News: Live From Studio X (November 6, 2007)

Tori was Terri Hemmert’s guest on Live From Studio X on WXRT on November 6th. During the short appearance, she played two songs — “a sorta fairytale” and “Almost Rosey” — solo at the piano and chatted with Terri about touring, Tash, and being invited to open for Led Zeppelin.

While XRT does archive some of the Live From Studio X interviews, this does not yet happen to be one of them. In the meantime, here is a transcript of their conversation, courtesy of yours truly.

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It’s not every Tuesday morning you get Tori Amos dropping in the office and it’s a wonderful thing. Live from Studio X, brought to you by Miller Genuine Draft, and welcome back to XRT, Tori.

Hi Terri.

It’s good to see you again!

Thank you, and you.

Thank you, and you had a show last night, an XRT show, at the Auditorium Theatre.

We had so much fun.

Isn’t that the most splendid venue?

It’s gorgeous and the crowd is fabulous…

I’m sure you had them in the palm of your hand, I’ve seen you perform before and even in a big hall like that, the person up in the nose-bleed section is sitting next to you on the piano bench.

Well, I think the goal is that you sing to the person at the very back of the theater and yet you also are drawn in by the people that are closer to you so you try to make it feel like a living room.

Hmmm. Great! And you started out playing the small little coffeehouses and clubs and all that. Did you ever imagine playing the Auditorium Theatre?

Well, when I saw Song Remains The Same, I thought, well, one day, you know, a piano can be sexy like a guitar. Somebody’s gotta do it. Let’s put on the high heels, let’s do it!

And you are just the woman for the job! And tonight you’re playing The Vic Theatre, yet another XRT show too.

Yeah, very different show from last night. I think last night people were dressed up really sophisticated and looking stunning. And tonight, well, I don’t know what people are coming as but it’s a very very different show. I’m excited about tonight because I love playing The Vic.

It’s a wonderful theater too. Ah, we haven’t seen you in the studio in a long time. Last time I saw you, you were somebody’s child — you had parents and now you are the parent. And I’m wondering how being a mother has changed you as an artist.

Well, um, Tash is seven now. And she’s out with us so we have an English governess with us because Tash has to do school while she’s on the road. And when crewmen come on for the first time, she’ll look at me and say, “You know what Mummy? They’re not going to make it. Just not going to make it.” This is her fourth world tour so she really — she controls the backstage.

Wow, what a life. What a great life. How about a song?

This is from an album called Scarlet’s Walk.

[Tori plays “a sorta fairytale”.]

Beauty. Visiting with Tori Amos here on Live From Studio X, WXRT, WXRT-HD1, Chicago. And I’m thinking Tori that those piano lessons paid off from you. You’re piano playing gets better all the time. Beautiful.

Well, I’ve been playing with the band now on this tour and, um, Matt Chamberlain’s the drummer, Jon Evans on bass, Dan Phelps on guitar, and Matt brought in all these players and he’s known as one of the greatest drummer in the world so he really pushes me to be a better player. We all rehearse every day for about a hour and a half or two hours every day before the show. So I think it raises the bar.

Yeah, challenges you. It’s a healthy thing.

A good thing.

Yes, and I’ve always been intrigued by your writing. Because some writers you assume that they’re writing just from their own point of view or whatever but with you, I’m always baffled. I’m always thinking, now is that Tori? Or is Tori playing a character? Or what? And you take us to some wonderful places doing that but talk about that process of writing a song and how you’ve even taken on some goddess figures.

Well, I’ve always seen the songs as being these women. These amazing women. They don’t have bodies like you and I have — more like light forms. But they come in and then I need to translate them in my language which is ether. Music. So, they are alive and they have a story to tell. Usually what happens is because I’ve kind of experienced something like it, then I’m able to understand who they are and how to tell their story — but they’re their own creatures.

Sounds like a channeling thing.

Well, it’s sort of, sometimes you feel as if you’re a scribe, that you’re translating and yet you’re co-creating with them but it doesn’t just come from all myself.

