Björk: 'Everything that a guy says once, you have to say five times'

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/22/bjork-gender-feminism-vulnicura-pitchfork-interview

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For those keeping a tally of female musicians’ statements on feminism, there’s another set of quotes to add. Musician and producer Björk has spoken candidly about gender and authorship in music, claiming that she initially struggled to get credit for her musical ideas.

“After being the only girl in bands for 10 years, I learned – the hard way – that if I was going to get my ideas through, I was going to have to pretend that they – men – had the ideas,” she said, in an interview due to be published in the Pitchfork Review at the end of next month.

Related: Björk – Vulnicura first-listen review: the inky, jet-black flipside to Vespertine

Björk covered topics ranging from the breakdown of her relationship with artist Matthew Barney – a major inspiration behind new album Vulnicura – to the process of co-producing the album with Venezuelan beatmaker Arca (born Alejandro Ghersi). Over the duration of the emotionally charged interview, Björk cried more than once, and offered up her views on being taken seriously as a female solo artist.

“I want to support young girls who are in their 20s now and tell them: You’re not just imagining things,” she said. “It’s tough. Everything that a guy says once, you have to say five times.”

Björk fronted the Sugarcubes in the 1980s and 1990s, and cited her time in the band as a first look at how often a female musician would struggle to be given credit for her creative work.

She rush-released Vulnicura on Tuesday 20 January, after the album leaked online last week. She is due to perform a series of gigs at Carnegie Hall in March and April, before playing Governer’s Ball festival in New York in June.