Tonight I went to my third classical concert in as many days. This time it was the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra playing in Keflavík, a town in the vicinity of Reykjavík. Unexpectedly I met two of the brass girls, Bergrún, who was actually participating in the performance, and Harpa. After talking to them for a few minutes I remarked: “I can see that you are just as wired as I am.”
After each leg of the tour you are in a different tempo from normal, and you don’t GET back to normal easily. It is almost like being on speed - or so I imagine. After one of our New York shows last spring we were talking about this bakstage, Björk, Anthony, Min Xiao-Fen (I think) and me. The question was: How do you ground yourself after a show?
Anthony pointed out how unnatural it is being on stage in front of thousands of people.
It turned out that some of us eat, others drink, still others do both and dance themselves silly.
But no matter how you do it, performing again and again in a relatively short space of time makes you almost permanently strange. Then no amount of eating, drinking or dancing will get you fixed.
Maybe the trick is to just stare at a wall for days.
Maybe I should do that.
Maybe… now!
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October 6th, 2007 at 3:03 am
some people watch a lot of movies to unwind. i think that would make me sick. walking unwinds me, though i’m not sure the wind in reykjavik allows one to calm down outside. is the fall as windy as the spring?
also swimming laps is relaxing. ahhh…
October 6th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
countin flowers on the wall
that dont bother me at all
- the statler brothers
October 6th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Personnaly, i drink beer after playing. Maybe this is just a typical belgian way of living it, but it works. But, of course, i don’t play in front of thousands of people (belgian theaters are not that huge!). I once played for 50.000 hysteric scouts in a stadium. I never heard such an impressive sound… I was euphoric. I had to drink champagne the whole night and dance my life out of my body to handle it. And talk, talk, talk about it for months. I just can approximately imagine what are your feelings. But it’s fucking great, isn’t it? I mean, a very few people in the world can experiment that feeling. I would not try to get that feeling off, just for enjoying it a little more…
Enjoy it, Jonas! Don’t get down! There should be no “normal” way of life…
October 6th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
You should watch the Rugby World Cup.
October 6th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
I remember Björk saying in an interview after the Vespertine tour that the Greenland girls had quite a hard time getting back into a normal tempo. I think for me devoting your energy and time to something that you’ve been planning to do weather it be as mundane as cleaning or something like meditation and exercise. I think what you said in your last blog about working on refining and experimenting with the songs on tour is a good idea.
October 6th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Jonas, step away from the wall, put you hands behind your back…..and do some Yoga! just kidding. I was actually searching online for Bikram/hotroom yoga in Iceland for you but I couldn’t find anything. I did find a really funny article about it which I will post.
October 6th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
His name is Antony, not Anthony. I mean, you wouldn’t spell Björk’s name incorrectly…
October 6th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
FRANCE WON AGAINST ALL BLACKS !!
YEAH !!
They can dance the Haka upon Earth Intruders
October 7th, 2007 at 3:19 am
My answer to unwinding will not help you at all. To unwind from the stresses in my life, I listen to Bjork’s music, but that’s what you are unwinding from. So, go take one of those mud baths I saw on the Anthony Bordaine DVD where he tastes and reviews the food of Iceland. When I need to really boost my happiness, I listen to the all-powerful SUGARCUBES!!! Listen to ‘The Bee.’
October 7th, 2007 at 7:16 am
take a walk and look at the ground as you walk and count your steps. and then take a walk and look at stuff around you and point out things you notice to yourself. go jogging for a fixed amount of time, regularly, and give yourself a cool-down time, where you’re walking it off, like the racehorses do. go swimming and count the number of breaths you take to get to the other end of the pool. practice scales, calmly, slowly, and paying attention to your technique. breathe. get a watercolor book and try to paint some still life portrait, or a scene. take up knitting. take a bath with candles. sit with a cat on your lap. write in a journal. bake something like meatloaf or cookies or bread, something that needs to be pushed and prodded and kneaded with your hands. wash the dishes by hand. do some filing or organizing. take out the trash. all these things help me shake off the nerves, and get back down to basics. but playing music should hit the right nail on the right head. …because it’s so all encompassing. dancing usually helps too. I don’t know about yoga. …at least not the bikram yoga, where it’s all steamy hot. that made me want to vomit, after I did that. they said it was because I was releasing toxins into my system, …and that I should drink lots of water afterwards. But even so, …blegh. I felt like shit afterwards. And I’m not into their religious chanting that they do along with it. yeah, I’d prefer modern dance and stretching to yoga any day. I don’t see many guys in those classes.
