WFNX interview from the fall of 1989

[ed@das.llnl.gov (Edward J. Suranyi)]

A lurker on gaffa who shall remain nameless just sent me a tape of the
interview Kate did for WFNX Boston in the fall of 1989.  I don't think
it has been transcribed before, so I'll do it now.

Key:  A = nameless Announcer.
      B = Bruce McDonald, the interviewer.
      B L = Bruce's words added later.
      K = Kate, of course!

["The Sensual World" is played]

B L: 101.7 WFNX, the title track from Kate Bush's new LP, _The Sensual
     World_.  Traditional Irish instruments are featured throughout the
     album, giving it a more pronounced Celtic flavor -- more so than
     any previous Kate Bush record.  Kate attributes this influence to
     her family.

K:  I guess I've always been very intrigued by Irish music.  Since I was
    a little girl it's always been played in our house.  My mother's
    Irish, and my family are very musical.  And, um, I think that's 
    probably been the strongest musical influence on me for a start.  I
    love Irish music, and although I think it was never really obvious
    until the third, fourth album, it's kind of always been in my blood.

B:  It was in the background, but now it seems more in the foreground.

K:  Yeah.  And we love to actually go to Ireland when we can, to record
    them there, because obvously, it's just so much fun being in the country
    with those people.  We love the Irish.

B:  It has to add to the atmosphere, too.

K:  I think so, yes, absolutely.

B L:  "Love And Anger", Kate's current US single, is one of two tracks
      on the record that features Pink Floyd's David Gilmour on guitar.
      Dave was an early supporter of Kate's, having financed some of her
      early demo tapes, and helping to secure her a recording contract.
      "Love And Anger" was also one of the first songs written for _The
      Sensual World_, and one of the last songs finished.

K:  It's one of the most difficult songs I think I've ever written.  It
    was so elusive, and even today I don't like to talk about it, because
    I never really felt it let me know what it's about.  It's just kind of a
    song that pulled itself together, and with a tremendous amount of
    encouragement from people around me.  There were so many times I 
    thought it would never get on the album.  But I'm really pleased it
    did now.

B L:  Here's "Love And Anger" from Kate Bush at 101.7, WFNX.

[L&A played.]

A:  You're listening to the sensual world of Kate Bush on 101.7, WFNX.
    Now back to your host, Bruce McDonald.

B L:  Another song from _The Sensual World_, "The Fog", appears to be
      on the surface the story of a father teaching his child to swim.
      Yet there's much more to it than that.

K:  Yeah, it's very much using the parallel of the father teaching the
    child to swim, with a relationship where -- well, when I was taught
    to swim, my father would take me out into the water and then he'd say,
    you know, "Swim to me," and you had to sort of let go of his hands
    and he'd keep stepping away so it was always like you kept going.
    And the whole process of kind of letting go that I think we have to
    do throughout life.  I think, really, the older I get the more I feel
    this is what so much of life is about.  It's just letting go of all
    these things that you get caught up in.  The idea in the song that
    things that you're frightened of, quite often, it's the thought of
    it that's more frightening than the action.  It's the idea 
    of the water seeming so deep that you're going to drown if you put
    your feet down, but actually, if you do put your feet down, the
    bottom's really close and you can stand up and it will probably only
    come up to your waist.  Everything's all right, you know.

B:  That song also features dialogue by your father, Dr. Bush.

K:  That's right.

B:  That was just sort of a natural thing, or did you hear that when you
    were first composing the song?

K:  I love using bits of dialogue in music as well.  We haven't done too
    much of that on this album, but I have used my parents and my family
    and friends before to speak various passages.  Obviously in this
    song, because it was within the context of a father teaching a child
    to swim, I thought it was -- who else could have done it?  Who else?

B:  Sure.

K:  It had to be him.

B L:  This is "The Fog" from Kate Bush, on 101.7, WFNX.

[TF played.]

B L:  101.7, WFNX.  That's "The Fog", from the new Kate Bush album
      _The Sensual World_.  "Heads We're Dancing" is the tale of a 
      woman out for the evening at a nightclub in pre-World War II
      Germany, who is asked to dance by a charming, handsome man,
      who she only later realizes is Hitler.

