ALANIS SO PURE - Articles and interviews

Here's a clue for the clueless generation: If you're going to worship someone, you ought to know what she looks like. Outside the Mercury Cafe Brewhouse, in Denver, where Alanis Morissette is playing a club gig, a desperate young man approaches the singer in the hopes of buying an extra ticket, unaware that he's talking to the headliner. It's a few hours before show time, and already a crowd of ticketless fans--a mix of intense young women, bookish lads and preppy couples--has gathered to try to buy scalped tickets to this sold-out show.

Just because fans of Morissette connect with her heartfelt, earnest songs--in fact, they seem on the verge of annointing her rock's Generation X-rated diva--doesn't mean they could pick their heroine out of a police lineup. They're not to blame: The hit clip for that unltimate bad-breakup anthem, "You Oughta Know," is so atmospherically photographed as to make its star a barely recognizable MTV icon. Similarly, the photo of Morissette on the cover of her smash album, Jagged Little Pill, has a hazy, elusive quality.

"I've been told a few times now that I don't look like my songs," Morissette says. "People expect me to have purple hair and a pierced nose and boobs. Then they meet me, and I'm just...me." In this instance, "me" is a petite but curvaceous young woman who wears little makeup. "I hate to let anyone down, but I'm not the cleavage sort of aesthetic babe. I've been down that road before, and that's not what I'm about."

Exactly what Morissette is about has become a subject of passionate debate on the Internet and everywhere else music fans meet since "You Oughta Know" started its long reign atop the modern-rock radio charts. She has been called everything from brilliant to naive, naysayers are pissed that the public has chosen to make Morissette a star instead of the critically lauded Liz Phair. In any case, the masses have spoken with their wallets. Want to know how hot Morissette is? The other day she got a gushing love letter from the other queen of 1995's pop culture prom, Alicia Silverstone.

On Jagged Little Pill's "Right Through You," Morissette sings about a time that sounds like the present: "Now that I'm Miss Thing/Now that I'm a zillionaire." Although actually written when she was broke and sleeping on friend's couches in Los Angeles, the lines appear to have come true.

"I guess in a way, I am Miss Thing right now," Morissette says, shaking her head. "I laugh now when I sing the song onstage because the whole thing's so ironic. When I wrote those words, I was the furthest thing in the world from it." Not that she's complaining. Unlike some of her contemporaries, Morissette says she's excited by her success: "I asked for this."

Partly because Morissette collaborated on Jagged Little Pill with Glen Ballard--a successful songwriter and pop producer known for his work with Wilson Phillips, among others--her critics suggest she's simply a contrived creation of the studio. But for the crowd in Denver, there's no question that Morissette is for real. From the moment she kicks into "All I Really Want" with furious harmonica-blowing accompaniment, it's obvious that a healthy percentage of this packed audience has not only taken these songs to heart, it knows them all by heart--and this for an album that at the time of the Denver show had been released only five weeks. Morissette's uncensored documentations of her psychosexual former-Catholic-girl torments has become the resonant fodder for the rest of the entire listening world. As she sings on "Forgiven": "I sang halleluhah in the choir/I confessed my darkest deeds to an envious man/My brothers, they never went blind for what they did/But I may as well have/In the name of the Father, the skeptic and the Son/ I had one more stupid question."

"The reaction of the audience has been so amazing and open," says Morissette. "It's comforting and bittersweet to know that I'm not the only one who's gone through these things. At the same time it's a little disturbing that apparently there's a lot of people out there having gone through such painful things. The reaction has been pretty intense." Sometimes the reaction is so intense, it shocks even Morissette. "There was a mosh pit in Minneapolis when we played there. Is it me, or is this music not about mosh-pitting?"

Still sings with conviction and whipping her long mane of hair around the stage, Morissette brings the Denver crowd to a frenzy. Some may find her powerful voice--which at times recalls Sin_ad O'Conner's and Kate Bush's--overly mannered, but she really is one of rock's most gifted vocalists. Like the Counting Crows' Adam Duritz and the Cranberries' Dolores O'Riordan, she's a brave lead singer willing to go to an emotional level just millimeters below over the top.

With confidence, Morissette leads her crack four-piece backing band--none of whom played on Jagged Little Pill--through looser, more explosive versions of the album's material. Her young band comes from journeymen backgrounds: Guitarist Jesse Tobias, a former member of Mother Tongue, was briefly a Red Hot Chili Pepper before being replaced by Dave Navarro; guitarist Nick Lashley and drummer Taylor Hawkins played together in Sass Jordan's backing band. Then there's bassist Chris Chaney, whose prior gigs include time with '80s soft-pop star Christopher Cross. In a 65-minute set, Morissette and the band play everything on the album except "Head Over Feet." They include no covers, but they've rehearsed a ska version of the Beatles "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" and the Human League's "(Keep Feeling) Fascination."

Morissette connects with her audience in a way that--when viewed without fashionable cynicism--is moving. The dynamic is less like a concert than modern-rock group therapy with Morissette serving as a sort of twentysomething Joni Mitchell backed by thrashy guitar. Despite having a song called "Ironic," she's as unironic an artist as they currently come. "Thank you for understanding," she meaningfully tells the crowd before launching into her encore number, "Perfect," an anthem about the pressure of youth.

According to Madonna, the woman whose label, Maverick, Morissette records for, Morissette is handling those pressures just fine, "She reminds me of me when I started out: slightly awkward but extremely self-possessed and straightforward," says Madonna. "There's a sense of excitement and giddiness in the air around her--like anything's possible, and the sky's the limit."

Who has earned more of a right to sing the postmodern blues than a former Canadian child star who was washed up before she turned 18, an impressionable youth who once opened for Vanilla Ice?

Morissette was born on June 1, 1974, in Ottawa. Her French-Canadian father, Alan, worked as a high school principal; her Hungarian-born mother, Georgia, was a teacher. Morissette describes her parents as "very free-spirited, curious people." The family moved frequently when Morissette was young, as her parents skipped from school to school, teaching the children of military personnel. From the ages of 3 to 6, she lived in the former West Germany with her parents, her older brother, Chad, and her twin brother, Wade, before moving back to Canada.

Morissette got the performing bug early. At 6, she took up piano, and at 9 she started writing her first songs. Her acting career, however, took off first. By age 10 she had made a splash on Nickelodeon's cable-TV kids series You Can't Do That On Television. "It was a good, stupid, sarcastic kind of show," Morissette says. "Very obnoxious and very tongue in cheek." Recently, MTV News aired footage of a virtually unrecognizably young Morissette being slimed by her co-stars on the show. At that time, jealous viewers wanted to slime Morissette, too. "I got hate mail because I played the girlfriend of the two lead guys on the show," she says, "so I represented a threat to them ever having these guys. It wasn't the best experience." She went on to other acting work, including a "horrible" movie in which she appeared as a rock singer named Alanis, and future Friends star Matt LeBlanc played her boyfriend.

"But music has always been my priority," says Morissette. At 10, she used some of her acting money to cut an indie single called "Fate Stay With Me." At 14, she signed a song-publishing deal, which led to two MCA/Canada albums. And so it was that the year Nirvana told the world Nevermind, 16-year-old Alanis Morissette released her first album of vaguely Madonna-esque dance pop. She was credited simply as Alanis.

Morissette says her parents never pushed her into showbiz, Still, she adds, "I don't think there's such a thing as a dysfunction-free family. My parents, I love them, I'd jump in front of a truck for them, but no matter what family you're in, there are going to be obstacles, and I'd be lying if I said there weren't any." Asked if her parents pushed her to perfection, she says simply, "I just wanted to do whatever it took to get the approval of my parents and the people I was working with at the time."

Morissette's early musical output is fairly generic. Her pipes were already powerful, but the only quality that ties her first two albums to her current material is a healthy sense of adolescent lust. "You're just a party, party, party boy/From the moment I walked into your life/I knew right then it was a serious thing for you," she sings on "Party Boy," from 1991's Alanis. Things took a darker turn on "Big Bad Love," from her 1992 follow-up effort, Now is the Time. "I'm having dreams in the night of you, baby," she sings, "and Sigmund Freud would have thought I was crazy."

"No, I'm not scared people might hear those records," says Morissette. "I never did Playboy centerfolds. There's nothing I regret. Maybe people will just understand my lyrics now a little more if they hear those records. It validates this record." (Hey, unless you're Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson, how would you like to listen to a record you did when you were 16?)

Alanis sold more than 100,000 copies in Canada and earned Morissette a Juno Award as Most Promising Female Artist, while Now is the Time sold in excess of 50,000 there. She doesn't disavow the earlier recordings, but she considers Jagged Little Pill her "real" debut. "There was an element of me not being who I really was at the time," she says of her first two albums. "It was because I wasn't prepared to open up that way. The focus for me then was entertaining people as opposed to sharing any revelations I had at the time. I had them, but I wasn't prepared to share."

As you might gather from listening to Jagged Little Pill's "Forgiven," some of Morissette's revelations involved her feelings about sexuality and spirituality. She went to church every Sundy while growing up and attended a Roman Catholic school. "Then I rejected the whole concept of organized religion," says Morissette. "Still do. But now when I'm onstage, it's very spiritual. I feel very close to God when I'm up there."

Morissette says that part of her problem with the Roman Catholic church is its sexual repression. In "You Oughta Know" she describes herself as "perverted." Today she simply describes herself as being "a very sexual person." "I was active and physically doing the things that were sexual when I was younger," she says. There was one side of me that was crazy and deviant, doing things ahead of my time, and another side that was very held back, wanting to remain virginal for the sake of being the good white Catholic girl."

These sorts of tensions led the overachieving Morissette to a few episodes she characterizes as breakdowns. "I had a few," she says. "That sort of comes from a passive-aggressive approach. From the time I was 10, I was working with all these people trying to control me and tell me what they thought I should be and what I should look like. And I tried to control myself to be what they wanted me to be." Morissette says drugs were never a problem for her "because my getting into drugs would have meant that I wasn't perfect."

In an attempt to find more fulfillment musically and perhaps even grow up a little, Morissette moved to Toronto after graduating from high school at 17. "The idea was to let her live on her own and see what's life's about," says Scott Welch, who became her manager around that time. Morissette calls these "a couple of the most growthful years for me." Creatively, however, she searched with little luck for the right musical collaborator.

Eventually, Morissette found free articstic expression in a most unlikely location: Los Angeles. "It was a sort of baptism by fire when I got there," she says. "I was held up at gunpoint in Hollywood when I first moved here. Still, depite all the negatives, it was like in 'Hand in My Pocket': I was broke, but I was happy."

Professionally, Morissette went on about 10 bad "blind dates" with various songwriting pros and in the process "learned only what I didn't want to do." Things turned around in February '94 when she knocked on Glen Ballard's front door. A onetime protŽgŽ of Quincy Jones, Ballard cowrote Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" and has worked with everyone from Evelyn "Champagne" King to David Hasselhoff.

The two hit it off famously. both had gone the safe commercial route before and were anxious to try something more adventurous. "Glen had a certain history, as I had, and when we met, we immediately connected," Morissette says. "We just started with a clean slate."

"What struck me about Alanis was that she was so incredibly self-possessed," Ballard says, "I just connected with her as a person, and, almost paranthetically, it was like 'Wow, you're 19?' She was so intelligent and ready to take a chance on doing something that might have no commercial application. Although there was some question about what she wanted to do musically, she knew what she didn't want to do, which was anything that wasn't authentic and from the heart."

Feeling safe in the nurturing environment of Ballard's home studio, Morissette's creative floodgates opened. "It was the most spiritual experience either of us ever had with music," she says. "The whole thing was very accelerated and stream of consciousness.

"The record is my story," Morissette says. "I think of the album as running over the different facets of my personality, one of them being my sexual self. To isolate 'You Oughta Know' is a misrepresentation of the whole story. By no means is this record just a sexual, angry record. That song wasn't written for the sake of revenge, it was written for the sake of release. I'm actually a pretty rational, calm person."

Despite her youth, Morissette says the songs on Jagged Little Pill are based on numerous relationships. "Yeah, I've met a lot of people and done a lot of things," she says matter-of-factly.

The album title comes from a lyric in "You Learn," which for Morissette expresses the idea that "a lot of times when you're immersed in something painful, you don't realize there's any lesson. A lot of what I wrote about was difficult times from which I walked away a better person."

Much of Jagged Little Pill was recorded with only Morissette and multi-instrumentalist Ballard in the studio. She wrote all the lyrics and worked out musical ideas with Ballard. Only later did some of the other musicians on the album--keyboardist Benmont Tench and the Red Hot Cili Peppers' Flea and Dave Navarro--add overdubs. "We'd literally write and record a song in a day," says Ballard. "That process was so much a factor in us capturing the moment."

Confident they were onto something special, Ballard sent a tape of some of the early songs to a friend at Atlantic. Although a full-out bidding war never materialized, a couple of companies expressed interest. "The process was difficult for me," says Morissette. "Since I was 14, I've spent a lot of time with people focused on everything except the music. For me this was not about money or getting patted on the back. I met with some people who'd tell me, 'Why don't you change this lyric, and the kids will respond more.' And I'd say, 'I didn't write it for them. I wrote it for me.'"

Finally, Morissette found a new corporate home shortly after she and Ballard took a meeting with Maverick's A&R executive Guy Oseary, who heard "You Oughta Know" and "Perfect" and went straight to his colleagues Freddy DeMann and Abbey Konowitch. After seeing Morissette sing a few songs live in Ballard's studio, Oseary signed her late last year.

Asked what initially drew her to Morissette's music, Madonna answers, "Her honesty, her pain, her hopefulness." Morissette returns the compliment. "I respect Madonna very much," says Morissette. "I respect her strength and her resilience in a crazy business. I still remember seeing her in an interview when I was younger, talking about freedom at a time when I was coming to terms with my own sexuality. She's a great CEO."

Jagged Little Pill came out this past June, and Los Angeles' influential alternative station KPOQ jumped on it immediately. "I guess we're all so callous that if people start responding to a record, everyone just assumes it's hype," says Welch, Morissette's manager. "We were just hoping to sell maybe 250,000 or maybe 300,000 albums by the end of the year and build a base. Look what happened."

Jagged Little Pill is now double platinum and shows no signs of slowing down. Obviously the music-buying public approves of the new, grown-up Morissette in a big way. But more important, what do her parents think?

"They're happy because they know a lot of what I've gone through, and they're happy I got it all out of my system," Morissette says with a smile. "My did called me up when he heard the record and said, 'So you're expressing a lot of emotion. That's good.' And I laughed and said, 'Yeah, I am, to say the least.'"

Over lunch in New York a few weeks later, Morissette says she's again ready to do a little acting. She says portraying another character would leaver her feeling less vulnerable. "It takes a lot out of me, singing every night," she says, "knowing there are people listening to things I never thought you could even share with one person, let alone everyone."

Final preparations for one of the biggest days of Morissette's life are being made as she speaks. Last night she collapsed from exhaustion after an important New York show that she nearly cancelled hours before show time. Later this afternoon she's taping The Late Show With David Letterman before rushing to the night's gig in Philidelphia. Tomorrow there's a video shoot for Jagged Little Pill's second single, "Hand in My Pocket." Still to come are the MTV Video Awards. But as she chats away in a Manhattan health-food restaurant, the self-confessed bohemian comes off like the calmest person in the Top 10.

Offers are pouring in for tours, soundtracks and movies. "I just have to make sure I do things for the right reasons," Morissette says emphatically. "I've got to remember what brought me to this place, which was being honest. If I stop doing that, I'm disrespecting what got me here."

Already, Morissette has learned that she doesn't want to do more innuendo-laden radio interviews like the one she did on KROQ's Loveline, a sex-oriented listener call-in show. "I owe it to myself and Glen and this album not to demean it," Morissette says. "Jokes about me taking guys out to theaters are not funny." (Not that she doesn't have a sense of humor about her angst-in-her-pants image: One of the slogans on her new tour T-shirts is INTELLECTUAL INTERCOURSE.)

Retaining the spirit of the album was also a goal in finding her band, according to Morissette. "We auditioned 50 people just through word of mouth," she says. "The idea was not just to make sure the musicianship was amazing but also that we didn't want jaded people who had done the road thing one too many times and spent their time rolling their eyes. And as you can see, I got real lucky."

While traveling around in a crowded van and staying in cheap hotels, the Jagged Little Pill tour mates have shared an authentically grungy experience. Part of the idea of this tour--booked before the album took off--was to give them the chance to become close-knit, which they have. The only thing the band is lacking is a name, although Morissette reports that the boys in the band are pushing for the Sexual Chocolate.

To stay sane on the road, Morissette reads, meditates, and exercises. Socially, she says, "I've just been dating a whole bunch of people and kind of making up for lost time." More chastely, she has made a habit of painting the fingernails of many of the men she encounters. She started with her own band mates and has moved onto other men she has met, including the members of Better Than Ezra. "It's a good excuse to get a guy to put his hand on your knee," she says.

