Leona Naess

[svelte]

Biography from VH1.com

She's the daughter of Arne Naess, former husband of Supreme Diana Ross. Born and raised in England but presently based in New York, Leona Naess is an introspective singer/songwriter whose alternative pop-rock draws on influences ranging from Edie Brickell, Tori Amos and Joni Mitchell to the Cure, David Bowie and Joy Division. It's impossible to miss the similarity between Naess' voice and Brickell's; nonetheless, Brickell is only one of the many artists who has influenced Naess' work. Naess was in her teens when she started singing and writing songs, and she was 18 when she moved to New York to study music and anthropology at New York University. After doing her share of gigs at such Lower Manhattan clubs as CBGB and the Bitter End, a 23-year-old Naess signed with Outpost/MCA in 1998 and started recording her debut album, Comatised....[more]

Discography

Comatised [cover photo]

Release date: 03.14.00

Label: MCA Records

01. Lazy Days

02. Charm Attack

03. Chase

04. Lonely Boy

05. Anything

06. Chosen Family

07. Comatised

08. All I Want

09. Northern Star

10. Earthquake

11. New York Baby

12. Paper Thin

I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll [cover photo]

Release date: 10.09.01

Label: MCA Records

01. Mexico

02. Mayor of Your Town

03. All the Stars

04. I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll

05. Sunny Sunday

06. Weak Strong Heart

07. Blue Eyed Baby

08. Boys Like You

09. Hurricane

10. Panic Stricken

11. Serenade

12. Promise to Try

Leona Naess [cover photo]

Release date: 09.16.03

Label: Geffen Records

01. Calling

02. Don't Use My Broken Heart

03. He's Gone

04. Star Signs

05. Ballerina

06. Dues to Pay

07. Yes, It's Called Desire

08. How Sweet

09. Home

10. Christmas

11. One Kind of Love

[svelte]

Interview

Leona Naess: Alone Again Naturally

The fetching New Yorker ditches the synths and computers, exits a relationship with Ryan Adams, and makes her best album so far.

On “Star Signs,” a fragile song from Leona Naess’ self-titled third album, the singer reads an absent lover’s horoscope to soothe her loneliness. So it seems right to see what’s in the stars for this Norwegian-born Leo. The New York Post’s astrologer notes that the lion is “a ‘fixed’ sign, meaning that your opinions and beliefs change slowly if at all.”

“I read that exact horoscope!” laughs Naess. “I guess I am pretty stubborn, but isn’t everyone? Don’t most people take a while to change their beliefs? I like the horoscopes in the Village Voice ‘cause they are really ambiguous and you kind of have to solve the mystery.”

The Post prediction goes on to warn about being “flexible, if you want to understand what is going on in the world.” Naess has nothing to worry about. She’s been limbering up for the last year or so. 2001’s I Tried to Rock You, But You Only Roll was about synths and angst; for Leona Naess she’s ditched the drum machines and grabbed the guitar. It’s a hushed and delightful acoustic disc dedicated to praising love.

“Calling” sets the tone; Naess makes you swoon by cooing the line “treat me like it’s your first valentine.” With pianos and a string ensemble complementing her delicate vocals, she cozies up to her muse on “Dues to Pay,” picks up the pieces on the somber “How Sweet,” and playfully warns an errant beau, “don’t use my broken heart to pick up other girls.” The subject may be older than time, but it suits her winsome approach.

Naess’ glee is odd considering her split with alt-rock icon Ryan Adams, but that evidently doesn’t trouble her either. While peers like Jewel go pop, this vegetarian is sticking with strumming and singing about the war (and peace) between the sexes. VH1 talked to her about her fear of Bob Dylan, hanging with John Mayer, and different kinds of love.

VH1: Your last album was very heavy on the synths. Musically, Leona Naess is quiet, almost naked.

LN: I grew up in the 80s, so I had these two sides to me. I love Bob Dylan and Carole King, but I also grew up with The Cure, New Order and Joy Division - Cyndi Lauper and Madonna, too. I made my first record [2000’s Comatised] and then I met this producer who made these ‘80s-sounding albums. I kind of gave him the songs [on I Tried to Rock You] - it doesn’t really sound like me at all.

VH1: Why did you change it up for this record?

LN: Touring the last record was a nightmare. It was all DATs and beats. After that, I went to London for the summer to live with my Mom. I can’t handle New York in the summer; I don’t do the heat well ‘cause I am Scandinavian. I went there with my acoustic guitar and wrote songs. Then I went to these little pubs, and did these shows with just the guitar. I never had a better time or a better reaction from the people. There was no pretense, nothing hiding the songs. It was so much more fun, I found the right producer for the music, and did it. [Watch Clip]

VH1: The last album found you releasing a lot of anger. Here it’s all about love. What’s been happening?