Writing about somebody else’s experience or point of view but through your own filter?

Well, it’s almost as if the songs come from somewhere and you see this amazing thing walking into the room and you could be watching a movie with Husband or doing something, even being at playgroup with Tash. And all of a sudden, you know you need to run and find a piano really quick. You just have to. And everything else gets pushed aside. That’s just what happens. So you try and take down the dictation before you lose that creature because she’s going to walk out the other side of the room and out the door and you could have missed that song.

Absolutely. So you’re not the old school like Carole King used to go to the Brill Building and sit in the office and punch out some hit songs. Yours is sort of like when the muse comes knocking?

Yes. Those though…that’s a different kind of writing and I have a lot of respect for that because you have to sit down in your job being a songwriter. But for me, it’s much more, I have to, I don’t know, get tapped on the shoulder or there has to be an experience that drives the song.

Is there any song we can look back on and think, now that’s Tori Amos. That’s Tori writing about Tori and not some other character that’s come into your mind?

Well, there’s always got to be a piece of me in it somewhere but I might be the bad guy. I mean sometimes I make myself look good in the song but really I’m the one who did the dastardly deed, so — but I never tell.

Love your honesty! So, I wish you could join Led Zeppelin for their reunion and show they how sexy the piano can be.

Yeah, they invited me to come and play, to open for them for the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute. And it was one of the greatest offers that I’ve ever had because of the great influence they’ve had on my music and Robert Plant has been a mentor for me when I was at my war with Atlantic, he was there. And he gave me amazing advice so that I could weather the storm and I did. And so I really have him and Peter Gabriel to thank for being such, I don’t know, pillars.

Thsoe are wonder mentors to have but you’re not going to be able to make it?

No, we’re out on tour. We had agreed to do this tour so we’re doing this but I’m so excited they’re out playing again.

Yeah, that’s great. And just to be asked!

Yeah, that’s right.

No kidding! Well, I think Robert Plant and you both and Peter Gabriel would be on my short list of rock stars I’d want to live next door to because all wonderful people. And not just talented. Sometimes talented people you don’t want to live next door to necessarily.

Well, I hope one of them cooks cause I don’t. And I don’t clean. No, I hope one of the guys can do that. Husband can cook and clean. As he said, “Wife, I didn’t marry you for you to cook or clean.” Isn’t that good?

Beauty. That’s very beautiful. Speaking of beauty, how about another beautiful song from you? Tori Amos on XRT.

[Tori plays “Almost Rosey”]

Tres bien! Tori Amos, live from Studio X on XRT. And as a mother, do you have any advice for other mothers? Like what kind of music do you play for you kid? How important is music in raising your kids?

Well, we expose her to a lot because, I think, they can’t know what they like unless they hear a lot. So, because there’s so many musicians and crewmen traveling and she hangs out with everybody backstage, the great thing is that she’s exposed to stuff that Mom wouldn’t be listening to. So, yeah, she listens to rap. She listens to, you know, heavy, heavy, heavy music as well. As she waltzes through. And she listens to what Mom does and she also, she loves Aretha. I means there’s something in Tash that wants to be an R&B singer. So I kinda think wow! Imagine that! But, Tash is one of these people that, she’s her own kind of… I wish you could meet her because they’re just things about her where she’ll just say, “You know Mummy, it’s okay. We can’t take Tori Amos to school. She just doesn’t really, she’s not like the other mums so we need Mrs. Hawley to come to school, Mummy, and that’s okay.”

Huh, very interesting. Out of the mouths of babes.

Yes.

Well, we wish you the best of luck not just as an artist but also as a mother, a human being and a wonderful person and we hope you come back and see us again, Tori.

Thank you, Terri.

It’s been too long since the last time. We’ve missed you. So, glad you’re back and looking forward to see you at The Vic Theatre tonight for that XRT show.

Super.

Thank you, it’s been great having Tori Amos here, live from Studio X on 93 XRT.