Renowned for Sound Interview (July 10, 2014)

The Sydney Symphony have invited me to play with them and that’s what the Sydney Opera House show in November will be. I’ll be playing with them for part of it and then it will be me doing this one woman show for the other part of it. I’m so excited. When they invited me I just started jumping up and down.

In a lengthy interview for Renowned for Sound, Brendon Veevers got the chance to speak with Tori while she was in Istanbul for the European tour about the new album, working with her husband in the studio, life in Cornwall, her creative process, and her approach to touring. She also reveals that the show with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra which kicks off the Australian tour was the SSO’s idea! Hmmmm! strokes chin thoughtfully

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AU Interview (July 10, 2014)

I don’t cancel. I’m not known for doing that. I don’t play for Government anywhere, I play for people. The Kiev people had asked me to come, they’d come to visit me in Europe and said, ‘Please come’, and so I wasn’t going to cancel!

In an interview for The AU phoned in from Istanbul, Tori spoke to Sosefina Fuamoli about Unrepentant Geraldines, the cancelled show in Kiev, her foray into Moscow and the impact of turning 50, and the coming tour in Australia.

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News.com.au Interview (July 9, 2014)

Well, you can’t not do [Conchita Wurst’s “Rise Like A Phoenix” and t.A.T.u’s “Not Gonna Get Us”] without knowing what it can mean. I mean I’m 50, I’m not completely naive! You can’t be coy about it. To play a t.A.T.u. song, a lesbian anthem, in Moscow — you’ve gotta grab it with both hands, because if you don’t, it’s not going to work.

In a phoner from Turkey for news.com.au, Tori talked about the upcoming Australian shows, the tour so far, and the intersection of family and music in her life and tells the story of her performance of a t.A.T.u. song in Moscow, including an unexpected punchline about who was on Crocus City Hall’s stage the next morning. (Hint: it’s ironic!)

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Last Week In Tori...And The Weeks Before That Too...

This time last week, South Africa, basking in the afterglow of the final show on the Unrepentant Geraldines Tour southern swing, was waving farewell to Tori as North America prepared for the tour to return to its shores and pick up again on the West Coast come mid-July. Between the pleasantries of Independence Day here in the States and the unpleasant intrusion of real life, the site has been a bit dormant so here’s a not-so-quick summary of recent happenings to get everyone — particularly ourselves — caught up.

First, a recap of the other things that happened during the South African tour while we were focusing on the live shows themselves.

• To prime the promotional pump, Tori reflected on her 2011 South African tour and the current tour in an interview with Rebecca Jackman for The Cape Times.
• The first Johannesburg concert earned a rave review from Nicola Beach for What’s On In Cape Town as well as some lovely press from City Buzz’s Graeme Shackleford.
• On June 30th, during the afternoon before the second Cape Town show, Tori visited the studios of Cape Talk 567 to talk to Pippa Hudson. The radio station kindly shared the complete audio of their excellent conversation on Soundcloud for everyone who may have missed it.
• On the same day, Tori also chatted with News24’s Jennifer Sanasie about the tour, Tori’s daughter Natashya, and Under the Pink. Video of that interview is available from Channel24.
• The Daily Maverick also got in the game with an article summarizing Tori’s career that appeared in that news website following the tour.

And, from the non-South-African department…

• “Promise” has been announced to be the second single from Unrepentant Geraldines. A video, which features both Tori and Tash, was shot for it in between the European and South African legs of the tour.
• Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou, who opened for most of the European leg of the tour, have been announced as the opening act for the North American leg as well.
• Back in April, while the pre-album release promo tour was in New York City, Tori spent some time record shopping with Nylon’s Jade Taylor. A couple photos surfaced on Instagram back then…but now the article, which includes a photo gallery of their visit to Generation Records, is on Nylon’s website.
• Chris Azzopardi interviewed Tori for PrideSource.com, touching on the new record, her career, past and present, and Tori’s relationship with the gay community.
• Swide’s Ben Taylor spoke with about Unrepentant Geraldines, being a parent and the on-going work on The Light Princess cast recording.
• Süddeutche Zeitung has a series of articles called “Sagen Sie jetzt nichts” (“Now say nothing”) in which personalities are asked questions and they respond wordlessly with expressions or gestures which are photographed. Tori was the subject of this series in the June 27th edition of the magazine answering questions ranging from “Where do you sing the most?” to “What is the first thing you would do if you were a man for a day?”
• FaceCulture posted a two-part video interview with Tori that was conducted while she was passing through Holland earlier on the tour.
• Alex Macpherson sat down with Tori for The Quietus and ended up looking back at some of the less-discussed songs from her back catalog — though they also took a close look at a couple songs from the new record as well.
• Stereogum listed the 10 best Tori Amos songs which SoSoGay countered with the 10 best Tori Amos songs you (probably) haven’t heard. Meanwhile, PopMatters decided a better top 10 would be the 10 songs Tori Amos should cover, perhaps in response to Alex Ramon’s summary of notable covers thus far on the Unrepentant Geraldines tour which, disappointingly, only includes 9 selections! In any case, once we get enough Tori listicles, we promise to list our ten favorites!
• Martijn Tulp interviewed Tori for the July issue of Gay & Night. The article, in which Tori revealed that she’d love to be a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, is available online via issuu.
• Brian Ives, who fleshed out the news of The Light Princess cast recording back in May, had the rest of his interview with Tori for Radio.com published back in the beginning of June. The article also includes video footage from their discussion.
• Dan Loughry interviewed for Frontiers magazine.
• Bitch Magazine interviewed Tori, discussing the new record and feminism.
• Boxx also had a feature interview with Tori during which she summarized the work on The Light Princess and addressed the state of the music industry for women.
• Finally, Pop Sugar declares Tori hasn’t changed one bit since the 90s. Mmmm hmmmm.

