OCTOBER 13 2018 LISTENER 47
Books & Culture
D
avid Byrne returns to New
Zealand next month to
perform American Utopia, a
show that has won acclaim
for its theatricality and how
it marries the past music of
the one-time Talking Heads
frontman to his adventurous solo career.
Opening his three concerts will be Kimbra,
who performed with Byrne in a 2016 live
tribute to David Bowie at the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
When the Listener was told Byrne, who is
66, wasn’t doing interviews, we asked the
28-year-old Kiwi Grammy winner if she
could persuade him to talk to her about
his life, music, books and memories of
past visits here. She did ...Kimbra: We performed together in a David
Bowie tribute. What did Bowie mean to
you? Obviously, there was a connection,
with both of you working with Brian Eno,
but is there a period of Bowie’s work that
you particularly hold dear? On a side note,
I think the craziest part of that night for
me was after the show, when we were
driving to get dinner and you said the last
time you had been at a Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame induction ceremony was when
you were inducting David Bowie alongside
Madonna. I had to pinch myself a little at
that moment ...DB: The other DB was a huge inspiration
well before the Eno connection. I remem-
ber hanging around art school in the early
70s dressing as best I could on a limited
budget as a glam-rock star. I made my own
leather trousers as new ones were way
too expensive – I knew how to sew! – but
didn’t factor in that leather stretches to fit
the, um, body. So there were what we’d
call knee pooches and such. It was pretty
sad.
I realised early on I’d never make a
convincing glam-rock star, and I wasn’t
even sure I’d have a musical career, butDB certainly liberated our thinking back
in the day. I was musically inspired by DB
but knew better than to emulate anyone
directly ... though we did ask Eno, “How
did you get that drum sound on Low?’”K: I found your work with St Vincent
hugely inspiring. Who are some other art-
ists you’re inspired by who are perhaps up
and coming or just making their mark?DB: I’ve been on tour since March, so I
haven’t had time to be as current as I like... but here goes. The new Dirty Projectors,
one of my favourite artists, is very good;
Christine and the Queens ... it’s obvious I
like a bit of movement on stage, and she
does it wonderfully
The support acts that have joined me
on this tour (that means you, too!) have
been great to hear live and meet – Per-
fume Genius, Tune-Yards, Ibeyi, Benjamin
Clementine, Topaz Jones, Maria Rodés,
Karina Zeviani, Mexican Institute of
Sound and Lisandro Aristimuño.K: What did you think of Angélique Kid-
jo’s new album covering Talking Heads’
Remain in Light? Is there an album by an
artist you’d ever consider covering? We’ve
talked before about our shared interest in
the spiritual jazz era and Sufi music and I
know you have a deep interest in music
from different parts of the world.DB: I saw Angélique perform the Remain in
Light show here in New York – it was won-
derful ... she made the songs her own,
and added bridges and transitional music
between the songs, mostly in Yoruba. I
haven’t heard the record yet.
I’m covering a Janelle Monáe song now
on tour – it’s not one that’s on any of her
albums. Hell You Talmbout is the name of
the song. It’s one of the most powerful
and moving protest songs I’ve ever heard.K: You’ve been to New Zealand a few times
over the decades – Talking Heads toured
here in 1979 and was a headliner at Sweet-
waters in 1984, so at quite different timesTalking head to head
In his only New Zealand interview, David Byrne talks to KIMBRA about
his life as a musical polymath, his forays into theatre and literature and
the time he did the Tongariro Crossing. Illustration by WEEF
“I was musically inspired
by [David Bowie] but
knew better than to
emulate anyone directly
... though we did ask Eno,
‘How did you get that
drum sound on Low?’”
Bandmates: in 2016, David Byrne and Kimbra
sang David Bowie’s Fame together.