LIV KRISTINE / GODDESS EX MACHINA

The girl is full of energy, and defends her new (musical) baby with kindness and sincerity. Let’s talk with Liv about ‘Enter my religion’.

-Your new album, ‘Enter my religion’, will be out soon on Roadrunner Records, where you signed last year : why the choice of this label ?

-Liv : Well, I had the choice between Roadrunner and three or four other labels, but Roadrunner is my favourite. I know them and it’s an honour to work with them. So, that was my choice !

-Is it a coincidence that you participated to the ‘Nymphetamine’ video for Cradle Of Filth, on the same label ? How did it happen ?

-Liv : I just got one e-mail, saying that Cradle of Filth would like me to guest, but I thought it was just a joke, and I deleted the e-mail, I cancelled it. Then, my husband looked through the deleted e-mails and said he thought it was serious. And then, somebody called, saying he had a request from Cradle of Filth, and I couldn’t believe it ! Then I heard the song and thought it was perfect, I knew exactly what to do. I called Dani and asked him if it was what he had in mind, the beauty and the beast/Nick Cave+Kylie Minogue ‘Where wild roses grow’ ? And he said yes, exactly. So I recorded the vocals and two weeks later we recorded the video in London. And tomorrow, I’ll do a second Cradle Of Filth video, at Master Sounds Studios, in Germany. It will probably be on their next record.

-What’s behind that title ‘Enter the religion’?

-Liv : It really has nothing to do with God or Christ or religion in itself, but I believe that religion in is fact all you believe in. So I believe in life, and everything which comes with it. ‘Enter my religion’ is an invitation to my personal world, into my life. What you hear in the lyrics is things I’ve experienced, wishes, dreams, ideas, some good advices, so what I would like you to experience when you listen to the music is that you get out of your busy stressed day, sit down and relax, breathe in and out, listen to the music, and I want to share all the good things of my life.

-This album has been, like all your last records, produced by your husband, Alexander Krull : what are the advantages and disadvantages of working with one's husband, or companion in general ?

-Liv : The good thing is that he always understands my positions, he knows me and he’s a good critic, tough critic sometimes, the best, a workaholic and perfectionist : when I say something’s very good, he says to make one more take. So, he always takes the best of me. The bad thing is, sometimes, even when we’ve closed the door of the studio, trying to be parents and only parents, sometimes on the way back home we talk about the music business, and that’s bad. But when we’re home, we unplug the phone and switch off the mobiles.

-If I say it’s a pop album, would you agree ?

-Liv : Musically, concerning the construction of the songs, it’s a pop album, but not a straight pop album : you also have some rock elements, classical and exotic influences, from many different cultures. ‘Deus ex Machina’, my first solo album, was a kind of straight pop album, still very much atmospheric, but ‘Enter my religion’ is much more spacey and much more personal.

-What musicians can be found on this record ? I’ve heard the name of Peter Tagtgren…

-Liv : Yes, he plays on three songs, but also went to the studio to see if everything was fine.

For producing, I feel comfortable with my husband, because I know I’ll get exactly what I want, but of course I like to work with different songwriters. If not, you can find the guitarist and the drummer from Leaves Eyes, and young people who are music students and people from other countries also, playing exotic instruments, but most of them are friends and people I've known for a long time, who are fantastic musicians.

-Who have been your role models as a singer ? Madonna, of course, but also Kate Bush ?

-Liv : Yes, I like her very much too, but they were not really models : the music comes from the heart and it’s all connected with my emotions.

-Why a solo album ? Not enough space with Leave’s eyes ?

-Liv : I keep it separate : Leave’s eyes is one thing and solo is another, and I’ve never had problems with song as far as deciding where they would go, it was always clear to me and I have so many ideas and thoughts that I need to separate and develop them myself, so, having one band is not enough, I need more and that’s why I also do projects, like Cradle or Filth or others, which gave me a lot of new input.

-Two years ago, you were evicted from Theater of tragedy by the other members of the band, without explanation, like what happened to Tarja from Nightwish, which is a strange parallel : have you discovered something about it since then ?

-Liv : I saw them once only after they kicked me out, I asked them and they just answered that Theater of Tragedy had a crisis, they needed to change in a new evolutionary way, so they had to kick out the singer, of course. I went to the USA with Leave’s Eyes and, when we came back, and the phone was exploding, all the press saying that I was the new singer of Nightwish, what nobody told me, it was a rumour and I didn't know what was going on because I was in America. Now I know what happened! Now, tarja is ok and Nightwish will be ok, I’m sure. What happens with Theater of Tragedy, it’s their own problem now !

-Will we see solo concerts for this album ?

-Liv : Yes, and I should be there in April or May…

-Is it easy to manage a career when you’re a mother ?

-Liv : I’m touring in periods, like maybe one week of touring and one week just being a mother, and if the combination of the two works, of having a family, being a mother and being a singer. I can combine those two things very good, very well, but it’s all connected to planning, my husband, and I have great parents-in-law too, Leon’s grand parents. I must say that I’ve never been as happy as I am now, that’s very satisfactory for me to have both things because it gives me a lot of balance and inspiration : I must be one of the luckiest persons in the world ! And I’m not afraid to say so : sometimes the attitude in our world is that nobody says when he’s happy, everybody has to have problems or be depressed, but I don’t !

-You lives in Germany now : Do you regret Norway sometimes, for all kind of reasons ?

-Liv : No, not for work anyway. Germany is better for that, you have bigger labels there. But I’ll take my husband to Norway sometimes !

-You participate to many things, apart from Leave’s Eyes and Atrocity, including, for the most recent, Beto Vasquez and Mozart, from Umbra und Imago : is this intense activity a real need for you ? You like to mix the genres ?

-Liv : Yes, I absolutely need it, and also to experience new things, to collect memories for the future !

-You started you first band at the age of ten : how do you judge your evolution since ? Does it evolve as you first expected ?

-Liv : Yes, I must say I’m very satisfied. It was hard work, but also, to be bigger and higher, everybody needs that, even Madonna !

Interview made in Paris, January 16th 2OO6, by Jean-Paul Coillard

Photos by JP Coillard

Thanks to Karine and Emilie, from Roadrunner France