LN: I was a lot happier when I made this album. I was wiser, I was older. I was content. The overall feeling is being positive about love. That’s why “Calling” and “One Kind of Love” open and close the record. It’s about my relationship with music as well. Like “Dues to Pay” isn’t about a person - it’s my relationship with music. You put your heart into something and it doesn’t work, and that can be heartbreaking. I let go of a lot of things after the second record. I let go of caring about what my label thought. As I got older I realized I had to care about what I thought, ‘cause I have to sleep at night.

VH1: What is harder to write, a sad song or a happy song?

LN: It’s easier to write a sad song, but if you’re happy, then it’s kind of hard. “How Sweet,” is kind of sad, but is supposed to have a happy little twist to it. I don’t know if it worked. For me that’s the ideal - to have both, bittersweet.

VH1: What’s a perfect love song?

LN: [sings:] “Every time you say goodbye, I cry a little …” by Ray Charles and Betty Carter. That’s a perfect love song. It makes you feel all tingly in side. There’s the love song that’s hopeful, and then there is the one that is kind of slit-your-wrists, “oh I am never going to meet anyone.” I don’t like those ones.

VH1: Is “Don’t Use My Broken Heart” about Ryan Adams?

LN: I wrote that song when everything was fine and dandy so it has nothing to do with him whatsoever. It’s about when a man and a woman get married in their early twenties, and the woman helps the man become this success. Then it’s over and he meets someone and he starts again. It’s about the woman that was there before he had all the money. It’s funny, ‘cause when I sing it I’m sure that everyone thinks it’s about [Adams], but it’s not.

VH1: He’s famous for turning his relationships into song.

LN: I’m so much more guarded than that. First of all, you don’t know anyone I’ve dated ‘cause I don’t really date anyone that fabulous - although I guess he was fabulous. It wouldn’t be that exciting to ask me who the songs are about, ‘cause you wouldn’t know who they are. It would be like “Frank in England.”

VH1: Is dating a rock star a good idea?

LN: It depends. If you want to get free tickets for shows then it’s great!

VH1: You’re playing the Faces’ “Ooh La La” in your sets. How did you choose that song?

LN: I realized it’s the same chords as “Don’t Use My Broken Heart.” I’ve always loved that song, even before it was in that film Rushmore. At first I was skeptical about playing it, because it’s kind of a boys’ song about women. But then I thought that was kind of funny, and who cares? We sing it in kind of a romantic way.

VH1: You’ve said that Bob Dylan’s songs are untouchable …

LN: You’ve been reading my diary!

VH1: Hey, you’re the one who puts it up on your Web site.

LN: No, that’s good, because I wrote it last night. I used to cover “You’re a Big Girl Now,” but then my friend told me I should do “I Believe in You.” Every time I’m about to do it, I get cold feet. I love him so much that I really … I don’t know. I want to make sure it’s perfect before I ever play it.

VH1: Why do they scare you so much?

LN: Because there are a lot of words firstly. I have the memory of a sieve. I’m dyslexic and I have ADD. If you put all of those together, you have a bit of a mess. I want to be fluid at it. It’s probably laziness more then anything. I need to sit down with it for like a day and work through it.

VH1: What food could you not live without?

LN: I’m a vegetarian, which makes it very difficult to survive in Middle America. They think you’re a kind of alien. Like, “What? No chicken?” I couldn’t live without chocolate. I love it. I love really fattening foods, like pizza and spaghetti. I love tofu, because I need to feel like I’m eating something hearty, and they can sometimes make it taste like meat. I miss the taste of meat! [Laughs.]

VH1: You have been touring with John Mayer. Is he a sweetie?

LN: Yes! He’s like a big kid. What is he? 25? I feel like Grandma Leona. He’s goofy. He’s running around playing tricks on people. At least that’s the impression I got. I got the impression that he was like a college kid. He’s gonna kill me if he ever hears me saying that, but he has kind of got that… thing.

VH1: Jewel has moved onto dance, Liz Phair has turned to teen pop. Is it tough to be a woman singer/songwriter these days?

LN: I don’t really care. I just know that if I don’t make records I’m proud of, then I won’t be proud of myself. Maybe in five years time when I have got kids, and I need to make a lot of money, I might need to “pop” it up a bit more. At this point there’s no option. I can only try to make the best music I can make.

[svelte]

Photographs

[Ksenia]

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