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the Reaching Out (Interviews) Table of Contents
Date: Mon, 2 Sep 1991 00:33:33 -0700
From: rhill@pnet01.cts.com
(Ronald Hill)
Subject: Dreaming Debut Radio 2 Sept. 13, 1982
The Dreaming Debut
Radio 2
Sept. 13, 1982
[Wuthering Heights is played]
I: Well it was number 1 for quite a few weeks back in 1978, a song called Wuthering Heights and it certainly launched the name of Kate Bush all over the world. It established her as an instant international success. And today, well, Kate Bush brings out a brand new album. Her story, I suppose, has been told many times, everybody knows what a tremendous success she's been. And the new album on your shelves today is called The Dreaming.
I know, Kate, it has taken you virtually a whole year to write it and record it and produce it, indeed. So how often can you have the luxury of devoting a year to an album.
K: Oh, well, that is the first time. I think the thing that happens is each time I do an album it takes me longer and with this album it was very demanding and there were lots of things that I wanted to do so I knew it was going to take a long time. But it is a luxury, really, to be able to spend that amount of time in the studio.
I: You were also telling me though it's been a lot of hard work. I mean a year sounds a long time but it's been hard work getting it all together.
K: Yes, it has. I think it's the hardest thing I've ever done. It's definitely the most involved thing I've ever done.
I: Because, again, it's your bid to come up with something really different, is that why it's been, you know, time consuming and more difficult?
K: Yes, that's definitely got something to do with it. But when you're working on songs they very much dictate what you should do to them, so in many ways I was just trying to make the songs as best as they could be and they were very much demanding what should be done to them.
I: I notice in fact that you've given one track a rather Irish flavor, you involved the group Planxty.
K: Yes, indeed!
I: Now again, that goes back a bit to your own family traditions, doesn't it?
K: Yes, very much so, because my mother is Irish and when I was very little the music in the house was very Irish traditional music. And I think I've always loved it.
I: So you were brought up on the Barron [??? spelling] and the Fiddles and the pipes and all of the rest of it?
K: Yeah, absolutely!
I: So what have you done with this particular track?
K: Well, when I wrote the song I felt straight away that the choruses where just waiting for something like a Caley [??? spelling] band and it was just a matter of getting in touch with the people from Planxty and seeing if there were willing to do it. And I managed to contact a man called Bill Whelan, who's the keyboard player in Planxty, and he arranged the whole passage in the choruses. And it's really beautiful, I think it's changed the song a great deal, and definitely for the better. [Laughs]
I: Certainly a very different sign for Kate Bush, what else have you done on the album that makes it different?
K: Well, what's nice really, because each song is slightly different, I've been able to use lots of different people to do their thing on the track. And it was nice, because the last single had a very Australian flavor, so we used a lot of Australian sounding instruments...
I: Not the dijeridu!?
K: Yes, indeed.
I: Oh, my goodness. [Kate laughs] What, Rolf Harris?
K: Yes, indeed!
I: In person?
K: In person! [Laughs]
I: And who else have you used?
K: Well I've been using some different string arrangers, which is nice. I used a man called Dave Lawson and what's nice about him is he's worked alot in film music and so he's very sort of visually inspired. And it's nice to work with someone that's used to working with visuals as apposed to just audials. And I used a choirboy on one track, that was very nice. I've never worked with children, before, really. And he was beautiful, he was really perfect.
I: And this is the first time you've produced an album.
K: Yes.
I: Again, was this at your instigation, I mean that you wanted to see the whole thing through from beginning to end and that everything would be you?
K: Well when I wrote the songs for this album, they felt very different from any of the songs I've written before and it just felt write that I should go the whole way this time. I don't know if I've ever really felt like that before and I don't know if I will in the future, but I really felt that way with these songs, that it was important that I did follow it through with this one.
I: Do you ever worry about taking such a long time away from recording and chart signs and being in touch with the public as such, that the public will get a bit fickle and, not exactly forget, but certainly, you know, that that instant thing might not be there?
K: Hmmm. Yes I think it worries me alot. Especially as there seem to be more projects that I do that do take up a lot of time, like maybe a year at a time. But I have to really sit and think, you know, what is the most important thing to me, to stay in the public's eye or to make sure that the work I do is more interesting and that it gets better. And really the only way to make sure that the work gets better is to concentrate on it. So that's definitely my priority.
