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| 02 August 2003 |
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| Interview at TV2 |
| Source : TV2.no |
Reporter: How is it to read today's newspapers, Lene Marlin?
Lene Marlin (LM): Gosh; well, no...it's kind of strange in a way. It's kind of, you never know, it's exciting; I can feel the butterflies in my stomach, and I've had that now constantly for several days.
Reporter: Is it somewhat relieving to read about yourself in printed media again?
LM: It's always interesting to watch; what is it that people grab on to; like, what is the story, in a way. You get a little...(sighs)...I haven't done this in a while. It's kind of unaccustomed.
Reporter: Are you surprised about what the press grab on to?
LM: I'm not surprised about any of the questions I've got. Many of them are natural questions to ask, so it's kind of okay.
Reporter: Well, then I guess I have to ask you, like for the 78th time: How could one month become three years?
LM: Yes, one wonders...no, it's something that just had to be done. It was a time period that I needed on several levels. I was tired, I was sick of it, and empty in a way. So, I'd spent the time...; there were moments where I thought about if I'd ever was going to release another album. And when I had figured out that yes, I have to do this, I have spent a great deal of time recording the album as well.
Reporter: In that time, did you spend some of the time thinking about how the press had been behaving, and how you'd been handling it?
LM: I've been thinking about...;it all became so great, nothing was like what I had expected at all. It was about getting an overview over what had happened, and think back and reflect a bit over things.
Reporter: In an open-hearted interview in today's VG, they use the term "lost track". Was that what you did?
LM: (Laughs) Yes, I guess he did, he asked "where did I lose track". No, I believe...suddenly things just stopped. It became necessary to get away. It wasn't like...;I should have gone on further, I would have liked to be in England when the album was released over there, but it just didn't work out. It wasn't possible.
Reporter: Were you surprised that you all of a sudden felt this exhausted?
LM: It was a couple of months before the Spellemann-awards that I started feeling that things didn't go all that well anymore. It got tiresome, and I couldn't...;I missed being home, and being able to plan forward for a week, and not being able to know where I was. It was absurd, I mean, I had just made that one record, and I had no possibility whatsoever to foresee what was about to happen. It was totally insane, and it's overwhelming to think about; when I think about all the people actually buying the album, it's totally insane in a way. I still just can't comprehend it!
Reporter: Did you have a guilty conscience about the fans, or...?
LM: Yes! It was a guilty conscience all the time, and...yes, it was a lot of guilty conscience! You'd really want to make everybody happy, but it just doesn't work out.
Reporter: You're not good at saying "no", you comment in Nordlys today?
LM: Yes, you just...you know, people are saying "please, please", and then just..."yeah, okay", it was...it came from all directions, in a way.
Reporter: How is it talking about it now?
LM: It's kind of strange, because now things are very good, I'm much happy about...it's excitement and joy, and some worries too I can feel, but it's a nice time period, in a way. I feel it was special to do the first day of interviews and experience it, somehow. There's been a few days now that's been...(nods her head)...hmm...thinking 'wow'!
Reporter: A bit strange being out among the wolves again?
LM: (Laughs) I can feel the butterflies in my stomach, a bit nervousness...(nods).
Reporter: You said you've gone to conversation therapy...
LM: I didn't say I'd gone to conversation therapy, I've said that I've gone to a psychologist, and in regards to that part...I can just as well say that it doesn't help wandering about on your own, and you'd want to seek out help. I thought it was totally...I had to do it. I felt that...it doesn't serve any purpose making this a big deal. It's just something you do. I feel that's a good valve to have, and I want to continue doing it, because it has helped me a lot.
Reporter: Are there a lot of prejudice surrounding these things in Norway, you think, going to a psychologist?
LM: (Laughs) I'm not sure what is the big deal. You go to the dentist when your tooth hurts, and you're not limping about on a broken foot, you know, you'd want to seek somebody who can help you so that you can get a little better. For me, it's just a part of it, in a way.
Reporter: It has always surprised me, the relationship between Norwegians and the psychologists...
LM: (Laughs) My way of seeing it is; of course did I seek help, it would have been totally insane to walk around dealing with it on my own.
Reporter: How do you feel about the network around you; do you feel that the record company have been supportive?