As its namesake paints away, Morissette-mania spreads worldwide, even to Canada, an early holdout. Apparantly some of her old fans initially had trouble with the way in which she has grown up in public. "For obvious reasons, they're a little more apprehensive in Canada," Morissette says. "A number of interviews I did turned into adversarial situations up there. They'd tell me my records sucked and that what I'm doing now is contrived. If it was that calculated, I must be pretty darn smart. Don't give me that much credit."

Since Morissette's work is so autobiographical, does she think she has to endure more fucked-up romances and other miseries before she can write another powerful album? "I think it's inevitable that you go through the hard, fucked-up stuff," she says. "If you're alive on this earth, it's going to happen, so I'm not worried."

Her performance of "You Oughta Know" on Letterman goes well. Morissette sings the song's uncensored lyrics, knowing full well she'll get bleeped because you really can't do that on television. As she makes her hasty exit out of the studio, Morissette runs into fellow Canadian Paul Shaffer. "Great performance," the bandleader tells her warmly. "Even more anguished than the album version."

The next morning--too few hours after returning from the Philly show--Morissette and the Sexual Chocolate gather in their lobby and head out to Brooklyn, N.Y., for the "Hand in My Pocket" video shoot. On the way the rest of the band members scant two newspaper reviews of the New York show. The New York Times is extremely respectful; the Daily News is extremely savage. SHE DOES THE TRITE THING is the News' headline. The piece calls Morissette "pop's latest and most transparent poster girl for female rage."

"You don't want to read that one," Lashley tells her.

"I don't want to read either one," Morissette retorts before quickly offering to paint the guitarist's fingernails black.

Upon arriving at the shoot, Morissette's thrilled to see that the vision she has been brainstorming in recent weeks with director Mark Kohr, know for his work with Green Day, has come to life. An entire picturesque Brooklyn block has been transformed into a colorful, Fellini-esque parade route. An eclectic cast of characters, including skateboarding punks and the police on horseback, lend the scene a nicely surreal feel. The Cadillac that Morissette will drive in the parade awaits her. The locals, meanwhile, are trying to figure out what the hell's going on. "I think it's some foreign group," says an elderly lady standing in front of the All for Paws pet store.

The band members will only appear as bored parade observers. Morissette, on the other hand, has settled in for an all-day shoot that will end with an artificial rainstorm. In a moment of down time, they all sit in a trailer and watch a replay of their Letterman performance. Suddenly there's a knock at the door. A New York policewoman has spotted Morissette and requests an autograph on, of all things, the Daily News review. DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ.

SPIN MAGAZINE nov 95

Not long ago, Alanis Morissette was a cheesy Canadian pop princess. Now the 21-year-old phenom has become the fastest rising star in music. But is it possible to outrun your past? James Hannaham trails along.

I shouldn't be here. From a vantage point not ten feet away, I'm watching Alanis Morissette grind her arms and legs through a vigorous workout on an obsolete stationary bicycle-the kind where the handlebars go back and forth. Minutes earlier, her tour manager had firmly instructed me to keep my distance.

"She'll be in the gym," he said, "but we'll see you at dinner."

"I could just go down to the gym..."

I squeaked.

"That's not what I said," he growled.

But how could he expect me to obey orders knowing that, over in the hotel exercise room, the pop banshee of the moment was sweating her booty off? Fueled by 1995's anthem of the jilted, "You Oughta Know," the 21-year-old Morissette has successfully packaged female anger and sold it back to ex-boyfriends worldwide at an incredible markup. Her American debut, Jagged Little Pill, is racing up the Billboard album chart with all the fury of a ravenous she-wolf hunting her prey, and her blurry form dominates MTV much the same way her record label CEO, Madonna, once did.

The sweathog grunting before me, though, doesn't at all resemble the royally pissed-off alterna-grrrl who refused Sinead O'Connor's abandoned Lollapalooza spot, the siren whose show Alicia Silverstone, the summer's slickest teen, clamored to see. As if. Clad in plaid shorts and a baggy white tee, her long brown hair pulled back, Morissette could be Typical Girl History Major at Liberal Arts College. In a space as cramped as this, hardly 20 feet square, she's forced to exchange a tentative "Hi." Her monosyllable provides few clues as to whether or not she'll bite my head off when my espionage becomes clear. But when she abandons the noisy bike and approaches the bench press machine, she smiles and turns to me. Noticing my confusion at a padded contraption attached to the weight-station, she comes around to help out. "It's for curling, I think," she offers after some tinkering. The vengeful video vixen, it turns out, isn't Tank Girl after all; she's friendly and sweet, almost flirtatious. And a samaritan of sorts.

Lousy with guilt, I confess to staking her out. Her shoulders tense momentarily, but she quickly rules me out as a potential stalker. "Nobody ever recognizes me," she sighs, as if saying so will keep it true.

"I was thinking about your song," I shyly begin.

"Which one?"

" 'Your House,' " I admit.

"Uh-oh." Those shoulders stiffen once more. "Are you some kind of stalker?"

"Your House," for those uninitiated, is the super-secret track at the very end of Jagged Little Pill. Search past track 13, the uncredited remix of "You Oughta Know," until you get to 5:12, and you'll hear an a cappella Morissette seeking absolution from a lover whose house she has broken into-she takes a bath, plays his Joni Mitchell albums, puts on his cologne-as she sings, "I shouldn't be here without permission / You might be home soon / Would you forgive me, love / If I laid in your bed?" Saturated with reverb, the track possesses a chantlike, religious quality that leads me to wonder if the one-time Catholic is actually singing to some deity.

"That is the only song on the record that's not 100 percent true," she confides. "I was staying in this guy's house in Hollywood and he wasn't there for a week. I remember being overly curious and sleeping in his bed. It felt eerie and unnerving; I also had kind of a crush on him. I get burned at the end of the song because if I had really snooped around as much as I wanted to, it would have been wrong. I probably would have found something I didn't want to find. I deserved it." She laughs. "So do you."

That evening, when Morissette appears for dinner, a mild transformation has occurred. Her hair, extending just about to her elbows, falls perfectly straight until it reaches her chest, where it freaks out into zig-zaggy tentacles. She's wearing a white oxford fastened together by a safety pin in only one place despite its fully functional buttons, baggy satin sweatpants, and no-name tennis sneakers-very Haight-Ashbury '90s love child. I can't help but notice her fingernails, decorated in a lovely shade of robin's-egg-blue nail polish. Not only do I notice it on Morissette, but on several members of her band, a Muppet Show of longhaired L.A. session dudes. "I've made everyone put it on," she smiles before glancing at my own fingertips with devious intent. "Would you like me to do yours?"

I make some small talk with the Muppets, but I can't help watching Morissette sideways. Not because I fear an unauthorized manicure, but because she knows how to get your attention without demanding it. She's a hair twirler. If you've got it, twirl it, I suppose. She claps her hands in front of her mouth and squeals when she gets excited about things, particularly the temporary tattoo she plans to buy and affix to her guitarist's butt, a drawing of a hand with the inscription, "Grab My Love." When a cake arrives for the table next to us, she croaks "Happy Birthday" just as out of tune as everyone else.

"Hey, you can't sing!" I exclaim.

"You're right," she deadpans. "You'd better go home."

The next time we meet, just before the evening's Pontiac, Michigan, show at 7th House, a tiny rock club just beyond the affluent edge of Detroit's suburbs, the metamorphosis is complete. Morissette is devastating. She's done little more than slap on some foundation and accentuate that big Carly Simon mouth with a smidgen of burgundy lipstick, but that proves plenty. She warms up her voice by outsinging the Motown on the radio. Now I recognize her. You only have to flick a switch to turn on a light.

7th House looks to be about two-thirds full, the twentyish pop music consumers almost evenly divided between guys and gals. Strangely enough, this miniature cult following includes a large number of couples, who nuzzle in the balcony or stand on each others' toes down front. All of them have long feathered hair, and, it seems, at least one item of cut-off clothing.

Morissette's band, sans their frontwoman, swarms the stage, launching into a ferocious Zep-like groove. For all their offstage goofiness and Sunset Strip hairspray residue, the four Muppets are ear-poppingly good musicians, with the kind of enthusiasm that results in lots of flying drumsticks. Guitarist Jesse Tobias, formerly of the band Mother Tongue, came recommended by the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea and Dave Navarro, who backed Morissette on "You Oughta Know." The rest-drummer Taylor Hawkins (a self-described "cross between Brad Pitt and Animal"), bassist Chris Chaney and one-time King Swamp guitarist Nick Lashley-"all just showed up and worked out," says Morissette. "If I wasn't in a band with them I would probably have dated each one of them already, except Nick, who's married. But it's too sacred for us to jeopardize our professional relationship."

When Morissette finally races onstage, flinging her tresses from side to side before ripping into "All I Really Want," the crowd whoops like an Arsenio audience. The sleeves of her button-down shirt flapping at her sides, Morissette looks like she's taking orders from some other planet. With her eyes practically rolled back in her head, and her left arm waving spasmodically, it's clear that Typical Girl has been left behind at the hotel gym. After a few impressive tosses of her hair, Morissette begins to resemble those terrifying teen starlets of '70s horror films-pig-bloodied Sissy Spacek in Carrie, Linda Blair growling "Your mother sucks cocks in hell" in The Exorcist. You'd best believe that all she really wants is deliverance-"a way to calm the angry voice."

Morissette isn't all revenge fantasies and spewed split-pea soup. The flower child with the light-blue nail polish emerges in the lilting singalong "Hand In My Pocket," which finds Morissette exploring the central dichotomies of her existence: her private life versus her stabs at reaching out, apathy versus engagement with the world. "I'm high but I'm grounded / I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed / I'm lost but I'm hopeful," she drawls. Astonishingly, her cult following at 7th House has developed a little routine for the song's chorus. In the lyric, one hand always remains in the aforementioned pocket, while the other goes through a series of easily imitable functions-hailing a taxicab, giving a high five, flicking a cigarette-which our feathered friends demonstrate at the appropriate moments. In perfect unison. Sure it's cheesy, something you'd expect of, say, Hootie & the Blowfish fans-and you know there's gotta be some overlap-but the entire audience partakes, without any
prompting from the stage whatsoever. Sometimes cheese is Brie.

Morissette doesn't have a clear-cut explanation for the song. When she tells me that she never watches TV, reads nothing but books-she's presently plowing
through Marianne Faithfull's autobiography-and that fun for her is climbing a ree with a friend and not speaking for four hours, I suggest that said concealed hand symbolizes the Glenn Gould-like depth of her self-imposed isolation.

"Sure, that could be what it's about," she hedges. "Most of those songs were written so quickly that I would write something and sing it, and the next day not remember doing it. It was just exactly the way I was feeling at the time."

Morissette has a dark secret, several even, but she's not showing her hand for nothing. She's keeping it in that damn pocket.

The following afternoon, Morissette and I commandeer the tour van and spend a Zen-like afternoon on the campus of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, home to
more beautiful sculpture gardens than you can shake the Venus de Milo at. We sit in the sun, by a reflecting pool filled with multicolored carp and water lilies and flanked by spitting cherubs, and talk, ironically, about pain.

Morissette speaks wisely and authoritatively about her fans' connection with the hurt and anger of her music, recognizing both their need to identify and
her own need to purge. "Everybody has to release it somehow," she says. "If you don't, it'll take its toll on you, and it'll either be a physical thing, or all your relationships will be really negative and full of conflict or something. So you have to deal, whether you go through therapy or get into relationships, or music, or write it out in diaries. Smoking cigarettes isn't enough. There's no way around pain. That's part of the charm of being alive."

Indeed, Jagged Little Pill's calculatedly eclectic pop-a hip-hop beat here, a folk guitar there, a little extra feedback on the bridge-gets its power from Morissette's willingness to push a little harder emotionally and lyrically than any woman currently working the Buzz Bin. Her voice goes from quirky punches at the ends of lines and awkward, expressive breaths to high piping siren territory, and is all the more impressive for her lack of formal training. "Never had a singing lesson," she beams. "I'm getting a vocal coach, though...."

Taking cliches like "you live, you learn" and exploding them into painful conclusions-"You bleed, you learn / You scream, you learn"-Morissette mines the nitty-gritty too often relegated to mere subtext in pop music. Grrrls can't be girls because the media defines them through their anger, and that just makes them angrier. The way in which Morissette carves out space for a broad emotional range is more typical of men: She simply assumes it. "Being able to express both your masculine and feminine sides is a great advantage," asserts the former tomboy.

Morissette's gentler (but not necessarily "feminine") side, as heard on "Hand In My Pocket" and the sympathetic "Mary Jane," nestled alongside rants like "You Oughta Know," effects a sea change in pop music by affirming that "angry" and "woman" don't have to add up to "angry woman." "The day that there's no need for feminism, this society has truly woken up," she says. She hasn't even heard Throwing Muses or PJ Harvey.

Her career, however, began long before either of theirs, despite her just having turned the legal drinking age last June. Alanis Nadine Morissette, the only daughter of military high school teachers Alan Morissette and Georgia Feuerstein, respectively French Canadian and Hungarian-born, spent most of her first few years in Germany before being whisked back to Ottawa, along with her twin brother Wade and older brother Chad. At nine years of age, before you learned three-place multiplication, she took up piano, and at ten she began to write songs and act, landing a recurring spot on Nickelodeon's wacky kids show, You Can't Do That on Television, where she unsuccessfully dodged falling buckets of green slime for the 1986 season. Back when you were a big Kajagoogoo fan, the determined Morissette took all the money she made on You Can't Do That and recorded the self-penned single "Fate Stay With Me" with help from a couple of Canadian music biz veterans. She had 2,000 copies of it pressed on her own indie label, Lamor Records, and MCA Publishing was impressed enough to snag her a contract with their Canadian division at age 14. You'd just popped your first zit.

Because of her ample confidence, not to mention the cross-legged Buddha posture she's assumed, it's easy to forget that Morissette has only walked the earth for 21 years. Her precision masks her unruly sentiments. When she says she believes in "that whole concept of having to hit rock bottom in order to make any changes," I remember that she's dealt with her problems in the past-realizing that her heart wasn't in the music she'd become so successful performing-by dropping everything and moving to Toronto at age 18, and then again to Los Angeles at 20. She explains: "You have to reach a point that you're so consumed by whatever it is that you can't take it anymore, and until you reach that point you just coast along like a bottom-dweller."

We stumble upon a man-made swimming hole. "We're going in, right?" she declares. Neither of us has a swimsuit. I strip to my skivvies. She dives in fully clothed. Talk turns to relationships.

She insists that she's ready to love somebody, but lets it slip that she's never been in a positive relationship before, citing examples of dalliances with older men who were "emotionally unavailable" to her.

"How will you handle it the next time you get dumped?" I ask.

She immediately responds, in all seriousness: "I'm never going to get dumped again."

She intimates that the last good time she had in bed resulted in bruises up and down her arms.

"Hickeys?" I hope, worrying that the sex might have taken an ugly turn.

"Hickeys, bite-me's. It was great."

"So what happened to him?"

"He's coming back. Definitely." With that, she inverts herself in the water and lets her legs finish the conversation.

Not until I rejoin her in Toronto do I uncover Alanis Morissette's dark secret. None of her press people have been particularly forthcoming about her first two albums, the 1991 Canadian platinum Alanis and its 1992 near-gold follow-up, Now Is the Time. No one carries them in the U.S. As soon as I land in Canada, I'm praying I can find at least one of her previous releases at the local mall. Unbeknownst to me, the time I spend hunting down these rarities coincides with our scheduled interview session. I am embarrassing her and pissing her off simultaneously. Would you forgive me, love?

I know I can't mention to her the exact nature of my disappearance when I get a look at the cover of Alanis, from which a younger version of Morissette, still swaddled in baby fat, pouts defiantly. Inside, she sings of "party boys" and "supermen," and sassily exclaims "My name is Alanis / I'm a white chick singer / The drums are a-smokin' and so's the bass." It's as if her high school yearbook picture came to life and made an album designed to haunt her forever. Sometimes cheese is Velveeta.

"There are certain mistakes that you make when you're 16 because you're ignorant," she demurs the next morning, realizing I'm in on the musical make-over that has made Canadians skeptical of Morissette's newfound alternative status. No wonder she refers to Jagged Little Pill as "my debut album," and lowers her head in shame when referring to her two dance-oriented, teen-spirited chartbusters. Alanis was the Debbie Gibson of Canada.

When her contract with MCA Records ex-pired, the 20-year-old HI-NRG queen exiled herself to Los Angeles. "It was kind of a blessing that it was over," she muses, "because I wanted to start out with a clean slate, not only personally but career-wise, too. It left me sort of naked. Leaving Toronto to go to L.A. gave me a severe dose of disillusionment that was really necessary. I was finally in a position where things weren't working out. And it was good for me. It made me realize that certain people I'd blindly trusted let me down. My intuition was saying 'Don't trust these people, don't work with these people,' and I went against it."

She keeps her bitterness over her early career in check, though.

"I've had people cheat me out of a lot of money. Let's just say that I'm still paying for the mistakes I've made. I think of it as my tuition for The College of Music Career."