I: Hmm. Early on we were taking about Tony Handcock having been a real perfectionist. Now you're a real perfectionist, yourself, I know that cause you believe in putting a lot of grind work and homework into it. For example, all the dance and mime classes you taken, you know, for your visual side of it. And you're back at your dance classes again, so what exactly are you doing?
K: Well, for the last couple of months I've been getting back into training because while I've been making the album there's been not time at all, so I've been unfit for a whole year. And of course when you leave it alone for a length of time coming back to it is even harder and it's very painful, you know, you can't walk for days. But it's all in preparation for things that are coming up in the future, for videos and that sort of thing. So there are a lot of areas that I have to work on all time, which is again why I seem to be so busy.
I: Originally what was your idea in wanting to incorporate theatre, really, into your presentation of music?
K: Well, I'd been writing songs for a long time and I was very happy about the idea of being involved in music and I'd never even really thought about dance until I decided to leave school because I wanted to get involved in the music. So dance just came out of the blue really,. I needed something to do, something to work on while I wasn't at school and something that would complement the music. And dance, really, just became the obvious thing. I was very lucky to go and see a show by Lindsay Kemp and he really inspired a couple of years of hard work in dance schools for me.
I: Yes, but it's more than dance, I mean, you took mime lessons...
K: Yes.
I: ... and around is that whole theatrical... I mean everything is really exaggerated, isn't it?
K: Yes, I think very much the theatrical flavour came again from Lindsay. Because he's surrounded by a strange magic, it's a very unusual theatrical magic. And once you've seen a show of his or you've been involved with him, it stays with you forever. It happens to everyone who works with Lindsay.
I: Well Kate, we look forward to taking to you through until two o'clock. The calls will be coming in on 01-580-44-11.
[Tape cuts. The Man With The Child In His Eyes is played]
I: A rather wistful sound from Kate Bush, our special guest until two o'clock today. That record was a follow up to that smash hit, Wuthering Heights, back in 1978. It was called The Man With The Child In His Eyes. And we'll be hearing some tracks off Kate's new album, which is on the shelves today. The title of it is The Dreaming and we'll be taking your telephone calls as well. But thinking about The Man With The Child In His Eyes, now you wrote that... the age of what, fourteen, fifteen, around that period.
K: Yes, yes that's right.
I: Very young, so you obviously started really at a very early age, writing?
K: Yes, I did. I probably wrote the first song when I was about eleven, but I mean it was terrible [laughs], very overdone. And I think the more you write songs you, just get a knack for them, hopefully. [Laughs]
I: You mentioned early that your family were musical, you know, your mother sort of enjoyed music and so on. Was it just because of that background that you wanted to write or was it a love of poetry or reading or what?
K: I think it was a big combination of everything. Cause my mother is a... well when she was in Ireland she used to dance all the time so there's definitely that spirit in her. And I think all of us have, in the family, have tended to go towards the musical direction, which is very interesting. I'm sure it comes from her and perhaps my father as well 'cause he used to play the piano alot, so maybe it's the combination.
I: You're father's a doctor, though, isn't he?
K: Yeah, that's right, yes.
I: ...is still a doctor?
K: Yes he is, yes.
I: But at home, I mean, did you have a lot of these musical sessions and is that partly what set the theme for you?
K: Well, when I was about six, seven, that sort of age, my two brothers were getting into folk music alot and they were going 'round to folk clubs. And they'd often have evenings every week where a load of there friends would come 'round and in a way it's quite parallel to the sort of evenings that would have happened in Ireland...
I: Caleys [??? spelling]
K: That's right! Where they just play music all night, and they'd be playing folk songs. And as I got a bit older I started to join in and learn folk songs, I mean they were the first songs I really learned - sea shanties, that sort of thing.
I: Do you remember any of those songs?
K: Um, vaguely, yeah. I mean, some of them I still love to listen to because the stories are always so interesting, they're beautiful, lovely lyrics. And the tunes are always very pretty as well.
I: But then you were signed to your record company at around sixteen and yet you weren't launched until you were about nineteen.
K: No.
I: Was it a question of just, you know, keeping you writing there and waiting for the right song?
