VIK WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
BYRNE This year I'll go on a world tour with my new album [Look into the Eyeball]. And I'm working on a little book.
VIK HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE NEW ALBUM?
BYRNE I'm trying to mix a sensitiveness... melodies that are little sad, melancholy, and romantic with others that are up-beat, in a "scientific" singing mode.
VIK DOES THE TOUR START NOW?
BYRNE Yes, next week. We'll start in Texas. About five performances to begin with. I's like to go to Brazil, but it's difficult, because I demand going on tour as a Brazilian artist might: from town to town. And it's hard because I'm not that well known. Most American musicians only want to go to Rock in Rio, make some money and come back. Then they accept playing at a stadium that might as well be in New Jersey. That holds no interest to me. Not to the public.
VIK WHAT WAS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE IN YOUR LIFE?
BYRNE This question sounds perfect for a race-car pilot.
VIK IF I ASKED A PILOT THAT, HE MIGHT SAY THAT THE QUESTION SOUNDS PERFECT FOR A MUSICIAN...
BYRNE [Laughing] It's always a challenge for me. Everything I do can fail. Even a show can turn out awful.
VIK WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
BYRNE I'd say that, for me, happiness is something that comes out of the blue. One can be poor and happy or rich and happy. Terrible things can be happening in your life and you go on being happy. There's no logic.
VIK WHAT MAKES YOU SAD?
BYRNE I was sad when I totally lost control over my life. For a moment, I thought I'd lost control. Still, I often put myself in spots where I don't quite know what I'm doing.
VIK WHEN DID YOU LOSE CONTROL?
BYRNE I remember once, about ten years ago, going to Cuba to meet some musicians. There was a moment when I asked myself why I was there. I was walking along the beach by myself and felt incredibly sad. I couldn't imagine what things would be like from then on.

VIK WHAT IS A DAY IN DAVID BYRNE'S LIFE LIKE?
BYRNE I get up and eat leftovers. That's what makes me get up: anything that I may have had the day before will taste even better in the morning [laughing]. This makes me get out of bed. Then I go to work at Luaka Bop [David Byrne's New York label]. I get in and read my e-mail. I work on the computer up until lunch-time. Then I leave for lunch or order something in. We have a small studio. I usually go there in the afternoon and write or work on something else. When I'm at the studio, I don't answer the phone. At the end of the day, I exercise a little.
VIK IS THAT THE ONLY EXERCISE YOU HAVE?
BYRNE Yes. I don't have much time. I stop working at around 8 or 9 P.M.
VIK DO YOU THINK YOU SPEND TIME ENOUGH WITH YOUR DAUGHTER?
BYRNE Not enough. But I'm always around. She knows I'm always there for her.
VIK DO YOU USUALLY GO TO BED EARLY?
BYRNE Mostly. I used to come home at 3 A.M. all the time. I don't go out as much, now.
VIK YOU MENTIONED BEING A WORKAHOLIC. WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION? DO YOU STILL GET PLEASURE FROM WHAT YOU DO?
BYRNE I think my work is pleasurable most of the time. I'm lucky to be sort of playing all the time. Whether in photography or music. The kind of thing people usually do after work or on holidays I get to do all the time.
VIK WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME A GOOD ARTIST?
BYRNE I think one must have a wish for freedom of imagination. This above all. And also a huge ego. Because you must believe that something ludicrous you want is worth doing.
VIK EVERY TIME A NEW TECHNOLOGY ARISES, LIKE THE CD, FOR EXAMPLE, A LOT OF CULTURE IS LOST. THIS SCARES ME... NOW IT IS EASIER TO RECORD, BUT EVERYTHING IS ALSO MORE EPHEMERAL. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LISTENING TO YOUR MUSIC LIVE AND ON A CD? I ALWAYS WANTED TO ASK A MUSICIAN THAT.
BYRNE I think CD's are increasingly virtual. They simulate impossible performances.
VIK TRICKS?
BYRNE Yes, tricks. Not only the way the music is assembled, but from the technical, psycho-acoustic perspectives. Certain effects can trick the ears. You think you're hearing a full spectrum of sounds, but they are not really there. They think "if we remove these imperfections, no one will notice." So they remove more and more, instead of adding. The recorded music people listen to is becoming so virtual that it is more of a description of the music. You're digitally listening to a code that tricks your mind into thinking you're listening to music.
VIK IT'S LIKE A MUSIC-LISTENING SOFTWARE [LAUGHTER].

BIGMOUTH
DAVID BYRNE'S COMMENTS ON BRAZILIAN AND WORLD CELEBRITIES

CHICO SCIENCE
"Such tragedy... yet, survival."
TOM ZÉ
"For me, Tom Zé is like a yokel, a farmer, a simple person who tried LSD and completely reorganized all he knew."
MARISA MONTE
"Though she does lots of things, she's mostly voice. The first thing I hear is her voice."
BILL CLINTON
"God! When I think of him, I think of his nose... He makes me sad."
GEORGE W. BUSH
"He reminds me of a high-school kid that never grew up."
CAETANO VELOSO
"I think Caetano maintained a very difficult balance of pop music, stardom, and experientialism. It's a difficult balance."
EMINEM
"He is a comedian."
BJÖRK
"A great artist."
LARS VON TRIER
"I love his films. Many friends hated Dancer in the Dark. I think they expected something different. I loved it."
WIM WENDERS
"I think Wim is a great photographer. His films are a collection of images and sounds. They are not stories."
PAMELA ANDERSON
"She was in the Baywatch series. But I never saw the honeymoon video, or whatever that was... She's probably quite intelligent. Probably a lot more intelligent than the image she controls."
LOU REED
"Lou Reed is now a happy person who people want to be unhappy."
DAVID BOWIE
"Someone once told me that he's the only one that, once on stage, makes you think: "now, that's a rock star! Not an ordinary person singing a song." I agreed. I love what he does, I think it's really glamorous."
MICHAEL JACKSON
"I used to love him. My favorite album was one by the Jackson Five called GIT [Get It Together]. It was never released as a CD and was a little psychedelic. He also did Off the Wall, my favorite among his works. Some of its songs had an African groove. Then he became silly."
DAVID LETTERMAN
"The word that springs to mind is "orange." I watch hi show and like it, I don't even know why I'm saying such mean things about everyone. I've been on the show a few times. But his make-up, maybe it's a trade secret, is that color."
QUENTIN TARANTINO
"What's he doing now?"
BRITNEY SPEARS
"Britney is more of a workaholic than me. She's living proof that if someone has a little talent and makes enough of an effort, they can make it."
JOÃO GILBERTO
"The image I have of him is that of a singing accountant. His personality, the way he walks, dresses, causes one not to expect all that incredible music and emotion to string forth. It's as if I went to my accountant's office and he started to sing [laughing]. He's a great artist, to begin with."