Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.03.2014, Blaðsíða 18

18
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 1 — 2011 MusicIssue 2 — 2014
Her self-produced songs—such
catchy ditties as “Vegetarian! No
Cholesterol Ho,” “Radio Rapist,”
“No Threesome Here” and “Teenage
Boy in Town”—have made her some-
thing of a cult phenomenon. She re-
leased her first album ‘My Icelandic
Husband’ in 1985 and in the years
since her discography has included
‘Invisible Girl’ (2005), ‘Pukki Bolly-
wood Baby’ (2008) and ‘Gay World’
(2012), although the majority of her
fans likely know her best through
her online music videos featuring
all manner of exotic pleather and
be-spangled costumes.
While she enjoys a strong fan
base here, Leoncie has sometimes
been at odds with the Icelandic
press, Grapevine included. “Jour-
nalists often make things up and
print rubbish,” she stated when I
called her to request an interview.
“I don’t know why they try and spice
things up when I’m spicy enough
already.” Still, she agreed to Q&A
with us before her return to Ice-
land in early February to perform
at Gamli Gaukurinn. It bears men-
tioning that after this interview, I
arrived to her concert to find that
I was not on the guest list as ex-
pected. I was later told that Leoncie
personally removed all members of
the press from the list, although the
lady herself brushed this aside: “I
may be a very genius temperamen-
tal artist composer, but I can handle
anything thrown my way.”
As is probably evident, no one
speaks for Leoncie better than her-
self, so we’re printing her complete,
unedited responses below.
Your husband Viktor features in
many of your songs and videos.
When and how did you meet?
How has your relationship
provided inspiration for your
music? How closely do you both
collaborate on your musical
projects?
Correction. My husband does not
act in my videos. God knows why
some people have been spreading
this rumour. I have good husband
whom all my family love. We've
been married a long time and we
travel a lot together. We also work
very well together, since we speak
several languages too and we have
lots of fun.
Many of your songs—such as
“Killer in the Park” and “New
Wrestler”—tell stories. And
many of them, such as “Love
in a Pub” and “C’mon, Viktor,”
seem very personal. What do
you think makes for a good
song subject? Is there anything
that you won’t write about?
I compose songs and lyrics in many
languages, I write songs on differ-
ent subjects, and yes, I also write
from my own experiences. God is
good to me and my Inspiration to
compose and write so many won-
derful lyrics, and such terrific mu-
sic, is because of that faith in GOD.
Last week I had a stunning experi-
ence, in Iceland, and now I will be
composing a song on that subject,
and recording it in USA.
Performance and videos seem
to be a big part of your mu-
sic. Do you ever record a song
without also making a video for
it? Do you ever develop your
video concepts before you write
a song based, for instance, on a
particularly good costume?
Making Music Videos is such fun
for me all the time. I meet so many
kinds of people in so many coun-
tries, and everything that I do IN-
DEPENDANTLY at my own cost. I
am very proud of myself, and so is
my family and many of my fans. I in-
spire people everywhere in the fact
that "GENIUS THRIVES ON REJEC-
TION.” I also make my own clothes
that set me apart from the others.
Many people come to your mu-
sic through your YouTube page
and videos—how might your live
shows surprise someone who
has only watched you perform
via the internet?
My Live music shows are always
housefull and fantastic. I am the
Unpredictable Icy Spicy Leoncie.
On your Facebook page, you’ve
said that your song “Gay
World,” is an “homage to all
my gay fans.” Do you consider
yourself a gay ally or activist for
gay rights?
GAY WORLD is a Leoncie Brain-
storm! Nobody can ever write a
song like that. There are many
copycats who want to be Leoncie,
but my Mother and father only cre-
ated one Leoncie. Even my sisters
are Nothing like me, but I love them,
and they too are Professionals at
Law and Media. I am not an activist
of gays. No way!
What music or musicians do you
enjoy listening to yourself?
I like Tina Turner, Janet Jackson,
Barry White, Earth Wind and Fire. I
like good music.
I believe that your father taught
you to play piano when you
were very young, and that you
also studied music at Trin-
ity College. Can you talk a
little about your musical back-
ground?
I am a classical musician. I studied
Classical music. Then I studied Jazz,
I like Jazz a lot. My father and my
brother are also JAZZ MUSICIANS,
I started music playing the organ in
the Catholic Church in India.
From interviews I’ve read, you
were born in India and have
lived in both England and Ice-
land. Has living in these differ-
ent places provided any context
for your music?
I love travelling and I have learnt
a lot from my travel about people
and their kind heartedness and also
their complexes and their selfish-
ness. I must say the good drowns
the evil. Thank God for that.
What projects do you have com-
ing up?
I am very busy with my next album
which is to be recorded in the USA
and I am also doing a very secret
music deal. With Icy Spicy Leoncie
One never knows what to expect.
Former long-time resident of Kópavogur, singer-songwriter Leoncie—often self-styled as
“Icy, Spicy Leoncie” or “The Indian Princess” (she was born and raised in Goa, India)—is,
by her own estimation, a “200% Awesome” “musical wizard” and it’s hard to put a much
finer point on it than that.
Interviewed by
Larissa Kyzer
“Genius Thrives On Rejection”
An interview with the one, the only: Leoncie
Still from Leoncies video for New Wrestler
The Reykjavík Grapevine
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Issue 3 — 2014 18
"I may be a very genius
temperamental art-
ist composer, but I can
handle anything thrown
my way."