K: I don't think so because I was very young. I was sixteen, still at school, and I had no experience in the business at all. And I think in a way all of us wanted to just hang on until I was a bit more prepared to cope with the situation. And as far as I'm concerned I'm very glad that did happen, because in those two years between leaving school and things starting to happen when the album was released, I really built a foundation for myself as a person as well as for the direction I was going in. Since I left school I was going to London every day and to dancing classes and really for the first time becoming an individual. And I think those couple of years were really important.
I: I have to ask you, though, about your high pitched range, what reaction did you get when you came out with Wuthering Heights to the actual pitch?
K: I think there were a lot of different reactions, some people really liked it, some people really didn't, and other people found it very amusing. For me, really, I just see it as a phase of my writing where I was just into playing around with that kind of range. And I find it changes, I mean as far as I'm concerned that's an old style for me now. But of course a lot of people still see that as being me now. But that's just, you know, part of the time situation where for a lot of people they will always think of me as Wuthering Heights and nothing else. But...
I: That was partly because it was so unusual, you know. It was really quite unique in itself.
K: Yes, I suppose so. And also of course it was the most successful single I've had, so that obviously does tend to stick in people's mind alot. But as far as I'm concerned, I feel like I'm changing, hopefully with each album I do.
I: Do you ever listen back to a lot of records and say [makes "UGH" sound. Kate laughs.]? "Don't like what I did there."
K: I very rarely listen to my old stuff and when I do hear it, yes it is sometimes that feeling, yeah.
I: In what? In content, or voice pitch, or what?
K: It's especially my voice. I mean, in a way I'm still quite fond of some of the flavors of the old albums and some of the songs, but, my voice, it seems... it always sounds so young to me, because, you know, I feel that it's changing all the time. I: [Imitates Wuthering Heights voice. Kate laughs.] I was practicing all night, you see, to no avail whatsoever. However, Johnaton Jinkins is on the line from Cornwall from St. Austin [??? spelling]. Hello Jonathan?
Jonathan: Hello, Gloria.
I: And what's your question to Kate Bush?
Jonathan: Also, Kate.
K: Hello!
Jonathan: A couple of times you've mentioned in your songs a person called Gurdjieff. I know a little about him, but I wonder if you could explain what his beliefs or tresis are and how he influences are and how he influences you in... well when you make your music?
K: Well, Gurdjieff was really an influence in that I'd just read some of his books and really no more than that. And I'd just found a lot of what he said interesting, but that's really as far as it goes.
Jonathan: Maybe we should elaborate a little bit about who the gentleman is?
K: Yes, well Gurdjieff was... he was considered a leader of a religious movement, I think. But as far as I know he just had a lot of ideas about creating a way that would make people stronger and more together. And it's just a different way of doing it. And it was also trying to go for a more western way of doing. But I do very little about it, so I really wouldn't like to say very much because it's a subject that I feel if I'm going to speak about than I should know what I'm talking about and I don't.
I: It's obviously something you've caught'n onto, Jonathan.
K: Yes. [Laughs]
Jonathan: Yeah.
I: Are you interested in that side of it?
Jonathan: Well a friend of mine mentioned him to me and I knew basicly nothing about him. And I went to a local library and there was nothing there about him. So, of course, Kate mentioned him in a few of her songs, so I just wondered if you could inform me anymore?
I: Well the influence was minimal by the sound of it.
Jonathan: Yeah.
K: Yes, yes it was, yes.
I: Touch luck Jonathan, you picked out the wrong one. [Kate laughs]
Jonathan: [??? inaudible]
I: Thank you very much indeed for your call. Bye, bye.
K: Bye.
Jonathan: Bye.
I: Who else influenced you, do you feel, in terms of your writing or your performance?
K: Gosh, so many people. I think definitely, my performance I would say people like Lindsay and a lot of the teachers that I was taught by, especially when I started dance, because there's no doubt when you're being taught movements they stay, you remember those patterns. And I suppose in writings, gosh...
I: Even in terms of other performers, I mean who do you admire? I'm not saying that you would copy there style or anything.
K: I'm a big admirer of Bowie, and people like David Byrne as well. Eno, I think Eno is fantastic. Captain Beefheart, it's a very wide range, really. I think there's a lot of music that I enjoy. But it's mainly people that tend to show strength and originality. People like Bowie, who have gone for something different and they're still standing there.
