Fame...(Playboy Interview)
 

Playboy: How can anyone adjust to the kind of success that you�ve enjoyed on the past year?
Morissette: I know. It�s a little unreal. But it�s what I�ve been after for years. I�ve been performing professionally for almost seven years and this is everything and more than I could possibly have imagined. But it�s fun to be recognised for your work and although it�s a little stressful, it�s not freaking me out. This is the second time around for me as a singer. In Canada, I had had some success and I
was totally miserable.
Playboy: So you�re suspicious of fame and being a celebrity?
Morissette: It�s an illusion because the word �fame� describes an artificial situation. Your work is known but you yourself are completely distant from your audience. There�s a gap there which creates a false sense of mystery. That�s what fame is. It distorts your perception, and this time around I was prepared to deal with it because I had had a bad taste on it before. The recognition is great, but fame [pauses] it�s not something I worry about.
Playboy: How have you adjusted to your new-found wealth? Is the money just piling up in your bank account?
Morissette: Piles and piles. [Laughs] My manager laughs at me because I still shop like I�m poor. I had a meeting with my accountant who went through some financial projections for the next year. It should have blown my mind but it didn�t. The only money I�ve really spent is on a house in LA which isn�t exactly palatial. I�m not motivated by the money. I�m not into buying Ferraris and yachts.
Playboy: What has it been like dealing with friends and other musicians who knew you before your success exploded?
Morissette: Some artists I�ve known over the years are having a hard time being happy for me. I can understand it; some of them are twice my age and have been working for a long time with nothing to show for it. I just hope I�ll never forget what it�s like to be feeling down and desperate.
Playboy: Do you find yourself becoming part of the celebrity gang in Hollywood � going to movie premieres, parties, things like that?
Morissette: No, no, no. I hate that kind of thing. It�s very artificial and embarrassing to find yourself in that kind of lifestyle. I�ve gone to a few music awards parties and that�s about it. I don�t see myself ever becoming a celebrity in that kind of sense. It�s not what I�m about.

Morissette: The difference is that my music is more honest now and Jagged Little Pill is my diary of my adolescence. It�s about all the crap a person goes through between the age of 14 and 21 and how many difficult changes you experience before you even begin to know who you are. In my earlier incarnation I repressed my emotions just like I did in my personal life. When I was a teenage singer I wasn�t ready to create in the way I knew I could because I was being pulled in different artistic directions that I found myself not being able to control. I was suffering from that and when my second album failed and my career began to tail off, I had to go back within myself and find out who I was and what I really needed to do with my artistic energy. I touched bottom a few times psychologically and everything that�s happening to me now is my personal payback time. I know what it feels like to be alone in a small apartment and wondering what�s happening to my life.
Playboy: When you were singing in Canada, you went through a phase where permed your hair, wore spandex tights and exposed some cleavage.
Morissette: [Shakes her head] When I was 16 or 17 I was in control of what I was doing in one way, but I didn�t stop to think why I was doing it. Now I don�t have to compromise any part of myself or my art to achieve the success I�ve had. It gives me a lot of confidence that I worked hard on something very personal, very deep, and it�s paid off commercially. I guess I�m not as cynical about the process as I used to be.
Playboy: So you feel somewhat vindicated?
Morissette: In a way, yes. I know what I�m doing now � I�m making music that is honest and comes from then heart. If I hadn�t done that, I wouldn�t have a record deal, I wouldn�t have a video, I wouldn�t have an album that�s number one, and I certainly wouldn�t have the guts to tour. I�m beginning to live the way I want to and everything that went into the album helped me leap over all the walls I had built around myself.
Playboy: Why do you think audiences have responded so intensely and enthusiastically to your album?
Morissette: I think all the touring I�ve been doing over the years has shown me that a lot of people, and especially a lot of women, have felt the exact same things that I talk about in my music. That�s the kind of connection every artist wants to make. It�s what I live for.

