Kate Bush delivered her first live performances in 35 years back in 2014 during her historic Before the Dawn concert residency. Now, she’s given her first broadcast interview in five years to discuss the upcoming live triple-album composed of recordings from those concerts, aptly entitled Before the Dawn.
Sitting down with BBC 6 Music’s Matt Everitt, Bush talked about how unsure of herself she was upon returning to the stage. Though she had faith in the team she’d brought in to work on the undertaking, it was her own ability to stay focused that had her worried.
“I was really nervous every night. The thing that I think was the most difficult thing for me was to be continually in the now. Because I naturally tend to race ahead in my mind. I’m always thinking about situations and running them through. Maybe it’s kind of that primeval thing where you’re trying to think, ‘Can I get to that tree before the tiger gets me? Will I be able to get up high enough?’ So my head is always moving ahead to try to get to the conclusion of whatever this journey is. And once we started running the show, I had to be absolutely in that moment. And I was so terrified that if my mind wandered off, that when I cam back I wouldn’t remember where I was [in the song].”
Bush went on to describe the “magical” experience of the shows, but doesn’t imagine she’ll do something similar again. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do next,” she said. “Definitely, I want to just do something new. I’ve been working with this project for a really long time now.”
That said, she also admitted she hasn’t been writing new material while working on the live album. When Everitt asked if this was a “full-stop” on her work, she replied, “No, I don’t think so, I think it’s just a rather big comma.”
The full interview will air on November 20th, five days ahead of Before the Dawn’s release through Concord/Fish People. You can listen to a six-minute preview below.