I: Well, you've certainly got the originality. And we'll be back for more questions from you at home. Thank you for the calls, they're coming in fast and furious. And we'll be back to you right after this new single from Gilbert O'Sullevin.
[Bare With Me is played]
I: ...single from Gilbert O'Sullevin, it's called Bare With Me. The time is twenty-one minutes past one o'clock. Kate Bush is our special guest today, taking telephone calls, that's just a little bit of information in case you've joined us on your lunch break. And if you have, well then welcome along, you're late. [Kate laughs] Miles Zedon is the next caller from Draton in Portsmith. Good afternoon to you Miles.
Miles: Hello, Gloria.
I: Lot's of sunshine in Portsmith, at the moment?
Miles: Yeah, it's beautiful at the moment.
I: Oh, good. You sound very chirpy.
Miles: [Laughs]
I: And what's your question for Kate.
Miles: Right. I just wanted to ask Kate: I noticed with her recent single, The Dreaming, it's got a type of an aborigine sound and I just want to know whether there was anything that inspired you to change your style of music?
K: Yes, well I think that, ah, well, especially for that song, it was inspired years ago by Rolf Harris's Sun Arise. And, although when I heard it then - I was probably about six - it never occurred to me that I would write a song inspired by it, that is in fact what happened 'cause it's been in my head ever since.
Miles: Cause he plays on it, doesn't he?
K: Yes he does, that's right.
Miles: Yeah.
K: Yes.
I: I suppose in terms of general ideas, Kate, maybe we could talk a little about that. Just where you pluck these ideas from, is this something that occurs to you in every day life or do you discipline yourself to sit down and think about things?
K: They're very often ideas that come out of other people's creations. Films and books are very much big inspirations to me. For instance, there's a track on this album that was.. really the whole atmosphere was inspired by The Shining. I read the book and it was such an incredibly strong atmosphere, very creepy, very haunted, and I used it to like set a song using the same atmosphere, but instead of it being a hotel it being like a house, which is also a human being. And just playing with the feelings that I got when I read the book and trying to put that same kind and strangeness into the song.
I: I'm going to turn the tables a little bit, Miles, what do you like about Kate's music?
Miles: I don't know, it's just different, really. As she said it's very expressive, her music and it's meaningful...
K: [whispers] Yeah!
Miles: ... and you know every song is different, I think, she's trying to say something different. So, you know, I've liked Kate's records ever since Wuthering Heights, so...
I: You've been hooked. [Kate laughs]
Miles: I have, I'm afraid.
K: Yeah, great Miles! [Laughs]
I: You're a deep thinker, Miles. I'm telling you. [Kate laughs] You're in as far as Kate's concerned.
Miles: Oh, that's good.
K: A very intelligent human being!
I: So thank you very much for your call.
Miles: Okay, thanks very much.
I: Are you heading back to work?
Miles: Yes, I am now, yeah.
I: What do you work at?
Miles: I work at a bank.
I: In a bank!
Miles: Yeah.
I: Oh, you're one of the civilized people of this community.
Miles: Oh, yeah.
I: Are you a teller?
Miles: Well, not at the moment, no. They sorta changed around a bit.
I: Okay, well we'll let you get back to work anyway. Thanks, Miles for the call. Okay, bye, bye.
Miles: Bye, bye.
I: And from Portsmith we move to Essex. We have Graham Singleton on the line. Good afternoon to you, Graham.
Graham: Good afternoon.
I: Are you home or at work or where?
Graham: Um, at home.
I: You're at home. Doing what?
Graham: Ah, not alot.
I: Not alot. Are you still at school as a matter of interest?
Graham: Yeah.
I: And when do you go back?
Graham: Um, well I'm back at the moment.
I: Oh, you're just on a lunch break. Good, well I'm glad you've joined us on your lunch break. And what's your question for Kate Bush?
Graham: I'd like to ask her what's she's going to do, eventually. Whether she's going to stay on the singing or use her ten "O" levels [Kate laughs] to go get a job or go into acting?
I: Do you want to use your ten "O" levels to get a job, a proper job?
K: [Laughs] Yeah, get a proper job, yeah. Well I would like to think that I'm going to stay in the singing world because I think the thing that means a lot to me - it means more than anything, really. I think I'd rather stay writing songs and singing them then anything else and if there's any way that I can continue to do that then I would love to very much. But, I must admit, dancing is another interest that perhaps I would go off on a bit more in the future, it really depends [on] how things go for me.
