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On Wednesday night, September 29, 1999. Tori chatted for about 35 minutes on AOL prior to her concert in Dallas, TX. The chat started at 7:30PM ET. I must say that while it was short, it was a really good chat. Someone jokingly asked me to use as the headline, "An AOL Chat That Did NOT Suck." Tori was in a really chatty mood and some of her answers to the questions were quite long and fascinating. The 11 questions in general were pretty good too. Here is a transcript:
Question: DizzyPlatinum:Where did the inspiration for TVAB come from??
EAToriAmos: This is a three-tiered answer.
EAToriAmos: The initial jolt was when I was having
EAToriAmos: a really good Corton-Charlemagne with
EAToriAmos: two of my girlfriends in Ohio. I think
EAToriAmos: it was a Dayton show, but it was
EAToriAmos: near the end of the tour last year.
EAToriAmos: And I knew that we were doing a live
EAToriAmos: record and at the time I thought we were
EAToriAmos: doing a B-side record with a few
EAToriAmos: extra tracks, not knowing what the few
EAToriAmos: extra tracks were at all because
EAToriAmos: they hadn't been written yet. So, my
EAToriAmos: two friends were coming up with all
EAToriAmos: sorts of things and I knew I had to
EAToriAmos: go to somewhere and back from somewhere.
EAToriAmos: Finally, after all of, you can imagine
EAToriAmos: the silliness, Natalie looked at me and
EAToriAmos: said, you'd go to Venus and back
EAToriAmos: if you could. And I looked at her and
EAToriAmos: said, absolutely wherever Venus is, I
EAToriAmos: would go there.
EAToriAmos: Second tier: Now that the title was
EAToriAmos: in place, strangely enough, songs started
EAToriAmos: to come and visit me. And, not one at
EAToriAmos: a time, but several motifs and themes
EAToriAmos: would come belonging to very
EAToriAmos: different essences. I knew that we
EAToriAmos: were starting to go through the live DATs
EAToriAmos: end of February of '99. What I didn't
EAToriAmos: realize is all the songs were coming or
EAToriAmos: that a new album was in the birthing. When
EAToriAmos: I ended at and the Cornwall, at the end
EAToriAmos: of February, which is where Martian
EAToriAmos: Engineering is, my hangout, I had no idea
EAToriAmos: even still that I was making a new record.
EAToriAmos: And I played all the songs from Mark & Marcel
EAToriAmos: who engineered this album and mixed it.
EAToriAmos: and they looked at me and said that
EAToriAmos: sonically these songs really would sound
EAToriAmos: random if I put them on a B-side
EAToriAmos: compilation.
EAToriAmos: Third tier: As I opened up much more
EAToriAmos: to the Venus spectrum, people have
EAToriAmos: been sending me information on Venus
EAToriAmos: mythology. I should say Venusian, I guess.
EAToriAmos: And I don't just mean in the sense of a
EAToriAmos: woman, but in the sense of feminine
EAToriAmos: consciousness. And it's quite strange
EAToriAmos: how none of these songs started to
EAToriAmos: come except for Juarez, which came
EAToriAmos: while I was in Texas. Which is where
EAToriAmos: I'm talking to you from right now.
EAToriAmos: (Juarez- accent over the e)
EAToriAmos: And only that came in bits and pieces
EAToriAmos: and that was in October of last yaer.
Question: EADavid: You mentioned last year in an interview that your favorite
Question: singer is Elizabeth Fraser and your favorite song is "Treasure." Have
Question: you ever thought of collaborating with her or any other musicians you
Question: admire?
EAToriAmos: No. I'm kind of a hermit. I think
EAToriAmos: collaboration comes out of a relaxed
EAToriAmos: atmosphere, usually when you're just
EAToriAmos: hanging around and in this day and age,
EAToriAmos: people don't hang around anymore, if
EAToriAmos: you've noticed. It's sort of a different
EAToriAmos: time for that. But I'm also quite shy.
EAToriAmos: I know it doesn't seem like it, but when
EAToriAmos: I'm not behind a piano, I am.
Question: Sigpieces: What is your idea of a perfect concert experience?
EAToriAmos: Well, that's an interesting one because
EAToriAmos: I'm making the set list now to go on
EAToriAmos: in about an hour and a half and I'm
EAToriAmos: trying to get a sense of place. I'm trying
EAToriAmos: to get a sense of the amount of photons
EAToriAmos: that are hitting the earth right now in
EAToriAmos: this particular place, which is Dallas.
EAToriAmos: And, you just try and kind of get your
EAToriAmos: audience and the show in the beam where
EAToriAmos: that speed of light beem is coming from.
