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You can choose to have one -- and only one -- super power. Other than gaining that power, you remain exactly the same as you are now. What super power would you pick, and why?
Henrik Bjornsson: I'd pick the power to be able to move things using only my mind. I could nick people's stuff, while making them very uneasy.
What was your favorite day job, and why? If you hated them all, what was the best (meaning most interesting) way you ever quit a job?
Henrik Bjornsson: I hated them all, and still do, but some of them had their moments, like when I was looking after autistic individuals and when I was looking after psychotic individuals. I learned a lot from them both.
We've all heard variations on the phrase "there are two kinds of people in the world... Those who (do or think something) and those who (do or think something else)". What are the two kinds of people in the world for you?
Henrik Bjornsson: Those with loaded guns, and those who dig.
If money/ambition/significant others/et cetera were all non-issues, where would you choose to live and why?
Henrik Bjornsson: First instinct is to say Costa Rica or something like that, but I've never been there and it might be boring. But I like places that don't get too cold. Maybe southern California. Maybe southern Spain or Italy. I dunno. It'll probably all be equally boring.
You've been given the money and resources to produce a movie biography of the most significant, influential person in your life. Who's it about, what's the story, and who plays the central character?
Henrik Bjornsson: It would be about this burned-out nut in a psychiatric ward I used to work in. He would walk around all day and ask for wine, and he'd pretend there was wine in the juice machine and he'd talk into electric razors. Unlike most people I've known, he knew exactly what he wanted, and how to live in denial if he wasn't getting it. He would be played by Jack Nicholson.
Summarize your driving ability in 25 words or less.
Henrik Bjornsson: I could drive forever.
What is the function of your music in a capitalist society?
Henrik Bjornsson: To perplex and unconventionally reconstruct the oxilerity of our great society.
You've just entered a contest in which the prize is an MP3 player loaded with the complete, exhaustive recorded output of any artist you choose. You win. Who do you choose?
Henrik Bjornsson: Spector-produced shit.
What are you carrying on your person -- in your pockets, purse, et cetera -- right now?
Henrik Bjornsson: A wallet, a phone, two half packs of cigarettes, a lighter.
You're on tour, you're in an unfamiliar city, you haven't eaten in 24 hours, and due to some poor financial decisions, you have only a single unit of the local currency -- one dollar, one pound, or thereabouts. What do you eat?
Henrik Bjornsson: That's a familiar situation. Once I bought four different types of cakes that cost 25 cents each, but I got sick while eating my second cake. I've also tried 50 cent hot dogs but those left me sick for two days. Now I've learned from my mistakes and I'd rather buy a bottle of water.
What was the last song you danced to? Who, if anyone, did you dance with?
Henrik Bjornsson: I last danced to "Jukebox Babe" by Alan Vega. I danced with my girlfriend.
When did you last make a mountain out of a molehill?
Henrik Bjornsson: This morning when I refused to get up.
Post-Schwarzenegger, are there any high-profile people you'd like to see run for governor or other high office? Who and why?
Henrik Bjornsson: Mr. T. He'd tell those fools to shut up.
Apart from cheeseburgers, what is the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast?
Henrik Bjornsson: Coffee. Nobody makes sense without coffee first thing in the morning.
You receive a series of e-mails stating that Grace Jones, Junior Brown, Missy Elliott, Ian MacKaye and Philip Glass are interested in a collaboration. How do you respond to each request?
Henrik Bjornsson: Thank you for your email. I'd be very happy to blah blah blah...
What was the last book you read and hated? Why did you hate it?
Henrik Bjornsson: An Icelandic history book in college. It was really boring.
Let's assume that God is a DJ. What's on his playlist right now?
Henrik Bjornsson: Nick Cave, Tindersticks, Tom Waits, Miles Davis, Jim Jarmush soundtracks. He's into that kind of shit.
Who was your favourite teacher in high school? Why?
Henrik Bjornsson: This math teacher who showed up drunk all the time, because he showed up drunk all the time.
What is your favorite Meg Ryan movie?
Henrik Bjornsson: I like all the ones where she plays a prostitute equally.
What is your favorite "comfort food" when you're on tour?
Henrik Bjornsson: Spaghetti and meatballs.
Tell us about the least likely place you ever sent a CD/demo. Why did you send it? What happened?
Henrik Bjornsson: I think I once sent a tape of early four track recordings to Warner. Nothing's happened. Not yet...
What essential item are you most likely to leave at home when you're heading out on tour? What do you do about it?
Henrik Bjornsson: My driving licence. Open a can of beer and watch the world go by.
Aliens have just landed, and you get to select the earth's goodwill ambassador. Who do you pick, and why?
Henrik Bjornsson: Kinky Friedman. I don't know why.
You wake up one morning and discover that you have dolphin telepathy. What do you do with it?
Henrik Bjornsson: I use it to bring Yassir Arafat back from the dead. What Would Jesus Do? the same.
What's the deal with those goddamn racoons?
Henrik Bjornsson: How 'bout those Red Sox?
Where do you think Osama Bin Laden is hiding and what would it take to get him to come out?
Henrik Bjornsson: I think he's in Iceland. There's a guy who looks just like him who I keep seeing on the street, riding a bicycle. I think he's started a new life. No more of that terrorist shit.
You're sitting in a pub when an errant dart from the games area strikes you in the leg. With the dart pointing out of your body, do you pull it out, shout for help or attack the jackass who hit you?
Henrik Bjornsson: I don't know. What would Jesus do?
What would you consider to be the worst fate imaginable for your music, and which contemporary artist would you most wish this terrible end upon?
Henrik Bjornsson: If it died and got buried in an unmarked grave. I do not wish that end upon anybody.
What is the strangest thing you've ever had for breakfast?
Henrik Bjornsson: Pancakes.
Describe the skankiest, sketchiest place -- whether it's someone's home or a hotel/motel room -- that you've stayed in while on tour.
Henrik Bjornsson: Ah. The French Cottage on Sunset Blvd., LA. The sketchiest, yet the loveliest hotel I've stayed in. Ants everywhere, and a "women must wear bathing-caps" sign by the pool, which had a cockroach in it.
If you had an army of super-intelligent lab mice to do your bidding, what evil deeds would you have them do?
Henrik Bjornsson: Commit suicide in soups.
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Iceland's dark masters of avant-garage, Singapore Sling, recently returned to center stage with Life Is Killing My Rock 'N' Roll, the blistering follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut album, 2003s The Curse of Singapore Sling.
-- George Zahora
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