I: Yes, but as Graham has mentioned your ten "O" levels [Kate laughs] very aptly. When you think about it, you mentioned earlier that finishing your exams and taking that period before you went into the business consolidated a lot of your own thoughts. And as suppose that eduction in terms of reading and, you know, widening your horizons, that must really stand you in good stead anyway.
K: Yes, I think it helped a bit. I think the thing about "O" levels, especially with me, is that I don't remember most of what I learnt to get those "O" levels. It was very much a matter of rehearsing for the exams, getting them, then forgetting the information. But I think there are a couple of subjects that certainly helped me. English, especially, the essays and the competitions they were a very big starting ground for me. And also the music, because I learnt the violin at school and in many ways that gave me lot of knowledge about theory and sight reading. So I'm sure they did help quite a lot, yes.
I: What stage are you at, Graham, at school.
Graham: Well, I'm not very far...
I: Well, what form are you in - third year, fourth year...?
Graham: Well, I'm not actually at school at the moment, my mum's teaches me at moment.
I: You're not at school. Right. OK Graham, well thank you very much for the call. All the very best to you.
K: Bye, Graham!
Graham: Bye.
I: Good luck. And we come to the album, we're going to hear the first track off this new album, which is out today. The album is called The Dreaming and this song is about Houdini. So I think first of all, the story behind the song.
K: Well, Houdini, I think most people know him for being the escapologist, the man who's who's wriggling around in a sack on the pavement. But I started finding out about a side of his life that seemed more interesting, for me, where he spent a lot of years actually going around to mediums and seances, exposing the fact that they were frauds. He'd try to contact his mother when she died and he just meant fraud after fraud and they were after his money and as far he was concerned they were just making people very unhappy just in order to get money. So he spent years just going 'round to these places, and revealing the wires and revealing the technicalities and all this sort of thing. But between him and his wife they made a code and it was very strange because they made this so that if perhaps one of them ever died and the other tried to contact them through a medium or a seance, that they would know that it was really them and not a fraud. And when Houdini died his wife did actually start going around to the mediums and the seances, more or less what he had done when he had been alive. And the same thing for years, she just came across so many fakes and people that really were not true mediums at all. Until one day she had a phone call from a man who said that Houdini had come through to him. So she went to see him, and he gave her the code that only Houdini and her had known and as far as she was concerned he had made contact with her.
So the [??? inaudible tape cuts out] is really all about her and him and how very much in love they were and how terrible it was for her when he died, but that they did make contact again. So it's all about that special moment.
[Houdini is played]
I: That's off Kate Bush's new album. The album is called Dreaming [sic] and that particular track was called Houdini. And in fact Houdini's wife in that particular track was, as it were, possessed, there was quite a lot of distortion. How did you achieve that effect?
K: Well the idea is that it's as she's watching him go off into his tank of water for the last time, and it's the idea that she is this sort of possessed demon that's terrified of him going. And I drank about a pint of milk before I did the vocal and ate like two bars of chocolate. And the great thing about those sort of foods is it really creates a lot of mucus and normally that's the last thing you want when you sing, you normally want a very pure voice, but I wanted to get all that sort of spit and gravel in the thought. [Clears thought] So I worked on bringing the gravel out and then we also... as I sung the track we sped the track up a bit so that when it was played back the voice would just be slightly deeper, just have slightly more weight in it.
I: Hm. Some of the tricks of the trade in recording studios.
K: [Laughs] Yes.
I: Our next caller is Melissa Grief, she's in Davashire. Hello to Melissa.
Melissa: Hello.
I: Are you at home today?
Melissa: Pardon?
I: Are you at home today?
Melissa: Yes, I am.
I: You are. What's your question for Kate Bush?
Melissa: I wanted to know what kind of expectations and apprehensions she has of herself and of an audience before a performance?
I: The old nerves, Melissa, aye?
K: Hmm.
I: Are you nervous before you go on stage?