EAToriAmos: And I know somebody is rolling their
EAToriAmos: eyes at me right now, but you try and
EAToriAmos: play to 10,000 people and see if you can
EAToriAmos: hold them. When you make it all about
EAToriAmos: you, it gets boring very quick. So,
EAToriAmos: ultimately, people come to a concert
EAToriAmos: because they want to take a trip.
EAToriAmos: And, music, as we all know, has a certain
EAToriAmos: power if it's done right, because you're
EAToriAmos: translating from the ether, you're translating
EAToriAmos: the non-tangible and you still can't
EAToriAmos: hold it in your hands. Not like a painting.
EAToriAmos: That's what it is. The CD isn't the music,
EAToriAmos: do you see what I mean? So when we're
EAToriAmos: playing live it goes through a person's
EAToriAmos: being and I think music has the power
EAToriAmos: to change forms and shapes, a person's
EAToriAmos: aura.
EAToriAmos: Do I believe in auras? Of course.
EAToriAmos: Do I know many people who can
EAToriAmos: read them? Of course not.
EAToriAmos: I can't read them, but I can sense sound.
Question: BrianC777:Tori, thank you for all of the wonderful music you write.
Question: "1000 Oceans" is an amazing song and one that is especially meaningful
Question: to me as I am currently losing the love of my life. What inspired you
Question: to write "1000 Oceans?"
EAToriAmos: Well, different things really. I was
EAToriAmos: woken up in the middle of the night
EAToriAmos: at about 5:30 in the morning or something.
EAToriAmos: And a woman's voice was singing it
EAToriAmos: to me. She was African, quite ancient.
EAToriAmos: And I couldn't understand any of the
EAToriAmos: words, but she was humming hte first
EAToriAmos: couple phrases. So I crawled out of
EAToriAmos: bed and found my way to the piano and I
EAToriAmos: put in on a little ghetto blaster so I wouldnt
EAToriAmos: forget it and in the next few weeks I
EAToriAmos: started to shape it. It wasn't about
EAToriAmos: one event. It was clear to me that
EAToriAmos: there was this endless determination
EAToriAmos: that the song had to reach her love.
EAToriAmos: And I don't know if that was a child or
EAToriAmos: a lover or a friend who the song couldn't
EAToriAmos: seem to be able to make contact
EAToriAmos: with anymore. So when I finally found, and
EAToriAmos: I was looking through a map and when
EAToriAmos: I look for lyrics I go hunting. So, as I was
EAToriAmos: looking through all the maps and
EAToriAmos: finding places, I was looking on maps
EAToriAmos: of Dartmoor and I was working with a lot
EAToriAmos: of different regions. And finally it hit
EAToriAmos: me, that it was through the solar field
EAToriAmos: and it wasn't listed on the maps.
EAToriAmos: Because I was being dragged away from
EAToriAmos: the maps to go to sort of a physics book,
EAToriAmos: actually an astronomy book, a book on all
EAToriAmos: sorts of laws and principles of the universe
EAToriAmos: that Marcel had. And, as I finally found
EAToriAmos: solar field it was like I started to feel her
EAToriAmos: jump up and down. Sometimes the songs
EAToriAmos: do that. Y ou get a sense of that they
EAToriAmos: really are alive. So, my husband had
EAToriAmos: lost his father and he would swing
EAToriAmos: by where I was playing and he would
EAToriAmos: say to me, can you play that little song
EAToriAmos: about the oceans? And that seemed
EAToriAmos: to be sort of a way that we would talk about
EAToriAmos: his dad when no other words could work.
EAToriAmos: So, I think it means different things for
EAToriAmos: different people. But the sense that I got
EAToriAmos: was I couldn't measure the amount of love
EAToriAmos: that this song had for the person that
EAToriAmos: she was singing it about. And it was quite
EAToriAmos: ....it moved me. It was like a resolve, an
EAToriAmos: endless resolve to follow her love.
EAToriAmos: And, she's not a stalker by the way.
EAMusic1: WE ARE CHATTING WITH TORI AMOS and her new double CD- TO VENUS AND BACK
Question: You talk a lot about wine in your interviews. Do you have any
Question: particular favorites?
EAToriAmos: Yes, actually. I love a good pomerol.
EAToriAmos: Bordeaux is really my fave.
EAToriAmos: Red Bordeaux, White Burgundy.
EAToriAmos: When you get a 1990, you're really in
EAToriAmos: heaven, they're really yummy.
EAToriAmos: I can get into a Borolo.
EAToriAmos: Italian wine can be gorgeous.
EAToriAmos: I'm going through some great
EAToriAmos: Spanish reserves right now. A good
EAToriAmos: reserve.