Playboy: Are you bitter over the kind of experiences that inspired the uglier side of some songs in Jagged Little Pill? Are you still mad at the guy who dumped you?
Morissette: No, I�m past that point. I�ve been past that point already for a few years. He doesn�t mean anything to me anymore. But three years ago I was in pretty bad shape and my only catharsis was to write that kind of song. He�s long been out of my mind, although it doesn�t bother me that he might wish he hadn�t been such a bastard to me.
Playboy: Many people were attracted to your album not simply because of the primal energy it exudes, but also because of the very frank and compelling sexual lyrics.
Morissette: I�m a very sexual person. I�ve always felt that sex is a powerful experience and that orgasm is one of the most important forms of emotional and physical release that we have.
Playboy: The lyrics are deeply personal. Did you have to dig deep inside yourself to come out with such rage and sexual passion?
Morissette: It was a very traumatic process but it was also incredibly thrilling to be able to turn my psyche inside out and put things on paper and being able to use my music to get that kind of message across. I obviously asked for all the attention by writing about my feelings and my past � that�s definitely part of me. I am a very sexual person but that�s just a piece of the pie. The album is about a process of self-analysis and a battle to restore my self-esteem. It�s something a lot of people struggle with in order to find themselves and move on with their lives.
Playboy: Is there a lot of dark, subconscious self-analysis going on in the music?
Morissette: Oh sure. The subconscious is a great source for nasty thoughts and lyrics � especially for women because we like to explore our inner demons more than men do. Men hate to go through painful self-analysis but women are almost obsessed with it, at least I�ve been like that at times in my life. But my subconscious is feeling a lot better these days. [Laughs]
Playboy: Does it feel odd to be answering questions about an album that traces a part of your life that is probably long behind you?
Morissette: Yes, it does feel odd. That period in my life seems like a million years ago. I had a strong sense of determination and I was a model of self-control. And that was the problem. I was a very sexual person and I was very active without losing my virginity until I was 19. That was symbolic of my repressive tendencies. I was enjoying myself but without letting loose, without fully releasing myself.
Playboy: You deliberately chose not to go all the way?
Morissette: Yes. I remained a virgin because I somehow thought that that was the sign of a good Catholic little girl, even though the rest of my life was deviant and pervers. Lately, I�ve been making up for a lot of sex and other things.
Playboy: Anger is the major theme of Jagged Little Pill. Are you still an angry person?
Morissette: I think that anger is part of everyone, but I wouldn�t describe myself as angry. I�m actually quite happy with myself these days, but I still get angry and frustrated about life from time to time. That�s only normal. I think a lot of writers began to make too much of the anger  theme and almost used it as a way of  attacking me as an angry, frustrated woman.  That�s the double standard in society. Men are allowed to be angry � especially male musicians � but somehow women aren�t supposed to be that way in life or in music. Society has a history of repressing female emotions � especially anger and frustration � and I�ve used music to celebrate anger and confusion. Those emotions are just as valid as happiness, and they�ve been part of most of the music that most male rock singers and bands have produced over the years.

Playboy: The principle collaborative force behind your new life as an artist has been Glen Ballard, who previously worked with the likes of Michael Jackson. How did that come together?
Morissette: I met Glen in February 1994 and we developed an immediate friendship and musical bond. Glen and I soon found out that we had something special in terms of writing together. We had both been unhappy with the kind of music we had done before, and this was our chance to start fresh and do exactly what we wanted. I had met a lot of other producers and songwriters in LA but nothing ever panned out. Glen was terrific because he understood the kind of pain that I was trying to express. Other producers never bothered to listen, but from the moment we began writing together, the magic was heart-stopping.
Playboy: How long did it take to get a record label interested in the music you began writing together?
Morissette: It took about three or four months. We had been passing around demo tapes to various record labels, but no one was even vaguely interested until Maverick called. When we got off the telephone with them, Glen and I just looked at each other and our jaws dropped. We were also concerned a bit by all the horror stories about major labels and how they screw people, but when we asked people about Maverick they would all say go for it. It�s also pretty cool because I�m the first female solo artist on the label.
Playboy: Did Glen Ballard encourage you to be as honest as you could in your work and not to be afraid of being sexually outspoken?
Morissette: Yes, he helped show me that I have to be true to my feelings. But I don�t want people to focus completely on the sexual side of the album, because that�s only one part of what I�m trying to explain about a difficult period in my life. Obviously You Oughta Know has an intense sexual theme because I�m venting a lot of frustration that was bottled up inside of me. If anything the song is about letting yourself go and releasing all your self-imposed mechanisms of control. The rest of the album is about finding yourself once you begin to taste your freedom.

Playboy: Maverick is owned by Madonna. How was the first meeting with your new boss?
Morissette: Madonna�s not my boss, although I think of her as a mentor who�s willing to support me and my music. When I met her, she was very down-to-earth and in touch with what I wanted to do and that�s all anyone can ask from a label. She even came backstage after a show and congratulated me when my album first reached number one in the States.
Playboy: Did you talk about your relationships with men?
Morissette: Yes. That was a major part of our conversations. We�re both aggressive women and we�ve both had to deal with men who may have difficulty responding to us because we demand a lot from them and don�t want to be dominated or seduced in the typical ways.
Playboy: A lot of men think of Madonna as a natural-born man-eater?
Morissette: Well, she�s not. She loves men, and has a lot to give any man she�s with. But you better let her answer those questions.

Playboy: Some journalists have described you as a ball-breaker.
Morissette: I�ve read those kinds of comments and they�re off base. Every time a woman wants to assert herself and have an equal relationship she�s automatically considered to be a bitch or a ball-breaker. That�s the double standard that still exists in our society. Men have to realise that the price of an equal and open relationship is the willingness to listen to and understand women who are determined and self-confident and who are not willing to lie down and get fucked.
Playboy: So you�re not worried about your image in that way?
Morissette: Oh I am if people are getting this impression of me as being a negative person. I�m not asking or suggesting anything in my music that�s not honest and real. I don�t think it�s being aggressive or man-hating to suggest that a lot of men don�t treat women properly and that both sexes have to find a better way of getting along with each other. That�s the ideal.

Playboy: How did you hold up under the pressures of touring?
Morissette: Sometimes it felt like a nightmare because I had never done this before and so I wasn�t physically prepared for all the travelling involved. But all the contact with the crowds made it very special because this time all the work I put into my music felt real.
It shows that what�s considered Top 40 today is pretty close to what the underground scene was five years ago. I didn�t stumble into my style, it has always been there. The words I�m singing have been brewing in me since I was 10 years old.

1. What inspired you to release 'Jagged Little Pill, Live'?
My motivation for creating this show was initially to have something for myself to keep as a souvenir. Something I could look back on in five or 40 years and gasp, shudder, be sentimental and proud. As it was nearing its completion, I felt the urge to share it with others. It's a document of what it was like to tour and support a record that was and continues to be very special to me. It captures being on the road during a time where the illusion taunted my/our growth and where the seductive and somewhat unrealistic aspects of our lifestyles tested us daily. While I could never do the two years justice in an hour and a half (there was a lot left out), I did my best to show the different mindsets, moods, coping mechanisms and humor that carried us through months of extremes. I am happy to share these moments, knowing that things (and I) will never be the same.
2. What has the road shown you?
It taught me to grow in my assertiveness, how to find my center in the midst of craziness, how to be a boss, that focusing on the songs/music above all else is the only way for me, that fame/adulation/celebrity status is illusory, how beautiful women are and how beautiful men are when they are fearless about sharing all sides of themselves unapolegetically.
3. Did the live performances of these songs reveal any new feelings?
The writing/recording process went by so quickly I never thought to analyze something that was never meant to be analyzed in the first place. My songs are expressions and snapshots of moments. There are some nights where I would channel my rage through certain songs...other nights where I would channel my sadness or compassion through others. It is not difficult for me to go back to the root emotion behind one of my songs. It was easy because every night there were new people to communicate to...the conviction would return simply because I was engaging in a new conversation with a new "person."
4. There are some private moments in the video--in one scene, you're seen meditating. How has meditation brought a balance to your life, especially on the road?
While it may have seemed like I was surrounded by allies, life on the road can be very insulated, therefore isolating. There is no handbook on how to deal with road life and external success, much less how to dispel the illusion without seeming spoiled and ungrateful. Meditation taught me how to get back to the fundamental truth. We get distracted by all that is outside of ourselves in this desperate race to "get" something that will make us feel whole and connected.
We seek bliss through "things" (other people, money, status, sex, adulation...etc) when all we have to do is be still. Because what we so desire is in the silence. It is us. It is tiring and futile to try to grasp for it by attaining or achieving "things." Meditation, along with "achieving" what could have seemingly been the "ultimate achievements," made me realize that we are all sadly and ignorantly chasing our tails.
5. What's it like to have people all over sing your lyrics back to you?
Endearing. There is nothing sweeter than watching (hearing) someone who doesn't speak English try so hard to communicate, much less sing! I'm guessing the foreign countries either sang the words phonetically or learned the words over time. A lot of the countries had the lyric book from the CD printed in their language...so they knew what I was "going on about" as someone in Japan put it (Ha).
6. What were the earliest shows on the tour like?
The earlier shows were truly all about me/us getting my/our bearings. Trying to find the balance between entertainment and communication (I eventually enjoyed the latter much more). What was happening at that time was overwhelming in that the curveballs were coming at such a rate that I barely had enough time to catch my breath before the next situation had to be grappled with. There was a while where I was briefly swept away by what I now call "the bullshit." My fear was manifested in a persona onstage that was over the top and urgent. In time the urgency turned into a more relaxed and unapologetic expression. A less fishbowl consciousness. I realized both on and offstage that if someone wanted to listen to me they would meet me halfway...I didn't have to whack them between the eyes to get my point across. Those who wanted to listen would, those that didn't, didn't have to. This realization resulted in a big turning point for me. If for a brief moment I was lured away from the songs themselves, this revelation guided me
back.
7. What excited you about editing the way you did?
I had 220 hours worth of footage...
8. You say in the video, when being interviewed, that "I'm much more courageous when I sing than when I speak." Where do you get your courage from?
My courage comes from my ability to be unapologetically vulnerable. I have found my vulnerability to be very empowering. (Vulnerability does not mean weakness, it means fearlessness.) To be afraid of my weaknesses and to always
"put my best foot forward" (which is what could have been done with this show) would be misrepresenting what actually happened. Being an artist means you are on a journey. An emotional and creative one. I believe they go hand in hand. And I have no problem having people come along with me on that journey for however long they'd like.
9. Can you talk about the acoustic version of "You Oughta Know"?
That song has been misunderstood at times. It was written during a time when I was hurt (thankfully) by someone whom I had relied upon to give me my
self-worth. When you give someone that power, the biggest favor they can do for you is to give it back. That is what this person did (although not in the kindest way) and I was broken. The song helped me honestly release how I felt without censoring myself in order to get it out of my system. The acoustic version taps into the original emotion that inspired the song in the first place. It was much easier for me to be angry, than openly sad.
10. Can you talk about the road and its wavelength?
Road life is different for everyone...It is a place where it is mysteriously easy to self-destruct. My role was one of leader, friend, mother, boss, child. I dealt with feminism issues as well as the issue of where to draw the professional boundary with certain people. At the end of the day we were all there for each other as much as we could be under the circumstances and we became a temporary family. There were a lot of beautiful moments that I will never forget.

