With a big thank you to Sanja Vidackovic from the swiss Open magazine ( Open Magazine ) we are presenting you here an Interview with Heather Nova from Autumn 2007. The interview is available in the Open magazine issue from november 2007 in german and french language.

I will translate the introduction of this interview soon from the german mag and post it here.

Here is a link to the Heather Nova picture from the Open magazine, November 2007. Click on the picture to view it in a bigger size.

Here is now the original interview with Heather Nova from the Open magazine! It is not retranslated from the german issue! Thanks very much to Sanja from the Open magazine for making it possible!




What were your childhood dreams, who did you wish to become?

very early on my dream was to be a singer. i knew all the words to joni mitchell’s “blue” album, and neil young’s “harvest”. and then later i discovered kate bush and patti smith, who really blew me away. i think that, between them, they gave me the inspiration to pursue my passion for music.
How do you define yourself as an artist/singer?
i have always felt the need to connect through music. i think that i extract the emotion and the essence of a situation and put it into song. i try to capture a moment in time, whether it is sad or beautiful or out of reach – what


And as a woman?

i am very independent but also love having a family. since having my son i feel fiercly protective – like an animal. i try to find the balance between family and my music, but there is really no competition – my boy comes first every time. i love that there are instincts and primal forces that are stronger than our cultural, intellectual world; no matter how advanced we become technologically we still have the primal part within us.


Which moments do you sense as sensual?

it is always music or nature. playing music can be very sensual because you let go of the intellectual part of yourself and lose yourself in vibration, sound, feeling.
and immersing myself in nature is like this too – breathing in the smell of frangipani, feeling the soft air on my skin, swimming in the sea…..


What is a typical habit of yours your husband loves about you?

hmm, i don’t know. …. i can think of lots of my habits that probably annoy him!


How does your daily life look like?

a few years ago i knew i had enough of city life. (i lived in london for 15 years) so i moved back to my homeland – bermuda. now i wake up to the sound of the birds and go to sleep to the sound of treefrogs! as i spent the last 15 years on a tour bus, being at home is still a novelty and a luxury for me. my day revolves around my boy, as he is only 3. i spend a few hours every day song-writing or painting. when i am on tour my daily life is of course totally different as i live on a bus and play a gig every night …


Your hopes and dreams?

i have a lot of hopes for bermuda, politically and environmentally which i would like to help bring about in some small way. i want to see my son grow into a strong, happy caring person. and i’d still like to make the perfect album, or one that is perfect to me.


What are the values you would like to pass on to your son?

be kind, be grateful, listen to that inner voice, and eat your greens


What would you still like to achieve in life?

i would like to get to the point where my family is living totally “off the grid” – using only solar and wind power.
and i have always had the idea to bring music into hospitals. they are supposedly places of healing, but i don’t feel the energy of healing when i go into a hospital, in fact i feel small and fearful. healing takes place on many levels, physical yes, but also emotional and spiritual. i think music could help with the latter two. i haven’t figured out how to do this yet….


How do you perceive your needs to express your emotions?

it is something that comes. i don’t make an intellectual decision – i feel my way. some days i feel a strong urge to paint, another day i just sit and write a song.


Have you got a favorite song of yours? If so why this one in particular?

“island” because i risked so much with that song. “winterblue” because i like the way it feels to sing it – like being carried along by the sea.


What’s your favorite element and why?

water. it is powerful, seductive, ever changing.


What is it that makes you sad?

that there is so much misunderstanding in the world, not only on a personal level but on deep cultural levels, which leads to war and fighting and kids being orphaned. life is so short – it is just so sad that we can’t all get along. the movie “babel” was excellent at getting this feeling across.


What do you believe in?

i believe in the here and now. that is all we really know for sure, so make it count.
i believe in following your gut instinct,
and i believe that gratitude is the secret to happiness.


Is there anyone you admire?

single working mothers, poets on corners, those guys who go out in helicopters in storms to rescue people at sea.


Who would you like to meet and why?

peter pan; i always had a crush on him


Which experience has forced you the most to grow?

when i was 19 and 20 i was in a relationship with a man much older than me. he abused me emotionally and physically to the point where i had no self esteem and it was hard to find the strength to get out. but in the end, finding this strength was what gave me the determination to become a singer and to express real truth in my songs.