EAToriAmos: '94. California wines, sometimes I
EAToriAmos: really enjoy, but sometimes they're a
EAToriAmos: bit tricky.
EAToriAmos: Kissler's worth going for, a good Kissler.
EAToriAmos: And Silver Oak is really good too.
EAToriAmos: And, for the White Burgundy's it's always
EAToriAmos: good to go for a good Montrashet.
EAToriAmos: but there are many different kinds.
EAToriAmos: You've got to find a house... '96s are good
Question: You have done work on several soundtracks for movies. Do you consider
Question: these songs children like all others, or are they different because
Question: they're created for a specific movie?
EAToriAmos: Little different. It depends what my
EAToriAmos: memory is in the movie. Experience, like
EAToriAmos: butterfly I have great feelings about because
EAToriAmos: I enjoyed doing it. I didn't enjoy doing
EAToriAmos: Great Expectations in the end because
EAToriAmos: it got politically weird and people weren't
EAToriAmos: forthright anymore. And, you have to understand
EAToriAmos: something, having a studio tell me
EAToriAmos: what to do after we'd made an agreement
EAToriAmos: isn't what I considered having integrity.
EAToriAmos: So, in my world, we have a team of
EAToriAmos: people and we talk about things and
EAToriAmos: we make decisions based on the creativity.
EAToriAmos: And we sometimes have our hiccups
EAToriAmos: and stuff, but musicians are sometimes
EAToriAmos: just extraneous for film people and
EAToriAmos: I don't see writing songs as extraneous.
EAToriAmos: Obviously, it's not the center of the
EAToriAmos: film, but there needs to be a level of
EAToriAmos: respect and some film people forget that.
EAToriAmos: When I remind them of that, they seemed
EAToriAmos: quite shocked. When in actuality, I call
EAToriAmos: it just bad manners.
Question: BTEE14: Tori, once your done with your solo leg of the tour, and go to
Question: Europe, will you be back to visit us ni the states anytime soon? Just
Question: like, tour alone for Venus and Back? We'd love to see you in Fl!
EAToriAmos: I don't know where I'm going after this.
EAToriAmos: It's hard to know. Things move so
EAToriAmos: fast right now on the planet, as we all know.
EAToriAmos: You have to change your plans because
EAToriAmos: a little lightbulb goes off and you realize
EAToriAmos: what creatively you need to do . And right
EAToriAmos: now I don't have a lightbulb that tells
EAToriAmos: me anything after 2000.
EAMusic1: plans for the millenium?
EAToriAmos: Not really, quiet. I'm looking to 2012 anyway, that's the Mayan calendar
EAToriAmos: of record keeping that I go by. It's not
EAToriAmos: that I think that this time isn't valid, I do.
EAToriAmos: But I follow the Mayan calendar.
Question: Antny23c:" You are considered one of the Goddesses that have a very
Question: fanatical fan base..... I was just wondering how that devotion affects
Question: you in your life and music choices and paths....., how your feelings
Question: about that devotion that some fans have for you
EAToriAmos: Well, you don't get caught up in it if you're wise.
EAToriAmos: Because, you have to understand that I
EAToriAmos: translate the songs and the warmth that
EAToriAmos: I get from people is unbelievably moving.
EAToriAmos: But it's quite sacred. And, I think over
EAToriAmos: the years, you really realize that the
EAToriAmos: people are identifying with the songs and
EAToriAmos: essentially I try and hold a space for them
EAToriAmos: as a woman, as a musician, and somebody
EAToriAmos: that's just trying to be a good co-creator.
EAToriAmos: And we all have this ability. No matter
EAToriAmos: what anybody tells you, you all have
EAToriAmos: the ability to co-create. Now, it might
EAToriAmos: not all be music. That's not what I'm saying.
EAToriAmos: So, I just try and remember to be
EAToriAmos: gracious, because, in all honesty, she
EAToriAmos: could take off and leave me in the dust
EAToriAmos: at anytime. And I know she might. And
EAToriAmos: I have to feel like that I did a good job
EAToriAmos: holding the space and that I tried
EAToriAmos: to be honorable.
Question: *Pele boys: Do you think it is likely that you will be creating more
Question: music as a solo artist in the future, or do you plan on sticking with a
Question: band?
EAToriAmos: I don't know. I don't know. I think that
EAToriAmos: the piano really wanted to have an
EAToriAmos: integration with other players and the
EAToriAmos: last few years of my life have been
EAToriAmos: about that, the rhythm of it, how to work
EAToriAmos: with all those little knobs in a studio,
EAToriAmos: making sonic shapes. Venus is very
EAToriAmos: much about that because VEnus comes
EAToriAmos: from the ether. She's not Little Earthquakes.
EAToriAmos: She's from different laws and that's really
EAToriAmos: important to remember.
EAToriAmos: I'm enjoying playing with the guys
EAToriAmos: immensely right now. We only have
EAToriAmos: 8 shows, including tonight so every minute
EAToriAmos: is so precious. I don't know if it is for
EAToriAmos: anybody else, but I already have tears
EAToriAmos: in my eyes, because to be a part
EAToriAmos: of other people that have so much passion
EAToriAmos: is a real gift. Play for people that are
EAToriAmos: open to hearing that and I mean as an
EAToriAmos: artist, you dream and dream of that.
EAToriAmos: So if you really begin to see that the
EAToriAmos: gold is not in how many records you sell,
EAToriAmos: the gold is that there was an exchange
EAToriAmos: between musicians and the people that
EAToriAmos: come to the shows.
Question: Kulebriz: what is one piece of advice you would give to a young person?
EAToriAmos: Well, I don't know how young you are,
EAToriAmos: but I think that each generation had
EAToriAmos: has responsibility to understand it's
EAToriAmos: here. There is a collective of that and
EAToriAmos: then there is the individual. A lot of
EAToriAmos: people want wisdom without doing the work.
EAToriAmos: In the ancient days, as we know, we all
EAToriAmos: had to become apprentices spiritually, and
EAToriAmos: it looked different for different people
EAToriAmos: because some people had gifts in some
EAToriAmos: areas and didn't have to work on some
EAToriAmos: areas, if you see what I mean. But the one
EAToriAmos: thing I find we can all do a little better
EAToriAmos: on is seeing our part in everything.
EAToriAmos: There is an argument when there's success.
EAToriAmos: Strange how we sometimes raise our
EAToriAmos: hands when we're a part in achieving somthing because we can't see our value.
EAToriAmos: Also strange how we can't raise our
EAToriAmos: hand when there's an argument because
EAToriAmos: of course we would never argue, we would
EAToriAmos: never stir it up. We would never say
EAToriAmos: something oh so subtly below the belt
EAToriAmos: that nobody picked up on. Jung calls this
EAToriAmos: working with your shadow. There are books
EAToriAmos: out there that I recommend for people
EAToriAmos: that want to go into the psyche. Anything
EAToriAmos: by Marion Woodman, powerful stuff.
EAToriAmos: He's a Jungian. Robert Johnson, he wrote a
EAToriAmos: book called Owning Your Own Shadow
EAToriAmos: which I think is powerful.
EAToriAmos: There's a book that I've just gotten, which
EAToriAmos: seems to be quite fascinating called
EAToriAmos: The Fruitful Darkness by Joan Halifax
EAToriAmos: Quite a fascinating book if you want
EAToriAmos: to go through the bloodlines called
EAToriAmos: Laurence Gardner, it traces back the lineage
EAToriAmos: of Mary Magdalen and Jesus Christ
EAToriAmos: and her life, Bloodline of the Holy Grail is the name of the book.
EAToriAmos: It's the hidden lineage of Jesus revealed.
EAToriAmos: And do you want to know who he is? He is the Chevalier
EAToriAmos: Labhran (accent on the "a" going to the left)
EAToriAmos: de St. Germain
EAToriAmos: So, his access is quite something
EAToriAmos: because he is the Jacobite Historiographer Royal
EAToriAmos: and he has a second book that just
EAToriAmos: came out that deals with before Jesus, so
EAToriAmos: lineages say 5000BC down. And all
EAToriAmos: this information about opening yourself
EAToriAmos: to different informatin, checking in with
EAToriAmos: your own instincts and seeing what feels
EAToriAmos: right and putting aside what doesn't
EAToriAmos: feel right at the time. When I mention
EAToriAmos: these books, there are zillions of books,
EAToriAmos: but it's about a quest and about getting
EAToriAmos: up off your ass and being part of the
EAToriAmos: creative process in your own life instead
EAToriAmos: of a blob in front of the TV screen all
EAToriAmos: the time. Balance the TV people.
EAToriAmos: It's one thing to enjoy it and it's another
EAToriAmos: thing to be a servant of it. Because it
EAToriAmos: sucks and it sucks and it sucks your
EAToriAmos: own creativity.
EAMusic1: thank you Tori so much for chatting with us :)
EAToriAmos: Thank you.
EAMusic1: Thanks for all of your great questions everyone:)
EAMusic1: Sorry we could not answer them all
EAMusic1: tori's new double CD
EAMusic1: is called to Venus and Back
EAMusic1: and it is wonderful - go check it out!
EAMusic1: Take care and have a wonderful evening :)
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