EM: In terms of feminism and global peace, that has not only been a consistent hallmark of Yoko's work and her personal philosophy, but it has only intensified over the years. As far as the things that interest her, it would be easier to compose a list of things that do not interest her. She is just a multi-dimensional, multi-faceted woman who seems to have a grasp and knowledge of any subject I've ever seen presented to her. She's an avid reader; she's seen an awful lot of life, done an awful lot of traveling, a lot of listening and learning and she's experienced things that perhaps very few beings on the face of the planet have ever experienced. So her expanse of personal knowledge and experience really knows no intellectual or philosophical boundaries.
JB:What is Studio One like? Is where she lives and where she works the same, or is it basically divided off into a wing of her apartment?
EM:Through the Dakota complex, she owns a number of apartments, and one set of apartments in the Dakota is used for various operations that would not take place in the residence. That's where certain business is transacted, that's where she would most likely have a meeting with a lawyer or an accountant or someone who comes to interview her, so she can keep the other part of her life with Sean more private and more insulated than the business world. She thinks it's healthy to maintain two separate locations for those things.
JB: What would you say the atmosphere of the Dakota is like for the employees? Is she kind of like a tough boss, or is she loosely structured?
EM: Umm, she certainly knows what she wants. I wouldn't describe her as a tough boss or a demanding woman. She is a person of impeccable taste and great clarity when she is giving someone a direction or instruction. And she likes to see it carried through as she has instructed somebody to do it, and she insists that it be handled in a certain manner. The overall working environment for the people around her, I think, is pretty extraordinary because really, can you just imagine what life would be like working for a person like Yoko? It's a lot different than working the day shift at Bank of America.
JB: What is Yoko like when she's lounging or when she's at a party?
EM: Frankly, in our history of time together, we probably only attended two or three parties in the 12 years that we all spent. She rarely had parties when John was alive; there have been only two or three, Sean's birthday parties. And since John's passing, there've been one or two get-togethers at the Dakota. She's not a party-oriented person. I don't think she feels comfortable with 30 or 40 people in a room. She doesn't drink. She'd never just stand there with a cocktail in her hand and converse with people. That doesn't interest her. But when she's with three or four people in the kitchen or living room and just talking informally, it would be like any other environment, any other person except the thoughts expressed by her continue to be...she doesn't engage in small talk or chitchat or conversation about weather.
Upon meeting somebody for the first time, after the few moments for people to be relaxed, she would be sharing her thoughts and illiciting the thoughts of the other person about every significant subject in the world. Mainly, it's very intense and dramatic. The world around Yoko, when you come into her life,you do realize that there is something special and different going on.
JB: One of the things that I did read with some dismay, John and Yoko were not going to send Sean to school. I was wondering how he was going to learn the three r's and mathematics and computers and things like that?
EM: Well, in fact, as the way things turned out, he does go to school and computer programming is one of his interests. He has a computer at home and he works with it constantly. I think in the beginning, John and Yoko didn't want Sean to have a lot of garbage put into his head at an early age and they felt the best way to do that was to keep him out of school and educate him at home. But as things transpired, they found a wonderful school; it's a special school and the kinds of things that he learns encompass the three r's and basic skills, of course, but in addition, they take a few steps beyond that.
JB: I would hope that, going to a special school and having an existence like Sean would have with somebody like Yoko, who's a national celebrity, that he would not misunderstand the ways of the world.
EM: Of course that's something that has always been a concern since the day he was born. For Sean Ono Lennon, the kind of world he grew up in inside the Dakota stops at the front door. He interacts with children of all backgrounds, all economic and social levels. He knows that the whole world does not walk on white carpeting and that there are rich people and poor people, famous people and anonymous people. Most of the people he is exposed to have nothing to do with music, nothing to do with rock and roll, nothing to do with mega-stars, so his head is very firmly planted on his shoulders. He's not a spoiled child, in the sense that he is not a pompous little snotty bratty kid. In fact, he is at his best and happiest when he has nothing to do with that kind of aloof, special world.
JB: But Sean is the product of two famed artists. Have you known of him or heard of him showing any artistic inclinations?
EM: Yes. He started doing little sketches and drawings since he knew what to do with a pen and pencil. Drawing is a thing that John pursued probably before he began to pursue music. Sean also plays the piano and he's got his own jukebox.
JB: Yoko seems to want to bend over backwards to make more accessible music. why?
EM: Yoko is interested in more than just selling phonograph records. She is obviously at a point in her life where she doesn't need the attention, she doesn't need the publicity and she doesn't need the money. So if you eliminate those three motives for recording, you come up with the reality that Yoko wants to reach and touch as many people as she can with her thoughts and her feelings and her artistry about the world around her. For her to continue to record music that would only be, quote, acceptable, to a very limited number of fans would defeat that purpose.
JB: I'm going to hit you with a kind of comment from my aspect. With the new wave movement today, many of the artists, like the B-52s have been influenced by Yoko. Has anyone suggested to her that she record some experimental stuff now in 1983 because there may be an audience for it now that wasn't there in 1971?
EM: That has been suggested and of course a lot of people who loved the material she was doing 10 years ago are always writing to her and asking her to do more like that. Yoko is incredibly unpredictable and I'm sure that all that kind of music she was doing in the past will resurface.