you for a while

The AllHipHop.com article featuring Tori Amos is old news. And in the world of Tori Amos Tour news, a couple of days is really old. I was a bit busy blogging on Tori’s Brisbane show reviews and hyping up thevelvets.com to get to it. But, this unique interview is definitely post worthy. The dynamic between T. and the interviewer, hiphop artist Tonedeff (a fellow Toriphile with 12 shows under his belt) gives us a break from the typical “So-you-dress-up-as-these-dolls. Can-you-tell-me-more-about-that?” interviews that have inundated our Google Readers over the past two months.

Tori takes control right from the beginning, stating: “Before we go further tell me what it is that you do.” This is not a command, but a sincere request to connect with Tonedeff on a level both of them can relate to. Tonedeff explains that he is trying to inject piano into the world of hiphop–a feat that had been inspired by Tonedeff’s fascination with Tori Amos and her music. There have been several questions he has been dying to ask Tori and in this intimate interview he is given his chance. How jealous are we?

The interview starts out with pleasantries–Tonedeff expressing his gratitude and Tori saying she can’t wait to hear his new work. And then they both wax poetic a bit about how, when you are creating, you lock yourself in a room and are not exposed to a lot of other music for fear of copying, stealing, or being over-influenced by what is going on out there. As Tori states, there are only 12 notes afterall! And then, Tonedeff got to dig in.

Question 1: Did you ever think that you’d be having a conversation with a rapper based on your role as inspiration?

Tori admits no. She had not. And not because he is a rapper, but because she is often so consumed by her job, her drive to create, and her passion to perform that she looses sight of what her work actually means to people–what it inspires them to do. Her gratitude for his compliments is unmistakable. She describes all the little wars she has to fight to be able to do what she wants to do (and loves to do) and to hear that just one person was inspired makes all of those wars worth it. Tori was particularly grateful to be having this conversation the day before her birthday, as she had been asking herself what she was amounting to.

Question 2: Re: Song writing…do you sit down and map out what you want to do per song? Or is it spontaneous?

Tori has answered this question several times, but rarely in this amount of detail. She tells her protege that she is often consumed in the moment by a piece of music such that she must drop everything to write a little bit of it down. She describes the moment as out of her control…but that she is usually able to rein in a full song after a year (although some come to her in their full form in moments). She views herself as an architect…there is an element of design and inspiration…but also a lot of hammering away.

Question 3: Have you ever found yourself …having to protect someone else’s feelings (because of your lyrics)?

Tori answers with an emphatic no. A very emphatic no, actually. This must have hit a sore spot. She calls out for honesty in the world of music…for artists to say what they mean, mean what they mean, and stand by what they say no matter who disagrees with him. Music has to remain free of self-consciousness as far as people’s feelings are concerned. She does not believe, however, that you have to be straightforward and obvious with your lyrics (ha, see such goodies as Professional Widow), you can veil someone’s true identity with poetry. She tells Tonedeff that she reckons she’s lucky that her husband has no desire to know what a song is about…he’ll like it as long as he doesn’t know what it is about.

Question 4: How did you create [your version of ‘97 Bonnie and Clyde]?

It is simply the way she heard it. It is the story she heard. A mother in the trunk of a car about to die and knowing that her child was going to believe every bad thing that came out of her dad’s mouth. She acknowledges that the song is a good one…but that if it was going to be written both sides of the tale needed light.

Question 5: How do you feel about other artist sampling your work?

She doesn’t mind as long as she gets paid. She admits that she “borrows” loops too (not often, mind you)…that they excite her. In her case, however, she writes over the sample (which can be anything including a scene in a movie) and then writes over it again to disguise it some more. She divulges that none of us would have ever guessed that Little Earthquakes was based on the story told on Public Enemy’s Fear the Black Planet. She laughs and challenges readers to suggest 3 rap songs for her to cover on her tour. I think she is serious. And she wants the hard stuff. NWA stuff.

In the end, Tori attempts (and I believe succeeds) in bonding with Tonedeff as they are both artists who challenge the status quo within a genre, despite the fact that it may not bring them commercial success or accclaim. She describes other artists who don’t perform for their audiences enjoyment and validation, but to fulfill their own needs (”emotional vampires”) and how these artists are, in a sense, raping their audiences. She ends the article in classic Tori style, “It blows my mind how people keep coming back to get rammed in the a** again. It really does!”

Thanks, Tonedeff, for such an interesting read…and for hosting the “pick 3 rap songs for Tori Amos to cover” challenge.

Click here to read the full article.

Filed under: Press/Articles, Tori News on September 26th, 2007