Still, everyone resembles their high school yearbook picture a little, no matter how much they mature. It's worth noting, therefore, that most of the love songs on Alanis-"Jealous," "Walk Away"-consist of diatribes against unfaithful or unsuitable lovers. Even a 16-year-old Morissette crackles with angst, in sharp contrast with the peppy Paula Abdul-esque computerized backup. "Feeling lost in a world full of lies / I can't help thinkin' that love is just passin' me by," she moans in "On My Own," a song for which Morissette retains a reasonable amount of respect, probably because it describes her lack of control over the final product. How ironic that Jagged
Little Pill producer/collaborator Glen Ballard, who rescued her from MIDI hell, has also helped trap Paula Abdul and Michael Jackson there.

Ballard brought Morissette to the attention of Maverick Records, playing "Perfect" for A&R whiz-kid and Freddy DeMann-protege Guy Oseary. Though the
22-year-old Oseary denies that the song touched off a synergistic prodigy vibe between the two, he tends to stress Morissette's precociousness. "She and I are about the same age, and people are always so amazed that we've accomplished anything since Generation X-ers are supposedly not ambitious. We're showing people we're as ambitious as anyone else." Oseary, who also inked Candlebox to Maverick, has yet to see or hear Alanis' first two albums, though. "I don't even want to," he says.

Morissette downplays it, but this evening's Toronto show means a great deal, as much a vendetta as a homecoming. "It feels good to have a country understand and appreciate my growth as opposed to questioning it," she declares. With two wildly successful albums' worth of ripe cheese to live down, Morissette's trying to pull off the entertainment business's toughest trick: the Janet Jackson/Tori Amos/Ron Howard how-ya-like-me-now. As the young and underpaid hoser who sold me her previous releases quipped with more admiration than scorn, "She's a trend-jumper."

The sold-out show, at Lee's Palace, has a much friendlier vibe than the exciting chill of the Pontiac bloodletting. It's the first show after a week's vacation. She spent it in Ottawa with family, catching up by taking long walks down train tracks with her brothers, who thankfully never discuss her career with her. "We couldn't be more different," coos Morissette, "but I feel closer to them than I ever have." She takes care to explain that her parents aren't phased by hearing their daughter refer to oral sex and fucking to the cheers of an enthusiastic throng. "A lot of people ask my parents, 'Aren't you embarrassed that your daughter speaks like that?' and they say,
'No, she's been that way her whole life, she just wasn't doing it publicly. And we're glad she is now.' " Morissette laughs. "My mother's raunchier than I am."

Old friends from her Toronto days drop in, including former roommate Mike Levine of the Canadian cheese-metal band Triumph. Her parents come down to see the show. Even old enemies from her mallrat days, busily promoting the opening act, have shamelessly appeared.

"Right now is pretty pinnacle-ish," she tells me when I ask about her goals. "I went to the beach just the other night and I sat on the same rock I sat on when I first moved to Toronto, which was probably the hardest time in my whole life. I remember sitting on that rock in such major pain. And then I sat on it the other night-same rock-and I just went, 'Man.' "

That's why it looks strange when she squints a little and arches her back during "Right Through You," sternly indicating the band as she growls, "Hello Mr. Man / You didn't think I'd come back / You didn't think I'd show up with my army / And this ammunition on my back." After the show, she tells me that she spotted in the audience some of the same record execs who inspired the song. Her eyes light up. "When this one guy approached me backstage," she whispers, "I looked him in the eye and said, 'See you on the way down.' "

Q- MAGAZINE ' 95

Transformed from a huge-haired teen poppet into a venom-spitting adult - with six million album sales. Ladies and gentlemen: the fully-grown, Madonna-sponsored phenomenon that is Alanis Morissette. "I have a lot of hunger," she tells Tom Doyle.

It reads like the cheesy climax of some ropey child star bio-pic. Teenage all singing, all-dancing starlet permanently filled with cheer finally flees the parental nest. Free of her loving family and those uncaring business acquaintances who propelled her into platinum-selling success, copewith life on her own and slowly fraying at the edges. Eighteen-year-old Alanis Morissette, the perm-haired puffball pop star (Canada's answer to Debbie Gibson! Or Tiffany!) is beginning to feel increasingly isolated
andconfused, panicky even.

"I knew that I had to get away from everything, I knew that I was really clinging to my family and desperately afraid of so many things," she now admits. "But it was just anxiety attacks every few hours. It wasn't a goodtime, and now I can say that with a smile on my face only because I know that I will never be as broken as I was then."

Even more emotion-drenched and script-friendly is the fact that her moodof black misery was swept away with the discovery of one album. "The first time I heard Tori Amos' Little Earthquakes," she says, "I played the record in its entirety, lying on my living room floor, and I just bawled my eyes out. It felt like it was the first time I could relate to a woman on that level through her music and I was so grateful. I felt that she'd been through a lot of the things I'd gone through."

Flicking to the last page, we discover the inevitably heartwarming epilogue. Turning her experiences into sturdy, confessional rock songs inspired by her newfound heroine, her first post-teen album, Jagged LittlePill, goes on to sell nearly six million copies worldwide and Alanis Morissette, almost overnight, becomes an international star.

"I think you become a true adult when you can hit rock bottom and then walk away from that experience and transcend it," she muses, "and until that happens, I think you're not fully alive. It was a horrible time, but it was the greatest time because of how horrible it was. I look back on that and I know that if I were to take that link out of the proverbial chain, that I would not be here right now."

Right now being a dull, grey Wednesday in Birmingham. Out of her rain-flecked window in this Midlands business hotel, isolated within an industrial estate, Morissette has a perfectly framed view of the oversizedcarbuncle that is the NEC, the venue where she will soon enjoy the twin honours of being one of the "turns" at the confectionery-sponsored Twix Mixrock concert jamboree (hosted by the ever-ebullient Gary Crowley) and appearing on the same bill as David Bowie. Significantly free of make-up and lank of hair, she speaks in clear, measured tones, with only a frequently recurring hint of excitement in her voice giving away her 21 years.

On Jagged Little Pill, she is brimming with contradictions, a fact best exemplified by Hand in My Pocket (the second radio and MTV dominating release in the LP's continent conquering worldwide campaign), in which she admits in turns to being broke but happy, sane but overwhelmed, green but wise, and brave yet entirely chicken shit. Lyrically casting aside Catholicism, lecherous record company MD's and former lovers with chest expanded pride and no little venom, the album has elevated Morissette's profile far higher than any of her Janet Jackson inspired aerobic pop hoppings back home could have ever done. Initially, of course, her
countryfolk were entirely perplexed by the fact that one of their squeakiest pop icons (responsible for two major Canadian hit albums, 'Alanis' in 1991 and 'Now is the Time' the following year) was now, in hernew hit single, enquiring of her ex-boyfriend, "Are you thinking of me when you fuck her?"

"When I let go of the motivation to achieve the adulation and external success that I had in Canada," she reasons, "that was the minute it all started happening. I entered into this whole new territory personally and spiritually and emotionally, and inevitably that came out in the music. I just reached a point where if having to do music for the rest of my life meant that I'd have to do it on the street corner, I would have doneit. "

On stage this evening at 8:50 sharp, off again by 9:20, Alanis Morissette performs an intense yet pointedly sexless set. Clad in black leather and silk with her long black tresses obscuring her face for the most part, she paces back and forth like a rabbit caught in the headlights, while puffing away with Dylan-like adequacy on her harmonica and providing note perfect vocal renditions of songs which showcase a voice that can slip between a breathy murmur and toe-curling falsetto in the space of one intensely delivered line. By the end, she is skipping awkwardly from one side of the stage to the other with no regard for how ungainly this might appear. Ttuly, she oozes all the disregard for pop etiquette of a nonchalantveteran.

"When they first heard the record," she reasons, "a lot of people said to me, 'This does not sound like a debut; this sounds like you've been through so much. How could this be?' Part of me just wants to say, 'Well, listen to this old record of mine, watch a couple of the videos, then maybe you'll understand a little more.'"

Her career began, remarkably, at the age of 10, when she auditioned for aCanadian cable TV show. On landing the job, she began ferreting away her not insubstantial wages and within months released her first single, FateStay With Me ("It was a story about somebody leaving somebody. A little foresight there probably...") on an independent label set up by her parentswho, she insists, were neither pushy stage mother types nor, perhaps evenmore feasibly, hippies.

"If anyone were to meet my parents, they would quickly realise that it was self-motivated," she argues. "They were open minded enough to realise that if I was that passionate about something, they should encourage me in it.They were the kind of parents who, if I came home with a report card and Ihad Fs in certain subjects and As in others, they'd encourage me in what Iwas interested in as opposed to questioning why I was doing badly in otherthings. They were very supportive and they let me do things that the rulebooks on parenting would probably say not to. they let me travel and do a lot of things well before I was 15 years old."

Is the PR description of you as a child prodigy an accurate one?

"Pretty much. I was doing a lot of things from an early age. I spent a lot of time with adults and I just never thought that I couldn't do anything,so I did it. At that time I was listening to everything from Abba to Bob Dylan, whose voice I didn't enjoy, although I liked what he was trying to communicate. I probably didn't understand half of what he was talking about, but it sounded interesting. I loved pop music, anything I could hold on to, just chord changes that provoked some sort of emotion in me."

Are any accusations of brattiness reasonable?

"I don't think I had enough self-esteem to be bratty. But I was precocious and I held myself like I was 40 when I was 11 years old. But I wasn't a
brat at all, though I teetered on being obnoxious now and then. I had a lot of energy and it was hard to sort of...come down."

Signing to MCA Records, she embarked on a pop career that would yield a string of lightweight dance hits and a fame that would last throughout her"difficult" teenage years. Boyfriends, as with most fledgling pop artistes,were not on the agenda ("I was a very flirtatious person, but I don't thinkI was emotionally able to be in a relationship"). The marriage to her record company ended acrimoniously and she left for Toronto to attempt topick up the pieces. On resurfacing from the aforementioned hell, she relocated to LA, where she met Glen Ballard - a renowned Californian producer living largely off the royalties of Man in the Mirror, the hit
hepenned for Michael Jackson - who became her musical collaborator on JaggedLittle Pill, the majority of which comprises their original demos, with vocal and guitar parts committed to tape within a matter of one, or at the most, two takes.

An extended trawl of record company A&R departments began, the trials of which are documented in Right Through You, a song that includes the widely-quoted line concerning the MD who, as she claims in the lyric, wanted to "wine, dine, 69 me". One 15 minute meeting with Guy Oseary at Madonna's Maverick label bagged a deal, though not the highest potential figure ("I don't want a lot of money, I want a lot of faith") - and the release of You Oughta Know, the searing debut single from the record, was accompanied by statements from her conical-bra sporting company boss about how she could relate to Morissette being "slightly awkward but extremely
self-possessed". The singer herself is keen not to draw any parallels.

"I have a lot of hunger, which I'm sure she had," she reasons, "but I think we're motivated by different things. I have no problem with making mistakes and falling on my face publicly; she's been pretty flawless with her public persona. That can be argued about, of course: I guess it depend son what your perception of falling on your ass is. I don't know...I could talk about the differences between Madonna and me for hours, but I don't want to."

In keeping with her relaxed approach to public embarrassment, she is fiercely defensive of her past and her shift from sugary disco to filthy-mouthed rock, although, rather notably, she went to great lengths toensure that MCA couldn't re-issue her previous albums in an attempt to cash in on her recent successes.

"Yeah, I initiated those records not being available anywhere, and I think it was misconstrued as my being ashamed of it. But actually part of me wants people to hear my old music because it validates the emotions and there actions that I write about on Jagged Little Pill. The main reason behind it was that I din't want people going out and buying this record and then going back to the old records thinking they were part one and part two because they're not, and so people would feel very disappointed. But I have absolutely no regrets. How can I possible spend the next 80 years of my life feeling bad about who I was or what I was doing when I was 16 years old?"

Another noteable knock-on effect from that period is Morissette's current image, founded upon anything other than flesh-revealing titillation.

"Sure, that's in reponse to what I felt was the emphasis when I was 15 or16," she admits, "the big hair and nice outfits, and alittle cleavage here and there. When I first went to LA, I went almost to the opposite end of the spectrum: I didn't wear an ounce of make-up, I didn't wear anything that was uncomfortable and I still don't. Even recently there has been the odd photo shoot where I think, 'Am I wearing this because I want to or because I feel I have to? And if ever there's that question, I don't do it.There was one photo session I did showing a bit of cleavage and I freakedout at first when I saw the pictures because it brought back so manymemories."

It is her image, combined with the often graphically sexual nature of her lyrics, which makes Morissette so fascinating. Still, if her music wasn'tquite so marvellous, the cynic could say, Kooky woman, shock provoking couplets, softly purring voice which periodically mutates into a banshee yell...it's all sounding a bit too familiar.

"I guess some people do write lines to court controversy," she reckons, "but I wouldn't do that. It's not in my nature to do something in order to get a reaction from somebody. None of this is affected. I think we're all crazy. I think we're all fucking nuts. It's simply a matter of how much you display it."
And Alanis Morissette wears it very, very well.

REVISTA NEWSWEEK '96

ALANIS MORISSETTE - Revista Newsweek

Con los lamentos angustiados y gritos de una manera de la mujer más allá del borde, Alanis Morissette trabaja el escenario del Salón de baile de Roseland de Ciudad de Nueva York como una célula rellena.
Cuando Alanis mueve sus brazos a algún atormentador inadvertido mientras canta sobre la traición sexual y emocional, la muchedumbre llena de jóvenes fans excitados quienes parecen saber sus canciones de memoria, cantan las letras del disco junto con ella.
En corazón y cabeza, golpeó la actuación y algunas cosas más dentro del pasado para los 22 años de la canadiense, que empezó su carrera como una mini estrella de una canal de televisión para niños llamado Nickelodeon. Fue nominada para seis Premios Grammy, Morissette ha vendido más de 15 millones de copias de su album debut "JAGGED LITTLE PILL" actualmente No., 1 en Cartelera. El zumbido empezó último en el año 1995 cuando Morissette lanzó su single "You Oughta Know," una carta de odio a un ex-galán, que fue hit en las radio a pesar de su contenido lírico que rizaría el pelo de cualquiera. "¿Es ella pervertida como yo?" Morissette canta en un gruñido enfadado. "¿Está pensando usted en mi cuando te acostas con ella?"

Para aquéllos como que saben de sus giros anteriores, conocen a 'Alanis' de 10 años que participó de Nickelodeon en el programa "Usted no puede hacer eso en Television" y después, como reina de discoteca de adolescente conocida en su patria como la Debbie Gibson canadiense, Morissette ha venido de un golpe a cambiar su imagen de bebé. "Cuándo yo oí "You Oughta Know primero, " dice Geoffrey Darby, uno de directores de Morissette en Nickelodeon, "yo pensé, 'Eso salió de la boca de nuestra pequeña dulce muchacha? " Se crió en Ottawa junto a sus padres (maestros de escuela), la Morissette, que Darby recuerda, "era inteligente, bonita y divertida." Los canadienses vieron la misma sonrisa gastada después seis años cuando Morissette soltó el primero de dos albums dance. "Atrás entonces yo me preocupé mucho más por la percepción de las personas de mí," ella le dijo al Los Angeles Times el año pasado." Yo quise su aprobación, para que yo fuese feliz. Cuando los viejos fans finalmente oyeron esto la parte más honrada de mí, yo pienso que les gustó, " Viviendo ahora en Los Angeles, Morissette no hace ninguna disculpa para la mujer sexual que era, ella o su pasado como cantante pop. "Eso es parte de quién yo soy ahora," ella dijo. "Y me gusta quién yo soy."

DIARIO LA NACION 25/10/98

A los 24 años, gracias a su primer álbum, que vendió 28 millones de copias, se transformó en la artista más exitosa de la década; ahora, tras un silencio de tres años, la cantante Alanis Morissette regresa con su esperado nuevo disco

LOS ANGELES.- Aquí, en Bel Air, la ciudad parece otra. No es el torbellino de autos y highways, sino la imagen que nos hemos hecho, desde siempre, del Hollywood más oculto, de aquel donde las estrellas descansan de cámaras y fotos.

Espectacular no es la palabra adecuada para este hotel. Tiene más bien la serenidad de la vida sin problemas, alejada de los ajetreos. Entre árboles añosos, puentecitos que cruzan un arroyo en el que nadan cisnes blancos y las pequeñas y aisladas edificaciones destinadas a los cuartos, perdidas entre bosques y flores, uno esperaría encontrar descansando a Rita Hayworth o a Ava Gardner.

Cuando aparece Alanis Morissette, su inesperada naturalidad es casi más impactante. Sin una pizca de maquillaje, con su pelo larguísimo suelto y vestida sencillamente con remera negra, pollera larga y sandalias. Se sienta, con las piernas cruzadas, como si estuviera en la plaza de su barrio. Así también, con pocas estridencias, habla. Tiene la tranquilidad del trabajo concluido; su nuevo disco ya tiene nombre y fecha de edición. El 3 del mes próximo saldrá “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie”.

