Interview: Kate Havnevik

After persistently pursuing Britney and Madonna collaborator, Guy Sigsworth, to work with her, Scando-songstrel Kate Havnevik produced one of the most spectacular debut albums of the past decade, 2006′s ‘Melankton.’ As a simplistic soundscape comparison point, think Bjork’s ‘Jóga.’ And then some.

Back with her second album, ‘You,’ the Norwegian singer-songwriter talks to Planet Notion about writing ‘happy’ songs and raising money for her album by selling cake.

Planet Notion: It’s been 5 years since Melankton. Why the long wait for the follow-up?

Kate Havnevik: When Melankton first came out, I released it myself. But then about 6 months after that Universal Records put it out in the US. And I then toured the album quite a bit so I was really busy after it came out, for quite a long time. When I later started writing and recording “You” I had a little ‘burn out’. For a while I had what I would describe as ‘personal issues’. My life sort of fell apart and I needed that time to, in a way, put my life back together. Making the record at the same time was a little too hard so I just took my time with it. And then once you finish a record it actually still takes quite a while to get it out there, which is also very frustrating for me. So, on the whole, I’d say it was a mix between being generally busy and having ‘life issues’. But I promise it won’t be as long a wait before the next album.

PN: That was actually going to be the next question because we’ve heard that you’ve finished the next album already…

KH: Yes I have. During those 5 years since Melankton I have had the opportunity to write so many songs. I constantly write and record. So I have another album of material almost ready. It actually goes hand in hand with this album. It feels like it’s from the same family as this album. A little twin for “You”.

PN: Melankton very much felt like a dramatic, moody, wintry sort of record, whereas – in places – ‘You’ has more of an uplift in spirit. Was it a conscious decision to make it so?

KH: Definitely. I never want to make the same record twice and I had written songs which felt a little bit more ‘pop’ to me. I kind of felt like this was going to be my pop record. I wanted the songs to be shorter, faster and snappier, in a way. More energetic. Also, I didn’t play any guitar on Melankton. I used to be a guitar player as a child, so it was fun bringing back some guitar into the music. At the same time, I wanted there to be a bridge between the albums, so there are a couple of songs which are a middle-ground between Melankton and You, particularly “Castaway”.

PN: Talk us through your songwriting process.

KH: I have several different ways of writing but most commonly I would sit down with the piano or guitar and just start improvising. And that improvisation would usually turn into some gibberish, which then develops into a melodic idea or a chord and it then inspires the lyrics. Sometimes Guy [Sigsworth] would send me a beat to work with or some chords and I would just write over them. I tend to get lyrical ideas just before I go to sleep…

PN: Quite a few of your songs have been used on television (most prominently on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’) and in film. Do you think synch-licensing is now more important than record sales in terms of musicians earning a living?

KH: For a lot of artists, it is. Especially independent artists. I’d say the majority of indie artists in the US make their money from synch deals. The licensing, in turn, can also increase the record sales and the attendance at your shows so synch deals, in a way, go hand in hand with record sales. It’s probably not as important for, say, Lady Gaga to have a song on a TV show but for indie artists, who may not have that amount of radio play or exposure and PR, it’s essential.

PN: The arrangements on your songs are often cinematically orchestral. Would you consider touring with an orchestra?

KH: I would LOVE to but it’s simply too expensive. In the past I have had shows with a string quartet and I would love to do a couple of one-off shows with a small orchestra and maybe record them for a live album. My dad actually plays in the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and I just love the power of orchestras. I think a quartet would probably be more realistic for me – I would love to do it.

PN: Apparently you have a knack for baking Norwegian cakes. To the uninitiated, what sort of Norwegian baked goods would you recommend trying?

KH: [laughs] Well, my specialty – and my favourite cake – is a Norwegian Almond Ringcake. It’s called Kransekake and it basically has 18 layers of almond marzipan rings. I love it because, first if all, it looks fantastic. It’s a tower that is then decorated with icing sugar and you put firecrackers on and make it look very fun. You make all the individual rings and then you attach them together with melted sugar. It’s delicious. I have used it as a bribe several times…[laughs].

PN: And you’ve also used it to raise money for your album release through the Pledge Music website…

KH: Yes, I did! Someone in Germany bought it for, I think, about $450. Which is great. I put it on the website as an exclusive – you buy it and I will personally bake it and send it to you. And then somebody actually bought it and I was like, ‘oh no I actually have to bake this and send it to Germany’. I hadn’t thought it through that far. It’s one thing baking it but sending it was a whole different story. I didn’t even know whether I could mail it, seeing as it was food. But I made a special box and padded it and it got there. The fan who bought it sent me pictures of it and apparently she had her family round to try it. So it was a success. I actually filmed myself baking it and I’m going to put it in a video-diary.

PN: You lived in London for ten years before going back to Norway. How does life in London compare to life in Oslo?

KH: I think life in Oslo is much more slow-paced. It’s just so much smaller than London and not as crammed so it’s quieter. But I like both. I miss the energy and busy-ness of London. There’s always stuff to do. In Norway it’s a little more… comfortable. In a family-way. And also friendlier, I guess. It’s nice to be geographically closer to my family again too. But, as I say, I like both cities and there are a lot of things I miss about London. Especially all the venues and galleries. I do come back here a lot, as it’s not far.

PN: Last year you did a live collaboration with Autoheart (then, the Gadsdens) and Geneva’s Andrew Montgomery in London. If you could collaborate with any other artist, who’d be your dream come true?

KH: There’s so many people I would love to work with. But it’s a tricky one because you might be a big fan of somebody yet you might not see how a musical collaboration with them would, in fact, work. Singing a duet, for example, is not always the best way of doing a song. But I really like Muse. They write amazing songs with great energy so I would love to write a song with them. I am also a huge Jeff Buckley fan and would have loved to collaborate with him. It’d be great to be able to do something with Rufus Wainwright!

PN: Finally, do you have a favourite song on the new album?

KH: It actually changes all the time. I have a couple of songs which I am attached to, like “Tears In Rain”, which is a very personal song. It’s like a journey – it’s quite long and tells a story. “Soon” is also very close to my heart. It’s hard to pick just one, though. They’re obviously all a part of me.

You can listen to “Castaway” from Kate Havnevik’s new album, “You”, here. The album is out now through Continentica Records.

-Doron Davidson-Vidavski