained "uhhhhhh!" to me!>>

I:  Avidly?

K:  Avidly is quite good.  Yeah, I don't really have that
much time.  I watch the television; I catch the news.  That's
really all I get--I don't read newspapers--watch current
affair programs.

I:  OK, good, thank you.
& -- 
|Jeffrey C. Burka                | "On the outskirts of nowhere           |
|jburka@silver.ucs.indiana.edu   |  on the ringroad to somewhere,         |
|jburka@amber.ucs.indiana.edu    |  on the verge of indecision..." --Fish |