Kate Havnevik Wants Your Help!

It's rare that you come across a singer with such an amazing voice that you wonder how you ever survived without her in your life, and trust me, when you hear Kate, you'll never go back to those half-assed singers you had in your CD player before.

With an incredible new single, Halo constantly playing on my iTunes, I caught up with the beautiful Kate Havnevik to find out about music, Beyonce and sex before ice cream!

Hello there pretty, how are things going in your lovely world?

Everything is fine, we have one-meter snow in Norway and more is coming. I am more or less finished recording the album, but spending some time mixing and fixing things.

To anyone who hasn’t heard of you yet, how would you describe your sound?

My sound is quite big and lush at times. I like big strings and beats, but also piano and guitar. The most important thing, though, is always the voice and the song itself.

Tell us a bit about the inspiration behind your foxy new single…

The song started being written around the first line: who do you love?, then it developed more into the sentiment of loneliness and the hope of finding someone to be with: “You’re not alone in being alone. Six billion people, one of them’s right for you.” Halo is a song very close to my heart, its full of curiosity and seeking something, losing and leaving something at the same time. There is a lot of hope in the song.

If you were going to give us just one song of yours to listen to so that you would become our new favourite singer, what would it be?

Halo, just because I think it has a great range for my voice and I get to sing high low, loud and soft. I think the lyrics are quite universal so people can identify with them too.

If you could cover another musician’s song, what would it be?

I was actually thinking of covering Beyonce’s song Halo, It’s so typical that someone has the same title to a song out at the same time. Apart from that I would love to cover a big pop song and make it completely different, but I haven’t found the one yet! Any suggestions?

And can you sum up your good self in just five words?

Smiley, melodic, strong, travelled & clumsy …..

What makes you stand out from the crowd?

Depends on the crowd…… it could be my accent, my melodies, and my voice.

You know we’re having a bit of an economic crisis here at the moment, if people wanted to spend their last £10 on a cd this weekend, why should they buy yours?

Because it grows on you ……people say they discover new things every time they listen.

What three bands would you have to headline your dream festival?

I think of festivals are all about being outside and having some fun so I would like some lively acts to play….. Radiohead amazing band and powerful music, CSS fantastic entertainment and fun, M.I.A very cool lady with very cool fun music you can dance to.

What has been your favourite musical memory to date?

It was amazing to work with the Bratislava orchestra. To hand them the string scores and hear them play what I had written. I had never worked with string players before and it was an amazing feeling!!!

Fantastic gigs I have been to include :

KD Lang with the London symphony orchestra, she sang songs by Canadian songwriters, amazing songs and voice…

Rufus Wainwright, the Want One tour at Shepherds Bush, London, I have seen him play many times, and this night was magic…

The Bulgarian Women’s Choir, this is an amazing choir with a unique sound, even Kate Bush used some of these singers on her song Rocket’s Tail. I saw them sing in a big cathedral in Liverpool. They were all dressed in national costumes and were so cute and magical.

Who do you think is the greatest artist around at the moment?

I am actually not sure, there is so much around. I do think people who are in charge of their career and music and with something to say are important. To mention a few:

Antony and the Johnsons, Antony is so different and expresses so much vulnerability and strangeness, his music is from the heart.

Kanye West has brought back the lyrical credibility in rap and hip hop, M.I.A & Santogold, strong women with good lyrics and a definite and brave sound, Ingrid Michaelson, a lady who is completely indie and does things her own way, her music is heart warming and brings a simple positive message people embrace. Anyone who is not a puppet of the industry is important!

If you could only listen to one CD for the rest of your life, what would it be?

It would be Eric Satie “Gymnopedies and other piano pieces”, I know them so well and just never tire of them. Another CD I never tire of is Joni Mitchell’s “Blue”.

Okay, now we want to ask you some random questions; What was the last book you read?

Kafka on the beach by Haruki Murakami, fantastic imaginative book. I love everything he writes. Strongly recommended.

If you had only 9 minutes to live, what would you do in those 9 minutes?

I would have sex and then eat ice cream and chocolate.

If you could take over a foreign country tomorrow, which would you take over and what would be your first law?

I think I would take over Italy, I love the weather the ocean, the food and presence of pleasure.

My first law would be to ….hmmm….. this is hard, I think I would rather have to remove some laws actually……. I am going on Wikipedia right now to read all about Italian laws to figure out what law I would remove…….

Haha, let me know when you figure it out! Good luck with everything & thanks for making my day slightly more entertaining!

No problem, thanks for having me!

Read our review of the single Halo here

FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison