|
|
On Tuesday, August 17, 1999 at 8:00PM ET, SonicNet and MTV.com in association with Maverick Records and Atlantic Records presented "Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos: Twice As Nice". This was a chat and video cybercast with Tori and Alanis on the eve of their 5 1/2 Weeks Tour together.
A special MTV Page for the Tori/Alanis chat says they will have a transcript and replay later. However, I already have a transcript for the chat below.
On August 19, 1999, SonicNet posted an article called "Morissette, Amos Talk God,
Premillennial Angst On Eve Of Tour" It is a nice summary of their joint chat.
I was on the road and unable to take part in the Tori & Alanis chat and video cybercast. However, I have some reports on the chat below and a full transcript!
Chat Transcript
"Twice as Nice" - Tori and Alanis Chat - August 17, 1999
(Note: M= Chat Moderator, T= Tori, A= Alanis)
M= "We're coming at you live from the National Car Rental Center in
Florida for Twice as Nice, a Yahoo video chat with Alanis Morrisette
and Tori Amos on the eve of the Five and a Half Weeks Tour.
This little shin-dig is brought to you by mp3.com and presented
by SonicNet, MTV.com, Atlantic Records and Maverick Records. The tour
kicks off tomorrow and we're going to take some questions from you
folks out there and let's get some answers. We're gonna start off
simple.
We have AlanisFan7 who wants to know right off the bat, 'How did you
guys meet up and decide to tour together?'"
A= "Well it was a couple of months ago, more than a couple months ago,
a FEW months ago, and I was talking to my manager about who I would
play with at the end of the summer. And he was going to give me a list
of potential people to play with and before he even gave me the list I
said 'I'd love to find out what Tori's doing and it was as simple as
that really and [to tori] you were open to playing with me. Very
exciting
moment, because I love Tori so it's going to be great."
M= "Had you guys met before?"
T= "Yeah, we met at Jones Beach [to alanis] I made you tea I think."
A= "Yeah, it was a beautiful show."
T= "I think it was crap tea, but I made a crap cup of tea for you! But
we had a good laugh, and that's the one thing, I think, when you're
touring out there it's nice to have somebody else who knows what it's
like when, you know, you leave dirty underwear in a hotel room, those
kinds of things. So we had a few things to talk about..."
M= "We're just going to bounce around. We've got questions for the
both of you, separately, and together, so we're just going to run
through, we'll just go with it exactly. HefelumpMan (sp?) has a
question for you Alanis."
A= "I was going to say, 'Hopefully, that's for Tori!' "
M= "Alright... he wants to know how you feel about your fans knowing
so much about you and sort of hoping to have an 'intellectual
intercourse', their words, with you. And I guess this is a good
question for the both of you, because you do have that sort of
relationship with the fans."
A= "I wrote songs when I was younger that were a little less personal
than the ones that I write now, and, it was an amazing way to express
and to entertain on a certain level, but I found myself wanting to not
only communicate more only through my music, but in my life as well.
And I found that the more I did that, the more empowered I felt and the
more connected I felt with everyone around me and less isolating."
M= "So once you revealed some of yourself that's when people could
truly respond to it?"
A- "Yeah, or I feel like I'm being authentic which is really all I feel
like we're here to do and be, so that was much better for me."
M= "Hopefully. In a perfect world."
A= "Yes. Ultimately, for me."
M= "We have one from oneirocrite, because we love people and their web
names! This is for Tori, wants to know how you write the songs, and
sort of the usual, have lyrics first? Do you spend a few days, a few
hours? Do it at the same time? Do they just flow?"
T= "Well, I don't know about you, but for me it depends if I've had
bran that morning. You know?"
A= "Really?"
T= "I don't really know what's coming in a few hours. Food is a big
thing with me, that's just something my husband has had to come to
accept. And I usually get inspired in between forkfuls of something
really good. And that's sort of... I can't sit down and plan to write.
It just doesn't work that way."
M= "Right."
T= "I think that once it starts coming to visit me that I can sit down
and shape it. But it's more about instinct."
M= "Do they come sometimes, like, all in rush? Just like you find
yourself sitting down with a pen and just all of a sudden it's there?
Or is it bits and pieces...?"
T= "Bits and pieces. And then I have to go hunting. I hunt. I go
hunting sonically. And I think like, I guess like a wolverine, you
know? You go out there and go protect your cubs and go bring them some
meat."
M= "This is from aristalexgeo and they want to know if you view writing
as therapy. This might be a little extreme, but there is a release
there."
A= "Yeah, it's very therapeutic. A lot of times when I write a song
it'll indicate to me certain thing that I perhaps wasn't prepared to
deal with in my conscious everyday living. So it schools me a lot and
it also allows me to realize that I have my own answers. Because
sometimes I will answer things on my own songs and ask questions. I
love asking questions in my own songs and seeing the answers before the
song is finished."
M= "Labellelucy (sp?) wants to know what books you're taking on tour
with you this time. This one is applicable to the both of you."
T= "Still packing..."
A= "Are you?"
T= "Got 24 hours. Well, all the clothes are packed. All the shoes are
packed."
A= "How many bags do you have, Tori?"
T= "[off stage] Jen, how many bags do we have? [off stage answers,
"Four for the bus"] Four for the bus. Do we have the case? [off stage,
"The big wardrobe case."] That's cute! Where's our wine? It's
coming? [off stage, "It's right here."] Okay! [off stage, "the
books..."] What books?"
M= "Good question."
T= "More are coming."
A= "Back to the question."
T= "Back to the question. I have 24 hours and my house is close by so
I'm gonna..."
A= "Get them..."
T= "Get them and put them in it. We're gonna have 5 bags, Jen, it
sounds like."
A= "I just bought the book 'Kalimantan' (sp?) which a friend of mine
recommended that I haven't even started yet, but I can't wait. And all
my psychology books. I need to figure out how to interact with people.
Tori and I need our psychology books."
M= "So far so good."
A= "Yeah!"
T= "I have one on men, a psychology book on men."
A= "What's it called?"
T= " 'Saturn'... I don't know, something 'Saturn' and something 'Evil'
so that's how I understand. I work with so many men [to alanis] like
you do. And sometimes I have to know...They do have periods! I mean
we all know that they have periods, they just don't know because it's
not like, every 28 days. So it's a very tricky thing. Going [whispered]
'I know what happened to him' he needs a little - "
A= "Chocolate?"
T= [laughs]
A= "A hug, chocolate, patience."
T= "Warm bath."
A= "Yeah."
T or A= "Heroin."
M= "Now wait a minute! Um, good question here from Rebecca100, 'Who are
your greatest influences?'"
A= "When I was younger I loved Carole King. I remember she was the
first voice that I remember actually hearing and asking my parents
about while we were driving through Germany. I lived in Europe with
them for a while and I just remember hearing her voice as I was sitting
in the back part of the wagon that we were driving."
T= " 'Tapestry'."
A= "She just seemed so powerful and her voice was very masculine and
feminine, I just loved her. She was the main one I remember."
M= "And Tori?"
T= "Robert Plant. I mean I would stand by the stereo and because I was
brought up in a really Christian home, you know Robert was one of
those 'touched-by-the-devil' kind of people to my dad. All that
wiggling and he said 'Why does he have to gyrate?' and it was a thing
where when I would listen to the music and I would look at the little
pictures, because the great thing about the old days is the albums, the
pictures-"
A= "The size."
T= "Yeah. And so you have this life like Robert dripping with sweat and
I was 8 and I just knew that he needed to marry me. But I wanted to
marry him then-"
A= "Right.
T= "Not-"
A= "Not today."
T= "Not today! Yeah. I love him. But it was one of those things when I
was 8 and I didn't understand that marriage wasn't about going and
having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and-"
A= "Walking into the sunset?"
T= "Yeah and being all smooshy together."
A= "Right."
T= "It is kind of smooshy together but-"
A= "A different kind of smoosh."
M= "Andy Schmidt asks if you're planning on releasing something other
than music soon. This one is directed towards you [alanis] but this is
a good question for both of you. Have you ever thought bout maybe doing
a book of poetry, or photographs - something other than what people
tend to expect which is, you know, a record or a video?"
A= "Yeah, I love expressing through film and I'm writing something
right now that I'd love to, I think once the tour has ended and I have
had a little bit of a rest, I'd love to express though the writing of
a screenplay. And directing, I love directing. And a book at some
point. It'll be organic, kind of a scrapbook of sorts, not overly
auto-biographical, although, by default, because I'm writing it
there will be some personal experiences within it, but there are so
many different ways to express ourselves that I just can't wait to try
all of them."
T= "NO!"
A= "I could star Tori in my movie! She's an actress, and I'm going to
bring it out in her!"
M= "Well, [to tori] have you ever thought about acting, I guess you [to
alanis] have your first movie coming out in a matter of months if all
goes well, which would be Kevin Smith's 'Dogma'."
A= "Mmmhhhmm."
M= "In which you play god?"
A= "[more enthusiastically] Mmmhhhmm!"
M= "How'd that feel?"
A= "Just great. I think Kevin Smith is a genius, so when I read his
script I was happy to just be part of his vision really, I think there
is something to be said for that."
M= "How did they call you, did they say. 'We have a part for you. It's
god.' Or did you get to pick that one?"
A= "No. I didn't pick that one. He actually, we talked about my being
involved in some shape or form, but when I got off the road I was too
tired to dive in at that point, so a year and a half later he had
cast everything except for this cameo role of god at the end, and so
that was the only one I-"
M= "When's it coming out, October?"
A= "I think November, mid-November."
M= "Just in time for Oscars."
A= "Really?"
M= "Oh yeah, really. You never know!"
A= "I don't know!"
M= "This one comes from Earl, very simply - Earl, and he wants to know
which is your favorite song of each other's."
T= " 'One Hand in my Pocket'. I love that song."
A= "Wow. There are so many that I love, it would be really tough to
say, but I think anything off 'Little Earthquakes' is my favorite, I
think everything you do-"
T= "I thought you were going to say, 'Like a Virgin'."
A= "[laughs] 'Like a Virgin' was a really great one that you did!"
T= "Yeah."
A= "Anything off that record. I think anything, any present thing that
you're expressing, I love. I'm not the kind of person that sticks with
one record of an artist. I, everything that is the most recent
thing is my favorite, just because it's new. So everything of yours,
but definitely 'Little Earthquakes' was a pretty moving experience for
me."
T= "I think I'm excited about the tour because when you hear another
person's work live it really does start to, I start having a
relationship with it. Once I hear someone's work, like her work, on a
CD, because I'm in my own little world when I listen and I don't have
those visuals, you know we don't have those big huge artwork things
that we can take around anymore, to get the real person's essence when
they're singing that I feel like songs shift when they start coming out
live. It's, having done a few shows now, I still really get excited
about how the songs change with each tour and they're always showing me
different sides that I missed. So I'm sure when I'm standing from the
stage watching your show that there are certain songs that I will see
in ways that I haven't before and that always excites me, being able to
be
near the essence of the person who wrote it. And I really enjoy it. I
like that.
M= "Carrot42 asks, this is for you Tori, "You're very open about
sharing your personal story with your fans, and a lot of people who
aren't your fans, too, actually. Does it affect you? How do you feel
about people who know so much about you, like when people meet you,
they have more of a sense of who you are then I think most people do
with their favorite artists. There's like, I think people have more of
an insight into your life because you've been so open about it."
T "I don't know. I am fascinated with other people's lives. I really
like people. I didn't used to think that I did, because I went through
some crazy phase, somebody I was dating who had that 'they-don't-
really-like-people' thing going on. I really like hearing people's
tales. And when they kind of confide in me what's going on it makes me
feel really special that they trusted me. And when you start hearing
some of these stories it's pretty humbling. Because so many people have
been through their unique shadow world, I guess. And what's a monster
to one person isn't to another, but you start seeing how these people
really share a secret with you and it's very moving."
M= "But it's reciprocal, because they feel that you're sharing a secret
with them."
T= "It is a relationship. [to alanis] I'm sure you feel that way when
you play. There has to be a relationship when you're playing or it's
really like you're masturbating. And that's OK, it got me through
Christianity. But there is a thing where when people really come to
see you when there is somebody else, it's about the exchange."
A= "It's a composition. And that's why I think that's why I can tour
as long as I can and I'm wondering if it's the same for you, basically.
If I can sing the same songs every night it's because every night
is a new composition."
T= "Yeah."
A= "That's why it can be done at these lengths."
T= "It's funny how the songs become like a magic carpet ride for me.
It's like a little window. It could be whatever the song is, 'Silent
[All These Years]' or whatever we're playing, but because the people
change and places changed and the events of the day-"
A= "We've changed."
T= "That conversation I had right before I went on that made me a
nutcase so that when I approach that song it's like we're sharing a
whole new thing again. I think that you, I don't get tired of making
love to a person that I find interesting."
M= "Melissa J. Smithers, lightening up the mood a little, would like to
know if any of you have played practical jokes on members of the band
of tour personnel. I'm assuming yes.:
A= "Wow. Yes. Yes, I have had the pleasure of putting make-up and
nail polish on some of the male members of our touring family. And
they seemed to like it."
M= "So they came back the next day for more?"
A= "They dug it, and I think it opened up a part of them that perhaps
would not have been opened had we not had that interaction, so-"
M= "So you like doing that then?"
A= "I love doing that. It's great. I love dressing women both
masculine and feminine, and vice versa. I love when men can be both
feminine and masculine. There's nothing more attractive to me than
a man who would be willing to wear a skirt. So in my own way, at
times, I will basically ask men that I sit down with to tap into their
feminine side."
M= "You know since you said that there will be a lot of guys showing up
like that at the shows now."
A= "[laughs] I don't know about that, but-"
M= "Oh, you'd be surprised."
A= "Yeah? We'll see."
M= "Here's an interesting one, also from aristalexgeo, "What are your
views on electronic music?" You've clearly been incorporating a lot of
it, both of you, into your music. Sort of, electronica for lack of a
better word."
T= "Not a great word."
M= "Not a great word. Better than techno though."
T= "No, but, we've kind of... Electronica is a bit 96."
M= "What have you got?"
A= "Oh dear."
M= "What are we calling it these days? It's all to studied, too many
subdivisions - trance and electro-"
T= "Things are I think it is metamorphisizing and I think the great
thing is there are so many more gadgets that they're becoming
instruments now. Sound effects, you approach it like an instrument.
As a keyboard player, I've had to stretch and try and find a bridge
between the acoustic piano that I play, I usually call it a Bosey, and
then all of these sounds that are coming out of keyboards, whether
they're sampled sounds. For us, we're really trying to get to us
making our own samples because Puff Daddy has stolen everything else.
So we steal from ourselves."
A= "I love both. I love the hybrid of gears and gadgets and
accouterments. And then having my hand on something and having that be
the sound or an instrument. I love the hybrid."
M= "Is it also changing the structure, though? It seems like
songwriting is changing because of the influence of this sort of reform
of instrumental music."
T= "Yeah."
A= "No."
M= "You know, less chorus-y and so forth."
A= "I like structure for what it is and I also love walking away from
it. I learned structure when I was very young in songwriting and I
think the charm of learning it that early was that I then had the
freedom to know that I could return to it, but I could also to just
deviate from it, for lack of a better term. But it's good to know it,
to throw it out."
T= "It's an architecture, right. I mean I do think that songwriting is
always very much always about playing with form. It's endless, but how
I can fuck up four minutes blows my mind all the time. And then when
you get it right, you get it right. It always surprises me sometimes
how I think a song is going to go a certain way and then it doesn't
reach the potential, when others who were sitting over to the side... Her
bridge, I take that or something and she comes to life in another song.
And there is a genetic kind of weaving that goes on, different than
children obviously. Because you can't go, 'Oh, let's take her kidney'
and 'She's got a really cute ass' and 'Let's put them together'. But
you can do that with songs.
M= "Fictionwriter101- 'What do you do to relax while on tour?' We
should mention that we are on the eve of the Five and a Half Weeks
Tour, it kicks off tomorrow night here in Ft. Lauderdale. So, for five
and a half weeks, what will you be doing to relax?"
A= "I take bubble baths. I just took one before I came here."
T= "You took one on your, you, do you have a bath on your bus?"
A= "No! Do you have a bath on your bus?"
T= "No, well I don't either."
A= "That's good! [laughs] No bath on the bus."
T= "I'm just curious."
A= "I like being outside, too, to rest. And being silent. I spend a
lot of time with a lot of kinetic energy around me as I'm sure you do
and everybody in this room probably. But I love being alone and
resting and being silent. Very much rejuvenates and then I can go back
out and be available to people. And [to tori] you? What do you do to
rest?"
T= "[laughs] Um, the guys put on some booty music and we salsa on the
bus and I love to dance, but I can't dance. So I never dance in public
because people laugh at me. So I dance on the bus and of course we
have nice wine on the bus and probably good chatting. There's a lot of
chatting, a lot of little hummingbirds going back and forth. You know
people hang out in front, come back to the back and very social. And
after dancing about two hours and sweating and everything I crash like
a puppy and [in a little girl voice] then I need to go to sleep. And
then
that's it."
M= "Works. This comes from finefinefine9 to the both of you, 'Are you
ever struck by writer's block?' Another songwriting question. People
are intrigued by the art."
A= "Writer's block to me is when I feel that I have to write. I don't
really believe in the concept of writer's block. I think the only time
when I really struggle with it is when I am forcing myself to do it. I
do believe that the discipline of writing can meet inspiration half way
and vice versa, but don't believe that writing from a place of feeling
I have to ever results in my writing something that I like. So I like
deadlines. If someone says, 'You need to write a song for a movie and
we only have a few months'. I love those kinds of deadlines, but not
the pressure of having to write anything for any other reason than to
express myself."
M= "Do you ever find, though, that there's nothing coming? A period
where you're just not writing? You know where there's really just
nothing there?"
A= "Of course."
M= "Do you ever worry when it happens and think, like, the muse is
gone? Or do you figure, whatever happens, she'll be back?"
T= "Well, you know, if she's gonna split, you can't do a whole lot
about it. I mean that whole thing about there has to be a faith that if
you leave little crumbs so that she can find her way back to you,
she'll find her way back. For me, there's an intake and an outtake
period. So on an intake period, there's traveling and getting loads of
books. I'm really into buying shoes and books. And sometimes, this
might
sound strange, but because I am a slow reader, I don't always read the
books. I read back to front. And I usually start at the back, end up
in the middle and then in the front. I always check the first page out
to see if I'm going to buy it, but then I start in the middle and read
back. I think the reason is because I'm trying to get, be almost like
a filing system and let it all bleed through. So that if you contain
it, when the muse does come there are pictures and there are different
ways of saying things that I say over and over and I can become
repetitive. And whether I try and imprint the pictures have an artist or
whatever, just, somewhere, then when it becomes sore of a fertile time
it is sort of like a computer screen. I don't know, I still haven't
turned my
computer on-"
A= "We'll talk."
T= "But that's how it kind of-"
M= "So it's like, it's all of the little pieces and things that you
sort of take in begin to gel."
T= "I'm an insect there's a storage thing and then it comes back up
again."
A= "It happens often enough. A period of time when I was younger where
I was in the intake period of time I was worried that the outtake
wasn't happening. But once that had happened often enough, where I had
rested for awhile and hadn't written anything and the proverbial dam
breaks and you write a lot of music. When that happens often enough
the fear goes away and you never really fear that the inspiration is
gone forever."
M= "This is from DanS. He wants to know if there are any knew and
upcoming artists you are into. There's going to be a whole bunch of
unknown, for lack of a better word, or little known, artists opening up
throughout the Five and a Half Weeks Tour."
T= "Yeah, but you know what's good? We didn't know it, but we picked
the same ones."
A= "Did we? I didn't know that."
T= "We picked the same ones."
M= "And you guys picked them."
A= "Oh sure we did,"
T= "We did."
A= "Yeah."
M= "So these are a number of artists, I guess you could hear some of
their stuff at mp3.com, I believe. But did you go through some tapes
or-"
A= "Yeah. And apparently we picked all the same bands."
T= "[to offstage] Johnny! We picked the same ones right? They told me
we did."
A= "Wow. Um, to be totally honest, I don't entirely remember right off
the top of my head, but I can get back to you on that one."
M= "I actually have a list right here. There's a band called
Chlorophyll"
T= "Yes."
M= "Greta Gaines."
A= "Right."
M= "A band called LotusLand, gee, somebody named Ray Lane and another
band called Sci Fi Lullaby. Very cool names."
T= "For me, if I listened back, I'm not great with names-"
M= "Well, forget those guys, what are you guys listening to?"
T= "No, but, you know what I mean, it's like, usually when I hear
something, that's the impression it makes on me. I just think it's
exciting that people, that the record industry sometimes is very
closed and you know, this is a way that people's passion can get out
there. Anyway, I think it's a good thing."
A= "I've met a couple of the bands, I've seen a couple of bands that
actually aren't even playing with us, but it's exciting to hear how
excited artists feel because of there being another option for them.
as opposed to the main route that most artists have taken. There's
another option for them to share their music and they're very excited
about it. And I love hearing new music. And I have been so
fortunate to have been supported by a lot of people over the last
decade and a half and to be in a position to be able to do that with
other people now is pretty amazing."
M= "And it's also great to give these young bands a chance to play big
rooms like this and it's a skill that's hard to pick up if you don't
get the shot."
A= "And it's scary! and it's good to talk to them right before they go
on when they're afraid and to say that, on a certain level, we are as
well!"
M= "Right. And when they come back afterwards I'm sure they've got
something to say about it as well. For some of these people I'm sure
it's the first time they've played anything even remotely resembling a
big arena. So it's got to be a real big kick, but that's sort
of a great thing to be able to share the wealth, so to speak."
A= "It's great."
T= "Share the wealth and the fear."
A= "Share all the craziness too. I love it."
M= "We talk about the mp3 and somebody here, yunnatinyusic (sp?) we'll
be interactive a bit, all the web stuff. You both have terrific
websites, alanismorissette.com and tori.com, um, [to tori] last night
you did a live rehearsal over the web."
A= "How was that?"
T= "I think it was pretty good."
A= "Yeah?"
M= "Yes."
A= "That's great."
T= "Yeah, um, it was the first time I've played in front of people in a
while. We needed to do that."
A= "Did you do it here?"
T= "No, we did it at an undisclosed location. It's so undisclosed, I
don't where it bloody was. But anyway it's black inside and we had a
good time. And I love playing with the guys. I haven't played with
them in a while. I miss playing with them. We played together on the
new album and since, they toodled off, and I know it feels like a
slumber party and so we're just getting back in the swing of it."
M= "Clearly you guys are interested in the whole sort of new Internet,
whatever, the new world, the new world order that has been created by
this sort of availability. There's been a lot of promotional things and
it's another way to interact with the fans. [to Alanis] I guess you're
going to be doing a show at somebody's house?"
A= "Yeah. For the next 48 hours."
M= "How did that come about?"
A= "An idea that, I guess MTV and myself came up with to... This
contest, that was all very hilarious. Just making the commercial was
hilarious to me because I was able to tap into that part of myself and
I love breaking things down to their most simple form. And singing in
someone's living room with, I don't even think I'll be using a
microphone. I may be, but if I do it will be really low amount of it.
It will actually be the antithesis of our live show I think. Which is
fun, I love doing unplugged stuff. But I think as far as the Internet
and what you were just saying, I think it's very exciting. And the
more I learned the less fearful I was because when I first heard about
it as well, of course, there were issues that came up about protecting
artists and their music. And these questions come up, whatever form,
the music and how it's being shared, whatever form that takes. So with
any new shift and new form of sharing it through this technology there
will be
concerns. But the more I learned about it, the less afraid I was and
the more excited I got."
M= "So do you travel with, like, a powerbook or a laptop?"
A= "Mmmhhmm. "
M= "Tori, you're avoiding that purchase?"
T= "No, I just..."
A= "She has one, and we're going to delve into it in the next few
weeks!"
T= "No. I married a techie, so I get it through osmosis."
M= "AnimeAngel1999 asks, [to tori] you brought up the new album which
is called 'to venus and back' it will be out September 21 I believe.
And from AnimeAngel1999 'What's up with the new album and what kind of
sound is it? Is it more computer driven or stripped down?' So tell us
about the album."
A= "Well, it's not really stripped down. But it's very hard to
describe something that isn't like, because it's like I wrote this
song, it's very tricky to describe something's that's in the ethers,
you know. There's rhythm, for me, when I started thinking about the
'Venus' record, I started thinking about, she was sort of dragging me
to the plate, going 'If you're going to sing about the passion, you've
got to
sing about the other side, which is when someone is sort of severed
from their heart.' So the record started to, there are 11 songs on it.
And there are some songs that have such faith that you could find
somebody
again that dies and you are able to, even if they become a baby in
another woman's tummy, you know that there's this closeness as close as
I am to you, on some other plane. There are also songs that were
inspired by things that, where people are completely cut off from their
heart. And there are over 200 women who have been raped in Juarez.
When I was in the bus near Texas, near the border. It's strange,
because I kind of dragged out of my bunk and went to the front and it
was dark. And the song really said to me 'You know you have to sing
this from the point of view of the desert' Because the desert heard the
last breath that the young women took, and the desert heard the breath
of the killer. And it became really important when I would just try
and hear what I would sing was that there had to be a strange antithesis
from 'Me and a Gun'. Because 'Me and a Gun' was very much about the
girl's perspective that was going through that in her head. And this
was coming from a perspective that saw both sides. Not justifying the
act at all. And so as you can see the sounds on the record become
characters and for
all the songs I was working more with sound effects and the piano and I
was playing the Siline and the Waveform, and lot of old keyboards,
bringing them in, and it was just the 4 of us who played on it, we
didn't bring any string sections. I love doing that, but we just kept
it a very
small nucleus. You'll hear it."
M= "The record sort of came together spontaneously didn't it? It
wasn't a planned album. Weren't you putting together a collection of
rarities and such?"
T= "It really wasn't planned. I was just going to do 2 or 3 songs.
That's how I had the guys booked. So they were coming to play and they
showed up and I said, 'You're cutting an album.'
M= "And they were happy to do it."
T= "Yeah, they had to work, we kept running the studio around the clock
[to alanis] you know that one. But there's something exciting about
that. I love it when it gets dark outside and everybody has gone to bed
and you're still creating with these creatures."
M= "It's also a live record as the TV said. So it's going to be a live
album. I guess this is something people have been looking forward to,
probably your fans have been asking for a while. But it's important
because it does sum up the tour, which was your first tour with a
band. So it's sort of nice to have that sort of souvenir of last
year."
T= "We listened to 120 shows and we had a ranking system and if they
made it to the semifinals then they got on the short list. And we
finally ended up with a record and it wasn't about songs that people
know or don't know. It was about did we play it half decently.
[laughs]"
M= "So you didn't go for the greatest hits sort of thing?"
T= "No."
M= "The high points?"
T= "No."
M= "Got a question from thankyouclarity and this is to alanis and
suggests that your views on God have changed since 'Jagged Little Pill'
and why is this so?"
A= "I don't know if they changed as much as they became something.
Because I had a confusing relationship with god having been born and
raised Catholic. Having God portrayed as someone who judges us and is
vengeful and upset with us somehow and condemns us. I didn't feel that
my relationship with God rang true to that definition. So I let go of
everything and explored different religions over the last few years and
saw the thread of continuity that permeates all of them. I wanted to
define my own version and my own explanation of what God was to me
or a higher power or whatever you want to call it. And I see God now
as someone or something, it's everything, and is very compassionate and
very open and not at all judgmental and therefore having me to take
responsibility for my own life and feel like I am in control of it and
that I am creating my own reality in my own world. And that I can't
blame anyone else for it for what is happening and it also allows me to
feel much more connected to other people. So my definition of God is
just that God is love, and that is what we, fundamentally, are. I
suppose that also means that we are God."
M= "You especially this yes, starring as... yeah. [to tori] You grew
up with a fairly religious background. You have certainly articulated
your thoughts on spiritual matters like this. What's your vibe lately?
What's your relationship with God like these days?"
T= "That would take us a long time to talk about. Because the
Christian God that I was brought up with...I sort of look... I am
fascinated by mythology. And I don't know a lot about it, but
different cultures, obviously, have a god. Some have many gods, some
have many goddesses. And the Christian God, for me, there is a dark
side to
Christianity that needs to be claimed. And until this is claimed...
And I talk about it, you know, half of them are Mormons, half of them
are born-agains, you know, they're all telling me that I am going to the
devil. And I'm saying, you know, whatever you need to make you feel like
you need to be so defensive. It's something that truly, maybe because my
mother's side is partly Cherokee, and this country has really not
claimed what they've done in the name of Christianity, in the name of
God. And it's something that I know America loves to go play cop, all
over the world, you find this when you travel a lot. And there are
great things about this amalgamation that is becoming America, with many
cultures. But
when I am in Germany, for example, [to alanis] I'm sure you found this,
I'll be singing a song right, and then they go into the Holocaust like
on a Jay Leno or David Letterman over there. Those people are having to
hold what happened. This country has Thanksgiving, does the little
Disney Pocahontas bullshit, and they don't really think about you know
there were 500 nations. Every inch of this land belonged to a people.
It was genocide. It happened. So, you know, when we sit around the
table, and we talk about the Christian God because we are surrounded by
a
Christian family, we have to think about, in the name of God, the
murders, the rapes, the lies. This isn't 'love your neighbor as
yourself ' kind of
behavior. And it's really important that we look at that. So when you
ask me my relationship with God, it does depend on what culture you are
talking about. Because the Christian God and I have obviously a few
things to sort out."
M= "Sometimes I think it's more about his representatives as opposed
to-"
T= "Yeah, but you have to go back to the mythology. Because if you
read the mythology and some of that stuff, it's very hierarchical. It
isn't about mutual respect. Whether we go back to the Cimmerian
culture, or wherever you want to go you do find that there's a lot of
this going on. And we all know that there's even an internal
hierarchy. But there's gotta be a place where everybody respects that
everybody should have spiritual freedom. Not 'You can have spiritual
freedom - but my god's better!' It's like 'My dog's bigger than your
god.' "
M= "Don't you think that's sort of changing? I mean, it seems like you
know with the younger generations... I mean, this sort of offshoots of
the evils of political correctness, it's sort of opened I think a lot
of people to things that the society had told them not to think about.
However out of control it might have gotten. People now understand the
genocide of the Native Americans for instance."
T= "No they don't."
M= "You don't think so?"
T= "NO. No they don't. No. No they don't."
M= "You don't think it's changing though?"
A= "I think that some people are being encouraged now to question the
way things have been traditionally viewed as and seen as. But if you
read the newspapers, it's quite obvious that there's still a lot of us
that don't question tradition and don't question this selective amnesia
that we have. And certain things we've been told to remember and
revive and continue to share, and certain things that we've been taught
to
forget. And at the same time I can also say that I've met so many
people that are constantly questioning tradition and creating their own
definition of what they believe, not based on what's been done for
millions of years before, so I see both."
T= "I think that there's a lot of, you know, if you want to be honest,
and we all want to be fair, there's so much hate music right now.
There's a lot of violence. And one thing about America is that the
mythology of this land is very ancient. And when the people are
disconnected from the land, because when you haven't owned how you got
the land. And it's not about money, it's about a place in here [taps
her chest] owning. You know, you don't have to walk the Trail of Tears
from North Carolina to Oklahoma to own it. That's not what I'm talking
about. But I am saying that when you look at all those kids murdering
each other. When you look at this strange demon thing that's consuming,
you have to remember that this place, this isn't the land of Irish
mythology, this isn't that land of French mythology, Viking mythology,
This has its own mythology. And when we go there, when I go to Taiwan,
that holds a different mythology and you respect it when you go there.
And this is just something that some people are opening up to. Others
don't wanna know, just go buy another gun. And we have to hold it all."
M= "It seems like the young people that grew up in this sort of
politically correctness period, that they are sort of changing. That
hopefully they are hearing. They're seeing the news. They're seeing
that in the next few years as they come of age, that hopefully the
culture's attitude will change towards certain things."
A= "I think there has been an opening and an evolution of
consciousness, absolutely. But also, I think that fear is also as
prevalent as it once was. And its manifestations are as obvious as
ever. And that enters us into the whole realm of relativity, which I
think is what living on this Earth is all about. It's all about
relativity and us knowing the manifestations of love, because in
contrast we can see manifestations of fear. So I think that the more we
remember what fear feels like and what falsehood feels like and the more
that we feel and remember what love in its manifestations feels like
that we don't have to
consistently keep going back. And be in contrast with certain things in
order to remember who we innately are, as I see it."
T= "Political correctness happens when a word like 'black' becomes a
pejorative. So when we go back to the hierarchy, right. And if you
get into these words where you are being hateful and not honoring
somebody
else's beingness then political correctness happens because you are a
slimebucket and you need it. But if you can really respect different
people and you're not walking around thinking of people in those terms.
It's like, you know, I said the other day, 'I don't think of my bloody
piano as these are the African American keys and these are the European
Settled keys and this is just whacked to me. Because black is
beautiful. White is yummy and there are thousands of amalgamations in
between. But political correctness had to happen because there were
people who truly hated somebody for this. For me, sometimes I'm just
like, oh my god, I can't say, 'Well, what was he like?' 'Well, he was
tall,' 'Um, well, what were his eyes?' 'Well I can't say he had' It's
like jesus christ! Do you see what I'm saying, it's getting nuts!"
M= "It's what began as an opening of things and sort of teaching people
about respect has become very close minded because-"
T= "We're scared."
M= "Right, people are scared."
T= "We go back to scared. "
M= "Do you think any of this ties into a sort of pre-millennial thing?
I hate to say it, but all of sudden it really seems like there is a
connection. I mean I thought it was hooey for the last couple of
years, but it seems like this year it does feel like there's a certain
bad
vibe among people leading towards this big millennium."
A= "I think that the one thing that I have felt as we head towards the
new millennium, is that there is a pressure to be conscious and a
pressure to actually assess where we're at. and perhaps it wasn't
happening in 1998 or even 1986 or whatever other year that may not have
been as close to the year 2000. So I think the fear and some of the
anxiety and I can only speak for myself, obviously, is that there's a
stepping back of sorts that's happening and an assessment that's being
made of our society and of our Earth and of our environment. And if we
look at where things are at their present state, I think it's obvious
why the anxiety is there. And I think that a lot of people are looking
for answers and a lot of people are judging and blaming everyone else
and I feel like the anxiety might go away if we look at, if I look at
who I am and look at what I can change and look at what I can do the
anxiety goes away. Because that's really, the whole concept of 'Think
Globally and Act Locally' to me is what I keep coming back to. Because
for one person single-handedly to feel like they can change something
that is happening across the world or something that is happening that
millions of other people are doing, it may not be able to happen
overnight. But if we all, I feel like, again, when I say we all I
almost want to take it back because all I can really do is take
responsibility for myself, but when I look at myself my whole world
changes. And when I'm driven by fear and when I point the finger and
say somebody else is doing something and I judge them I become part of
the unconsciousness that is resulting in what we read in the
newspapers. I become a part of it. And as soon as I stop pointing the
finger, and looking at the way I live my life and how I resolve my own
conflicts or don't resolve them or how my fear manifests itself I feel
like my attitude towards the world and life in general and other people
drastically changes. So I feel like a lot of times there is so much
focus put on outside of ourselves in a lot of communities and certain
charities that I've taken part in a lot of the focus is outward and I
feel the frustration that comes along with that focus and the peace
that can come from looking at our own issues and looking at how we can
change to share more love, first and foremost, towards ourselves, and
then I see this organically being given to other people once we give it
to ourselves. And that's what I look at when I see all, when I read
about guns and murder and famine and all of these things I look at
ourselves and I see that that is manifested because we don't have
compassion for ourselves and we don't really know how amazing we are."
T= "I'll tell you what flipped me out. I was reading this thing, right
around the eclipse, and these genius scientists, okay, I'm sure you all
know this, or know more about it, but they crashed this rocket into the
moon to try and find water. Now why don't they leave her alone? I
mean, these guys, right, what I want to say to them is, you need to
know, obviously, the moon decides the tides, it decides womens'
periods. I mean, are you nuts? If you crash into the moon we're all
gonna come
after you with a, like a fucking pick! It just drives me crazy
sometimes how, in the name of science and in the name of things, we're
screwing up this place, yet we think that we deserve to go out there and
do it to more? I mean the moon for god's sake! When you hear this kind
of
thing as we get closer to the millennium and how we're gonna look at it,
we have to be held accountable."
M= "We don't think about the repercussions."
T= "No, we don't."
M= "We are down to the final three questions of the evening. And the
first one comes from dolcestamore (sp?) and this is 'Do the negative
aspects of fame ever make your question your decision to do what you
do? To become a performer? And what are those negative aspects of
fame?"
T= "Having a soap box! And being able to say whatever you want in
front of thousands of people [laughing]!"
M= "That sounds like a positive to me!"
T= "Sometimes, sometimes it is, sometimes. You know, I can feel
people's eyes rolling. But there you go."
A= "I think fame at first was overwhelming and scary and something I
was always curious about when I was younger. And then once I was
dealing with the concept of it I was overwhelmed and I needed to rest.
And I think fame is amazing. I think it's a beautiful opportunity.
And if I rest while I'm in the midst of it, in the hurricane of it, if I
can step out of it then I feel like I'm actually being of value by being
in the public eye. But if I'm not resting and it's literally sometimes
it
comes down to something as menial as time management. If I'm not
managing my time well enough while I'm in the public eye I feel like
I'm not being of much service. So you have to kind of retreat and rest
for a while."
M= "Final question number 2 comes from schmazda who, it would strike me
as being a negative affects, do you like being seen as 'women in rock'?
Go for it."
T= "I (?) on the left."
M= "Moving onto question number three then."
A= "Wait, wait! No, I think we're humans in rock. And I think, of
course, we're women in rock and there are men in rock. I think it's
natural that the pendulum is going to swing after having so many
years of the musical industry being immersed in the patriarchy that it
once was, and not just the music industry, obviously. The pendulum has
swung and ultimately my favorite place is when the pendulum just kind
of dangles in the middle somewhere and we're seen as humans. It really
doesn't matter what our gender is, it matters about the art. Like I
love Tori's music because I love her expression. And I don't even
think about what gender she is when I am being touched by her music."
T= "I don't think about your gender. I mean, it's not... I think
because we're women there are certain things that, you not, that you
just talk about. But it's not about....I think of you as a musician."
M= "That's how it should be and it just seems like every couple of
years they call it 'the year of the woman
in rock'."
T= "Oh yeah."
A= "It's understandable. You know, but it's interesting."
M= "I think we're wasting time with it. I think it's finally done so
that now everybody can be a rocker, everybody."
A= "Ultimately."
M= "The final question of the evening from you folks out there. What
do you hope to gain from this tour? What do you hope to get from each
other? What do you expect to take with you at the end?"
A= "I don't expect to take anything. I don't expect anything from
this, really. I already know that I will be enjoying it immensely. And
that I will be touched every night because [to tori] when you
perform I am so touched. And I don't even need to have that, I already
know that I'm going to have it. And I expect nothing from you. "
T= "For me, I think to be able to be a part of something where there's
passion and deliciousness and booty and sensuality and that to me is so
much more exciting than a place where there's violence and punching
people and there is a, I don't know, an orgasm when it's about passion
and not about any kind of abuse crap. So I'm really looking forward to
that sensual thing. "
M= "That will be five and a half weeks of deliciousness."
T= "Well, yeah."
A= "Etceteras, etceteras."
M= "And more! That's great. This has been wonderful. Thank you both
so very much."
T= "Thank you."
A= "Thank you."
M= "Throw out a few plugs here, the tour starts tomorrow night here in
Ft. Lauderdale at the National Car Rental Center, and then travels,
obviously, for about five and half weeks. Winding up in
Laguna Hills in September in California."
T= "Yup."
M= "[to tori] And after that you're going to take a couple of weeks and
do some solo shows ."
T= "Couple of weeks."
M= "Let's see, you've got the new album, 'to venus and back' it will be
out September 21st. You've got all kinds of stuff. Alanis' 'Bringing
it Home' cybercast from somebody's house will be on Sonic Net on
mtv.com on Thursday, August 26th at 8:00 ET. And there you go. I'd like
to thank mp3.com for bringing this to you tonight. Also like to thank
mtv.com, Sonic Net, Atlantic Records, Maverick and all of you folks
writing in with your wonderful questions."
A= "Yes, thank you."
M= "Thank you."
Reports On The Chat
From Chrissie D.
I've been writing brief notes throughout the broadcast and also Toris
responses to all of the questions. I hope you can post this! Chrissie
D...8:45pm Aug 17th, 1998
Tori and alanis both sat down and hugged and were just chatting until the
broadcast started..Tori was commenting on how she sat saying "I'm
slouching..Thats what happens when you are 35".
I hope these questions are in order...they may not be though..
How do you write songs?- Tori said writing songs is like having bran that
morning..you dont know whats coming later on. She commented on food again
saying its a big thing and that Mark needs to learn to accept that. Later
she says that songs can visit you and shape you as well..and that it comes in
bits and pieces and its your job to hunt for the rest.
The next question asked what books Tori will be taking on the tour. She said
that she's "still packing".and so far she has four bags packed, but she will
have one more coming. She read a good psychology book called "Men something
Saturn and something evil." (she wasnt sure of the title)
The next question asked who her greatest influences were. She told the story
about Robert Plant and how when she was eight she wanted to marry him.
Next someone asked to both alanis and tori..."Anything other than music in
the future?" (meaning books, movies, etc.).. Tori's response.."No." and a few
giggles. "
Next someone asked what the favorite song was of the opposite singer..Tori
said that her favorite alanis song was "One hand in my pocket". Alanis said
anything from Little Earthquakes although she loves it all.
Tori was then commenting on how she gets excited hearing music live because
you can have a relationship with it. "You get the real persons essence..songs
shift. I still get excited how songs change".
Another question was next.."Do you believe in the concept of writers block?"
Tori discussed how there is an intake and outtake period. "I'm really into
buying shoes and books". And then she talked about how she read books..."I
read from back to front" She tries to be like a"filing systerm" and let it
all bleed through.
The host was discussing the opening acts, and it turned out that Tori and
Alanis both picked the same ones..it was a coincedence. They named a few,
the only one i was able to hear was named "Chloripyll" (sp?)
Tori mentioned "I married a Techy".
Someone asked if the new album is more computer oriented or stripped down?
"It's not stripped down..There's Rythym." she replied.
She discussed the Live record on the double disc and how they picked what to
put on the cd...She said that they ranked all of the shows. It "wasn't the
greatest hits {that they put on the cd}, more of did we play it half-decent."
she said.
They discussed religion, and christianity and race for a good part of the
interview..unfortunately my RealPlayer was fuzzy during a lot of it and I
couldnt understand some of it...She did mention that "The Christian God and I
obviously have a few things to sort out."
The next question asked for their views on sharing, and if it affects them
knowing their followers know so much about them. Tori said "I dunno, I'm
fascinated with other people's lives. I like hearing peopl's tales and that
they confide in me with what is going on. I feel special....There has to be a
relationship when you are up there..otherwise its like masturbating."
She said that songs becaome a "magic carpet ride" for her.
Another quote in the interview..."I don't get tired of making love to
something interesting."
Her view on electronic music..."Electronica is a bit 1996 sweetie."
Another question asked what tori does to relax.. She said that she loves to
dance, but she is bad at it and thinks people will make fun of her, so she
dances on the bus. She also mentioned she loves wine and chatting, and when
she is tired she likes to "Crash like a puppy and go to sleep and thats it!"
(she said it so cute and her face was just adorable!)
There was another discussion on political correction and being
hateful..again, my real player was acting up so it was fuzzy.
2nd to last question..."Do you like being seen as "women in rock?"
Tori replied "I think of me as a musician."
Last question"What do you hope to gain from the tour?" Tori says she wants
to be able to be a part of something with bootie, sensuality, and
passoin.."It's more exciting than violence. There's an orgasm when its about
passion and not any of that violece crap."
overall i thought the interview went well. There was net congestion and the
picture wasnt flowing very well, but besides that it was great. Alanis and
Tori seemed to get along very well and the host didnt make a fool out of
himself either like some of them do. :) I was pleased with the interview.
|