Tras el vértigo

En una industria musical que se hace día a día más vertiginosa, el tiempo que ella se tomó para grabar este disco es casi una eternidad: tres años. “Necesité ese tiempo –dice, segura- porque la gira mundial de “Jagged Little Pill” me mantuvo en la ruta muchos meses. Luego de ese vértigo tuve la necesidad de parar un poco y reconcentrarme en mí. Era algo que necesitaba como persona y para mi música, para reencontrar la inspiración. Nunca había parado en toda mi vida, por lo menos nunca tanto como ahora que me tomé más de un año de respiro”.

Una parte de ese tiempo lo pasó en la India, donde, en un silencio en el que podía oír su propia respiración, encontró las canciones. Por eso en “Thank U”, primer corte del álbum, agradece a la India y al silencio, pero también al terror y la desilusión.

Había llegado un momento en que las cuentas se le hicieron extrañas, cuando los discos vendidos sumaban más que sus años. A los 24, Alanis vendió 28 millones de placas de “Jagged Little Pill”. Un número que da mareos. Sólo en los Estados Unidos llegó a vender 16 millones convirtiéndose en la artista más vendedora de la década y, claro, la primera canadiense en llegar a estas cifras.

Aquel disco la convirtió en la voz femenina de la entonces tan en boga Generación X. Canciones de desencanto, de rabia sin alternativa; voz de mujer cantando sus experiencias. “Era un disco muy emocional. Este también lo es, pero creo que he llegado a otro nivel. Siento otra responsabilidad, frente a lo que escribo y frente a la vida. Observo las cosas de otra manera.”

Su mirada se ha hecho más crítica y filosa. Tanto que, a pesar de sus experiencias orientales, puede pensar más allá y descubrir que en todos los ámbitos se cuecen las mismas habas. De eso habla en “Baba” uno de los nuevos temas. Con un comienzo eléctrico a lo Led Zeppelin y un final que remeda el “Ave María”, mira con desconfianza a esos microuniversos de la espiritualidad. “Es muy importante la búsqueda interior, pero también sé que no es necesario viajar a la India, ni seguir gurúes. Aunque vivas en Ohio o en Chile, la búsqueda es posible. La apuesta es descubrir quién sos y para eso no hace falta seguir un manual con instrucciones, sino elegir tu camino con honestidad. A veces, esos lugares supuestamente espirituales están llenos de competencia y se plantean cosas cómo ver quién es más espiritual o más evolucionado que el otro. De eso habla el tema, de las situaciones poco espirituales que también anidan en esos sitios.”

Con las pilas recargadas, Alanis esta vez también se ocupó de producir el disco junto a Glen Ballard. “Así tuve un mayor control y la certeza de que lo que tenía en mente fuera lo que se concretase efectivamente en el disco.”

Ballard es un ya viejo colaborador de Alanis. Se conocen desde 1994, cuando ella se mudó desde su Canadá natal hacia Los Angeles. Juntos escribieron las canciones y las grabaron en un estudio casero en San Fernando Valley. Juntos, también, recorrieron infructuosamente los grandes sellos discográficos con el disco bajo el brazo. Nadie parecía interesado, hasta que se toparon con Guy Oseary. Con apenas 21 años, tuvo la visión que a otros les faltó. Trabajaba para Maverick, el entonces novísimo sello de Madonna y firmó el ansiado contrato. Por ese mismo sello saldrá ahora “Supposed Former Infactuation Junkie”.

“Me parece una mujer excepcional –dice Alanis, refiriéndose a Madonna-, sé que le gustan mis canciones, pero no tengo mucha relación con ella, ni se ha inmiscuido en la grabación del disco.”

La niña precoz

No fue en Los Angeles donde dio sus primeros pasos. A los nueve años escribió su primera canción y un año después publicó su primer simple, “Fate Stay With Me”, en un sello creado por sus padres. Las 2000 copias vendidas en su Ottawa natal la incentivaron a seguir.

A los 14, firmó contrato con MCA y editó “Alanis”, un disco dance que vendió en su país 100 mil copias y con el que ganó el premio Juno como revelación femenina canadiense. Al terminar el colegio secundario se mudó a Toronto, donde editó su segundo disco, “Now Is the Time”, con canciones de pop/soul, al estilo Paula Abdul.

Como nunca permitió reeditar estos discos en los EE.UU., fue “Jagged Little Pill” considerado para el mercado norteamericano como su primer disco, con el que obtuvo en 1996 un puñado de Grammy: álbum del año, mejor álbum de rock y, por “You Oughta Know”, la canción en la que colaboraron Flea y Navarro de los Red Hot Chilli Peppers, mejor canción de rock y mejor interpretación femenina.

Premios y números que deberían haber pesado a la hora de preparar el sucesor. Ella lo desmiente. El éxito no es una palabra con sentido unívoco y, cada vez que la utiliza, dibuja comillas en el aire con sus manos. Definir de qué se habla cuando se habla de éxito ha sido una de sus tareas.

“Mi mayor conflicto, para ser más exacta –enfatiza-. Y también saber cómo ubicarme frente a tanta gente que te felicita por cosas que son un tanto confusas. El éxito es algo más personal. Tiene que ver con mi evolución como compositora, pero sobre todo como ser humano. Uno de mis desafíos ha sido volverme adulta, crecer como artista y conocerme a mí misma. En este mundo competitivo e individualista mis logros intentan ser otros que vender discos. Yo quiero comunicar; cuando escribís, pintás o tomás una fotografía lo querés compartir. No me motivan los números ni los rankings; mis intenciones no son las de la industria.”

Para preservar su salud, trata de mantenerse alejada de todo ese circo. Evita ciertos ambientes y no aparece por esos lugares donde los artistas van a mostrarse. Planea sobre el difícil equilibrio entre la sobreexposición y el quedar aislada en una torre.

Tanto dice necesitar los contactos enriquecedores que ha decidido, en la nueva gira mundial que planea, para 1999, llevar algún amigo con ella que le permita no confundir los roles de sus músicos. Y, antes de salir al mundo, realizará una serie de actuaciones durante octubre, por salas chicas de los Estados Unidos. No sólo será una suerte de ensayo, sino un retomar contacto cercano con el público.

Alanis, la actriz

Alanis, está a la vista, no pierde el pelo. Pero tampoco las mañas. Si su carrera comenzó en la actuación, ahora ha vuelto a ella, aunque su foco siga siendo la música.

Aquel primer simple de la infancia pudo sacarlo con la plata que ganó al participar en un show televisivo que prefiere no recordar. Y, cuando llegó a Los Angeles, tuvo un rol en la comedia “Just One of the Girls”. Ahora, hará de Dios en la película “Dogma”, dirigida por Kevin Smith y en la que trabajan Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock y Salma Hayek.

“La actuación es una forma más de comunicar. Kevin (Smith) me había hablado de esta película cuando yo estaba de gira. En ese momento me resultaba imposible pensar en otra cosa, pero ahora sí pudo ser y me divertí mucho. Me permitió aprovechar partes de mí que no puedo mostrar en otros lados. Muchas veces mi música tiende a ser demasiado seria, pero hay partes de mí que no lo son en absoluto, y es lo que puse en juego en esta actuación”.

Mujer de fin de siglo, Alanis canta en “Are you Still Mad”: “Estás todavía loco porque dormimos juntos, incluso después de haber cortado. Estás todavía loco de que yo me pusiera los pantalones la mayor parte del tiempo”. Ya adulta se suma con su disco a este año signado musicalmente por las mujeres en el que editaron o están por editar Hole, Sheryl Crow, Joni Mitchell, P.J. Harvey, Lauryn Hill y Missi Elliot.

“La música sigue la misma tendencia que la sociedad –reflexiona-. Las mujeres tenemos cada vez más protagonismo y eso aporta una nueva sensibilidad. Es un gran tiempo”. Y no parece estar pensando sólo en sí misma.

Por Adriana Franco(Enviada especial)

DIARIO LA NACION 3/11/98

Alanis Morissette: hoy sale a la venta en todo el mundo "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie", su segundo trabajo.

Navegando entre la furia adolescente y la reflexión madura, Alanis canta sobre su tiempo de hoy en "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". El disco, que sale hoy a la venta en todo el mundo, es el sucesor de "Jagged Little Pill", su primer disco para una gran compañía y con el que vendió cerca de treinta millones de placas.

La cantante canadiense de 24 años se tomó su tiempo (su disco anterior se editó en 1995) y elaboró un álbum trabajado y altamente producido. Con coros, samplers y una tecnología sonora de punta que envidiarían los mismos Smashing Pumpkins. Lo que demuestra que ya no quiere ser solamente una adolescente con garra cantando canciones fáciles de repetir.

Decidió además asumir mayores responsabilidades. Y, si bien volvió a trabajar con Glen Ballard como productor, esta vez eligió compartir el trabajo con él. Varios de los temas los compusieron juntos -ella las letras, él la música-, pero en cuatro de ellos Alanis misma tomó toda la responsabilidad del asunto.

En las últimas semanas se pudo escuchar "Thank U", el corte de difusión, en el que agradece a la India -por donde anduvo viajando y depurando tanta gira y éxito-, pero también a la vida toda, incluidas sus peores partes.

Sin embargo, donde más sorprende su cambio sonoro es, por ejemplo, en "Sympathetic Character", en el que, tras un comienzo electrónico, su voz se desdobla y hace eco de sí misma sobre una base repetitiva e hipnótica de inesperados loops.

También en la percusión de "Can't Not" y sus cambios de clima, con orquestaciones y voces que hablan por detrás, y que recuerdan a los Beatles circa 67. En "Would Not Come", la canción del sin sentido, agrega melodías árabes y, a "So Pure", le pone un cierto aire celta. Pero también puede volverse casi canción de cuna, en "Heart of the House".

A la base que le proveen Chris Chaney en bajo, Nick Lashley y Joel Shearer en guitarra y Gary Novak en batería y percusión, ella suma siempre sus voces y, a veces, armónica, flauta y piano. Además, en varios temas agregó cuerdas.

USA Today

Taming Morissette's restless spirit - By Edna Gundersen

LOS ANGELES: After denying it, fearing it and rejecting it, Alanis Morissette has made peace with fame.

"There was a time when I didn't think I was going to be able to live a normal life again," she says. "Now I realize that being in the public eye doesn't have to be a hindrance. It's something I consciously choose. It enables me to connect with people."

The singer, 24, crept into the spotlight with her first record at age 10 and spent her teens as a dance-pop queen in her native Canada. But even a decade in show business couldn't prepare her for the media blitzkrieg that followed 1995's U.S. breakthrough. Jagged Little Pill, the biggest selling debut ever by a solo artist, spent 12 weeks at No. 1 in Billboard, won four Grammys and sold a whopping 28 million copies worldwide.

Initially overwhelmed by public scrutiny, Morissette adjusted by accepting it as part of the creative process.

"I express myself, and people love it or hate it or are excited or inspired or repulsed," she says. "I think there is an opportunity for listeners to define who they are, even in the 12 seconds that they hear the song. That's what's amazing about art."

The aggression and bitterness in her You Oughta Know hit inaccurately defined Morissette as the alpha bitch in a new breed of Angry Young Women. That image bears no resemblance to the vision of Morissette perched on her hotel-suite sofa. Smiling beatifically and waxing rhapsodic on spiritual contentment, she seems more saint than she-devil.

"I appreciate Jagged Little Pill for what it was and what it is, but there's a lot of it that I can't relate to anymore," she says, describing the album as a snapshot of a specific phase. "I don't entirely have a sense of what people think of me, but there was definitely a view of me as an artist who's very one-dimensional, whether it be angry or sexual or in pain."

That is not the impression she leaves on fellow artists.

"Alanis is a beautiful, soulful human being and a true artist," gushes Ringo Starr, who persuaded her to sing on his Vertical Man album.

Nor is that fabled volatile nature dominant on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, an unorthodox, exotic pop record rife with Morissette's self-lacerating candor and probing insights on relationships and the quest for inner peace. After entering Billboard at No. 1 in November, it has sold 1.9 million copies and now rests at No. 35, falling short of Pill's history-making pace.

But who's counting?

Almost everyone. Junkie arrived amid preposterous expectations. Neither Morissette nor co-producer Glen Ballard aimed to follow Pill's commercial or artistic trajectory.

"The simple and safe thing to do was come up with Jagged Little Pill Refill, but that was never what we wanted," Ballard says. "She had one mandate: 'Let's not write the same record sideways.' She wanted to stretch and smudge the boundaries.

"Nothing she does surprises me," he adds. "She's a seeker, somebody that is not comfortable with letting the world go by. She's so engaged, and it's reflected in her art."

Junkie's spiritual tones sprang from a post-Pill hiatus that took Morissette to India and Cuba with friends and family. For 18 months, "I don't think I had even one encounter with anyone from the industry," she says with some awe.

Escaping the pressure cooker reignited creative fires and gave her the self-confidence to bare her soul in stunningly blunt songs and to bare her body in the strategically blurred Thank U video.

"The idea came to me in the shower," she says of the nude clip, shot in public settings over two nights. "I had moments of wondering how I'd feel doing it, but I felt really amazing and liberated and beautiful. It was positive and fun, but I couldn't have done that a year ago."

When she penned her brazen confessions on Pill, Morissette had no inkling she'd be sharing her musical diary with a global audience. The peering masses did not deter her from revealing struggles with men, fame and self-esteem on Junkie.

"I don't hide much," she says. "I did have reservations about writing about other people and invading their privacy. It's one thing for me to express vulnerability or sadness or confusion; it's another thing to write about someone else."

Names were changed. She called subjects of certain songs and gave them the option of nixing lyrics. None did. "I didn't get a negative reaction," she says. "I got a kind of bittersweet closure."

The romantic calamities detailed in Pill are behind her. For the past year, she's been involved in a "very healthy, very exciting" relationship with an unnamed suitor (reported to be actor Dash Mihok of The Thin Red Line and TV's Felicity).

"I had no idea what intimacy really meant until about ayear ago," she says. "A year ago, I would have said I prefer being single because it was really horrible and distracting being in a relationship. But now it's great. It's healing."

But can you mine grist for songs from a stable union? She retorts, "Happy, healthy relationships aren't always stable."

The wisdom and self-possession in Morissette's songs and personality stem from a childhood immersed in grown-up pursuits. She was reared in Ottawa by educators: her father is a teacher and ex-principal; her mother taught for 18 years.

"I spent so much time with adults when I was younger," she says. "My parents were very analytical about human nature. Every conversation around the kitchen table included some sort of analysis."

Her parents supported her ambitions and early entry into the recording business. By 16, she was a national dance-pop star, but she barely acknowledged her past after relocating to Hollywood to embark on the harder-to-swallow Pill.

"I distanced myself from it," she says, admitting she quashed attempts to re-release her earlier records during Pill's chart reign. "That would have confused people. But at some point, I'd love to put out a record of songs I've done since I was 10."

Even back then, the rebellion behind Pill and Junkie was incubating in her curious head.

"I had a voracious appetite for self-knowledge from the time I started reading," she says. "I picked up my first book on psychology when I was 13, because I was curious about pain, and I tried to understand the concept of suffering. It was confusing."

Adding to that confusion were growing doubts about religion. Raised in Catholicism, she began to question its tenets while recording an album with an avowed atheist. She was 11.

"He was the antithesis of me," she says. "I respected him, and it blew me away that we had such different views of God. So I asked him a million questions, and I started doubting that Adam and Eve really existed. Then I questioned everything: the fear, the idea that you're bad. It just didn't make sense."

Consequently, she rejected not only the dogma but also her need for a sacred bond.

"Eventually, I felt that void of not being connected to God," she says. "I had thrown the baby out with the bathwater. That is where the core of my suffering came from. But that changed over the last couple of years."

The transfigured Morissette is spiritually grounded, psychologically sound and physically fit (she completed three triathlons during her furlough and now makes time for cycling, yoga, tennis and swimming).

Though she negotiated hard for balance in her life, Morissette does not duck career challenges. Her global tour continues through 1999. She's open to outside projects like Uninvited, the Grammy-nominated tune she contributed to the hot City of Angels soundtrack. Her role as God in Kevin Smith's upcoming Dogma sparked a desire to act and direct. Also on the drawing board: a quasi-autobiography, a novel, a screenplay, painting, traveling and having babies.

A self-described recovering perfectionist, Morissette insists that her full plate has less to do with ambition and ego than a hunger for experience.

"Being a perfectionist was destructive and sad, really," she says. "It wasn't very nurturing of my free spirit. I still discover moments of my perfectionism now and again, but what often looks like perfectionism is really my attempt to be completely honest. A lot of people misunderstand that."

SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE ALANIS' REVIEW

New Alanis Album Reviewed by John Sakamoto - SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE

If nothing else, success has made Alanis Morissette expansive.

Irrepressibly, obsessively, relentlessly, expansive.

Take this tumbling, unpunctuated, and not atypical line from the dark ballad "I Was Hoping", one of the 17 new songs that comprise the breathlessly awaited "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie":

"It's a cycle really don't you think I'm withdrawing and guilt tripping you I think you're insensitive".

Try singing along to that.