Alanis: The main reason for doing this was just to have a souvenir for myself but at the same time I love...I love what it is to be a filmmaker or to be a film making studenet, you know. And I love the cinematography of a lot of the shots, I love black and white, so we just played..."
"I'm the happiest person alive when I'm editing something when i'm on that end of things...and not to say that I don't enjoy performing but I really love editing and putting together the show taught me so much, I was working with some pretty brilliant people."
DD: And you got pretty close to your editor, no doubt?
Alanis: Yeah!! We got really close (laughs)! He knows just about as much as he can know at this point!
 I think I...whether I've been consciously doing it or not, I've been trying to down-play the celebrity aspect of it, just because the concept of fame is very...i don't know, it's an illusion basically so...as often as I can dispel that illusion, I do, but without breaking my back doing it. But I don't know if I was consciously doing it or not when I was doing this. This was more just for myself - just to get as much footage together as I could of, of...memories.
DD: Yeah...and now you're letting everybody see it.
Alanis: Yeah. I wanted to share it with whoever wanted it, you know. They can get it if they want. If they're over it and not interested, they don't have to get nothing! (laughs)
DD: In the beginning, when you're introducing the guys in the band? There's some very loving...and kinda hunky shots of them.
Alanis: (laughs) Loving and hunky in the same sentence! I don't know if they go together!
DD: When you cut to people asking questions, it kinda gives you a pathetic view of...you know, the similarity of questions around the world and interviewing techniques.
Alanis: In their defense, there's only so much you can ask, without crossing boundaries, you know. there's the curiosity that falls into the same category just because it's music that we're doing.
DD: How important is the whole yoga thing? Is it your tool to center?
Alanis: Yeah. It's just my way of "coming back." And I do get out there and lost every once in awhile so I do need to come back, and I do it all the time.  I learned over the last couple of years of what made me comfortable within the whirlwind that was the last two years. I needed to find a way to keep my sanity and that was just being myself, and not only dispelling the illusion of what it is to be a celebrity but dispelling the illusion that society tells you what you should look like as a woman artist. As a famous person, you should look a certain way and, well, some of it is fun. it's also very one-dimensional and unrealistic, I think.
(*shot of Berlin underground the venue, shown right after the Head Over Feet song, where Alanis is yodeling in the background* )
DD: That shot of the Berlin Bunker?
Alanis: That was the very tunnel Hitler used to walk through and people would get shot on the way to his speeches. So it was pretty intense, that was an intense show. There was some weird energy there. Pretty dark. We're changing the energy there, with all the shows people do.
DD: Good!
Alanis: Yeah! Very good!
DD: There's moments of you up on the screen, the drum sequence at the end when you are so lost, so gone...
Alanis: I've been thinking that lately! (laughs) Just even watching it, I haven't watched it in a little while and I watched it again, and I now realize why I have so much energy now - cause I'm not releasing as much as I was on the road.
DD: You feel like you're getting closer to being fearless soon?
Alanis: Um,...yeah. I mean, I'll always have fears, but it's not so much fearlessness, I don't think any human can be fearless, but I think a human can feel fear and do it anyway. (laughs) That sounds so horribly contrived but you know, feel the fear but do it anyway! Yeah, that's what I do. I feel fear all the time.  I'm growing up in my spiritual world and in my personal world very much. I'm actually happy to have the time to do that now because when you're on the road you don't time to do very much other than survive.  I'm the happiest i've ever been right now, just taking time off and regaining my perspective and finding out what it is I really do and see who it is I really am even though a lot of this can tend to mess with your head. And It did for awhile but I ...I just...write music and I grow and there's certain areas that I really feel I want to grow more and I just love creating and it's as simple as that.

Intro: "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie".
Why did you come up with such a title?

Alanis:It looked, it sort of, busting my chops and at the same time being quite serious in that a lot of what I've always felt, things like infatuation, things that I thought were just purely optional, I would always sort of downplay them because I wanted to filter everything through my intellect, and I would always say that I, you know, I wasn't, I didn't enjoy infatuation, I didn't enjoy things that were purely just emotional and so.....the truth of the matter is I absolutely enjoy it [the title]. [laughs] And that's what it was about.