Is there a moment in your life you consider to be the most beautiful one?

there were times living on the boat as a kid, that even at a young age i realised were extraordinary and beautiful and that they wouldn\t last. i remember an anchorage on a tiny atol in the bahamas – no other boat for miles. we collected mussels and coconuts to eat for dinner and cooked them under the stars. times like that.


When do you feel special?

i feel special on stage. not ego- special, but grateful-special - because i feel the connection i am making through music, i feel the love, and it is something i need and crave and am thankful for.

i like this interview and heather being rather open. good to read a few lines of her.

Please note I have added a link to the very nice picture of Heather Nova from the Open magazin. Well here is the link as well:

Heather Nova, Open Magazine, November 2007

The introduction of the interview will be added in a few days.

Whoa! What a great picture? How old is she there? 29?

She looks beeing 29 already? It is my fault then that she looks like beeing 29 already, as I modify the pic a bit!

Good job! But no, she doesn't look like 29.

Gerd, don't forget that there is also THIS picture from 7Sky magazine! Look in your printed copy!

I prefer the photo above...

And there is a new smiley!

Oooh, I love the ! It's so fresh, so colourful, so innocent and sweet...

The interview was also a lovely read. No world-shocking details about her domestic life, but it's always nice to hear her (though a lot of questions were recycled; be original!).

cool beans! :)

An interesting interview and good picture...

Very nice interview. Thanks for posting. I liked the comment that gratitude is the key to happiness. I've been trying to keep that in mind lately.

Quote:
Some words in this sentence seem to be missing. Gerd, can you check?

Quote:
Is this mirrored to the original pic?

That's how I knew it before (original.jpg, downloaded December 11th)...

Which pic is mirrored and which not?

Attach file:

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  original.jpg (135.14 KB)

The original is mirrored. Have a look at Heather's cute nose.

The picture I posted is a photo made from the Open Magazine.

Any idea where this "original.jpg" came from? Is there a big original promo jpeg available? Would love to have it. I could mirror the picture myself if necessary.

I don't remember where I got original.jpg. Maybe from the 7Sky website.

What?

Instead of editing my post I quoted it But now it is deleted.

Do you know what words are missing in the interview? (see above)

The Interview is exactly like i posted it here. There was nothing cut out from what I got.
I think this " - what" is a common word to add the end of a sentence. Maybe our native english members can explain it better.

The German translation to

Quote:

was

Quote:

So I still think that the sentence ends instead of "what" with "whatever it may be", for example. Especially, since there is no punctuation mark after "what". A sentence cannot end without any punctuation mark. Or is it meant as a question, and only a question mark is missing after "what"?

By the way, the sentence

Quote:

didn't appear in the German translation. I found it only in the English original.

Quote:

see it more relaxed. the question mark is not at all needed as it is obvious anyway - what

Why do you think there is nothing missing?

Well, isn't it obvious that something is missing? - and not only a question mark, since that doesn't make much sense (please confirm, English speakers).
And the German translation makes it clear which words are missing, something like "what ever it might be".

It sounds pretty rude to end a sentence with "what" but without any punctuation mark to me. Not at all Heather's style...

Or did she eat chewing gum during the interview?

it is not rude at all and a pretty common way to end a sentence to me. Maybe slang?
Compare it in german with the phraze "..., oder?" Something emphasizing. To me there is not a complete sentence missing or so, maybe for germans a questionmark, but i doubt there is something punctuation in english language necessary. Well I might be wrong.
I still hope native english speakers can clearify here.

But, soory to sound so Vulcan, but pure logic implies that there is something missing, otherwise the German translator would have just made something up - and that's even more unlikely, isn't it?

I forgot there is the german translation. I looked at the magazin now and well there is nothing added as well. So i feel my little knowledge of english is right here.

@Darren, can you help us here?

Quote:
FIVE German words are added: "what" not equal "was immer es auch sein mag".

excuse me, but that is a very good tranlation as well for me of the word "what" at the end of sentence, preceded by a "-", especially in this context!

It pretty much confirmes how I understand it and do know the word to be used.

Do people on Bermuda speak more British English (due to the fact that Bermuda is a British overseas territory), or more American English (do to the fact that the US coast is much closer)?

To end a sentence with "- what?" sounds like colloquial American English to me, but not like British English used in an interview for a foreign magazine.

Well, only Sanja knows what Heather has really said.

I'm not sure if Sanja did a live interview or send questions that has been answered. I actually should ask her as this was always an open question to me. And as there exists a word-document in english, which content I posted here, it looks like this document was the official answer to the questions sent.