October 7th, 2007 at 8:35 am
maybe also read the book “silence” by John Cage.
But you should really watch Ellen Degeneres’s here and now video, it’s hilarious. And she talks about the simple pleasures we’re losing by being such a fast-paced society. It’s probably all on youtube if you can’t find it in Iceland. there’s one segment where she goes off about how wired we are, and all caffeinated, and need to do things like pay for silence (yoga).
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sfx7UUJbjvo
October 8th, 2007 at 1:56 am
I found an awesome review of MSG with outstanding pictures. They are to die for!
http://www.stereogum.com/archives/concert/bjork-madison-square-garden-nyc-92407.html
October 8th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Thanks… I already saw it.
October 8th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Watch Baraka - a world beyond words- that will take you to another place.
October 8th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
hey jonas, they told björk is coming to play in colombia in november 17th. they’re starting to sell tickets next wednesday. do you know something about that? is that confirmed? should we believe and buy?
October 8th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
jmmva: I have heard of the effect you experienced with Bikram…though I’ve never been to a certified class where there was any religious chanting, there isn’t supposed to be. Its not the toxins that made you feel sick, its just a pure physical reaction to doing something hard in an unnaturally hot temperature. My best friend said she hated me after I took her to her first session. Now she is a Bikram addict. I experienced the drug euphoria afterwards the first time because I grew up in Saudi Arabia and my body was very used exercizing in heat. I think most Bikram centers turn the heat too high anyway. Here is a funny article that pretty much sums up the immediate experience:
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/07.27.05/bikram-0530.html
October 8th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
I loved that phrase: “”Whenever I find myself sipping chai and chatting with a group of yogis, as soon as I confess my love for Bikram, the conversation pauses, as if I’ve just told a group of Christians that, funnily enough, satanism has me feeling better than I’ve felt in years.”
October 9th, 2007 at 12:37 am
This is a rather strange thing but a friend of mine who also performs a lot in front of large audiences swears that watching Leave it to Beaver episodes does the trick…..not sure if it really works but worth giving a try probably ha ha.
~Lava
October 9th, 2007 at 1:19 am
Romain, did you set up your myspace yet?
Another thing I do to unwind is drink white Russians and watch Live Zabor really loud, yet another unhelpful suggestion.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I loved that phrase: “”Whenever I find myself sipping chai and chatting with a group of yogis, as soon as I confess my love for Bikram, the conversation pauses, as if I’ve just told a group of Christians that, funnily enough, satanism has me feeling better than I’ve felt in years.”
Yes! Also:
Not that it’s all fun and games. Some of the poses feel like they were stolen straight from the pages of the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Self-Inflicted Torture.
October 15th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Funny, I just stopped in to check out if the blog had been updated, and you’re talking about Bikrams. I always sais my dream was to open a Bikram’s studio in Reykjavik, as I’m surprised no one has already!
I began doing Bikram’s yoga for two reasons; To alleviate my agression, and to condition my body. I find it so intense that I feel deflated of any hostility or depression after. You can’t do anything but hope to get through the 90 minutes.
It’s not for everyone, thats for sure but I love the challenge and the progress I notice every time I go!
Jonas, I wish I could offer helpful suggestions, but I have never been in your shoes so I can only what works for me; (other than Bikrams and Bjork Music) I think any yoga would be helpful, BTW!
I love to cook and sing at the same time, I put on my favorite music, and;
I make a whole day out of grocery shopping for high quality ingredients, then I prep for the next few days, pre cooking veg, pasta, grains, making soup, stew, baking biscuts, and belting out my favorite songs.
I find being at home in my kitchen, nuturing myself and those who I love is the best meditation I know.
I think reading blogs, cleaning, and going for long walks are also excellent outlets.
I hope you find a way to unwind and enjoy your precious few days at home!
October 16th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Iffer: You should do it! Open a Bikram studio in Iceland. I think it would be really successful and it could be heated by the geothermal stuff!
October 20th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Well, it’s been over 10 days now so I wonder what worked for him.
K