Or how about this mouthful-of-a-stanza, from "Sympathetic Character"?:

"I was afraid of verbal daggers, I was afraid of the calm before the storm, I was afraid for my own bones, I was afraid of your seduction, I was afraid ...", well you get the idea.

It's enough to make you yearn for the compact elegance of "You live, you learn".

In the three years since her third album, "Jagged Little Pill", transformed her from a puffy-haired Canadian disco singer into a bona fide cultural touchstone, Morissette has both survived the tumult of fame and reaped its substantial rewards.

Inevitably, perhaps, "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" -- the self-deprecating title provides one of the album's few moments of levity -- reflects both sides of the equation: It chronicles her reaction to (and rejection of) her status as an object of adulation, but it does so from the privileged vantage point of a lengthy spiritual quest.

Profoundly influenced by a recent trip to India, "Infatuation Junkie" is admirably untidy. While the ubiquitous single/video "Thank U" calmly rhymes off a series of personal epiphanies, the hard-edged "Baba" presents a scathing view of what Morissette has characterized as the "duplicity" within India's spiritual world.

Elsewhere, Morissette's anger is every bit as evident here as it was on "Jagged Little Pill", but it's frequently off-set by a new sense of personal responsibilty for putting herself in certain situations in the first place. The aggressive opener, "Front Row", falls squarely into that category, as does the lyrically over-stuffed "Would Not Come".

The weakness in all of this is the ungainly clash between the obvious sincerity and emotional honesty of Morissette's lyrics and what often borders on plain old lazy craftsmanship.

It's the way every line in every verse of "Thank U", for example, begins with the words "How 'bout ..." It's also the repeated application of that stylistic conceit to "Are You Still Mad" (each line starts with "are you still mad"), "That I Would Be Good (ditto, with the words "that I would be good"), or "Would Not Come", whose verses all start with the word "if".

It's an annoying stylistic device that gives the songs immediate impact but also makes them kind of annoying the fifth or sixth time through.

When Morissette breaks out of that template, the results are positively exhilarating. "Can't Not" -- an intense mid-tempo number that was performed extensively on her last tour and which appears here in a radically re-worked version -- hits like a hammer, while the simple, joyful "So Pure" jumps out as the album's most memorable track.

Musically, "Junkie" shows off a slightly more idiosyncratic use of rhythm, along with a less glossy pop sheen than on "Jagged Little Pill". Nothing here, however, should come as a shock to anyone familiar with either "Jagged" or the "Uninvited" single from this summer's "City Of Angels" soundtrack.

Ultimately, "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" abounds in ambitious and stimulating ideas.

It's just that you'll have to wade through a considerable number of roadblocks to get to them.

OTTAWA SUN - ALANIS' NAKED TRUTH

Alanis' Naked Truth - By JOSHUA OSTROFF
Ottawa Sun

First she bared her soul for her music, now Alanis Morissette is baring just a little bit more.

Although the cover of her new CD, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie is a huge close-up of her mouth covered with sensationalistic word fragments like oral, sexual misconduct and taking intoxicants, the disc itself displays a naked Morissette sleeping contentedly in a fetal position.

And her video, for the record's first single Thank U, features the nude (and desexualized) singer/songwriter -- hiding the prominent parts with her signature long hair and well placed pixilation -- wandering serenely through a cold cityscape, ignored by most passersby.

"It has nothing to do with the song," postulates former Sun music critic Paul Cantin, author of the Alanis biography You Oughta Know. "It's what she's always said about herself.

"That she's baring her soul and her emotions. Most people in the video ignore her but some acknowledge her with that gesture that says thank you. She's saying that some people get it."

Cantin sees the video as an acknowledgement of the special fans -- obviously not all 31 million record buyers -- who understand what Morissette was trying to convey through her lyrics.

As for the CD art, Cantin thinks it is a brave move by the 24-year-old to present herself so vulnerably.

"I think that she looks really comfortable, really at ease. Why do you roll up into a fetal ball? Maybe turning inward, I don't know. Maybe it makes up for the fact that the album cover is not exactly the most eye-catching thing."

But Cantin also sees the prominence of nudity as a possible attempt to generate media attention.

"The cynical view of it would probably be that Jagged Little Pill had You Oughta Know as its opening salvo and it had the f-word in it so people talked about that.

"And really this album doesn't have that kind of reach-out-and-grab-you element to it.

"But it's got the video that she walks around naked in. So to the record marketing guy that sort of seemed like a good thing.

"People will be talking about the video. It's going to create a buzz."

SYDNEY HERALD 18/ 10/99

Alanis Morissette 'lets hair down' in Australian club
Monday, 18 October 1999 SYDNEY, Australia (CP)

SINGER ALANIS Morissette surprised club-goers in Sydney's inner city Sunday night when she took time out from a hectic concert schedule to hit the dance floor. Morissette has been touring Australia since the beginning of the month and was scheduled to make her last performance tonight at Brisbane's Entertainment Centre.
Australian Associated Press reported that Morissette on Sunday night "let her hair down" with friends at the new Darlinghurst nightclub in Sydney. Some of the clubbers - apparently convinced due to her music that she's angry and frustrated - were surprised at how relaxed the 25-year-old Morissette appeared to be, AAP reported. They were even more surprised that Morissette seemed to be immersed in dance music, far from the style of her own work. According to nightclubbers who shared the dance floor with her, Morissette was with a few friends and mixed freely with other patrons on the packed floor.
Many of the patrons, accustomed to seeing celebrities in Sydney's nightclub precinct, didn't bat an eyelid and few approached the Ottawa native as she enjoyed her hard-earned leisure time. Joanne Sinclair, from Maroubra in Sydney's south, was one of the few who felt the urge to show their appreciation of Morissette. "I walked straight up to Alanis and told her 'you're absolutely fantastic,"' Sinclair said. "She looked straight at me and said 'thank you very much.' "She is fantastic (and) it was good to see her enjoying herself."

ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE 19/8/2000

Interaction Junkie

Alanis Says Thank U to Fans in L.A., Charity event allows fans interactive time with Alanis

Los Angeles' Museum of Tolerance provided the setting as superstar Alanis Morissette gave something back to her diehard fans and to charity last night. Billed as "An Intimate Evening With Alanis Morissette," the multimedia event featured a live performance, a film presentation and a question-and-answer session. Three hundred lucky audience members (minus a few industry folk) either bid for tickets on Amazon.com or won them through sponsor Z.com to get into the special evening (all proceeds from the Amazon auction went to two charities, the Museum of Tolerance and New York's Active Element Foundation). According to an Amazon representative, the average bid for tickets was $200 apiece. However, five fans bid for a special VIP package that earned them admission into the show, a chance to meet Morissette, front-row seats and a collection of memorabilia signed by her. The high bid was $1,100, but the fan of the night was an Argentinean woman named Mercedes, who bid $900 for her VIP tickets and flew in to Los Angeles specifically for this event.

She called the night "priceless," and to a Morissette fan it was just that. Scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., the event began an hour late with a short film compiling performance highlights from Morissette's recent One Tour, which found her traveling to such exotic locales as Istanbul, Turkey, Israel and Lebanon. After well-received, brief speeches by representatives from the Museum of Tolerance and Active Element Foundation, a longer film showing Morissette performing and interacting with her host ambassadors (she selected fans via her Web site to show her around each city she visited on this tour) and the locals. The film, which can be seen on Z.com, effectively downplayed Morissette's superstar status and made the multi-platinum, Grammy-winning artist seem like a regular person.

Finally Morissette and her band took the stage, which featured the exact same set-up -- various carpets and pillows -- as her MTV Unplugged taping. Joined by a five-piece band (two guitarists, a bass player, a drummer and a keyboardist), Morissette seemed totally at ease in the intimate environment. Following a strong opening version of Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie's "Can't Not," Morissette, who remained seated for the entire set, addressed the crowd, thanking them for coming: "It isn't something you have to do, and I don't take it for granted."

Taking advantage of the cozy confines the small auditorium presented, she addressed the crowd between every song, sometimes only to introduce the song, but often serving as an effective between-songs storyteller in the vein of Bruce Springsteen.

The intriguing set list also expressed her confidence and comfort with the unique format. The eight-song set excluded all of her biggest hits, with "Head Over Feet" being the only track from Jagged Little Pill to make the cut. The high point of the concert was a dramatic rendition of "I Was Hoping," a song that greatly benefited from the stripped-down setting and Morissette's forceful vocals. Continuing to show off her vocal range, she cranked it up a few octaves for "Heart of the House."

A compelling performance of "So Pure," with its India meets the psychedelic side of the Beatles, closed the regular portion of the concert. After the song, the band left the stage and L.A. DJ Ryan Seacrest came out to moderate the question-and-answer portion of the proceedings. Seacrest peppered a few of his questions in there, but the vast majority of the interview was conducted by the fans, many of whom got very emotional over getting to speak directly to Morissette. In all, thirteen questions were submitted, with the topics ranging from the perception of her as an angry young woman (Alanis responded that it's only one part of her), to her views on religion (she said she's closer to God now that's she's stepped out of religion), to her next project (she's going in the studio in a month, but has no idea what it's going to sound like).

Most of the audience members who got to speak prefaced their questions with mini-monologues on how much Morissette had inspired them or they repeatedly expressed their thanks for her music. The two most memorable moments from the Q&A came from a fan who couldn't stop crying as she tendered her question and a young man who requested that everybody in the place turn to their neighbors and give them a hug. He then asked everybody watching on the Web (the show will be broadcast on Z.com starting Sept. 12) to do the same. A smiling Morissette simply said, "Thank you, sir."

The festivities were wrapped up with the keyboard-heavy "Thank U." As Morissette is one for wearing her heart on her sleeve, it seemed an appropriate close to this special night.

STEVE BALTIN (August 19, 2000 Rollingstone.com)

AOL NEWS ARTICLE

Morissette bonds with fans at special L.A. gig By DEAN GOODMAN

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) - Hippie vibes and group hugs were the order of the evening as Alanis Morissette played a special concert for some emotional fans at the Museum of Tolerance Thursday. The Canadian pop singer performed eight songs acoustically and answered about a dozen questions from among the 300 audience members at the private gathering. Among the revelations: she's "most likely" going into the studio next month; she has "no idea" what the tone of her new songs will be; she believes "we're all one, we're all connected;" she has rejected Catholicism, but "actually felt very close to God the second I stepped out of religion." Several of her interrogators could barely hold back tears, and one of them asked that everyone hug the person next to them. Most people appeared to comply. The performance was organized by Netcaster Z.com, which will webcast the event beginning Sept. 12 at its site, http://www.club.z.com. Tickets were auctioned off on two Web sites, and fans flew in from as far afield as Argentina, Texas and Florida. Proceeds went to two charities: the Museum of Tolerance, an arm of the anti-Holocaust Simon Wiesenthal Center; and the Active Element Foundation, an anti-capitalist group. Backed by her six-piece band, Morissette played songs drawn mostly from her 1998 studio album, "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie." The set list included "Can't Not", "Joining You", "I Was Hoping", "So Pure" and "Thank U". Morissette has just finished a three-week tour of countries not generally on most rock stars' itineraries, including Lebanon, Israel, Croatia and Turkey. Before she took the stage Thursday, the audience was treated to a film detailing some of her stops and escapades with local fans.

BILLBOARD 2001

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Representing the "Artist's Perspective" at the Plug.In conference Monday in New York, Alanis Morissette decried the waning use of the Internet as a distribution channel for uncommercial talent and called on artists to rally for legislation that will make music accessible to the largest possible audiences. The current major-label system is "not working," Morissette said, because record companies are owned by conglomerates increasingly focused only on quarterly results. In her opinion, such companies as MP3.com and Napster "once offered a link between artists and audiences and was a way for less-established artists to have a forum to reach those who will be touched by their art." Now, she said, those same companies have been "litigated, vilified and ultimately consolidated to the point where these opportunities (don't exist)." Pointing to Napster's relationship with Bertelsmann and the acquisition of MP3.com and Emusic by Vivendi Universal, Morissette said that the Internet has become "a bottleneck for creativity," because the media conglomerates are attempting to apply traditional, profit-oriented business models to the new medium.

BPM Magazine

Alanis Morissette delivered more than an artists perspective, she challenged all artists to educate and join together to have a say in the decision making process of digital music distribution.

“I encourage all artists to educate themselves as a means to demonstrate to all interested parties our readiness to be part of this process,” said Morissette.

Morissette gave an Artist’s Perspective speech at the Sixth Annual Plug In Conference–a digital music conference presented by Jupiter Media Metrix and Billboard Magazine, in New York City July 23-24.

Her speech was a 20-minute pep talk to all unsigned artists that the Internet can be used to connect with music fans, and that signed talent should rally behind this theory, stating the major-label system is “not working.”

“In today’s climate, if an artist doesn’t sell a certain number of copies on his first release, they will be lucky to be supported at all by the record companies which are so focused on the bottom-line numbers,” said Morissette. “Many of the most popular artists of the last 30 years would have been dropped by the record company in today’s climate. Artists today are not being given a chance to experience the normal ebbs and flows that result in an artist’s evolution.”

Morissette at one time believed that on-line services like Napster and MP3.com could have been used to connect artists to more fans and ultimately could have helped their distribution.

“These companies have been litigated, vilified, and ultimately consolidated to the point where these opportunities do not exist,” said Morissette. “Commercial, uncommercial, even offensive art needs a level playing field.”

With Napster now in a relationship with the Bertlesmann e-Commerce Group, and Vivendi Universal acquiring MP3.com and Emusic, Morissette called the Internet a “a bottleneck for creativity.” Stating labels are applying the old-school ways of profit making to a newer wave of the music medium, and that Congress should step in.

“I believe we have reached a point where legislative solutions have become necessary to acknowledge and protect our interests as artists,” said Morissette. “To create laws that would support and foster new forms of distribution, subscription services, and make music accessible to the greatest number of people.”

On-line subscription services will soon be available through Musicnet.com, offering the first digital music subscription platform featuring on-demand downloads and streams from three of the five major recording labels. Musicnet.com will license its technology platform to companies who want to sell digital music subscription services under their own brands. AOL Music announced two new features of its paid subscription coming this fall; the Artist Discovery Network will introduce fans to new music via on-line listening stations, separated by music genre, and Radio (At) AOL, will be a streaming radio network with news and entertainment over 50 channels.

The Plug In Conference brought all the major players in the digital music drama for a two-day event in New York City. On the second day of the event, there was a surprising announcement. Hank Barry, Interim CEO of Napster, was dropped on July 24 from his position but will stay within the company.

INTERVIEWS

Q-MAGAZINE 2/6/96

This interview is taken from the August issue of Q-Magazine 1996
The interview date was June 2nd, one day after Alanis' 22nd birthday.

Birthdays are a time for taking stock. How do you feel about last year?

I'm a little bit in denial about what's happened. I now look back to what I was doing when I was 15 and go Whoah! I see it very objectively now because of the years that have gone by, so I think the same thing will happen with what's going on right now. Maybe when I'm 30 or 40 I'll look back and go Jesus! I'm trying to keep it together right now. I'm kind of in the eye of the storm and it's very calm and peaceful.

But surely it's anything but calm, or peaceful?

Well, I don't have the same perspective on what's happening to me as people who haven't already been through what I've been through. Because of everything that's led me to this place it makes me feel that it's a very normal thing. After all, it's very simple when you break it down. I spent a couple of months writing songs that were very personal and very self-indulgent. Then they were played on this thing called the radio and people heard it and related to it and they wanted to come and see it live. That's it! It's such a simple thing.

When you see the pictures of the bubble-permed 15-year-old, what are your immediate feelings?

There are two immediate feelings. One is that part of me doesn't know who that is. Aside from the career, I think most people loom at their teenage year pictures and there's a certain sense of detachment. You remember all the pain and you're thankful that you're an adult now. I feel sorry for her, because she didn't know very much. She knew quite a bit but she didn't know what was really going on.

If there was one piece of advice you could give the old you, what would it be?

Don't ever mistrust those voices in your head. Because they were always there and I just ignored them. And take off all that make up. And the heels.

Where you surprised at the cynicism that greeted your reinvention in some circles? "She does the trite thing" went one of the headlines...

I just wish that more people had an incentive to find out the truth. OK, a lot of people have had the wool pulled over their eyes - they've been subjected to artists that aren't coming from a pure place and do consciously reinvent themselves for the sake of being accepted by the public. But sometimes the motives are pure. I suppose I find what the sceptics say morbidly fascinating, but when it comes down to it, being in the public eye and having some people love you, some people hate you and some people not give a shit is not a new concept.

You're a big user and endorser of psychoanalysis, aren't you?

Yeah, I'm a champion for battling your demons, definitely. I don't force it to anyone, but I recommend it, because I've felt its benefits. I think what winds up happening is that people dip their toes into the pool and it's cold so they just run away, as opposed to diving in and realising that in five minutes it feels really great.

You seem very much somewhere else when you're on stage.

