EVERY Kate Bush fan should own.
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Hi Graeme. Before talking about Under The Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush, I am interested knowing when Kate Bush came into your life. Do you recall the first time you heard her music and how it made you feel?
I don’t recall a particular lightbulb moment for me regarding Kate Bush. I certainly was aware of Wuthering Heights just being in the cultural DNA for as long as I can remember. I remember Running Up That Hill and Hounds of Love coming out as singles; I would have been 12 when they were released in 1985 and I remember seeing her on TOTP. I was a fan of those songs and, later, The Sensual World. Later still, I bought Hounds of Love on vinyl and The Sensual World and The Whole Story on CD, but otherwise didn’t investigate too deeply. I knew the singles, and odd songs engaged with me through the late '80s and into the '90s. Then, of course, she more or less vanished and I wasn’t really keeping up. My ears were elsewhere – in Athens, Georgia and San Francisco and Minneapolis. I probably laughed along with the Alan Partridge stuff.
I would say that it was Aerial that led me to really delve properly into her back catalogue and to explore the full reach of her work. I was drawn initially, I think, to the otherworldly, occult energy in her music. Now, I oscillate between the harder, more rhythmically driven tracks and the very stark piano-based material. There is a sense of tapping into ancient forces in her music which I still find very attractive. It has always been present. The title track of The Kick Inside has it, and so does Lake Tahoe.
“Ultimately, it’s testament to the fact that Kate Bush’s work is endlessly interesting. There’s so much nourishment to be had from digging into it”
I have more than one copy of the book in the form of previous issues. I am excited for this 2024 edition. Did you think, when Under The Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush initially came out, that we would still be talking about it now? How does it feel knowing it has already reached and connected with so many people?
Well, firstly, thank you! I’m obviously very happy that the book has enjoyed such a long shelf life – literally. All you want as a writer is for your books to reach people and to continue to be available to those who might want to read them. For Under The Ivy to be widely appreciated on top of that is very gratifying, but you can’t really dictate that happening: you just have to write the book you want to write and, afterwards, hope it finds its place and its readers. When I first pitched it back in 2008, I really did feel there was a need for a serious, comprehensive and analytical biography of Kate Bush. I thought that had been lacking – and I understood why it had been lacking: because it’s not an easy thing to do. So I am pleased that my hunch paid off and that the book has been generally well regarded and has proved to have staying power, for which I must thank Omnibus Press for keeping it continually in print. I’ve also been lucky.
In the handful of years after Under The Ivy was first published in 2010, Kate Bush was so incredibly productive: two albums and a live show. That helped. Thank you, Kate! There is also the fact that – and we’ve seen this very much to be the case in recent years – her work is still being discovered anew by different demographics and different audiences in different parts of the world. I think that has helped keep the book ticking over, as well. Ultimately, it’s testament to the fact that Kate Bush’s work is endlessly interesting. There’s so much nourishment to be had from digging into it.
Can you recall why you decided to write Under The Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush to start? How did you approach writing the book, and what was it like interviewing people from her world and diving deep?
When you first entertain the idea of writing a book, it’s a conflation of practical, personal and creative reasons, of timing, and luck, and so many other factors. I said in the last answer that I felt there was a gap in the market, to put it bluntly. That helped solidify the idea, in practical terms. Also, the idea of writing a Kate Bush biography was a challenge, and I like a challenge. I just thought there was so much still to say, so much that would be interesting, so much to get involved in.
My approach initially was, first and foremost, to let her know I was doing it – which I did. I sent a letter explaining what I was up to. Then it was a process of working on a wish list of people I wanted to interview, knowing that it was not always going to be possible for various reasons to speak to them all. You start to contact people and explain what you are doing. Sometimes it’s a straight no; sometimes it’s a maybe; sometimes it’s an enthusiastic yes; sometimes silence. As you might imagine, there are various complications when you’re writing about someone like Kate Bush. I was expecting that. I was expecting more complications, in many ways. I was surprised how many people did talk in the end.
“I’m just delighted that she was able to do it, and she did a great job capturing her very personal relationship with the music of Kate Bush”
At the same time, I started reading around the subject. I tend not to read everything at the start of a project. I’ll read enough to get a sense of the shape of a life and the important people in it, but you don’t want to be too fixed on your idea of who this person is before you start; you have to allow room for being surprised and for people telling you unexpected information or leading you down different and sometimes contradictory pathways. To not overreach for definitives is an important part of writing biography. In many ways, this part is the most enjoyable part of the process: the process of discovery, of seeing the life open up in front of you and learning new things as you’re listening to the music. I find the music becomes increasingly enriched as I learn more. Ultimately, that’s really what you are trying to pass on to the reader when you end up writing a book like this: you want to enrich their experience of listening to the music.
The wonderful Sinéad Gleeson provides a foreword to this new edition. How did you two meet and what was it about her writing and love of Kate Bush that meant she was the person to write that foreword?
Actually, I only met Sinéad in person very recently, right after she had written and submitted her foreword. We finally caught up briefly at her event in Edinburgh, where I live. We’ve been in contact sporadically for many years. She was a fan of the original edition of Under The Ivy. She wrote some nice things about it, and we’d been in touch about that. We’ve been in contact on social media and via email about various things since then. She lives in Dublin and we had some communication around my Philip Lynott biography, Cowboy Song. I knew she loved Kate Bush. I had read her journalism and I’d read This Woman’s Work, the collection of essays by woman writers that she edited a couple of years ago with Kim Gordon, which obviously takes its name from the Kate Bush song. I knew she had interviewed Kate Bush – lucky her! She had seen Before the Dawn. So I was aware that she really knew her stuff – over and above the fact that she is a fantastic writer who shares with Kate Bush an innate understanding of folklore, of elemental forces and the power of unseen worlds. So she was top of my list. One of the lovely things was that just after she delivered the foreword – during a very, very busy time for her – I was reading Hagstone, her beautiful new novel. That felt like a nice piece of serendipity. I’m just delighted that she was able to do it, and she did a great job capturing her very personal relationship with the music of Kate Bush.