K: Um, I'm probably not as nervous before I go on stage for a concert as I am for a lot of other things. The great thing about the show we did, for instance, was we rehearsed it for so long that it was... there was very little to be that nervous of, because it was so rehearsed. In fact, it was quite a relief to do it for the first night because it was actually going out to an audience. But I think I do suffer from nerves alot in other areas, and I worry a lot, especially about, you know, is my music good enough at the moment, am I really doing the right thing, is this good enough, is that good enough. And I think it is all quite tied in with nerves so I do get nervous in situations where things are very important. But, I think you learn to cope. But sometimes I'm... I mean, like I'm a lot less nervous about some things now then I used to be and other things...
I: For example, I mean what are you less nervous about?
K: Um, well things like this. I mean, I still get nervous for instance, like speaking on the radio, but it's not as nerve racking for me as it would have been a couple of years ago. And yet other things seem to get even more worrying for me. One of the hardest things I find to do, is get up in a room full of people and just speak to them. I think that is incredibly difficult.
I: Could you do that Melissa? [Kate laughs]
Melissa: I don't think so, no.
I: Do you suffer from nerves, I mean in that form, that you don't really like to, you know, get out in front of people and do things?
Melissa: I think so, yes. I wouldn't like to perform in any way, I don't think.
I: You don't think. You're happy enough to stay at home. [Laughs] Do you have any family, Melissa?
Melissa: Yes. Well, just my [cartoon ??? inaudible] brother and mom.
I: Obviously you're not married.
Melissa: I'm not married.
I: Do you work at all?
Melissa: No, I'm at college.
[Non Kate talk skipped]
I: And now we have another Kate, this time Kate Teese it looks like in Maidenhead. Good afternoon to you Kate.
Kate T: Hello.
I: Is your surname correct, is it Teese?
Kate T: Yes that's right, Teese.
I: Sometimes it's hard to make out the writing. However Kate what's your question today?
Kate T: Well, I'm really ringing for my daughter who would have rung if she'd been at home. But she's a great fan of yours, Kate and she belongs to your fan club and has got all of your records. But she's at college today so she can't ring you. And I'm sure she'd have asked you, if she was here, when are you doing any live appearances, because she's dying to see you.
K: Oh, great. Well I've been dying to do some more performances since the last show and I'm really hoping to get something together next year. My problem is that it really takes so much time that there's no way we could fit it in this year. And as yet I don't know when it will be next year, but it will be next year sometime.
I: Now when you say time, what kind of preparation and work do you have to put into a live show?
K: Oh, it's incredible! There are so many different areas. It's really like a huge, great jigsaw that you're piecing together. You have to start with a band, and then you have the people that are up front like the dancers, you have the lighting guy, the stage designer, the costumes, the crew, a tour manager, I mean there are just so many areas. And in a lot of ways, because it's dance and sound, I'm involved in a lot of those fringe areas as well. And it really would take a good six months to get another tour together.
I: Because you would have a lot more production in your show then maybe other performers would have.
K: Yes, yes, because we like to go for a theatrical show, yes, that's right.
I: You tend to forget about that, Kate Teese - I have to identify which Kate I'm talking to now. [Kate laughs] I mean, the rest of us tend to think "oh, well, you just stand up and do your stuff and you get the band on the road and that's it."
Kate Teese: Yeah. Oh, no, my daughter, whose name is Julien, by the way, Julien Row, she is involved in a lot of drama at college and she realizes how much goes into it.
K: Great.
Kate Teese: And she's also studying "A" level music so she appreciates all the... she really likes your songs because you write them and arrange them, everything yourself.
K: Great. What does she want to do?
Kate Teese: Um, well at the moment she wants to be an interior designer.
K: Fantastic!
Kate Teese: But, ah, you know she's doing her "A" levels next summer so I don't quite know what will happen then.
K: Well, wish her a lot of luck for me, will you?
Kate Teese: Yes, thank you very much.
I: All the best to you Kate, thanks for your call.
Kate Teese: Thank you.
I: Thank you, bye bye.
Kate Teese: Bye, bye.
I: A lot of fast fired questions, if I can put it like that. Colin Home calls in from Harrygate in Yorkshire and he wants to know "PLEASE are you going to be up north anywhere where he can go and see you, will you be promoting your album?"
K: Well I'm going to be doing some P.A.s and that's where I go to shops and sign records for people. And I hoping to go around the country in a couple of weeks to do some of those, but I don't know where. But I'm sure it will be publicized somewhere.
I: Watch the local press. And Colin also says, "in Sat In Your Lap cover it's written 'well done J.B.'" and he wants to who J.B. is.
