December 2005: 
Exclusive online interview with Neneh

Sure, some may find it unusual for an internationally recognized artist to have released only three studio albums during the course of a career that spans over 25 years. When said-artist is Neneh Cherry, even die-hard Neneh purists have become accustomed to pacifying themselves with various collaborations, and the occasional soundtrack single, whilst adopting the mantra, "All good things comes to those who wait." Now, more than ten years' worth of waiting and unfulfilled promises might finally pay off.

For those discovering Ms. Cherry for the first time, a bit of a history lesson (or HER-story) while you are retrieving your late pass. Born Neneh Marianne Karlsson on March 10, 1964, in Stockholm, Sweden, the  daughter of West African percussionist Amadu Jah, and Swedish artist Moki Cherry, Neneh grew up in a converted school house 3 hours from the nearest city. She began traveling with her mother and her stepfather, jazz trailblazer Don Cherry, when she was two years old on his tours of Europe, America, and the Middle East. She recalls meeting Miles Davis when she was four and going to live in Istanbul at around the same time while Don was working on the music for a James Baldwin play. As a kid Neneh would make mud pies with Metallica's Lars Ulrich while staying in Copenhagen, as a teen she prepared dinner with her mom when Youssou N'Dour came over to play at a Swedish barn happening. So what ever she did, music was a constant in Neneh's life.

Between travels, Neneh flirted briefly with the "pseudo-ska-punk" outfit The Nails, playing bass and singing backup on songs that included a cover of "These Boots Were Made For Walking", before making contact with Bristol iconoclasts, The Pop Group, and their fellow conspirators, The Slits. One of the most significant riot grrrl bands of the late seventies, The Slits had toured with Don Cherry back in 1978. Neneh and The Slits volatile lead singer, Ari Up, became best friends and "went on a mad adventure" that began in South London and ended in New York.

In 1981, ex-Pop Group members, Bruce Smith and Gareth Sager, formed the experimental funk outfit Rip Rig + Panic. Neneh suddenly found herself taking center stage for the first time in her young career, her baptism of fire as a lead vocalist ultimately becoming a liberating experience. "Being in Rip Rig + Panic taught me that music had to do with renewal and  reinvention, that it was about drawing your inspiration from wherever you wanted and doing whatever you wanted." In 1984, after three albums Rip Rig + Panic splintered into the short-lived Float Up CP. Neneh led the new line-up that included Gareth Sager and the late Sean Oliver through one album, 1986's "Kill Me In the Morning".

When Float Up CP split up, Neneh began working on her first solo demos, initially as a diversion. After attracting some attention singing backup on The The's "Slow Train to Dawn" single, she hooked up with composer and musician Cameron "Booga Bear" McVey, a professional and romantic partnership that continues to this day. Among their early collaborations was a song called "Buffalo Stance", Neneh’s subsequent first single from her Circa Records' solo debut album, Raw Like Sushi. The rest, as they say, became history. Blending together elements of funky hip-hop energy and danceable pop smarts into a seamless whole, "Buffalo Stance" caught the mood of the times, shepherding the album to multi-platinum success. More hits, including "Manchild" and "Kisses on the Wind" would ensure the album's growing success, but Lyme disease threatened to sideline the sassy diva. Fortunately, Neneh fully recovered and soon after recorded the uber-funky Cole Porter re-interpretation of "I've Got You Under My Skin" for the Red Hot + Blue benefit album.

In 1991, Neneh and Cameron returned home to Sweden to spend a lengthy layoff raising their children and recording the follow-up to Raw Like Sushi. Preferring to work by a lifeline than a deadline, the duo crafted a more developed and mature album than its predecessor in the old school house where Neneh grew up, incorporating collaborations with the diverse talents of Gangstarr, Michael Stipe, and Geoff Barrow of Portishead. Originally entitled Feminist Slag & Chique like Sashimi, Homebrew, a clear precursor to the  current alternative soul movement, was hailed a masterpiece by music critics. Unfortunately, the album, light years ahead of its time, and its fist-pumping first single, "Money Love", failed to achieve the commercial expectations of its predecessor.

In 1994, Neneh had begun preliminary work on her third album with trip-hopster Tricky Kid when "Seven Seconds", the duet she recorded with African superstar, Youssou N'Dour, became a global hit selling an extraordinary 3 million copies, and holding the #1 position in France for 17 weeks. Two years later, Neneh released what to date has become her last proper studio album. Bolstered by the single "Woman", a wry take on James Brown’s "It's a Man's World", the atmospheric Man, a passion play of desire and loss, was her most intimate and fully realized album. From the stark beauty of the old American Gypsy rock song "Golden Ring", the reflective longings of "Carry Me", the alt-rock tinged, burning passion of "Hornbeam", to the unbridled sensuality of "Kootchi", Man runs the emotional gamut with brutal and simple honesty. To date, the album has never received a proper U.S. release.