It's a complete release up there. I was just telling my twin brother, it's like I'm completely alone. I feel people's energy and I know that they're there, but I'm not - and I don't mean this to sound bad - I'm not really there for them. Sometimes, when I snap out of it and suddenly I can see them all out there, it kills me how sweet they all are. Sometimes my faith in people disappears and they can renew that for me. Their openness and warmth and energy. Like at that Gorge, when they all started singing Happy Birthday.

What's with the stomach-holding up there?

A lot of things I do on stage I think is my way of showing the small amount of uncomfortableness I feel with being that naked. It's a way of holding it in, I suppose. There's still a little coward in there somehwere.

So many of the male characters you introduce are, for want of a better word, bastards. But if an ex-boyfriend wrote a song about you what sort of things would he say?

I'm sure there have been some You Oughta Knows written about me, definitely. The thing is when I think of You Oughta Know the core emotion behind it is pain. To me, anger is a cowardly expression of pain, especially in my case. When I sing it I'm thinking not how pissed off I am but of how pathetically pathetic I was. I put my self esteem in someone else's hands, and if you do that you are sure to be broken. It's inevitable.

You Oughta Know gets all the attention, thanks to "Would she go down on you in a theatre?" mainly. But your most damning song is Not The Doctor, a really calculated picking apart of this clinging individual: "I don't want to be the bandage if the wound is not mine". Like, cheers.

Looking at it through a microscope I could say that the person that I wrote You Oughta Know about could've sang Not the Doctor to me. I have been on both ends, as I said. Because of my strength of character, because of my self-sufficiency a lot of the time I attract people who for whatever reason want to depend on me, and for a long time I would go with it. I would fill them and I would give them my energy and I would protect them and I would fill their proverbial void, y'know? I've cut a lot of people off. And I know that sounds callous, but I had to, for the sake of my own sanity and for their sake really, 'cos I was perpetuating their dependancy.

You speak emphatically in the plural. As if there's this plank on your back carrying this army of people...

There's a lot of people. I've had a lot of friendships and acquaintances and relationships in my life. Tons! I've met so many people. Maybe not this week, but in my "youth". I've led two different lives when I was younger. (Distractedly) There was always a 40-year-old in me...Then there was my young self. And with that double life happening you just meet more people.

Who was the first bloke you snogged?

What does (waggles fingers) "snogged" mean?

Smooched with, spooned with, "did tongues".

(Uproarious cackle) Ooooh, I "snogged" a boy in grade eight, I was 14. It was horrible and I broke up with him a week later.

If you had to pick two adjectives for each member of your band, what would they be?

Tee-hee, that's fun! Taylor Hawkins would be pure and passionate, and Chris Chaney would be disciplined and innocent, Nick Lashley would be thoughtful and giving - he's become a guitar teacher on the road for me - and Jesse Tobias is, um, is so growthful and complex.

Wow, what a weird rock band you have. All that purity and innocence floating about.

(Unfazed) Yeah, it's great. And together they are greater than the sum of their parts.

You are Canadian. Do you feel, carving through the United States selling millions of records, at all alien?

When I first ,oved to LA I was the hugest alien. My manager called me up when I was getting my immigration done and he said that under American laws I was considered an "alien with a special talent" and I thought, Er thanks, that's just perfect. But the cultural difference between America and Canada cannot be underestimated, and I did underestimate it before I moved. Canadians are really good listeners and sometimes I struggle with that with Americans.

What could we expect to discover if we visited your house?

It would be very woody. There'd be incense and candles. Very simple. There wouldn't be a lot of electronics. I'm very slowly coaxing myself into the technical revolution.

You're a hippy, aren't you?

Yeah, I am a hippy. I fluctuate between being very 1996 and very, um, 1970. If someone were to send me somewhere else in time it would be in the whole hippy era, definitely.

Do you have any vices?

I play guitar - not exactly a self-destructive vice, but when I'm freaking out I'll grab a guitar. My lifestyle is one big fat vice - there are so many exciting stimuli. I'm a workoholic, that's my vice.

Come on, that's not a proper vice. Do you ever smoke a secret cigarette? Play practical jokes? Get shit-faced?

There's certainly a mischievous, sadistic part to my personality. But it's not cruel, it's just...young. I can be very 21...er, 22. I'll get very hyper and really childlike.

So no group sex on crack, then.

Look, if I ever have group sex on crack you'll be the first to know. Sheesh, I knew I wouldn't be rebellious enough for Q. Your pull quotes are so scandalous.

You have five weeks of gigs on the West Coast, three weeks in Europe, another five back here in the States and then more shows on the Pacific rim. You must be insanely driven or indestructible to be doing this. Or both...

But if I wasn't playing every night, I'd be dead. I'd explode. I'm not doing this to sell records, I'm doing it because I'm 22 and I can. There may be a point where I have a family, I have children and I won't want to be away from them, but what am I away from now? My storage space? If someone had asked me a year ago, Do you wanna tour the world? I'd have said, Where do I sign? So I'm not doing it to sell records, I'm doing it because it's a magical, testing, challenging experience.

What would your perfect day off be?

To sit by the ocean. To have a really good book nearby. To be alone really - I don't have much time alone - though it would be nice to have somebody, a sort of therapist-type figure who I could (clicks fingers) call upon if there was some issue I was grappling with. They would appear when I wanted them to and then they'd disappear and I'd be alone again. And I'd have a puppy. That would be the perfect day.

You've managed to avoid being represented in a sexually stereotypical manner, and yet you must be aware that you're a pin-up.

A pin-up is...Well, celebrity creates that. Someone might well be nervous around you because you've been on TV or you've created this famous thing, but that's something that I've never understood because I've never been in awe of anyone. When I was a kid I was around a lot - quote, unquote - "celebrities" and I remember thinking, You're so human yet everyone around you is freaking out. Why is that? Some art brings fame, other art doesn't. I suppose some art is underappreciated.

You use the word "magic" an awful lot.

Really? It's a word that sells what I really mean to say short. There's no word that can describe what I mean by magic. It's a vibrating, warm, inexplicable, other-wordly beauty - something that I can really feel. You know, there are so many inexplicable things that have happened over the last couple of years - things like how a song can appear and I don't even remember writing it, not even remember singing it. I'm humbled by the fact that I can't figure any of that stuff out, and me such a thinker, too.

Which songs do you not remember writing?

All the ones on the record. I don't know where Perfect came from. I don't know where Head Over Feet came from. It was overwhelming - I'd listen to the song the next day and go Whoah, who wrote that?! Glen and I laugh about that all the time (laughs) We reckon that maybe we don't have anything to do with it.

Can you think what your earliest memory might be?

I remember Kindergarten, in Germany where we lived for three years. I remember being with my twin brother everywhere we went. Most of all, I remember being me totally. I had the same view on life even when I was really little.

Your dressing room was burgled backstage at The Gorge. What did they get away with?

About $8000's worth of my equipment, video tapes of the tour, cassettes with half written songs on them. Fuck. I don't write a diary because I thought - and this is the ironic part - somebody might steal it. So I thought it would be safer to film everything. It's thrown me into a weird, dark funk because I don't understand why anyone would do that. It's confirmed my already neurotic fear for my own safety. It hasn't always been founded, but little things like this keep happening, much to the chagrin of those around me who are constantly trying to convince me that I'm safe. This doesn't help their case very much.

Do you feel bitter about the way you were channelled when you were younger?

I was creating in an environment that was very judgemental, not very safe. They - my collaborators, producers - had their own structured way of songwriting, whereas when I was young and wrote poetry it was a stream-of-consciousness process, a very unfettered kind of crazy experience, and when I went into the studio I'd want to apply that to my songs. But I guess I went along with them, though all the while there was something amiss. But it seemed to get so many thumbs up, so many pats on the back, I thought it must be the right thing to do.
a stream-of-consciousness process, a very unfettered kind of crazy experience, and when I went into the studio I'd want to apply that to my songs. But I guess I went along with them, though all the while there was something amiss. But it seemed to get so many thumbs up, so many pats on the back, I thought it must be the right thing to do.

You said something very odd about drugs once: that taking them would be like admitting that you : "weren't perfect".

I was sort of thinking how disappointed my parents would be. When I did try it out from time to time I just decided that life was confusing and complex enough without adding to it the fact that my brain was being altered. I feel like I'm on drugs all the time anyway, and I'm really good at contact highs. I'm really scared of being that much out of control, and my self-esteem is too high for it.

You didn't have a bad experience, then?

I've had bad experiences with people around me, who I've had to talk through it and walk through it many times, and I don't wanna be on their end of it. Euch, it's scary.

You're always alluding to your self-esteem. Are there still things you don't like about yourself?

Hell, yeah. So many things. I'm still trying to get it together in the relationship department. I'm trying to be patient with the differences between men and women. Like, I'm really good at being close with women and trying to get better at being close with men.

What's the answer? Practice?

Well, I'm in a relationship right now. No, he's not in my band and no he's not involved with me as an artist - he's very outside. Yeah, I need practice, but at the moment I just don't have enough time for it.

Do you have a recurring dream?

I have this recurring dream that I get on an elevator, and as it gets higher and higher there's less and less oxygen and the air gets really prickly, and the elevator's rocking back and forth, back and forth and then it opens and at the top there's just this huge crazy earthquake.

How good does success feel?

When I was younger I was motivated be adulation and awards and chart success. I thought if you had all that celebrity status then everyone would love you. I quickly learned that the opposite was in fact true, that if your foundation is not there and you're thrown into this crazy whirlwind, then you're fucked. The most ironic thing was that the moment that I let go and stopped wanting it was the moment that I got more of it than I'd ever gotten in my life. And I can't forget that, what led me into this fulfilled place.

What happens next?

You know, I think these 13 songs have only just scratched the surface. An author can write about 20 books and still not feel he's written his first. At the moment I'm still trying to get used to the power that I have, the power that just by default comes along with having a successful record.

Alanis Morissette on her "Jagged Little Pill, Live" home video:

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.

PLAYBOY MAGAZINE AUSTRALIA 96

The Playboy Interview

Alanis Morissette

The diva least likely speaks candidly about her suspicion of fame: women, anger and music: and why she’s not a ball-breaker.

Alanis Morissette is one of the greatest successes in the history of pop music. The sales of Jagged Little Pill, her breakthrough album, have soared past the 15 million mark with no end in sight. At 22 [now 23, edited], the Canadian singer may well outstrip Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston as the top-selling pop singer of all time. Morissette began her musical involvement as a child growing up in Ottawa, Canada. The pretty daughter of a French-Canadian schoolteacher father and a Hungarian-born mother, Morissette began studying piano at the age of six. At nine, she was writing songs. By the age of 10, she was starring in a Canadian TV series for kids. At 16, she cut her first album of disco-dance music. And at 19, she was living the wild life in LA, searching for a personal and musical identity. Today, Alanis Morissette is standing on top of the world with an album about anger, alienation and anguish. Since its release in June 1995, Jagged Little Pill has invaded the record industry like an irresistible force. Millions of listeners have identified with Morissette's ironic perspective and haunting vocals, seeing the album reach number one in Australia, the US and the UK. Morissette is only beginning to feel what it’s like to have the success she always craved. Sex is the strident theme of You Oughta Know, the first hit single from Jagged Little Pill. Morissette wrote the song after a boyfriend dumped her for another woman, creating instant controversy with its searing lyrics: “An older version of me/ Is she perverted like me/ Would she go down on you in a theatre?/ I’m sure she’d make a really excellent mother/ Are you thinking of me when you fuck her?” Morissette sang these lyrics at the normally stodgy Grammy Awards last February [in 1996, edited], where she also went on to sweep four of the top awards, including Album Of The Year and Best Female Vocalist. For Morissette, winning the Grammys represents a coronation of sorts: her aching, caustic vulnerability has established her as one of the most famous singers on the planet. Extremely intelligent and self-composed, Morissette, has the mental toughness to deal with her success and the trappings of fame. She admits to being exhausted at times, but says she won’t allow herself to burn out. Before the explosion of Jagged Little Pill, no one outside her native Canada had even heard of Alanis Morissette. She was chiefly known as a dance-pop diva after the release in 1991 of Alanis, a syrupy album which sold over 100,000 copies and saw her named the Most Promising Female Artist at Canada’s Juno awards. But Morissette was unmoved by her success. She knew she had miles to go before she could truly express herself. Her time spent in Los Angeles would see Morissette develop both musically and as a person. It was time to reverse a repressed and controlled life and achieve success that actually meant something. Jagged Little Pill is about those changes. Those who remember Morissette as a determined young girl in Ottawa, Canada, are hardly surprised that she has pulled off such a musical breakthrough. Michael Jeffords, a Canadian record producer who knew Morissette in her disco phase, recalls how fiercely Morissette worked for her success. “Alanis was one of those people who had a fire inside of her,” he recalls. “She knew that she loved music and wanted to entertain and win approval for her work. I think as she matured she suddenly found herself growing light-years beyond the kind of outlook on life she had when she was doing the dance stuff. That’s the mark of a great artist – to move on to new kinds of material that reflect the changes you’re going through. Alanis is the perfect example of that.” For her part, Morissette explains that her transformation was the result of coming to terms with her problems of self-control and self-esteem. It took her most of her adolescence to deal with her Catholic guilt and to find the courage to liberate her deeper feelings. Contributor Jan Janssen spoke to Morissette in London where she was still in the process of adapting to her extraordinary success. Sitting in a café in London’s trendy Soho district she wore black pants, a jean jacket, and a plain white shirt and enjoyed a café au lait. Her hair, long, slightly messy, was parted in the middle as always.

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: What’s the difference between your previous career as a pop singer and the harder edged Jagged Little Pill?
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: 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: When you arrived in LA from Canada did you experience a bit of a culture shock?
Morissette: Total culture shock. LA is another planet compared to Toronto where I recorded my first albums. Ever since I’ve been living here I’ve felt part of a big musical family. Getting Flea and Dave involved wasn’t even a big deal (Jagged Little Pill features Flea and Dave Navarro from the Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass and guitar respectively). Everybody hangs out in the same clubs and wants to do as much musically as they can.
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: 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: 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: 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: 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.
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.
Playboy: How’s your love-life these days?
Morissette: [Laughs] I’ve been seeing someone I really like. But I still don’t know how ready I am for big commitments. I just want to focus on enjoying a caring relationship. I don’t think you’ll be hearing another You Oughta Know in the near future. God, at least I hope not!

DIARIO CLARIN - OCT. 96

Alanis Morissette:
"Podría retirarme hoy y no morirme nunca de hambre"

Quiero hacer una película. Primero porque me asusta, y después porque sería una forma de dejar de hablar de mí misma".

La mujer que más discos vendió en el mundo en lo que va de la década "mal que les pese a Whitney, Mariah y Madonna, la Santísima Trinidad del pop femenino" entra al salón del Hyatt sobre un par de sandalias franciscanas. Tiene 22 años y la cara lavada. Su único signo de afectación es el esmalte: plateado y grumoso sobre las uñas cortas, que convierte cada gesto suyo en un metálico, silencioso enjambre bajo el sol del domingo. Casi vienticinco millones de discos vendidos y ni un vuelto para comprarse tacos...
A eso se le llama personalidad.

Alanis Morissette está acostumbrada a que no le crean. La gente desconfía de cualquiera que sea multimillonario a los veinte "la vida es buena pero es injusta, dice Lou Reed" y mucho más si ni siquiera se le conocen excesos de nuevo rico. ¿Un vestido de Donna Karan con que darle un descanso a las remeras y los jeans? ¿O un peluquero personal para las giras, cuanto menos? "Me compré una casa, sí. Y estoy construyendo mi propio estudio, que es lo que siempre deseé", dice como si se tratase del summum de la autoindulgencia.

El éxito del álbum Jagged Little Pill fue tan fenómenal como insólito.
Una post-adolescente gritona que oculta sus formas y se retuerce en escena como esos espíritus de mal agçuero a que los irlandeses llaman banshees no era, precisamente, la clase de fórmulas a que la industria suele apostar. Pero Alanis apareció en el momento indicado con la canción precisa: You Oughta Know. "La velocidad con que me remplazaste fue un cachetazo. ¿Pensás en mí cuando c... con ella?", decía con evidente desprecio. El single se convirtió en un himno. Cualquiera que haya sido traicionado comprenderá por qué.

La barrera del idioma hizo que el éxito de Alanis no se repitiese aquí con la magnitud que tuvo en los Estados Unidos, pero el sábado y el domingo Obras se llenó de un público que repitió sus letras palabra por palabra. Es que el fenómeno Alanis es tanto musical como sociológico. Los versos del tema Hand In My Pocket, que tan bien la definen ("Vuelo pero tengo raíces. Estoy sana pero me siento abrumada. Estoy perdida pero tengo esperanzas"), hablan elocuentemente de una generación que "aquí y allá" toma sus primeras decisiones correctas en un mundo equivocado.

¿Te sigue molestando que te consideren un producto y no un artista?
"Es loco eso de entrar a un lugar y saber que todo el mundo ya tiene una idea preconcebida sobre vos. Pero en lo esencial no me importa. Lo importante es que yo sé quién soy. Y todavía conservo a mis amigos, gracias a Dios."