K: J.B. is a guy called John Barrot who certainly deserves to be congratulated 'cause he did something very clever. [Laughs]
I: Very clever, you're not going to tell us anything further. No?
K: Nope!
I: Secrets you see, today. Steven Day, he's in Staphasure and he wants to know the conflict between a performer and the record company in who decides which song is going to be released as a single?
K: I think that situation differs greatly from artist to artist and in my situation I'm very lucky, I seem to normally have the last say in which the single will be.
I: You're an adamant lady in other words [Kate laughs] and get your own way.
K: I guess so, yeah. [Laughs]
I: Okay, Loria Proud is in Birmingham and Loria would like to know "when you come to write a song do you ever get any inspiration from classical music that you've listened to in your spare time?"
K: Yes, yes I think classical music is very inspirational. Again, because it's normally quite visual, you close your eyes and wonderful landscapes start happening. So I'm sure it has been very inspirational.
I: Do you listen to a lot of classical stuff?
K: No, not as much as I used to,no. I listen to a lot more contemporary stuff now.
I: Mark Ridgewell in Northamptonshire he says "when you write an album," he's listened to you today talking about you know various tracks, "but overall what is your main aim when you put all those songs down?"
K: I think the main aim is to get some kind of emotional impact across, and hopefully it's the emotional situation that goes with the subject matter of the song. [Pause and then Kate laughs]
I: But, again, I mean in overall success terms.
K: Oh, I see.
I: Cause you must aim as well to put out an record that pleases fans or pleases you or?
K: Yes, obviously it's more important to me that it pleases me when I'm making it, but when it comes out it's fantastic if other people like it, I mean that's really the reward for all the hard work.
I: Obviously many people are interested in the ideas that you take. And Kristeen Coola in Barnsley she wants to know "are you never inspired by every day events, I mean topical events, newsy events?"
K: Yes, I think um, I think I am, yes. The thing about a lot of those kind of events is that people cover them again and again in songs because they are obviously very moving matters. But yes, I think the state of the world influences me a lot, I think it does every writer.
I: But deep down I think when it comes to your songs, you're more of a romantic, are you not?
K: Yes, I think I'm more concerned with the psychological side of human beings. I am a romant... romantasist as well. But I think I'm very interested in the way that people's brains work, they're very different from each other sometimes. [Laughs]
I: That's for sure. Well, we've talked alot about your early career, we've talked a lot about the album [really????] I would like to talk a little about the next twelve months or thereabouts. You said that you might go on tour but what else do you plan to do now that you've got this album made?
K: Well, um... Obviously this was the most important step to get over and really now I'm trying to catch on all the things that I've got behind with because the album has taken so long. And I'm going to be promoting the album and doing some work in Europe and that kind of thing and making some videos for the singles. And then I'll be working on rehearsing for the show, which obviously has to start a good six months up front of the show happening.
I: So, I don't know what you'll do in your spare time over the next twelve months. But, Kate, thanks very much for coming in today.
K: Thank you.
I: And perhaps you would set up this particular track, Sat In Your Lap. Maybe tell me the story about that.
K: Okay. When I went to see the Stevie Wonder gig and it was incredible, it was really good. And the next night I went into our home studio and wrote the song in a couple of hours and that was it, one of the quickest songs I've ever written.
I: And here it is.
[Sat In Your Lap is played]
I: Sat In Your Lap, thats off the new Kate Bush album, the album is called Dreaming [sic]. Kate has been our guest throughout the program. I'd like to thank her very much and of course to you as well, at home, for your telephone and your queries.
From: E Welsh <evan@castle.ed.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Dreaming Debut
interview.
Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1991 02:41:53 -0700
Ronald Hill writes:
> I: Watch the local press. And Colin also says, "in Sat In Your Lap cover it's written 'well done J.B.'" and he wants to who J.B. is.
K: J.B. is a guy called John Barrot who certainly deserves to be congratulated 'cause he did something very clever. [Laughs]
I: Very clever, you're not going to tell us anything further. No?
K: Nope!
Somebody must know, or be able to guess, what this is all about. I know I'm being nosey but I'm really intrigued.
[I think, it's John *Barrett*, who is listed under the assistant engineers on the SIYL single. This is interesting, because IED always says that JB is JCB! --WIE]
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