LM: The record company have been...it has never been a pressure on me that "now you just have to release an album". They have realized all the time that...and they've also known that I'd written new songs and kept going all the time, in a way. It's all been incredibly supportive, but I got there when I was just seventeen, so they've followed me, they know me, and we've all been surprised how it all went...that things really became as they were.
Reporter: How do you experience the expectations now in relation to the new album?
LM: I'm just so happy with it, I feel it's the best I could do at this time, and I'm incredibly excited and I do hope, of course, that people will like it; not everyone will like it, but; I just have this urge getting to play it for people. I feel I just have to get it out. I'm looking forward to getting all the pieces in place, and that September arrives, in a way.
(Here the reporter gets a warning that time is about to run out. She's desperately turning the pages in her notebook, trying to locate the most important questions for Lene).
Reporter: I have to select the correct ones then. Yes, are you surprised over all the attention and the inquisitiveness, and that everyone seemingly craving to know what you've been doing?
LM: Yes, I am. I tried to just disappear, and that wasn't always a success, so of course I'm surprised. It's kind of special...I got a bit shocked when I came to do the first interviews, and then there were this crowd of people standing outside. You get to be a little surprised. You're thinking...wow, yes, it's a bit overwhelming, I'd say. People were saying "you can't even think of, in this business, to wait this long to release another album, because you'd be forgotten", and everything, but that wasn't something that was on my mind. That was not important. It was important to get things into place, and make an album that I'm proud of.
Reporter: Now you're out again deep into the record launching stage, and you've already done a whole lot of interviews. How do you feel about the next 200, or maybe 2000, I don't know, in connection with the new album?
LM: I notice that, I get messages like "now they're playing you on the radio there, and on MTV, and..."; you get very delighted, because..."yes, how great! Thanks!", kind of. It's really great, and I know that in the time to come, I'm going to just have some fun and of course do the job, be playing, have concerts, and do some various stuff!
Reporter: If you're going to summarize for yourself, what is the best part about success, and what is the worst part?
LM: Every experience, usually something negative always follows the positive, and you're of course very privileged being allowed to do what you really have a desire for, and really wants to do. That's a privilege I've been thinking about a lot. Being able to do it, and the joy in being able to make music and the desire of letting people hear it suddenly weighted a lot more than the other side of things. That was then, and now I'm trying to not talk about it too much, and that's something you learn from, and there are experiences and things that remains...
Reporter: Like what, what do you mean?
LM: No, different experiences, certainly, if I had known...been better prepared, trying to not having a guilty conscience for everything, saying "no, that I don't want to do, now I'm going to go home, now I'm going out, do some whole other thing".
Reporter: Set some limits?
LM: Set some limits (nods).
Reporter: That's your strategy ahead?
LM: (Laughs) The strategy, I'm just so happy with the whole recording process, it was a lot of fun, and inspiring, and I had a lot of fun when I made the record, so I'm just excited.
Reporter: Are you dreading the critics?
LM: Dreading...well, yes, I've been following things just before I was going to make the interviews, and everyone has an opinion about everything, about the video, the song, the hair, the clothes, the style, and you just can't...; everybody has different opinions. And that's how it always is, some like it and some don't.
Reporter: Most of all you're looking forward to meet the fans, all the motivation and the interviews and all that are just...
LM: I get so...it's so incredible, they're so patient, one gets a bit...I hope I'm not disappointing too many of them. Of course, it's been long since the previous album was released, and things are different now.
Reporter: Is there a special country you're looking forward returning to?
LM: It's always special going to Italy. Italy is...every time I've been there, there's been some special experiences, things that have been special, almost unreal in a way. I have only had positive experiences down there. Actually.
Reporter: That's one of the countries you've sold most albums in, isn't it?
LM: Yes, we didn't understand any of it, it's very special, coming down there and you see that people knows your song; it doesn't really matter where it is, as long as it's a place where people are interested.
Reporter: You're looking forward to playing live again?
LM: Yes, that's a thing...I can feel I really want to do that. Get some time to do that. Getting to sit on a small stage here and there.
Reporter: You had a secret concert two days ago, how was that?
LM: (Laughs) It wasn't a concert; I was just totally spontanous. I was out and I wanted to play a single track. I wasn't even going to mention it to anybody, but all of a sudden it was all over the newspapers, that was kind of surprising, but it was incredible fun, but it was just something I got an urge to do.
Transcription and translation by Tef Johs
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