Ane Brun

Fresh from an extensive tour with legendary musician Peter Gabriel, Norwegian singer/songwriter Ane Brun is set to release her fourth studio album, It All Starts With One. Catching up with Music News on the London leg of her UK tour, Ane tells us why performing to 20,000 people doesn’t faze her, and why she’s ready for a revolution.


Music News: Your new album is an engaging mix of intensity and liveliness, what’s changed?

Ane Brun: Actually, the recording process for It All Starts With One was the most fun I’ve ever had recording an album. It was one big flow of energy, and the whole thing went exactly the way we thought it would; it was a fantastic experience.


MN: What did you have in mind?

AB: My vision was to do something a bit different and change the sound of the album, from what I had done with previous albums, well, letting the producer change my sound a bit. I got my friend to produce for me, and we envisaged the album together.

One of the things we wanted to do was have more rhythm and percussion on the album, because that isn’t something that appears often on my albums. So we brought some drummers into the studio, and the whole album was recorded with just the two drummers, a keyboardist; and me; of course I play guitar on a few songs as well, but that’s it. We made ourselves a bit handicapped, musically, but that’s good, having obstacles helps you to be more creative.


MN: So apart from the percussion, what else is different about the album?

AB: This album is different because I’ve written the songs differently, the processes I’ve gone through is different. The vocals are the main character and the main focus, which is a change for me. When I started making the songs, I let the melody and the lyrics be the most important factor, and let the arrangements be something to do later on down the line.

Usually, I always make a particular arrangement for the guitar or piano, whichever I wanted to bring into the studio, but this time I wanted to have that option open so I could just go in and do anything; this would make the vocals and lyrics the foundations of the songs. That, for me, makes it a much different album to any that I’ve done before. The sound is more open, and we’re not dependent on a main instrument to lead to vocals somewhere else.


MN: Your songs are very emotional; do you tend to write from personal experiences?

AB: Most of the time I do find inspiration for my songs from personal experiences, but sometimes you find that what starts off as a very personal thing, grows into something more poetic and general. Quite often it’s a small moment of something, a feeling, or a moment where you’re puzzled and you’re just trying to figure something out by writing imagery around the idea.

People often wonder if I feel like I’m letting too much of myself out, or saying too much, but my albums aren’t a diary, you can’t say what’s happened to me, or what a song is about personally, it’s a more universal feeling, and that’s why people can relate to it, and why people say they use my music as something therapeutic.


MN: Which of the songs on this album is the most therapeutic for you? Which do you enjoy the most?

AB: I really like the song Words; it’s one of my favourites on the album, mostly because I like the lyrics. I wrote it as a comfort song to myself, a mix of the amazement of how reading and writing can be such a comfort for someone, and help him or her.
The idea actually came to me when I was watching a Patti Smith documentary; the idea for the song just popped into my head; like a little line of words. I though about that, and about everything that words do to me in my life. I like singing that song a lot, and I like playing it live; recording it was also a very magical process.


MN: You’ve done a lot of duets over the years, which collaboration was your favourite?

AB: The most amazing collaboration I’ve done is of course with Peter Gabriel. Singing with him was the most amazing thing, and also quite unbelievable. The whole experience was an adventure in every way, and as a musician it was a highlight. Getting to do all the shows, - which, since April last year, have amounted to about 40 or 50 altogether - and perform with huge orchestras on big stages; in America, Britain and Europe? It was so great.

Me supporting him on these big stage, and playing along with my guitar in front of 20,000 people was quite fun. He has such beautiful songs, and so singing them with him every night was about me trying something different, because I’ve been doing my own thing for many years now. Being put in that setting where I’m pushed to do something different is great, and of course Peter has such beautiful music.


MN: It must have been terrifying performing to 20,000 people surely?

AB: It’s weird and funny, but when the crowds are that big it’s less scary, you don’t think about it as much, because it’s just a crowd of people, but when you’re playing for about 20 people it’s far more unnerving, you can see all of their faces and feel their energy, so it’s affects you more.


MN: So, your sound has changed, but what about your listening habits?

AB: I generally have quite broad taste, so as long as it’s good I’ll listen to it. For the last few weeks I’ve been listening to Feist’s new album. Then there are some Swedish colleagues of mine that I enjoy listening to, and of course my lovely support act, Linnea Olsson; I’ve been listening to her album too. I really like Bon Iver so I listen to that kind of thing; I’m into the alternative pop thing I guess, but at the same time I listen to Classical and World music, and I’ve listened to Jazz since I was a little girl.


MN: Lastly, you’re a bit of an activists we hear, what do you think about the Occupy protesting?

AB: I think it’s important that people stand up and say what they think. I think, as a society, we’re all a bit paralysed by all the information we get, and because there’s always so much going on all the time. In Scandinavia for instance, people just accept things as they are and they don’t say what they think and stand up for themselves, but they should. Of course I don’t believe in violence, but I do believe in speaking up. So I think if Occupy is giving people a voice, it’s great. It’s time to have a revolution. Money talks, but maybe it talks too much.


It All Starts With One is out now!