SM: So you went to India? I heard that you went to India and I assume that�s why that�s in the song, �Thank U�.
Alanis: Yeah.
SM: So, what happened in India?
Alanis: Just the experience� of going somewhere that is a completely different culture from the one that I was born and raised in. There is a huge element of people living in the present, a concept that I never really understood.
SM: It�s tough.
Alanis: It�s really tough because I had always been� society and my upbringing it just encouraged me to be kinetic and to run and to grasp and to achieve, all of these things quote unquote. I mean, to a certain extent I had achieved a lot of them and there�s still an element of questioning as to what element of my feeling that it wasn�t outside of myself that I was going to find who I was.And, going to India, I mean the very act of going to India, in and of itself, said that I still thought that I had to actually travel somewhere to find this but I did find over there so many different answers and all of them sort of pointed it back to myself. You know, that there were more things to find outside of myself. So� just letting go and travelling to people that I had to resolve conflict with I couldn�t run away from. So, it was great! It required a lot but it was really beautiful.

I did some triathlons when I took time off. And snowboarded. I love seeing my body as an instrument as opposed to just the ornament that society wants us to see it as. But� I breathe, and I sit, and sort of acknowledge whatever comes up, whatever emotion comes up, and I just
stay in it and work through it. It lightens me up. It makes me much more available to other people, too when I do that.

Alanis and Maverick Records will set an Internet precedent by becoming the first major artist to world premiere a new video on the web.
This Friday (June 25), America Online will be the only place where fan can check
out the worldwide debut of ALANIS' self-directed video for "So Pure," the new
single from her SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE album (Maverick Recording Co.). Expected to be seen by approximately 18 million viewers, the video will launch in various speeds of RealAudio at 5:00 AM ET and will be available on the home page for 24 hours -- and from the home page, entertainment page and music page throughout the weekend. Via AOL, subscribers will access the space with Keyword: ALANIS. On Monday (June 28), the promotion will also be made available on the Internet on the music page of America Online's website (www.aol.com) and its entertainment partner website, ASYLUM.COM (www.asylum.com/alanis) for the entire week. The promotion on all sites will conclude Tuesday, July 6. Meanwhile, AOL is already teasing the premiere with seven slides from the video within their entertainment space and music space of AOL. With the "So Pure" video, ALANIS extends the melodic buoyancy and dance rhythms of the song, which hits radio June 29. Shot during two days in Toronto, the strikingly choreographed video is a joyous celebration of dance. Throughout the video, ALANIS and actor Dash Mihok--who has appeared in such films as Romeo & Juliet and The Thin Red Line--are seen as a couple who seamlessly dance their way through the eras, from the `40s through the `90s. Decked out in period clothing amid an elaborate array of settings, they
incorporate such moves as swing, tap, Latin, modern dance and free-style. The
video was choreographed by Kevin O'Day, who's danced with companies such as the Joffrey Ballet and Twyla Tharp and created choreography for dance companies worldwide. "Over the last year," says ALANIS, "I'd become enamored with the dancing styles of the `40s in particular and intrigued by the evolution of dancing throughout the last five decades and the spirit and different kinds of attitudes that fuel them. When it came time to create this video, there was no question that there would be dancing in it and that these different eras needed to be referenced!". Currently, ALANIS is overseas on her world "The Junkie Tour" and is set for "Woodstock `99" which takes place July 2345 in Rome, New York. The singer, songwriter and musician will then embark on the "5-1/2 Weeks" tour with Tori Amos August 18, kicking off in Ft. Lauderdale at the NCR Arena.

Roma, 1 Maggio 2000 : Guibilieo dei lavoratori.
Alanis ha cantato per il Papa, nel classico concerto del PrimoMaggio, quest'anno dedicato per la cancellazione del debito dei paesi in via di sviluppo. Sul palco si sono esibiti anche Lou Reed, Eurithmics, Noa, Carmen Consoli, Irene Grandi...