When I grow up, I will be a journo.

Out of the blue, HX asked me if I wanted to conduct a Q&A with Karin from The Knife. I, fanboy forever, said yes, yes, yes.



Maybe the name won’t ring a bell. The face, forget it, you’ve never seen her. But as soon as you hear her voice you know you know her. Karin Dreijer Andersson is one of the most distinctive and interesting performers of the decade, and she is (with her brother Olof) one half of the electronic duo The Knife.
Their sound begged to be called “underground” until the album Silent Shout exploded as a massive phenomenon that swept both thousands of goth teenagers’ bedrooms and dance floors alike. It ended on countless best-album-of-the-year lists and then went on to win all the six major Grammis it was nominated for in Sweden.
When brother Olof decided to go on a three-year hiatus, Karin got restless, had another child, collaborated (again) with Röyksopp, and recorded her own solo project under the moniker Fever Ray, releasing a self-titled album that sounds like a companion piece to Silent Shout, though moodier and darker.
Ah, she also took the time to answer my questions.



Lapo: Most side projects take artists in a very different direction than their main act. I find the sound of Fever Ray to be more nuanced than The Knife, but somehow closely related. So why isn't this material for The Knife? Sounds like a tough choice to make.

Karin: The Knife's music is a collaboration between me and Olof. Fever Ray is me working alone. There is a huge difference in the process. Musically, I just continued where I was when I ended with The Knife. Olof and I had been working for seven years, and both of us felt we needed time to work on our own.


L: You collaborated for the second time with Röyksopp (Karin sings on two tracks of their new album, Junior). Do you enjoy lending your voice to other artists' music? Who would you like to work with?

K: I like to work with them cause they let me do whatever I want. I even record myself. That's great, and they build fantastic landscapes for me to just walk into. I feel very welcome. I am about to work with Planningtorock, which I very much look forward to.


L: Your lack of vanity is unusual. While you're obviously interested and involved in the visual aspect of your work and you perform the occasional cameo, you don't put your face out there—at least not in a conventional “diva” way. Is it harder for a woman to pull a disappearing act, rather than sell her image?

K: I guess it's a matter of what or who you want to attract and how you want to be seen, what you think is important for people to see. I definitely care a lot about Fever Ray's physical appearance and have spent hours and hours with (video director) Andreas Nilsson to discuss how to perform Fever Ray.


L: Something is obviously going on in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. What's your take on this booming creative scene?

K: I don't think much about which geographical regions music come from, and I don't believe in scenes and genres.


L: Er... OK. Let's see... let's talk about something you believe in. Tell me about your influences past and present: Who are the peers who inspire you?

K: Laurie Anderson, Siouxsie Sioux, Kim Deal, Kim Gordon, Klaus Nomi, to name a few.


L: Talk about genre-defying divas! And finally, indulge me in a gay press cliché. You know how gay magazines love to ask what a drag queen version of yourself would be like, and you kinda already answered in the video for The Knife "Pass This On." How did that video come about?

K: I saw Richard Englund on a cover of a magazine when working on the track, and I thought it would be so beautiful with him performing it. I also love Pedro Almodovar's movies and the film High Heels has this drag artist Letal, who is really good, and I thought it would be interesting to see if something like that could be done. I talked to Johan Renck about it, and he made this fantastic video. I still think it is very beautiful.