News: BFBS Radio 1 Interview Transcription

Thanks to Katran_sama for sending us a transcript of the BFBS Radio 1 interview broadcast on Thursday, December 14th (and apologies to him and everyone else for being such a stick-in-the-mud about getting this on the site). During the interview, Tori confirmed that the new album would released in the Spring and that she would be starting a world tour with Matt Chamberlain and Jon Evans in May of 2007.

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Host: So tonight on the evening show we’re bringing you a very rare interview with Tori Amos. Over the last 14 years, Tori has carved out a niche as an outspoken singer/songwriter who gained a huge following by combining the stark lyrical attack of alternative rock with a distinctly ‘70s musical approach. She was born in North Carolina and subsequently raised in Maryland. Tori, whose real name is Myra, grew up as the daughter of a Methodist preacher.

She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early ‘90s and she’s distinctive as one of the few modern pop music stars to use a piano as her primary instrument. She’s renowned for lyrically opaque but emotionally intense songs, songs that tackle a wide range of subjects including sexuality, religion, and personal tragedy. Tori first made an impact on the UK charts in 1992 with her single “Winter.” Her album, “Little Earthquakes,” was the first to chart that same year. But her real breakthrough came early in 1994 when “Under the Pink” topped the UK album charts. Between then and 2005 she’s had another 7 “Top 30” albums, including the #2 “Boys For Pele,” and #6 “From the Choirgirl Hotel.” Although Tori’s chart success in the USA and UK has been somewhat modest, she’s enjoyed a large cult following, selling around 12 million albums worldwide during her solo career. By her own admission, she’s notorious for being forthright in her opinions and being fiercely protective of her artistic license. She’s known for making eccentric and at times bawdy comments during interviews and in concerts, lending her a reputation as being highly individualistic.

After the release of her last album, “The Beekeeper” in 2005, Amos negotiated a contract with Warner Bros. for a string of reissues and compilations. The first release was a two-disc DVD set Fade to Red: The Video Collection, which contained all but three of Amos’s solo music videos, along with behind-the-scenes footage and commentary. Then in September this year, Tori released the career-spanning five-disc box set A Piano: The Collection. The lavish box set includes various album songs, singles, remixes, alternate mixes, demos, outtakes, and several unreleased songs from album sessions.

Host: So we began by asking Tori; it’s over a year since she released her last album, what’s she been doing since then?

Tori: Well, I’ve been putting this box set together and I had no idea that I’d be going through a catalogue of over 15 years. Not just one mix of the track that might be chosen, but every single mix that we had on it. You see, what I didn’t realize when I agreed to do the project is because the record industry has imploded, how they’ve kept the tapes over the years. Some of them have been severely damaged, so the oxide layer has fallen off the tape. I’m talking about the old tapes, the old analog tapes. Therefore, we had to get everything brought back to our studio in Cornwall and comb through it to find the closest thing to what I thought was the integrity of the original piece.

Host: Looking back over that body of work, did it make her reflect on her career and wish she’d done anything differently?

Tori: It’s kind of crazy to say to you that I wouldn’t change any of it even though I think it’s been pretty confrontational, and I have a reputation as a ball-buster. And you know the corporate boys when they see me coming, they call the guards, because they know that while their asleep in their beds I’m going to be thinking of ways to rescue my masters.

(“Winter” Plays.)

Host: Tori goes on to talk about how the internet has helped her as an artist.

Tori: The internet is a huge beacon of light, and dark, but it really gets to a lot of people. And I think, for us anyway, because the internet exists there is a generation, and I don’t mean by age but by desire, that live in that forum. The radio isn’t the way they get their information; they don’t live there in that way. Now some of them do flirt with the radio and will listen, but they live in their own world. I’ve seen it, especially in the states, it really; I have to sit and understand how they get their information. So you don’t listen to the radio in the car, “No, I have my iPod with me.” They’ve got their Blackberry, they’ve got their iPod; they have their communication system down… and they’re working it. And they live on their MySpace, and this thing, and that thing, and they’re able to trade information in this way. And because somehow I have a team of people around me that are obsessed with all this stuff that we have a presence on the internet and because of that we have people showing up at the shows all around the world.

Host: As a successful female artist who has overcome many obstacles over the years, how easy does Tori think it is for follow female performs to achieve the same kind of longevity and success?

Tori: Success is a very key word here because to stay in the business; you see, they love the virgins and I’m not talking sexually. They love to excavate the next ingénue, I don’t care how old she is, she can be 21, she can be 32, but if it’s your first time they love making you. Developing a band with musicians in it, usually guys, is a very different thing; it’s cultivating good wine. Then it is with the next female artist, because you see, they’re on to the next ingénue. So that’s why you see a lot of women where they put this time after the first record, and even the second record, but how many stay around for eight records? It’s… you don’t get a lot of Joni Mitchells anymore. It doesn’t happen. And it isn’t because the artist didn’t want that. I know a lot of women that had had big, big records in 1995 who don’t really have records anymore. Because, you see, they’ve replaced those women with the next singer/songwriter. And I find that really tragic.

(“Cornflake Girl” Plays.)

Host: We asked Tori what she makes of the female celebrities who aren’t particularly skilled musicians or singers, and yet have big hits while genuine talent gets ignored by the major labels.

Tori: The problem here is with a lot of the celebrities, I’m not talking about the real divas who can sing… you are not hearing the truth. In Pro Tools we can… we can do anything. If you were the most famous woman in the world or one of them and you had videos out of yourself doing all kinds of things with Coke bottles, then we’d find a way to get you in pitch if we thought we could sell 2 million copies. Now what I’m saying to you is that, for the Sly and Robbies of the world, the game is a very different game. Because they have to make it on their own; they don’t get retouched when they walk in a room. They look like how they look like. So my only issue is that if you’re interested in buying a lie, then spend your money. But that’s the thing; I like to buy into what people can do. I mean if you can twirl your tongue upside down, I’ll sit and watch it… I’ll give you a fiver for it. But if you’re not really doing it and they’re cheating in the computer, I’m going to be pissed off at you.

Host: So when can we expect the new album?

Tori: Comes out in spring. And I must say though, I’m so glad I did this box set first because it’s forced me to collect everything that I ever did, or wished I hadn’t done, and put it inside my being; take it with me.

Host: Finally, we asked Tori when she’s going to be touring again.

Tori: Sometime starting May; world tour. The great Matt Chamberlain is going to be playing drums, my buddy. I love… to me, he’s the greatest drummer in the world now. And Jon Evans on bass. So I’m really thrilled that they’re coming out. It’s time to put the high heel on and do that thing.

(“A Sorta Fairytale” Plays.)

~Transcribed for Undented by Katran_sama