her way of writing music

My songs may seem to be without structure, but they are very structured. The confusion is probably caused by the arrangements. I look upon them as a sort of decoration, that I like to play with.

But about those structures... I grew up more or less among hippies and they used to improvise and jam a lot. Initially, I thought it was fun and exciting, but later I found it tiresome. Ever since, I hate musicians who don’t know where they’re going with their music. Don’t get me wrong, I respect spontaneity - that’s what life is full of - but I also demand discipline. And a sense for direction and structure. Only when all those things come together, it’s perfect for me.

When I write songs, they have gone through a long period of growth in my head first. They’re puzzles, that are completed very slowly, piece by piece. Only then will I write things down. And structure is very important for that. It doesn’t matter then whether I go in the studio with nine banjo players or with 23 drumcomputer experts, the structure will always remain the same.

But maybe people don’t recognize those structures because they’ve been in my head for so long that I don’t feel the need anymore to emphasize them. I’m actually already tired of them, don’t find them exciting anymore and already start making variations on them. And that’s how they end up on the record.

So I understand your question. It’s the greatest thing when people recognize the basic structure without it actually being played. It seems to work that way with lots of pieces by Charlie Parker. The listeners effortlessly pick up the structure, so Parker can simply do babble jibble. I hope it will work that way with my music one day. But maybe I should contain myself a bit with those arrangements [laughs].

At the other hand : that’s just what I like about it. It’s ambience, dressing. It’s like standing in front of my wardrobe and thinking : what shall I wear today ? Is it raining or is it dry ? Is it cold or is it warm ? Am I going to a meeting or to a party ? Is it already Christmas ? I like to connect a target to my music. A destination. And on Homogenic that destination is called : home. And can I help it that no one knows what my house looks like ?

Oor, September 1997