your Debut album, Big Science (1982)) begins with the line, “Good evening, Captain. We are about to attempt an emergency landing.”The latest album, Amelia (2024), Chronicles Amelia EarhartThe tragic final flight of . Are you attracted to the wonders of aviation and the risks that come with it? Verulamium Park Ranger
I worked not only in aviation but also in shipping. [Songs and Stories from] “Moby Dick” is about a big sunken ship. I guess I like sunken ships and mad captains. I’ve done three versions of Amelia, and they’re very distantly related. The first one was at Carnegie Hall in 2000, and it was dissonant, probably the worst orchestra I’ve ever heard! A few years later, Dennis [Russell Davies, conductor] I said, there’s a really beautiful melody in there, so I arranged it for the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and we did a European tour of it, and it sounded so beautiful, and then we recorded a new version remotely during the pandemic. [Czech orchestra] Philharmonic Brno.
I was fascinated by Amelia’s story from the beginning, but at that point I was narrowing it down to her last flight. She loved to write telegrams to her husband, who was also her publicist, telling the world where she was. She was the original blogger. She was very connected to the public, especially women. She would say, “Hey guys, you’re in the kitchen, but I’m in the cockpit at 10,000 feet.” I wanted to write about her because she said that if she survived her last flight, she wanted a workshop where the girls could do woodworking, engines, metalworking. In the 1930s, women cooked and cleaned. 87 years later, how many women are there working in fields like engineering? Not enough. I look at the pop world and think, “Why aren’t more people writing about that?”
As an experimental musician, how did you react to the commercial “success” of O Superman? The eternal skeptic
I was a snob, and probably still am. I didn’t know what the charts were. I was in the art scene, thinking that what we were doing was the most important thing ever. We were stupid. But when “O Superman” hit, I was happy that people listened. It still sounds weird to me now, but I love that about it. Recently, this song went viral on TikTok. They sent hundreds of thousands of little messages using the lyric “You may not know me, but I know you.” 12- and 13-year-old kids totally understood what this song was about. I’m so happy that this song has touched the zeitgeist again.
By creating AI chatbots Lou Reed [Anderson’s late husband]How do you think technology is impacting how we interact with those who have passed away? Is this a new dimension to the afterlife? Nenad Georgievski
No. Some of you may have black and white photos or VR images of your grandparents, but you can’t capture these people. They’re gone. I like when the Dalai Lama said, “Artificial flowers are as good as real flowers,” because they remind me of real flowers. I love hearing Lu’s voice and Lu’s writing, [AI] I’m trained in his work. It’s not Lou, but it reminds me of Lou. It’s about remembering how you feel about that person.
Have you ever wanted to do something creative with Lou? Couldn’t you never? Gonzo GCB
Oh, we were going to do a lot of different projects. Lou was always saying, “What if people don’t want to see us anymore?” He had plans to open a bar somewhere out west called L and L Art Ranch, where we could play every day and no one would kick us out! Because it’s fun to play. Growing old is an art and I learned a lot about it from my dogs, sitting on the porch watching the sun go down and feeling it. I’m good at it, but I’m also a workaholic. It gives meaning to my life with the people I love. So I can’t say I regret the things we didn’t do. I’m not a nostalgic person, but I’m Swede. We like the dark stuff. The gloomy days. The leafless trees. The grey sea. That’s what I like!
Is there anything in particular you learned from collaborating with William Burroughs? Thane View
The most important thing I learned from him was second person. I toured with him a few times, and he always [adopts austere Burroughs voice]”You guys. You’re going to think…” He wasn’t talking about “me” or an essay about yourself as a writer. He was talking about “you.” That was very challenging and interesting. He went to the club because he loved to read, and the audience became “you.” It was a brilliant device that I had never thought of, but he showed me how to do it.
Is it true that David Bowie read your mind? Axolotl
He actually called me and said, ” you “He can read people’s minds.” I said I couldn’t, so he proposed a project where we would both concentrate for a minute and draw a picture and fax it to each other at the same time. It seemed like a fun idea, but I have to say it was really creepy. What are the chances that both pictures have a house and something sticking out of a second story window and a man hanging? Zero chance. Other things include boxes, swirls, stars… I was amazed. He was a wonderful man. Very, very special. I love mysteries.
You exchanged letters with JFK when you were younger, have you written any letters recently? Ally B
I was 12 years old when I wrote a letter to Senator Jack Kennedy, who was running for President. I wrote him, “I’m running for Student Body President. Can you give me some advice?” And he wrote me a very long and detailed reply, “Anything the students want, promise them.” In other words, don’t be idealistic, find out what they want and be their representative. Two months later, I wrote him, “I won the election. I ask for your vote, too.” The next day, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a telegram arrived at my house and a white box with red roses. The front page of the Glen Ellyn News said, “Local Girl Receives Rose from Senator Kennedy,” and all the women and girls in Glen Ellyn fell in love with Jack. He was a romantic and he wrote wonderful things about the idea of American beauty. It was really moving. I must find that letter!
You were once great Andy KaufmanDid Andy have any influence on you? Wilmar
Andy was kind of the first meta-comedian I saw in the late ’70s. We went to a bar in Queens and he was sobbing while he was playing the bongos. The audience was like, “Should I clap? Should I stop?” He really loved to create awkward situations. I was like, “That’s the best I’ve ever seen,” and I became like his sidekick. We’d go to a club and he’d pretend to be drunk and say, “I hate women. I only respect women if they come and beat me.” That was my cue to wrestle him, and he did. He slammed me down! He’d also do stuff like strap him to a rollercoaster and say, “I really don’t know how safe this ride is.” Then everyone panicked and got off. He’d push the rollercoaster over and over. He was a rule breaker. The rules were damn strict, and Andy was the polar opposite, which is why I loved Andy.
After newsletter promotion
please tell me ARK: US Part 5Are you pessimistic or optimistic about America? Wizard
The show that starts in November is about the end of the world and building a 21st century ark. There are countdown clocks to zero, a tipping point where temperatures don’t go back down, and so on. It’s about unity and conflict. You can think apocalyptic about all this, but just three weeks ago, the United States was heading toward dictatorship. Then all of a sudden things have changed and there’s a different kind of energy. I’m optimistic for one reason only: we’ll live happier lives.
The shows for humans are great fun, but I was also amazed by the concept for dogs: How do you get a dog to sing along or stay quiet? Murksen
[Cellist] Yo-Yo Ma and I had the same dream of a concert for dogs, and when we were doing a festival in Sydney, we pitched it to the producers. We thought hundreds of dogs would come with their owners. In fact, thousands climbed the steps of the Sydney Opera House, and the five of us played high-frequency tunes that we thought the dogs would enjoy. The dogs were all very quiet, as they were not used to going to concerts. My favorite was the dogs drooling in the front row. Finally, I said, “Dogs, it’s time to bark.” We made some barking noises, and they all started barking like heaven. It was one of the best days of my life.
