Jackie Leven

Conversation before the 2001 Norway tour (last updated online in 2010). Leven says his youth was marked by trouble in a rough environment, which is why he left Scotland; Bergen was the first city outside Britain in which he lived, and a photo from his young Bergen days hangs at his mother's. “Rainy Day Bergen Women” came about after a night of heavy drinking, on the morning walk to the fish market. On his whisky “Leven's Lament” he says that after a serious whisky illness in Paris he no longer drinks it – a dangerous drink.

Andreassen describes the music as “white Scottish soul”; The Mystery of Love brought him Norwegian fans and tours as far as Australia. Leven would like to record Tim Hardin songs but shies away from the time it would take from his own pieces. He talks about working with David Thomas (Pere Ubu) on the new album and the duo Ubudoll, who last played in Oslo; he considers another Ubudoll album unlikely. He is now becoming a little well known even in Scotland.