Stina Nordenstam (32) is she whispering voice
and Greta Garbo image, which has created five slabs,
but not given interviews. She made an exception
for the magazine.
- SEE HERE, says Stina Nordenstam.
She holds out the right thumb finger. The nail is blue.
She smiles. Giggling, actually.
- I squeezed it in a taxidør other day. I was so
love and confused!
THIS IS NOT CONDUCT one had expected from this 32 years
old Swedish singer, musician and occasional photographer.
Through ten years and five plates, the last called "This Is Stina
Nordenstam, "she has shown the world the human mind
darkest recesses. Displayed until cold, lonely places where they get
love affairs that are far more painful than a blue
thumb nail.
The only way to become familiar with Stina Nordenstam on, has been
through her records. She has refused to be interviewed,
refused to be photographed, refused to give concerts. The few
times she has let herself photograph, she used wig. They
few times she has agreed to be interviewed, she has been quite
taciturn.
- I do not think those who buy my records need to know as
much about me, she says.
- I do not want to be a public figure. I am
afraid to get it. It is very important that people I
hit not have a pre-conception of me, and that I
recognized on the town. I want to be invisible and private.
ABOUT SHE IS NOT BLIND, she is certainly small. She
almost drowning in the huge chair while she slurps up
oysters and beer in a nearly empty fish restaurant on Kungsholmen in
Stockholm. On the table is a box portion snus.
An hour earlier we trudged through slushy and
førjulstravelt Stockholm, in the transition between business and
pleasure on a Friday afternoon. Stina came straight from the studio. In
hat, glasses, jeans and sneakers felt no her. While
we went up Hamngatan, Stina took out a cd walkman from
his bag.
- Want to hear a new song I'm working on?
Course.
It's called "And The Winner Is" and is quite unfinished. A
Spartan, mid-tempo rhythm loop, many layers of Stinas
distinctive, intimate and whispering vocals on top.
AND THE WINNER IS enough most of all herself. "This Is Stina
Nordenstam "receives currently one critic tribute by
the other. In Sweden, in Norway, England and many other
places. It is Stinas lightest and most optimistic plate
Now. Not quite "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", but a ray of light after
a complicated and arduous trip through the tunnel.
- I think it gets easier and easier to live. Enjoyable and
enjoyable. And it certainly is reflected in the music. It is more
playful, says Stina.
- Before I was very serious. It was certainly seriously all the time.
I had a hard time when I was growing up. But I'm tenacious and
strong, otherwise I had gone under.
- How much of the darkness and melancholy of discs originating from
growing up?
- It's probably very much. Directly through actual experiences,
indirectly through an early age I was forced to compensate
and learn to live for yourself, lonely and self-propelled. Due to the
environment I grew up in.
STINA NORTH STAMFORD ARE BORN in 1969. She grew up in the suburbs
Fisksätra a couple mil outside Stockholm. When she talks about
Growing up in the homogeneous factory worker environment and the
through politicized home where the parents were communists,
it sounds like a scene from "Recipes", only directed by
Ingmar Bergman. A couple of years ago Stina cut all ties to
his family.
- I was active as a child. Held on with lots of things just
not having to be home, she explains.
- I toured, danced, played the violin, was in the orchestra and
string quartet, singing in choirs and singing solo. I was doing
more stuff every night, except I thought it was neither
exciting or fun. Family situation mine was difficult.
- In what way?
- Nah. I will not talk about it ...
Stina is silent for a long while.
- It was loveless and boundless, like.
MUSIC WAS AN ALWAYS present emergency exit for small Stina.
She trained early. By necessity.
- In my class there were mostly Finnish children with
working class background. When I was 11, it started a new
boy in the class. He beat me. Hence, we got an extra teacher, a
exiled American and Communist him too. Because my parents
were academics, he picked me out as a representative of
middle class that he really should put in place. So I
had this boy who struck me, and this teacher who also
almost hit me. It was when I applied to get in on a
Posh korskole.
The posh korskolen named Adolf Fredrik Music Classes, one
elementary school with emphasis on music. Stina entered.
- And there was even worse. Elitist and almost only girls.
They run around in the gym and in the locker room and sang all the time,
completely "Sound of Music". I have a black hole in four years
my memory. I remember nothing, for I had so
unbelievably bad.
After some years of music college and as a singer in various bands with
jazz standards repertoire, debuted Stina Nordenstam with
album "Memories of a Color" in 1992. She even seems there is a
terrible record.
- I am very dissatisfied with it. It has happened so far in
my life, I do not feel like the same person
recorded the first album. It took a long time before I found
until my expression and my own voice.
- Your voice is so low and intense. Did you ever think, "Oops,
this works fine, of course! "?
- No, on the contrary. In the beginning I was very annoyed
I only had one pitch. Now I like my voice, the
expresses what is me. And it's been much, much easier to
sing. Before I was forced to sing a song ten times before I
arrived at the nearby I would have. Now I sort of just
set me up. Both in life and professionally, I have always
sought proximity.