Phew! Thanks to Mike Minanian, mkgtweety, Erin, Scott, choirguy, Lorna, Jennifer, and several anonymous contributors for all the links! We appreciate it!

Tori's 10 Q-mandments (July 2014)

One of the regular features in Q Magazine these days is “My 10 Commandments,” in which a musician or performer outlines their rules for getting by and Tori gets to fill us in on her guidelines for life in the July 2014 issue (#336).

The issue is on newsstands now and can also be ordered online if you wish.

We’ll get a transcription up soon as we can. In the meantime, here are scans of the article for your perusal, thanks to @SchizoEclectic:

Salon Interview (May 30, 2014)

There are always stories you hear from people that make you see life in a different way. You don’t think about certain ideas until somebody tells you — or you did think about them but forgot about them, perhaps because you chose to forget. I’m in a blissful state. I forget most things. Why do you think I keep touring so much? I can forget the pain!

Stephen Deusner interviewed Tori while she was in Berlin in early April and the resulting article appeared on Salon.com this evening. Their conversation ranged over some of the usual ground — the album, art, and age — but Tori seems to have a frankness about her here that is often softened somewhat in other interviews. Good reading for the weekend!

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Popmatters Interview (May 12, 2014)

I found this record wanted to tell certain stories of men, where they’re quite romantic, these men. [The man in “Weatherman”] loves his bride so much, she’s dead, he can’t move on. And his love is so great that nature decides to help him and paint her back to life. Nature can only paint her back, though, to an extent. So between that and “Selkie”, these relationships, there’s that thread happening through the record.

As their Performer Spotlight last year demonstrated, many on the Popmatters staff would be qualified to interview Tori but it was long-time fan and student of Tori’s work, Matt Mazur, who pulled the short straw (so to speak) and his conversation with Tori was posted today. Unlike other reviewers, Matt brushes right by tired old question of the album’s title and spends the majority of the article delving into the songs that are on it so this is definitely an article worth spending some time with.

Check it out on their website!

The Noisey Interview (May 12, 2014)

I tour pretty much every other year and I’m telling you right now, it’s quite something to get prepared for a show, whether you do one or 80, you still have to prepare for that, so the fact that [Kate Bush] hasn’t done it for so long, and that she is going to do it is motivational for everyone and women of all ages.

In an interview for The Noisey, Vice’s music blog, Tori chatted with Leonie Cooper about Cornwall, Kate Bush, the music she listens to, and being on the other side of the fan relationship. Curiously, Unrepentant Geraldines is noticeably absent from the article but with every other interviewer gravitating to that topic, that’s not such a bad thing.

Thanks to Mac for the link!

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GRAMMY.com Inteview (May 12, 2014)

So when somebody says, “Why doesn’t someone get on a bus [and tour],” a bus is 80 grand a week, OK? You have to be aware of what it is now, put a smile on your face, roll up your sleeves, and say, “I don’t mind the challenge.” That’s OK. But for the new singer/songwriters who are coming up, it would be prudent if the record labels were able to develop some of them because not everybody is ready to just go from the living room to taking the stage at Radio City.

Bryan Reesman interviewed Tori for GRAMMY.com. After touching on the origins of Unrepentant Geraldines, the meat of their conversation centered on Tori’s relationsip with her daughter Tash but they also squeezed in some observations on how the music industry is treating Tori’s colleagues and some fashion tips for the stage.

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Independent Interview (May 7, 2014)

Whereas in music, it’s not as if they are signing [older women]. There are male contemporaries of mine who I adore … they are still getting frontline record contracts. It’s a different story for women. Am I fortunate to still have a record deal? Yes, there’s a little bit of luck. A lot of hard work but luck too.

The Irish Independent’s Ed Power interviewed Tori in advance of her two-night stand at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre and the article appeared in today’s edition of the newspaper. Tori ranges from the music industry’s relationship to female musicians both young and old to her personal relationship with Ireland in the interview but they still manage to squeeze in a bit about the inspiration of the new album.

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