Atlantica - 01.11.2001, Qupperneq 56

54 A T L A N T I C A
i-site SVALA ❍
that is so far away in my mind right now. I just take one day at a
time and I don’t really think about stuff like that. Right now, I’m
on tour with Seventeen magazine and the only thing I’m worried
about now is not to fall flat on my face while I’m onstage! That
would be so embarrassing.
ATLANTICA: How do you find the hype that accompanies what
you do?
SVALA: The hype makes it more exciting and more grand. I’m in
the entertainment business so it’s fair to say that everything has
to be a little theatrical and dramatic. If you have a sense of
humour about yourself, then it’s something that only makes it
more fun. I don’t take myself too seriously. I try to take life easy
and laugh at myself ‘cause sometimes I can be really silly.
ATLANTICA: You recently did a scantily-clad photo shoot for an
Icelandic magazine. To what extent is it important to be admired
for your looks?
SVALA: I always say if you got it show it...But do it in a classy
way. I love to see pretty women or cute guys in magazines like
FHM and Maxim and I don’t see anything wrong with that. I can
tell you this – that it’s important to have your own look going on
when you are in the music business. There is so much competi-
tion out there, and if you wanna make your mark, you might as
well be noticed for both your talent and how you look. This is
just the way it is. But of course it’s much more important to me
to be recognised for my talent. Because being a recording artist
goes hand in hand with modelling, ‘cause we have to do photo
shoots and videos and stuff like that, I just try to do my best to
emulate that. I love that aspect of my job. I get to dress up and
pretend to be a model and do photo shoots...I love it.
ATLANTICA: Besides the obvious influence of your father
(Svala’s father is a well-known singer in her homeland), who
have been your most important musical influences?
SVALA: I would have to say The Carpenters, Barry White, Barbara
Streisand, Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald, Fleetwood Mac, Michael
Jackson, Madonna and Whitney Houston. All these amazing peo-
ple influenced me in a way I can’t describe. Let’s just put it this way,
when I bought Michael Jackson’s Thriller video on Beta when I was
nine years old, I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,
and that is to entertain, sing and write music.
On this album, I just wanted to bring different elements together
and make it very international. The sound I was going for was
“soulful pop”, that’s what I call my music. It’s pop music but it’s got
a lot of soul.
ATLANTICA: Most R&B lyrics centre around love affairs. To what
extent is your music based on this theme? Do you think R&B could
become a medium for political or social comment, or would that
deface its identity?
SVALA: My music isn’t categorised under R&B. It’s pop music with
R&B influences. I sing about things that I have experienced as a 24-
year-old woman – some of it is personal and some of it is some-
thing my friends have gone through. So, of course, I sing about
love, relationships, sex, heartbreak, feelings and what women go
through in daily life. I can’t sing about being poor in the ghetto and
trying to get by with selling drugs on the streets ‘cause I’ve never
been through that. R&B music has always had a little political mes-
sage, for instance Salt-N-Pepa’s ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’, which was
about safe sex when HIV was very high on the list of topics of con-
versation all around the world. There is also another new band
called City High who just released the song, ‘What Would You Do’,
and it’s about a girl who has to sell her body in order to feed her
newborn baby because she’s so poor. The lyrics talk about what’s
right and what’s wrong if you’re in a situation like that...What
would you do? If that’s not a political and social message then my
name is Slim Shady...
ATLANTICA: Where will you be based when things take off?
SVALA: I live in LA and will be living there for some time.
ATLANTICA: Do you find that your old school friends behave any
differently towards you now that your path has been mapped out
in a very different way?
SVALA: No not at all. I’ve always been in the music business in
Iceland because of my father, who is one of the most successful
singers and producers in Iceland. I’ve been singing on records
since I was seven years old so my friends are very used to me
being in music. I surround myself with people that love me and
support me so that helps me a lot on my path.
ATLANTICA: Have you felt pressured to live a stereotypically rock
‘n’ roll lifestyle?
SVALA: No, not at all. I live my life just the way I like to...the
healthy way!
ATLANTICA: What do you miss about Iceland when you are in the
States?
SVALA: The long summer nights in Reykjavík. And the CANDY.
Nowhere in the world have I found candy as good as in Iceland. Of
course, I miss my family and friends a lot and my three
cats...Meow.
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