STINA HAVE put into category as the awkwardly shy and
depressive little sister to Björk, Tori Amos and Polly Jean
Harvey. There Björk represents shrill madness, Amos for vulnerable
sexuality and Harvey for anemic aggression, has Nordenstams
intense introversion and neurotic proximity give her a
compassionate, loyal and large audience, the lack of
PR activity is taken into account. The album "And She Closed Here
Eyes "from 1994 is thus '90s students' answers to Joni
Mitchell's "Blue": not a dorm room is complete without.
- I stand well for an alternative femininity. It is not
Sheryl Crow and Madonna, sort of. The pictures are of
strong women are essential.
- Are you proud of being one of these?
- Jaaa ... little. But I am most proud that I have survived
on the basis of bad assumptions, and succeeded so well that I have.
THE PLATA STINA is most proud of is "Dynamite" from 1996.
Her toughest and most brutal. Her response test.
- It is not easy to document the dark stuff. There are
a kind of myth that creativity by definition is dark. It
I do not think anything on. I think rather that depression
delays all things, do a slower and less able to
feel and less able to express themselves. One becomes numb.
- Did you get help?
- I've been in therapy. I'm pretty bad to ask for
help, but they need input from the outside.
- When did you first know you had come up over
hump and gained control?
- A few years ago, only. One needs to be completely safe to
could let go of their survival strategy. It has been
slowly, but in recent years I have simply become happier and
happier.
- You are 32 Are you ready for the kids and family and stuff?
- I have such bad experiences with my family that there
is of course for me to have a family. But if I see children on
Subway, I also smitten. Many things would become even
fun with the kids.
- You certainly have strong opinions about how to raise
children?
- Perhaps most how not to raise children. However, the major
challenges in my life is such a common thing.
- Like what?
- To have a steady relationship. Go on Sunday dinner with
law. Hitting friends. Parmiddager is a major
challenge. The other day I spoke with a friend who
told with horror in his voice that he had been on holiday with your couple.
- Are you keen to get rid of the image we have of you
as a neurotic and introverted person?
- I'd like crack image that exists of me over and over
again. A brand new Stina every time. I like to surprise me
yourself. If I formulate things for myself and storage
principles, I must quickly break them.
AND PRINSIPPBRYTERI is actually to blame for Stina Nordenstam now
walk around with blue thumb after being in love and
confused and would close again taxidør simultaneously.
- He is a journalist, actually, hehe. Curiously enough.
- A person who interviewed you?
- Yes.
- This is surely an admission of failure against
"No-to-interviews"-line?
- Really. That's what I say: I have to break all my
principles!
by Sven Ove ground / bbc
_______________________________________
Sound and images
Stina Nordenstam do not like to be photographed, and most
she graciously let someone else shoot for use on
disc jewel case its. Or she takes pictures themselves, such as the
cover album "People Are Strange".
- I never liked being photographed, and so I have been
since I was little.
Maybe because I have been conscious that I have not had the
good, and that I have been opposed to document it. I
've never written a diary either. Therefore
it's so lovely to have these washers that reflects what I have
been with, she says.
_________________________________
Here is Stina Nordenstam-discography:
Memories of a Color (1992)
Nordenstam even dislike this album greatly. Today, the
the Rickie Lee
Jones-inspired jazz pop as weak and glazed, but the voice and
texts, she has no reason to be ashamed of.
And She Closed Her Eyes (1994)
Breakthrough Plata, and a classic of Sylvia Plath-level
student circles. Far more experimental in form language, and
so she became Sweden's Björk. A disc ages with large
dignity.
Dynamite (1996)
Stinas "punk record." Sharp edges, nasty guitars and a
overwhelming gloom. Nordenstam is even very proud of
http://216.87.221.39/bb/Forum1/HTML/000129.html (4 of 6) [7/6/2002 9:41:45 p.m.]
Interview from Norwegian "Magazine" - November 2001 - Stina Nordenstam
This album, which she believes has "a universal dark over
themselves. "
People Are Strange (1998)
A precursor to this year's cover album
Tori Amos' Strange Little Girls, "where Nordenstam
deconstructs songs of
Prince, Rod Stewart, Leonard Cohen
and The Doors. Her fussiest plate.
This Is Stina Nordenstam (2001)
Her brightest moments, although "light" is a relative term
in Nordenstam palette. Brett Anderson of Suede will act
Bowie on a few tracks, but it is Stina even radiating most.
In addition:
"Little Star" from the album "And She Closed Here
Eyes "is on the soundtrack to" Romeo &
Juliet, "which had
Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in
lead role. She was also involved in
soundtrack to Hans Petter Moland's film "Aberdeen".
Nordenstam has contributed to discs with, among others, Vangelis and
Yello, and is known for having refused to sing with The
Chemical Brothers.
_____________________________________________________
Captions: Do not: Stina Nordenstam do not like to be photographed,
and the few times she lets the photograph, she uses a wig.
Such as here. Actually, she half long brown hair with a few
extension cables.
Photo: Eva Mueller / Sony Music [this is promo picture]
WHEN the going is good: - It certainly reflected in my music that
life is easier to live. It is more playful, says Stina
Nordenstam. Her new album, "This Is Stina Nordenstam" is
her brightest yet. [this is promo picture]