"You Oughta Know" hizo que se te creyera furiosa y vengativa...
"Es un malentendido. La escribí porque ese sentimiento me estaba matando, y me ayudó a sacarlo fuera de mi sistema. Para eso cuento con mis canciones."

Tus letras transmiten una profundidad de experiencia ajena a tus años.
"Digamos que viví lo suficiente como para saber de qué hablo. Hay una parte de mí que cree tener 5 años y otra que se siente de 40. La parte infantil siempre pide más... y se siente estúpida, por supuesto. La parte de 40, en cambio, se siente sabia más allá de mis años."

En los últimos tiempos las solistas más interesantes son mujeres: Joan Osborne, Suzanne Vega, Sheryl Crow...
"Estamos exponiéndonos mejor, eso es todo. Sin pedir disculpas. Y como el público femenino se siente identificado, también apoya más."

¿Y los hombres?
"Yo veo hombres totalmente distintos a los que me topaba, no sé, cinco años atrás. Los veo más abiertos..."

¿Cambiaron ellos o cambiaste vos?
"A lo mejor ahora me atrae otro tipo de hombres. Los únicos con los que puedo trabajar son los que no reparan en mi género o en mi edad. Los que sólo se preguntan si soy o no capaz, si soy o no una buena líder o si merezco respeto."

Cuando los hombres se convierten en estrellas de rock las mujeres los siguen como moscas. Cuando la estrella es una mujer, los hombres se intimidan.
"Exactamente. (Ríe.) He ahí mi experiencia... Los hombres que vienen a mis shows lo hacen porque: a) Acompañan a sus novias, o b) Están abiertos a oir a una mujer decir la clase de cosas que digo. Los del segundo grupo pertenecen a la clase que yo querría llevarme al backstage para hacer el amor. Pero no nado en esa clase de aguas. Y además como ahora tengo novio..."

Los muchachos que elegiste para tu banda son bastante agraciados...
" Uno está casado. Otros dos tienen novia. Pero, er, um... El bajista es soltero! (Ríe como pescada en falta.)"

¿Qué dirían en tu compañía si te tiñeses el pelo y optaras por los escotes?
" No mucho. Por eso elegí el sello Maverick, que es propiedad de Madonna. Además ya hice esas cosas de chica."

¿Qué tal es Madonna?
"Ella es cool. Le gustó el disco. Lo entendió. Hay algunas cosas... no muchas... que tenemos en común."

¿Y el próximo disco? ¿Te angustia?
"No es una gran presión. ¿Por qué habría de serlo? Estoy construyendo mi propio estudio y gané plata como para ya nunca morirme de hambre. ¿Qué mejor situación para hacer lo que uno quiere?"

¿No te preocupa perder la sintonía con tu público?
"Siempre hay una vocecita que te dice: ¿Y si esta letra no la entiende nadie? Pero por suerte hay otra que responde: ¿Y qué te importa? Es a esa a la que le doy bola. De otra forma me volvería loca."

MUCHMUSIC INSIDE JAGGED LITTLE PILL LIVE SPECIAL - JUN '97

This is taken from the Muchmusic Inside Jagged Little Pill Live special.

Interviewer: Denise Donlon, New York City, June 1997

Alanis on the Tibetan concert:

"People just need to, become aware...have the information given to them and they can do what they will with it, and I think music is a great way of doing that."

Alanis on Jagged Little Pill Live:

"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?

A: Yeah!! We got really close (laughs)! He knows just about as much as he can know at this point!

A: 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.

A: 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.

A: (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.

A: 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?

A: 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.

A: 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?

A: 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!

A: 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...

A: 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?

A: 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.

A: 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.

A: 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.

ALANIS COMMENT ON HER NEW ALBUM SFIJ, AUSTRALIA

Please note that this interview was taken from 96FM in WA, Australia.

Intro: Well I had the great pleasure of meeting Alanis Morissette in Los Angeles last week, she's getting ready to release her much anticipated follow-up album to the Jagged Little Pill. It's called...wait for it..."Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie". Now I had to ask Alanis why she came 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 emotional, 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.

Comment: And Alanis is feeling very chilled out at the moment after spending quite a bit of time in India and you can certainly hear the eastern influences on her new album. You'll be able to get "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" when it's released November 21.

REFLECTIONS OF A SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE

DATE: JANUARY 6, 1999

FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/AMANDA CAGAN

CLOSE UP WITH ALANIS MORISSETTE
Reflections of a `Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie'
(Fall `98)

Q: How can you be so revealing in your songs?

ALANIS MORISSETTE: Since writing jagged little pill, I have felt the empowerment and healing that comes from being vulnerable and of speaking as truthfully as possible. I write from a subconscious place whether it's about my own experiences or my observations. Everything I've created since I was 9 years old up until this point has been an extension of where I was at that time. It was also a reflection of how much I was willing to reveal at that time.

Q: On `Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie' you go emotionally deeper than you went on `jagged little pill.' Can you talk a little bit about what triggered your mind to plumb the depths even further?

On this record, songwriting is a very cathartic experience for me. Dissolving what has been holding me back or confusing me by facing and writing about it allows me to move beyond it. I still allow myself to viscerally react to people and situations-- I then take responsibility for my role in it. My having written in a reactionary way resulted in a sense of release (which I think was very important). Taking responsibility for my actions and not hiding behind my own songs has resulted in my feeling a sense of closure.

Q: As empowering as you say it is to be vulnerable, is there ever a concern that you might be revealing too much in your songs?

There really is no emotion or part of myself that I'm afraid to write about. The challenge is to be specific enough that it resonates for me on an emotional level, but not so specific that it disrespects anyone's boundary or privacy. I have also, particularly on this record, played certain songs for people that I've written about, all of whom understood the spirit in which the songs were written. Unwittingly, this record has encouraged me to connect directly with people.

Q: Can you reflect about the mindset you were in that brought about your new songs?

After having gotten off the road, I took a year-and-a-half off and processed a lot of what I had been forced to put on the back-burner during the tour. I traveled a lot. I made up for a lot of lost time in many different areas. I nurtured relationships that I hadn't been able to nurture. I took the time for painting, writing and photography. I snowboarded, played sports, and did three triathlons. I wanted to understand the truths and illusions in my life in general, including those that lay within the music industry and everything that I had been through. I started from scratch in so many ways. Stopping was both exciting and terrifying due to the fact that I had never truly done it before. I had been taught to keep running at all costs for some elusive, ultimately unfullfilling reward. Stopping resulted in my realizing that this reward was not something I had to search for. I already was it. And what I was left with was an overwhelming sense of wanting to create again and a large amount of gratitude and compassion. I feel very connected to God in this stillness. I really didn't want to write this record from a place of fear or pressure. I wanted to write it from a place of being inspired. Even if I'm writing about difficulties or pain or confusion, I want it to come from a place of love.

Q: Can you talk about some of your travels? We're aware that you went to India and Cuba.

My aunts, mother and two girlfriends were with me from the first part of the trip to India--my girlfriend and I continued on when they left to go back. We started off in Calcutta and did some volunteering for a few days, traveled up north, then into Nepal and eventually down to the south of India. What I remember most about having gone to India was the openness that was required to go there, the letting go of control. I was able to look at our western culture with a sense of objectivity and be humbled by immersing myself in another culture that is drastically different from the one I was born in. It enabled me to step away from a lot of things and look at my life in a way that I had never been able to before. There was a richness and simplicity that was paradoxical and inspiring. I also realized that the Eastern world and its philosophies are often idealized. Being there prompted inquiries about myself, God, illusion, conditionings, death and materialism, among other things. I realized I didn't have to look outside myself to see who I was. I also enjoyed the eye contact with the people there. It was a very introspective trip.

Q: Did anything happen in Cuba that served as an inspiration for the new album?

I saw this as the last trip that I would take before the writing of this record. A group of us went on what was a cultural exchange. We went to different schools and hospitals, art galleries and restaurants. We also visited a music boarding school. I was alone in a music room there and I started to play piano when a woman with whom we were traveling started to dance. I was playing a very modular, stream of consciousness song. When I finished, I looked up and there were other people in the room. I was so deeply inspired, I knew that it was time to write again.

Q: One of the first things we've heard from you before the release of the album was "Uninvited," which you wrote. Walk us through that process a little bit. What happened? Did you see the movie? How did the inspiration take hold?

I saw a screening of "City of Angels" and had been going through something at the time that I felt very compelled to write about--it very much applied to the story.

Q: You've talked about starting from scratch. Can you tell us a little bit about, artistically and musically, what you wanted to achieve on this record that we didn't hear from you last time around?

I guess what I wanted to achieve for this record was to feel I had nothing to achieve. It is a snapshot of where I'm at with less regard for structure, experimentation with different instruments, plus even more stream of consciousness writing perhaps than before and writing about conversations I have with people. I wanted to produce it with Glen this time and write some songs alone. There was a point in time when I wasn't sure I ever wanted to do it anymore. But once I had taken enough time off and allowed myself the freedom to not "have" to, I was ultimately left wanting to.

Q: There are vocal stylings that have an Eastern flavor. How influenced do you feel you've been, musically, by your having traveled there?

I very much enjoy minor, augmented and diminished chords. I've gravitated to them more and more over the last few years. And then with having been around Asia, I'm sure that sort of filtered into my subconscious and confirmed it, if nothing else.

Q: On this album, you interestingly blend melody with language, enunciating words in a different way. You also at times fit a lot of words into a measure.

What I'm saying is more of a priority than whether it "fits." I adore language and different forms for communicating and expressing. It was such a priority to sing what I had to say that even if it resulted in having to fit sixteen words into a two-bar area, it would be done (laughs). I don't believe the structure of a song has to require lyrics or melody to conform to it.

Q: On this record you serve as co-producer. What did this involve?

For me it entailed applying and equally adjusting and personalizing what I had learned from people with whom I had worked before on a technical level and trusting my intuition. Producing, for me, is very intuitive in that the emotion takes precedence over "sonic quality" or "perfect" pitch, etc. I was able to better communicate what I wanted.

Q: Can you walk us through your songwriting process and your collaboration with Glen Ballard?

On this record we wrote songs much in the same way that the songs for jagged little pill were, in that it was very stream-of-consciousness. Glen and I would write the music and I'd write the lyrics at the same time. When I wrote alone, music and lyrics were written at the same time as well. All the songs were written in a day and recorded that same night in order to capture the spirit on tape. It's my favorite way of creating. There were a few songs this times around, like in the case of "That I Would Be Good," and "Would Not Come," where I wrote the words first and then wrote the music alone or with Glen later.

Q: In looking at your lyrics and listening to them, it seems sometimes like there's no real editing of the lyrics from their creation in your mind to their journey onto tape. Can we talk about that artistic process?

Songs, or any form of expression, are unself-conscious moments or snapshots captured on film, tape or canvas or paper. Even if it may change in a week or in an hour or in ten years, it will remain a representation of that moment.

Q: When you're in the studio creating, are there any things that are trying to distract you from that purity?

That which distracts is that which usually inspires me.

Q: Let's talk about your connection with your audience.

"I think the charm of doing what I do--and the reason why I could do it for as long as I did--was seeing people take what I wrote and have it inspire them, repulse them, or validate them in some way. It became an opportunity for them to define themselves in accordance. I would watch people in the audience and know that they were not solely there for me. They were there for themselves as much as if not more than they were there for me, which is the most heartening part of all this.

Q: When did you know you had finished recording the album?

The moment I feel the songs truly reflect that particular time in my life is the moment that the record is done. In the case of this record, we were technically "done" at one point. But I felt intuitively that we weren't and I wrote "Sympathetic Character." When we completed recording it, there was a resounding "you're finished" in the air for me.

Q: What instruments did you play on this album?

When I was writing alone, I played guitar and bass and piano. On the record I played flute, piano and harmonica. On stage I play the flute, harmonica and guitar.

Q: Is there anything on this album that you feel that you've never done before?

I had never expressed what I've written about in the way that I did on this record. I enjoyed playing with my voice and feeling how it had strengthened from having heavily toured and rested...Playing flute, new instruments, producing formally, stretching, less structure, writing more about other people. More responsibility, less fear, exploring.

Q: In your songs, there are other people's experiences--and your conversations with them--that have been weaved in here. Can you reflect on this process?

People fascinate me and I enjoy observing and writing about them and recounting conversations, delving into their perspective and honoring them in doing so.

Q: Why did you decide to do a warm-up club tour before "officially" launching your world trek in January 1999?

I wanted to start intimately and very much wanted to connect with people in a close way, start from scratch again, live in the moment and not base this tour and record on anything from the past. Letting it be what it wants to be today, on every level.

Q: O.K, if the new record were an actual food, which one do you think it might be?

It would have to be a food that at times can require something of you (like corn on the cob) and at times be easily eaten (like canned corn). You can cook it (or not) and then when you eat it, it's messy--whether you dress it or not. And there are more kernels than you sometimes can stomach.

Q: There's a real intimacy going on throughout `Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.' On "That I Would Be Good," when you play flute, you really can hear your breathiness on it. There was no need to go back and make it, "the perfect flute performance."

I love something being real and to me that's perfect, whatever that is.

Q: You were on a treadmill. What was it like to realize that you could actually get off of it?

It was liberating, exciting and terrifying. I've begun laughing again, making up for a lot of lost time on emotional levels, on traveling levels, on relationship levels, physical levels (sports), exploring my own spirituality. I felt humbled, inspired, afraid and grateful. I feel younger now than I ever have in my whole life. When I was 14, I felt 40 years old and now I feel both eight and 80. I discovered the world on many different levels with the energy that had always gone solely into my "career."

TV HITS INTERVIEW OCTOBER 1999

Alanis Morissette zapped in and out of OZ late last year at the speed of light - but this month she's back for a full-scale concert tour. The girl who once had a "jagged little pill" to swallow, talked exclusively to TV Hits.

You were in through the out door last time you were here, Alanis!
Yeah, it was pretty quick! (Laughs) That was my third or fourth time here.

That makes you an expert on OZ! Is there anything particularly unique about Australia?
Australians remind me of Canadians in a lot of ways...the humour. I was born and raised in a similar way.

What can we expect from this tour and how will it be different from the previous tours?
The music is different. We'll be doing some songs from "Jagged Little Pill" and some of the songs from that record we do different variations. Songs from the new record, lots of colours and new band members.

You recently starred in Dogma with Ben Affleck. How many scenes do you have with him?
My only scene in the movie is with Ben.

What was he like to work with?
He's great. He's really very funny!

We remember reading rumours, while you were filming, that you were going out with Ben...
Yeah, I heard about that. Yeah...

Did Madonna - your record company boss - give you any acting tips for the role?
No, I haven't talked to her in a long time.

What's your relationship with Madonna like? Do you talk often?
No we don't, actually. I don't see her very much.

You have a boyfriend now, Dash Mihok from The Thin Red Line. How did you meet?
We met in Cuba. He was travelling with us on a cultural exchange.

Dash also appears in your video for "So Pure" - which you directed!
He's the best dancer (smiles). He inspired me to get back into dancing! So I thought it would be remiss of me not to have him in it.

You're a famous woman, but what would you do if you were a man for a day?
I would observe the kinds of things that I would get away with that perhaps as a woman would be a little more difficult.

Here's some weird questions! What's the biggest mistake you've made in a relationship?
Thinking I could change a person.

Finish the sentence: Supermodels are...
...supermodels (laughs) That's my answer!

Your new lover farts in bed, do you dump him?
(Laughs) Wow! I'd give it a chance first and have some conversations before I was that rash!

What's worse - a bad kisser or a bad attitude?
(Laughs) Bad attitude.

How many lovers is too many?
That's relative. Are we talking about at the same time, or a lifetime?

Over a lifetime...
I don't think there's such a thing!

What do you do in your spare time?
I run, I bike, I swim, I water-ski, I snowboard, I paint, I dance, I sew and I hike (phew!)

Have you always been an outdoorsy person?
Yeah. I love being outside!

When can we expect a new album?
Next year!

ENTREVISTA CON SINI L. MAN

Thanks to Sini L. Man, music director for KCDU, for providing his interview.

On Monday, 10-12-98, I had the rare opportunity to meet with Alanis Morissette at the Warfield in San Francisco before the third show of her club tour in support of her new album “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie”. Honestly, she is nothing in person like what I had expected her to be from her videos. I found her to be extremely wise, calm, spiritual, and loving. Oh, and she’s gorgeous even without makeup from 3 feet away! The interview took place in a small private room backstage. It was she, a cheap tape recorder, and I.

