Björk on autographs and selfies: ‘In Iceland no-one is more important than the next so they’re kinda silly’

In the latest news to make me want to immediately book a flight to Reykjavík, Bjork has discussed the lack of fan selfie/autograph culture out there as Icelanders don’t really follow a hierarchical social structure or worship celebrity.

Björk is full of great facts from her native country ('In Iceland we don’t go to church, we go for a walk and sing at the top of our lungs') and dished out more, along with many other interesting thoughts, during a Reddit AMA last night.

‘Do you believe in an afterlife?’

“yes and i will cook there”

Responding to a fan who was thrilled to spot her in a Reykjavik bar but chose to leave her alone and not hound her for selfies and autographs…

“thanks for leaving me be . yes in iceland we have not much hierarchy and noone is more important than the next one therefore autographs kinda silly . here it is matter of self respect , if u want an autograph make one yourself lol .”

On where she locates inspiration…

"i think creativity always lives somewhere in everyone but its nature is quite pranksterish and slippery and everytime u grab its tail its found a nu corner to thrive in … its in sauce recipes , writing theatre plays , papermache improv w nephews , discovering nu hiking routes or simply trying to figure out a family members sense of humour .”

On her love of Death Grips and working with them…

“i basically got obsessed with guillotine , the video [below] the song everything !!!!! deathgrips did 2 remixes or remakes to be more accurate of biophilia that were my faves and we have been in touch ever since !!! i just love their punk spirit and admire the whole lack of genre they do”

On pressure to conform…

“i prob was lucky because as a teenager in reykjavik nothing was going on . so we kinda had to make it up ourselves and release it ourselves . so when i have been introduced to restricting claustrophobic routes ive kinda just ignored them . because knew they werent true . and selling 3 copies dont scare me , more important to stay true to my nature”

On RuPaul’s Drag Race and Katya’s impression of her…

“YESSSSSSSS i absolutely loved it , especially when she started humming to herself ha ha ha ha selfishly i was hoping for a more current version like a vulnicura one lol but she nailed the feminist activist tribal volta sincerest form of flattery etc”

On composing while walking among nature, how walking lends itself to 4/4 musical metre and the unusual metre of ‘Atom Dance’ and ‘Moon’…

“thank u !!! what an interesting question !! ( ha ha ha ha always say that when its beyond me and i actually dont know how to answer it ha ha ha ) but yes , 4/4 is very human bipedal and atom dance was def an attempt to tap into the atoms rotating and the celebrational element of sufi or the icelandic or northern equivalent of it : vikivaki . these are cyclical round dances and i felt the pentagonic 5/4 was very appropriate somehow ? moon was def intentionally wanting to include the eternal spacious space of space and with such odd numbers celebrate the irregularity of it and perhaps taps into the emotional meaning of the tarot card "the moon" which is kinda possessed and water like , absolutely no grid at all !! sometimes borderline hysteria but overall the liquid shape of our feelings being prime here , def ignoring all boxes and squares of the four corners of 4/4 ha ha ha ha”