B:  What was the inspiration behind that?  This, well, once again it's
    unusual -- in sort of a pop context.

K:  Yes, it's a very dark song, and it's certainly a song I don't think
    I'd write now.  But I guess it was inspired a) by the idea of, I
    mean one of the fairy tale images for a little girl, is to go to
    a fantastic ball, like Cinderella does, and she meets this handsome,
    supposedly, prince.  It was the reversal of the idea.  He was like
    the worst person you could possibly meet.  But that really sprung
    from a story that a friend of mine told me who had been at a dinner
    years ago, and had spent the evening sitting next to this incredibly
    charming man.  Very intelligent, very witty, he just loved his 
    company so much.  The next day he asked the host "Who was that man
    I was sitting next to.  He was fascinating."  They said, "Didn't
    you realize, that was Oppenheimer."  Now, my friend's reaction to
    that was absolute horror, because for him Oppenheimer represented
    such evil, because of his work with the bomb.

B:  Sure.

K:  But in some ways I felt a little sorry for Oppenheimer, because
    I think he really paid for himself.  He was -- he committed suicide,
    he couldn't handle what he'd done.  [Is this true? -- Ed]  But
    the whole idea of the story was so fascinating for me, that he'd
    been so taken by this man until he knew who he was, and then it
    was like a complete reversal.  I guess that hung around in my
    head and I was thinking, really, who's the closest embodiment to
    the devil, who is the most evil person ever, and I think --

B:  Especially in modern times.

K:  Yes, who else is there, really?  But I would really hate anyone to
    be offended by the song.  It's not meant to be a glorification of
    that whole event.  It's just meant to be an exploration of the idea
    that evil quite often appears in a charming guise, and we should
    all be careful.  He fooled so many people, and I don't think you 
    can blame them for being fooled.  But it's terrifying, isn't it?

B:  It is rather frightening.

B L:  This is "Heads We're Dancing", from Kate Bush's album _The Sensual
      World_, on 101.7, WFNX.

[HWD played.]

B L:  Among the guest musicians featured on _The Sensual World_ was Mick
      Karn, former bassist from the group Japan.  Kate explains how she
      came to choose Mick for "Heads We're Dancing":

K:  I met Mick years ago at a charity gig that we did in London, and
    I've always liked his style of playing.

B:  It's very distinctive.

K:  *Very* distinctive.  He has such a strong personality, and I know
    he's very respected for his work by other musicians, which is always
    a good sign.  But I felt, for some reason, that this track was just
    right for him.  So he came along with a part that he'd worked out --
    I'd sent him a cassette.  It was fabulous.  He understood the whole
    story line.  I hadn't sent any lyrics or anything, and he just
    kind of played this part.  It was so right for the song.  I was
    really knocked out.  He's a very nice person as well as a great 
    musician.

B:  Would you consider working with him again?

K:  I'd love to, but I find more and more with musicians, that there are
    certain tracks that call out for certain people.  It's a bit like
    casting actors for a film, so this is how we approach things now.

B:  Not necessarily would a film director cast the same people for
    every film, naturally.

K:  Yes.

B:  It's similar, in the analogy.

A:  We'll be back with Kate Bush's sensual world, right after these
    messages, on 101.7, WFNX.

[Fragment of "Babooshka" played, then ads, then a fragment of "Hounds Of
Love".]

A:  Welcome back to the sensual world of Kate Bush.  Now here's Bruce
    McDonald.

B L:  Some of the more haunting tunes in _The Sensual World_ feature the
      vocals of the Trio Bulgarka, a critically acclaimed group of women
      singers from Bulgaria.  Their participation reflects Kate's
      long-standing interest in world music.

K:  Well, about three years ago my brother Paddy played me a tape of the 
    Trio, and he's always been very interested in ethnic music and has
    collected instruments from around the world.  When he played me this
    tape I was devastated, I'd never heard anything like it.  It was
    like hearing angels singing.  I listened to this tape for months, and
    I just started thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice to work with them?"
    I was so scared, really, about the idea of belittling this great
    music, that it took me a long time to get up the courage to actually
    approach them.  But once I did, it was the most wonderful experience,
    working with them as people, as well as musicians.  We managed to make
    contact with them through a friend of ours called Joe Boyd --

B: Sure.