Since her departure from the spotlight, Neneh has parted ways with her record label, cooked plenty of meals for her family, lent her sultry vocals to a diverse array of talent, including Christian Falk, Groove Armada, 1 Giant Leap, Gorillaz, and Killa Kela, reinvented herself as a deejay, become a grandmother, all while carefully orchestrating her return to music's corporate-driven public stage at a pace all her own. Neneh Cherry is not IN ANY WAY bound by the normal confines of time, she does EVERYTHING by instinct and her instinct told her it was time to go to work again about a year ago. Having been away from the whole process of recording and promotion for so long, Neneh chose to begin work again as part of a 'musical family', as a member of an outfit called "cirKus", and, then dip in and out of this "family" into the less protected waters of solo music life as and whenever the fancy takes her or the situation demands. At present Neneh is busily tying together a lot of her old solo work, her recent stint at deejaying, her work within the cirKus group and current solo recordings into a very exciting and revolutionary live package which she will be unveiling next year. And she is now signed as a recording artist with the new Label Tent Music who are very keen to complete and release Neneh's fourth solo album as soon as possible. 

Neneh, your earlier efforts, The Nails and The Slits, were byproducts of the punk movement of the time, just as Poly Styrene's vocals on X Ray Spek's punk classic "Germ Free Adolescence" would inspire your vocal confidence. Would you have called yourself punk at the time? If so, what do you cherish the most about the punk movement and what do you miss?
NC: I guess I was a punk yes and what I miss most about those days is the spontaneity.

Did you really play bass for The Nails? Coming from a musical clan, were you taught to play musical instruments while growing up? 
NC: I sang backing vocals for the Nails & played bass badly on other punk shit from NYC. I was never 'taught' but there were always hundreds of musical instruments around while I was growing up. I'm playing bass and keyboards in the cirKus shows.

If Aamer Haleem from VH1’s Bands Reunited approached you with the offer to reunite with either Rip Rig + Panic or Float Up CP for a one night gig, would you consent? Are you someone who prefers to move forward than look back? 
NC: We could NEVER reunite with either of those bands as Sean Oliver died and he was SO much a part of the whole madness that none of us would feel comfortable playing without him.

Many artists when moving on with their career and with their life prefer to concentrate on new material and would rather forget about certain songs from their back catalogue. Madonna has said on several occasions that she would never perform Like A Virgin again. How do you feel about your previous work. Is there any song that you wouldn't record again from today's point of view? Any song that you’d feel uncomfortable performing again if you were asked to? 
NC: Not really, it was all pretty good fun but obviously some songs stand the test of time
better than others.

Does failure motivate you or handicap you? 
NC: I don't think about it much, failure to communicate with people I love is far more frightening than failure in professional success terms.

The undeniable success of Raw Like Sushi must have been a blessing for you and your family after years of "paying your dues". Watching The Rise of Neneh Cherry video offered viewers insight into the madness that comes with promoting an album, especially while pregnant with Tyson – I'm referring to the endless stream of press tours. You seemed very uninhibited on stage during the early club tours. What do you remember most about touring as a solo artist for the first time? Was stardom sudden and surprising for you or did it seem a natural and gradual development of your career? How did you cope with it? 
NC: I went through it with such a wonderful and crazy team of freaks that it was pretty much all a huge laugh… we all worked so hard to get our stuff right that when it took off we were like pigs in SH*T! and Massive Attack were always around as Booga (Cameron) was recording "Blue Lines" at the time and they had a certain 'way' about them that kept it interesting!

There must have been an endless stream of offers following Raw Like Sushi's success. What made you gravitate to the Red Hot + Blue project? Whose brilliant idea was it to bring Baby Afrika Bambaataa into the mix? Do you still feel strongly that there is a lack of AIDS awareness in the urban/hip hop community? 
NC: Red Hot & Blue was run by an old family friend (Leigh Blake) and as Ray Petri (original founder of our creative mafia Buffalo) died from Aids related symptoms it was a no brainer, I couldn't think of much else I wanted to do at the time to help take away the pain of Ray's death, as for the current urban/hip-hop community… I don't know really… the videos and imagery used to get the stuff on MTV is all pretty non specific with regard to protected sex! The HIV statistics are pretty frightening still though.

