Ex-LEAVES' EYES Singer LIV KRISTINE: How I Ended Up Working With Children With Special Needs

In a new interview with Mark Sugiyama of Eclectic Arts Media, former THEATRE OF TRAGEDY and LEAVES' EYES frontwoman Liv Kristine was asked how she ended up working with special needs children near her current home in Switzerland, where she lives with her husband of nearly four years, Michael Hansen. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think I stumbled into it, but it's always been there because I grew up with children with special needs. My mother had some kind of a daycare place where children with special needs who couldn't, for some reason, enter a normal kindergarten. So I grew up with very special, beautiful children, even at my same age. And we were this gang, spending time together in nature 'cause I grew up on the countryside of Norway. So there was space enough to be free. These kids were like my brothers and sisters. And I do have one sister — she's seven years younger than me — and my mother didn't do the daycare thing then, but when I was very little, that was my daily life. And I didn't go to a kindergarten; I didn't enter a kindergarten myself because I chose — and I'm glad I was being asked back then — I chose to stay home, because I just had this beautiful childhood with freedom and seasons and other children to play with, really special young human beings. And so it's always been there. And then in 2016, when I was forced to leave LEAVES' EYES and there was this big bang, this big crash and breakdown, personal breakdown in my life, I had to start thinking about, how do I take care of my family financially? I needed to find a place to live. And a couple of years later, there was this period of COVID. I'm very lucky to have found my job within this area before COVID. So, I was safe then."

Circling back to how she landed her current gig working with children with special needs, Liv said: "I basically picked up the phone and called somebody 'cause I saw an advertisement, 'We need somebody to take care of one special boy in the autistic spectrum.' And that was just like that calling for me to, 'Okay, just give them a call and tell them who you are.' And I never studied within this field. I wish I could have done that, but I've been busy since then with special schools and special teachings. So it has become a part of me; life unfolded that way. And I just love it, just as music. I never studied music, and this work working with children and being a musician, that's what I did not study, but it happened to me. So, yeah, it gives me a feeling, it gives me the feeling that it's good the way life has unfolded because it has shown me the areas with which I truly resonate. I can be really authentic, and it's a great privilege, but you have to have courage to do this because I could be in another field, a field where you can earn a lot of money and you could be a rock star. But no, I chose something different, which is me. And I studied linguistics, so it has to do with what I'm doing today, both writing lyrics and working with children. So, it's beautiful the way things happened after the big crash. [Laughs]"

During the same chat, Kristine also talked about another big change in her life which is coming up later this year.  "It was just a half a year ago when we decided to move back to Norway 'cause currently we're living in Switzerland," she said. "And I used to live in Germany, for a period of 20 years, and my son was born in Germany, so it was, like, okay, moving to Switzerland, ooh, that was a big step. The bird had flown and mom was flying too. And now we're moving to Norway. And that was something I didn't really see. I was gonna spend a couple of more years with my family here in Switzerland. [I thought] it's not going to happen too soon, or that soon. And then all of a sudden, it was clear that things are falling together, the bits and pieces are making up that puzzle now. And the message is we're moving to Norway in July. So, yes, okay. But I tried to kind of push it away, like, 'No, it's not gonna happen now.' But it's happening. And it was great that I opened up my eyes because there are huge opportunities waiting out there. And we're even buying my dad's house at the fjord. My grandma, she's over the moon. She's turning 90 now, and she's over the moon, and she promised me to live for another 10 years. She wants to pass the 100 [mark]. So, lots of beautiful things happening. So I'm glad I opened up my eyes. [Laughs] We're moving to Norway."

Liv originally started teaching when her son Leon, who is 20 years old, entered primary school at age six. She and her ex-husband Alexander Krull (ATROCITY, LEAVES' EYES) chose a private school in Germany because they were often taking Leon on tour.

After her unceremonious departure from her former band LEAVES' EYES in 2016, and her divorce, Liv's life went into a tailspin and she lost her main income source.

Liv will release her seventh solo album, "Amor Vincit Omnia", on April 25 via Metalville.

The music on "Amor Vincit Omnia" was composed by the sought-after session and live musician Sascha Dannenberger, who was also responsible for the production in his SaDinTheBox Studio and the Twilight Sound Studio in Karlsruhe. The 11 tracks were mastered by Andy Classen at his Stage One Studio.