K:  -- who got us in touch with people out there.  We actually went to
    Bulgaria and met them there.  We spent three days rehearsing.  They
    don't speak any English, we don't speak any Bulgarian, but we had
    a great time!  Although we had translators, a lot of the communication
    was done on an emotional level, and it was very interesting.  They 
    just come up and cuddle you, and then you sing to each other, and it
    was an absolutely wonderful experience.  They're like my sisters now,
    I now have three sisters!

B:  In Bulgaria.

K:  Yeah!

B L:  "Deeper Understanding", one of three tracks featuring the Trio
      Bulgarka, is a different take on love in the computer age.

K:  I suppose it's looking at society where more and more people are being
    shut away in their homes with televisions and computers, and in a way
    being encouraged not to come out.  You know, there's so many people
    who live in London in high-rise flats -- they don't know their
    neighbors, they don't know anyone else in the building.  People are
    getting very isolated.  It was the idea of this person who had less
    and less human contact, and more and more contact with their computer,
    where they were working on it all day and all night.  They see an
    advert in a magazine for a program for people who are lonely and lost,
    so they write off for it.  When they get it back in the mail and put
    it into the computer, it's the idea -- a bit like an old sci-fi film,
    really -- where it would just come to life and suddenly there's this
    kind of incredible being there, like a great spiritual visitation.
    This computer is offering this person love, and the idea that they've
    had such little human warmth, they're getting this tremendous
    affection and deep love from their computer.  But it's so intense it's
    too much for them to take, and they actually have to be rescued from
    just being killed with love, I suppose.

B L:  This is "Deeper Understanding", from _The Sensual World_, on 101.7,
      WFNX.

[DU played.]

K:  Hi, this is Kate Bush, and you're listening to 101.7, WFNX Boston.

B L:  That's "Deeper Understanding" from Kate Bush's new album, _The
      Sensual World_.  "This Woman's Work", the current UK single from
      the album, is a song we first heard in the soundtrack to the John
      Hughes film "She's Having A Baby".

K:  Really, the subject matter in the film laid down the grounds for what
    the song was about.  It's the man waiting in a waiting room while
    his wife is in there having a baby, and there are complications.  So
    it's the exploration of someone being left on their own in a big way,
    very suddenly.  In this part of the film, the guy has to grow up, he's
    suddenly confronted with all these terrible things, that he could be
    a much better human being.  It's moments like that that make you feel
    these things.

B:  And life's not all fun and games.

K:  No, and that you should really try and make the most of it when you
    can, and not when it's too late.

[TWW played.]

A:  We'll be back with more of Bruce McDonald, and more of Kate Bush's
    sensual world on 101.7, WFNX.

[ads]

[Fragment of "Experiment IV"]

A:  Welcome back to the conclusion of the sensual world of Kate Bush.  Now
    here's your host, Bruce McDonald:

B L:  Independence has always been characteristic of Kate Bush in her
      work.  Since the early days, she's been managed by herself, with
      help from her family, through a company she set up called Novercia.
      [Note -- he pronounces this noh-VER-shah.  Assuming he heard Kate
      say it, I guess this is the corrrect pronunciation.  I had always
      thought it was noh-ver-SEE-ah. -- Ed]  It was a move designed to
      allow Kate the artistic freedom she needs.  

B:  Does having such complete control seem overwhelming at times?

K:  Yes, it does.  But I think in a way, what I'm moving towards, and
    I don't know if it'll work or not, but I feel like it's all leading
    me to the combination of music and film.  I hope that someday maybe
    in a few years, I could experiment with making a film.

B:  Really?

K:  Yeah.  I'm really --

B:  You mean, like a full length feature?

K:  Maybe not a full length feature, but yes I'd love to, I really would
    like to work with visuals and music at the same time, because at the
    moment I'm restricted to making visuals in the context of videos to
    music that already exists.  I'd really like to play with this a lot
    more.

B:  Your brother Paddy Bush plays numerous instruments in _The Sensual
    World_.  We talked about his interest in many different kinds of
    instruments.  Your other brother John Carder Bush did the cover photos
    and that's just like more of a natural extension of the family?