When asked about the completion of the follow-up to her successful solo debut, Jill Scott commented, "I am not a microwave. I am a wooden stove." Was that your attitude when recording your second and third albums? Do you have to get the previous albums totally out of your system and live some new life experiences before recording the follow-up? 
NC: Exactly, live life a wee bit, then write about it & I celebrate life a lot…

With each release, you've done more than talk the talk, like most artists do, and actually managed to take it to the proverbial "next level". Your fans love the way each album has evolved and established its own identity. Since each album is an extension of you, do you feel each release as a natural, logical progression? 
NC: Cameron (Booga Bear) and I don't like to think too much... more DO, then see what we've done. Other people have to judge what we’ve done… we are only conduits through which ideas pass… our job as artists is to make that passage as unhindered as possible… LET THE IDEAS FLOW THROUGH FREELY.

The songwriting on Man was much richer, and many of the songs were re-recorded with a live band, giving the songs a more organic texture, making them easier to translate to the stage. What inspired the songwriting process on this particular album? 
NC: My marriage to Booga, our family, the world in general as we saw it on our extensive travels and a definite increase in my personal politicization.

Your husband Cameron McVey has been involved in your records from the very beginning. The chicken or the egg question: Did you discover Cameron or did Cameron discover you? How did this partnership evolve? 
NC: Wow! I asked HIM to marry me… you work it out!!! Neither of us are easy, both of us are passionate and we do try to live what we preach… But, having said that, we have an easy creative understanding, we really respect each other.

When talking about the making of the record you were very unpretentiously making clear that your music was team-work and Cameron McVey and Johnny Dollar essential members of that team. How important is it for you to be part of and to work in a creative team? 
NC: This is why I joined a band again… I NEED that team spirit.

Just recently we’ve heard that you are supporting the Point Blank Music College on a music production scholarship programme. So those of us who are also involved in music but cannot attend are very interested in finding out more about the way you write your songs. What is your approach to a new project? Is it possible to define the role of each team member in the creative process? 
NC: Hard to explain. It's like every song we do is the first one we've ever written… no person has a set role.

Because you march to the beat of your own drum, refusing to compromise your artistic vision (and why should you?), did you feel vindicated by the sudden success of "Seven Seconds"? 
NC: It wasn't 'sudden' at all it went up and down the charts for ages before it really took off. I s'pose I was more gratified than shocked.

During 1997 you took your album Man on the road and played on various open air events and festivals, many of which were very rock. I recall that at Eurockéennes at Belfort you were the only headlining woman and the only performer to take rap onto the stage. Does this scare you or do you see it as a challenge to get 20.000 Metallica or Ozzy Osbourne fans head banging to a heavy metal version of Inna City Mamma or joining into the Bristolian Crack Baby? How do you feel about performing in a more intimate ambience with just a couple of hundred fans?
NC: Every gig is it's own experience, with cirKus we will probably do two concerts in each town, one intimate affair for the hardcore 'Laylow' fans and then a much larger 'party' at which we DJ and play a few old Neneh hits probably in a more dance tent or club like scenario or maybe even in the same extended show or two in certain towns. I tend not to think much about shows just enjoy each one for whatever it gives me and the audience. John Tonks (the MD and drummer in cirKus) was with me on my last two solo tours, he's played with everyone (from Tricky to Fish and Paul Oakenfold to Bonny Tyler!) and he brings a platform from which we can all dangle freely with pretty much no fear of disaster (famous last words!) which means that rehearsal is kept to a minimum and the flexibility and spontaneity to the max…

To what extent do you plan your sets and rehearse them before taking to stage? When you burst into Sheryl's All I wanna do at the end of Woman at Loreley/Germany with Sheryl Crow peeking behind the backstage curtain (which I suppose led to your collaboration) or do unedited raps on Crack Baby or insert a verse of Buffalo Stance in the middle of 7 Seconds, do you plan on that beforehand or is it spontaneous? 
NC: It just happens!

What is your reaction to the current stable of cookie-cutter divas dominating the airwaves? Does it motivate you to return to the recording studio so you can shut them down?
NC: Live and let live.

You recently began recording all-new solo material again. Do you feel you have something to prove? Does the industry’s commercialization of music affect how you approach each song?
NC: No and NO!

Listening to each of your solo albums, one can easily assume you are a perfectionist. Would you consider yourself difficult to work with?
NC: Ask Booga!

What do you hope to achieve musically next time around?
NC: Enough money to record a follow up.

Lastly, do you still consider yourself a feminist slag? 
NC: More a greatful granny these days… Cameron calls me 'the tart' - words, tags 'n labels, does anyone REALLY give a sh*t? I'm NENEH.

Introduction by Benjamin L. Hinnant aka Mr. Seldom Seen
Q & A by Benjamin L. Hinnant & Buddy X
December 2005

Many big thank you's to Neneh and Cameron!