SM: It’s wonderful to meet you!
AM: Good to meet you.
SM: How are things going?
AM: Good.
SM: Enjoying the tour?
AM: Yeah. It’s just started so I’m kinda getting into the mode again. It’s been an adjustment but it’s cool. SM: I caught your show in Santa Cruz and had a great Time.
AM: Cool. SM: My first time actually seeing you in concert. Very impressed!
AM: Thank you!
SM: A friend of mine wanted to know where you got the Day-Glo Adidas.
AM: Oh… they were actually Pumas.
SM: Oh! They were Pumas?
AM: (laughs) Yeah, and they got them for me.
SM: Ok, you have people who do that for you?
AM: “People” (smiles) quote unquote.
SM: I don’t have any questions per se. I wanted to just…
AM: Chat?
SM: Yeah! Just chat, because I figure everybody’s asking you, “So what do you think about the new album? How do you think it’s gonna do?”
AM: Right.
SM: Screw that! People are gonna know that as soon as they buy it eventually.
AM: Right.
SM: Oh, by the way, first things first. I was outside, out front, and there were two girls by themselves sitting. They were the first ones in line and they said, “Oh my God! You’re gonna go talk to her? Can you give her these?” So they gave me these two glow-in-the-dark bracelets.
AM: Oh! Cute!
SM: I said, “I’ll give them to her. Whether or not she wears them on stage is up to her.”
AM: I’ll wear them. If they don’t fall off. (Shakes her arm to test) They won’t fall off. Cute! Thanks!
SM: AM: (laughs)
SM: So, are you nervous?
AM: Uh, no.
SM: No? You’re probably beyond that now.
AM: I get a little nervous right before I go on. But it’s more kind of excitement than being afraid. There’s nothing to be afraid of.
SM: How was it in Santa Cruz on Saturday night? I mean, that was like the first stop on your tour in a long time.s Did you have, like, Mothra in you stomach?
AM: (smiles big and laughs loud) It was a little intense. I hadn’t been on stage for almost two…well I, you know, did sort of brief things here and there scattered over the time that I took off. But I hadn’t been formally on stage in over two years so it’s a bit of an adjustment. But it was great on so many different levels because it further kind of confirmed my belief that, not only with this record, but with the tour as well, I have to kind of start off without taking anything from the past into account this time. Just starting with today and focusing on “Who are you today?” And that’s it, you know?
SM: Speaking of “beliefs”, I really admire your lyric writing.
AM: Thanks.
SM: You must write from experience.
AM: Yeah.
SM: That’s what I was thinking. Can you tell me about your belief system? I mean, do you follow any specific belief system or is it just kind of going through life and the college of hard knocks type of stuff?
AM: I guess my belief system has been kind of formed by reading all kinds of different philosophers and I belief that psychology kind of goes hand in hand with us discovering who we are which then, in turn, allows us to recognize our connection with God in whatever form that you want “God” to take. I don’t have a structured, organized religion per se as much as I just feel spiritual, feel connected. The more I understand myself, the clearer I become and the clearer I am, the more conscious I am and the more conscious I am, the more I know God.
SM: Well, it definitely shows through in your music.
AM: Thanks.
SM: Or, at least one person has noticed in your lyrics, you know, that connection.
AM: Thanks.
SM: I really identify with that. “Thank U”…
AM: (laughs)
SM: For bringing that into your art. It’s wonderful!
AM: Cool.
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”.
AM: Yeah.
SM: So, what happened in India?
AM: 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.
AM: 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. SM: That’s really cool! I’ve never been out of the U.S.
AM: No?
SM: No. So, you came a long way, I mean, you were born in Canada?
AM: Yeah.
SM: Ok, and you were on…oh God, I can’t believe I’m gonna ask this stupid question!
AM: It’s not stupid!
SM: “You Can’t Do That On Television”, I used to watch that show.
AM: Cool!
SM: Now, how did you get into that? I mean, how did you go from the TV to being a singer?
AM: I was a singer first. I had a record out. I formed my own label when I was 10 because the record labels, you know.
SM: Get you! AM: (laughs) so I released that when I was 10 or almost 11 across Canada and then the TV show was when I was 12. SM: And you’re 24 now?
AM: Yeah.
SM: Wow! You’ve done a lot for 24!
AM: (laughs) Yeah!
SM: And now, how do you relieve stress? I mean, here you are releasing a brand new album, you’re doing a tour now, how do you relieve stress? Do you box or do you go running?
AM: Yeah, I did some triathlons when I took time off.
SM: Wow!
AM: 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.
SM: Well, you seem very calm. I don’t know what I expected, coming in here to meet “Alanis Morissette!” AM: (laughs)
SM: I’m glad that you’re very laid back and very cool and you’re just you. That’s really great!
AM: Yeah, cool thanks.
SM: I was telling the other radio people before me because I’m the last [to interview you], “Don’t piss her off! Because I’m last! Don’t piss her off!:"
AM: (laughs) It’s all good!
SM: Very cool!
AM: Right on, it was good talking to you!
SM: Good talking to you too! And thanks for wearing the bracelets, they’re really going to appreciate that! AM: No problem. Thanks.

MSN CHAT TRANSCRIPT

DishDiva : Welcome to MSN Live. Tonight we are pleased to welcome Alanis Morissette to MSN Live. Alanis, it's great to have you here tonight!

Alanis_Morissette : Hi! Nice to be here. Hello to everybody out there.

DishDiva : We have so many questions, so let's get started!

DishDiva : Neberu Asks: (michael) Alanis, how important is "dreamwork" in your life? Does it influence your songwriting significantly?

Alanis_Morissette : I work out a lot of my subconscious issues, and journal about it in the morning. So my dreams definitely effect what I write about.

DishDiva : musiclover66 Asks: As a Musician in the competitive, sometimes dark business of music, do you ever feel like a member of a lost/lone tribe?

Alanis_Morissette : I think the challenge has been integrating the business side of things, where there are a lot of things that I disagree with, and the creative/artistic side. Now to enable both sides of them help me to use both sides of my brain so I enjoy it. It's empowering.

DishDiva : Do you consider yourself more left or right brained?

Alanis_Morissette : (laughs) Both actually.

DishDiva : ChelseyM Asks: Where you nervous giving your speech about Napstar and how were you chosen to do so?

Alanis_Morissette : I think they asked several artists and I was not only up for it, but for writing my own speach. I wasn't nervous saying my speach, but to get it all in the 5 minutes that was allowed and getting everything in in that time.

DishDiva : For those who haven't heard your opinion about Napster, can you tell us where you stand?

Alanis_Morissette : I believe there is going to be a way for Napster or like services will be able to share music, but also so that the artists will be compensated and monitored. I think it's all a good idea, but it needs to be monitored.

DishDiva : TimeofTheMonkey Asks: Do you feel that "Jagged Little Pill" pushed you into finding a calm retreat?

Alanis_Morissette : I think so, there were a lot of disillusioning moments, and things that I had strived for from youth, I was able to see the fruition, and I was able to tap into my spirituality in a way I hadn't done before.

DishDiva : luvcarrie says: Hi Alanis. Do you prefer to be called Alanis as in land or Al-ah-nis?

Alanis_Morissette : (laughs) Lan as in Land. It's very Canadian to say it like that and I'm very Canadian. The American way is fine too.

DishDiva : wzdum Asks: To Alanis: Being a fellow yogini, I too have--and, still am experiencing major changes in all areas of my life. How has yoga changed you?

Alanis_Morissette : It's allowed me to tap back into my physical self and integrate my spiritual, physical, and intellect and find a middle ground for them all. Also I can work muscles that other excercises don't use.

DishDiva : Is there one type of Yoga you practice?

Alanis_Morissette : I do a Iyengar and Ashtanga

DishDiva : peaking of spirituality. You recently traveled to Navajo Nation, Arizona for your Music in High Places Adventure.

<MSN Event Manager>Tonight! Alanis Morissette chats about the connection between music and spirituality that she discovered during her stay in Navajo Nation, Arizona. http://chat.msn.com/chatroom.asp?rm=onstage

DishDiva : RogerDeGrey Asks: Alanis, do you believe that your visit to the Navajo Nation affected the style of music or lyrics that you included on your new album? If so, in what ways?

Alanis_Morissette : I think it may have influenced me in subconscious ways, and their way of life is definitely inspired.

DishDiva : What did you take away from your adventure in Arizona?

Alanis_Morissette : I built a sweatlodge in my back yard.

Alanis_Morissette : It's a very personalized, cleansing experience.

DishDiva : Still on a philosphical slant here, Giammaria Asks: Alanis, how is the best experience of your life?

Alanis_Morissette : (laughs) I don't think there's ever been just one.

Alanis_Morissette : I think during my trip to India I was having Conversations with God and I felt it was very pivotal. This was right after the "Jagged Little Pill" tour ended.

DishDiva : TandinsGirl Asks: Do you ever plan to release "Sympathetic Character"?

Alanis_Morissette : Probably not as a single.

DishDiva : JanieRebecca Asks: If you weren't a singer/songwriter/actress, which profession would u choose for yourself and why?

Alanis_Morissette : I would be an author and I would be a director and I would be a gardener and a nomadic traveler.

DishDiva : What are some of the most amazing places you have traveled to?

Alanis_Morissette : Number 1 is India. I love South America, I love Morocco and Israil is pretty incredible as well.

DishDiva : worldofdev Asks: Would you ever consider a career as a Canadian Mountie?

Alanis_Morissette : Absolutely!!!

Alanis_Morissette : (laughs)

DishDiva : bunny Asks: In the movie, "Dogma," what was her role? God?

Alanis_Morissette : Yes.

DishDiva : Nothing like going right for the top.

Alanis_Morissette : (laughs)

DishDiva : BlazeLuna Asks: Do you miss your television days from when you were younger?

Alanis_Morissette : Yeah, I do. A lot of baptism by fire at that time and I do miss it although I would probably do it in a different capacity now.

DishDiva : Would you consider going back to TV?

Alanis_Morissette : Maybe the odd cameo, but not as a full time career.

DishDiva : joshco312 Asks: What is the coolest thing in the world?

Alanis_Morissette : (laughs) Seeing somebody and feeling seen.

DishDiva : domen1974 Asks: Are there any books you have read lately that you would like to recommend to us?

Alanis_Morissette : Definitely any of the "Conversations with God" books. I read Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who just passed away. I've been reading a lot of poetry by Rainer, and Marie Rilke.

DishDiva : supposedalanisfan Asks: Alanis, if you were a member of Congress, what sort of bill/resolution would you like to get passed? Kristina

Alanis_Morissette : That's going to take an hour to answer, but there's a few issues being addressed. One is the work issue, we need representatives in Congress and need to raise money for that. The other issue is we want to have interactive services online and determine where and when that will happen. Basically we want the right for the services and we need a 3rd

Alanis_Morissette : neutral party.

Alanis_Morissette : to be the central monitoring factor to see what's going on in the internet like the BMI or ASCAP, so that the money would go directly to the artists.

DishDiva : We are talking with Alanis Morissette. Following Alanis Morissette, join us for comedian, Tom Green. We are in moderated mode. If you have a question for Alanis, please whisper your question to Ask_Questions_Live.

Alanis_Morissette : One of the most important things is the 7 yr. rule for artists contracts would let the artists have free agency. This is one of the last industries to consider it.

DishDiva : LittleAlondra Asks: Do you have something that you always carry with you?

Alanis_Morissette : I travel with my teddy bear always. His name is Bere.

DishDiva : Was he given to you by someone special?

Alanis_Morissette : Yes, me. (laughs)

Alanis_Morissette : He helped me through a breakup, so we have some pretty high solidarity factors going on.

DishDiva : birdie_wi Asks: What is the one thing that you feel people would be surprised to know about you?

Alanis_Morissette : That I don't take anything that seriously, if at all.

DishDiva : Which is more you: the quiet spiritual girl or the outgoing party girl?

Alanis_Morissette : They're me. They both have equal ground.

Alanis_Morissette : I just believe in the concept of freedom in a structure in this realm.

DishDiva : AE_Abercrombie231509 Asks: Who has influenced you in your life the most and how have they done so?

Alanis_Morissette : I feel I have been influenced by so many people, I don't know if there is just one.

DishDiva : kittygirlbecca Asks: Do you ever get nervous before a performance?

Alanis_Morissette : I'm very nervous and when I've been performing a lot, I get excited.

DishDiva : Do you have any nervous habits?

Alanis_Morissette : Yes. Giggling. (laughs) I laugh a lot when I'm nervous and if I'm really nervous, I chew on things. I have an oral thing going on.

DishDiva : As you are now. . .

DishDiva : I would have pictured you a twirling the hair kind of girl. . .

Alanis_Morissette : I do that too.

DishDiva : joananm Asks: Are you vegetarian or vegan?

Alanis_Morissette : I tried vegetarianism for a year until I learned I was alergic to soy. Which was a revalotory moment so ultimately I would like to not eat meat.

DishDiva : Itwazntme Asks: Did you ever think in your wildest dreams you would be where you are today?

Alanis_Morissette : On some levels, not at all, and on another, I had experienced what I'm feeling now. I saw it in my head. I'm very grateful for what I'm experiencing now, but I also think I'm experiencing things that I have manifested from as far back as I can remember.

DishDiva : rebelwithoutaclue15 Asks: What is one of your favorite quotes?

Alanis_Morissette : I have a funny quote on my fridge "Before you critisize someone, walk a mile in their shoes, that way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes."

DishDiva : russell2000x Asks: When did you begin performing, and when did you know you were actually going to make it?

Alanis_Morissette : I started playing piano when I was 6, dancing at 7, writing songs at 9, and writing poetry when I was younger so I always knew I would express myself through poetry and words. I felt I had made it when I felt I was expressing myself authentically.

DishDiva : queencarrie21 Asks: Is it hard to find a man to respect her for her and not because you are a celeb?

Alanis_Morissette : There may a challenge in that department the first couple of times I meet someone. Once that feeling disolves, then they become more comfortable with me.

DishDiva : Irene120382 Asks: Is it true that you went to a school for very clever people?

Alanis_Morissette : I was in the gifted program at the many schools I was in with my twin brother.

Alanis_Morissette : The school was a great school and we would get bussed off a couple times a week to go to these "special classes" whatever that means.

DishDiva : Did your parents expect you to be a doctor or or lawyer or something else "clever"?

Alanis_Morissette : No, I have to say, my parents were very supportive of me being whatever I wanted to be from the time I began. I gave them much
appreciation for that. They weren't the kind of parents to say "You can't" they let me go out and do what I wanted to do.

DishDiva : Is it ever hard to come up with the passion for a song that you have song over and over and over like "Ironic"?

Alanis_Morissette : No. Because I love singing so much. The moment it would be a challenge, I would have to stop singing it.

Alanis_Morissette : So if you stop hearing certain songs, you'll know that's happened. (laughs0

DishDiva : Tom_Rocks_My_World Asks: The song "Ironic" is by far my favorite song of yours. What is your favorite song that you perform?

Alanis_Morissette : I don't have a favorite overall, but when I'm playing life I have one that is a favorite and then it changes. Right now it's "21 Things I Want in a Lover."

Alanis_Morissette : playing live.

DishDiva : bellastrong says: Earlier you talked about dreams. Do you have the same dream a lot and do you dream in color?

Alanis_Morissette : Yes, I dream in color. I have certain recurring dreams, that you could find in dream books, mostly with what I'm dealing with at the moment. There's a lot of guidance in them for me.

DishDiva : MagpieThief Asks: Would you ever say that singing/songwriting was an "exorcism" and if so, does playing live take that to another level?

Alanis_Morissette : Absolutely. Writing is incredibly therapeudic, and to do it on stage does take it to a different level. Whether there are 3 or 300,000 in the audience.

DishDiva : Muzik_DJ Asks: Alanis, the *Parental Advisory Explict Content* label. Do you think it's a good idea or just lots of bull?

Alanis_Morissette : On certain level I think no harm, no foul. I think parents reserve the right to choose CDs they want their 9 yr. old child to listen to. If someone doesn't want their children to listen to my songs because of the lyrics, that's their choice. And if someone if very desirous to listen to my music, they will.

DishDiva : Internalfear0 Asks: Politically, are you more radical or conservative?

Alanis_Morissette : I'm a Liberal, and I take every case by case and I use my intuition, and I find myself erring on the side of being Liberal.

DishDiva : Jordan336 Asks: If you could change your life, would you change it, and if so, how?

<MSN Event Manager>Comedian Tom Green, yes it's Tom Green!! Live now, here on MSN! Join now, don't miss this! http://chat.msn.com/chatroom.asp?rm=onstage

Alanis_Morissette : I always change my life. But as I get older things stay more consistant and my values and beliefs stay the same. I'm still getting
it together in relationships and where and how I spend my time that's shifting a little bit.

DishDiva : Alanis, the last question tonight comes from who groovetoon Asks: Has your recent journey allowed you to see the inner crossroad, the point where the Ego meets the Soul?

Alanis_Morissette : Yes, through looking at each other and ultimately it's my Soul that I go to each time and if I don't get to it, I will shortly thereafter.

Alanis_Morissette : Just reminding myself every day it's about who I'm being and why I'm being. Moreso that it's important than what I'm doing. It's more important to know what I'm being at a moment rather than what I'm doing.

DishDiva : Alanis, thank you for joining us tonight. I know this is a rare experience, chatting with you online. Any final thoughts as we close out this event?

Alanis_Morissette : So much love sent out to everybody, I'll see you sometime!

DishDiva : Thanks, Alanis! The new CD is being released when?

DishDiva : Great. We'll look out for it.

Alanis_Morissette : I'm in the middle of renegotiating with the record company so it would be great if it came out in the next few months.

DishDiva : Stay tuned. Tom Green is up next.