K:  I suppose what's really great is I'm surrounded by very talented
    people who also --

B:  Are related to you.

K:  Yeah!  And they're really close friends.  Obviously, John's
    photographs are really good, and that's why I work with him -- he's
    a great photographer.  Because we know each other so well it's such
    a relaxed atmosphere.

B L:  Kate Bush has not toured in over ten years.  While Kate has always
      been a pioneer in the field of music video, she does realize the
      limited nature of that medium.

K:  Yes, it's not an adequate substitute, and it is, unfortunately, that
    -- a substitute, when that can't be.  You know, there is nothing that
    can substitute live work, like nothing can substitute an album.

B:  Sure.

K:  And it can do it.  And I suppose the problem is that since the last
    tour, I've been so wrapped up in making albums, in trying to sort of
    keep control of what I do.  I get so involved in what I do, it's an
    exhausting, long process for me.  Really, with the albums taking so
    long, over the last few years I don't think I've had the space in
    myself to tour.  I really enjoyed the last tour.  A lot of people
    think I didn't, and that's why I haven't toured since.  But it's
    really more that I've just got so wrapped up in all the projects I
    do that I don't feel I've wanted to do it enough, and I don't think
    I would have done it well.

B:  Plus, when you did tour it was this huge multi-media ambitious, sort
    of provocative production that took months and months just to get
    that together.  Not to mention the actual playing the live gigs.

K:  Yes.  Terribly over-ambitious, and I think probably that's a trait
    of mine.  I am terribly over-ambitious with things I try to do, so
    it's quite scary as well, you know, trying to deal with such big
    things.

B:  Well, I get the impression that you feel as though -- if you can't
    do a tour or a production up to your standards you're just not going
    to do it.

K:  Yes, I think it would be unfair on everyone if I did a tour and didn't
    really want to.  I'm not really going to be exuding joy and happiness,
    am I?

B:  At the same time, every time you release new music and we play it on
    the radio, we get listeners calling up saying, "Please tell us Kate's
    going to tour this time around!"  Is that like --

K:  That's great.

B:  -- a strain, or extra pressure, or --

K:  It's difficult for me, because, you know, obvously I hate the thought
    of a lot of people wanting me to tour and I don't.  It's frustrating
    for them not to have any contact with me as an artist -- that there
    are only records and videos.  I mean, this is great, because this is
    direct contact.  You know, they can hear you asking me questions and
    me replying.  That's great, but in a way doing interviews for the
    press and that is all such a removed process.  But all I can say is
    that I think it would be wrong for me to tour, if I wasn't 100% happy
    about doing it, and that I felt I could do something special.  I just
    think everyone would be unhappy.  So maybe that's all I can say.
    I'm sorry, I don't want to starve people of contact.  It's just --
    doing what I do well is so important to me, I've got to try and to
    the best I can with everything.

B:  Do you think that not touring has held you back from mainstream
    success, particularly here in America?

K:  Well I think it's very possible, but I also think there's been so many
    other inaccessible areas, to me here as an artist.  Where, I guess my
    last record company found it difficult to know how to express me as
    an artist to the public.  My second and third albums weren't released
    here -- they were released at a later date.  I think people must have
    quite a confusing image of me.

B:  Sure.

K:  But, in a way, I think that that's something I have to not worry about
    too much, because that's not really my responsibility.  My
    responsibilities are the artistic, where I have to make the best
    record I can at the time, and I have to try and let people know 
    it's out there.  But all those areas, they're kind of out of my
    control, really.

B:  Plus, a lot of that's in the past.

K:  Yeah.

B:  And you like to look towards the future.

K:  Absolutely!

B:  Well, you've always been very popular in Boston.  Do you have anything
    else to say to our listeners, your fans?

K:  I'd love to say, to everyone in Boston, have a very happy Christmas
    and I hope 1990 is a good year for all of you, and thank you so much
    for all your support.  It's nice to know that you like my music out
    there, thank you.

B:  Well, thank *you*.  As a long-time fan of your music it's been a real
    thrill, and a pleasure to talk to you today.

K:  Thanks very much.

B:  And I hope to see you again.

K:  All the best, Bruce!

["December Will Magic Again" played.]


Ed
ed@das.llnl.gov