News: Perez Hilton Interview (September 28, 2011)

The second part of Perez Hilton’s conversation with Tori has been posted! In this second of two segments, they discuss touring, Lady Gaga and celebrity. Enjoy!

As with the other portion, Perez kindly provided a transcript which you can read on his site or below…thanks again to Devin for the tip!

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Perez: So now we have the tour to look forward to which is very, very exciting. As you continue to release new music though, do you find you have to rehearse longer for the tours?

Tori Amos: Oh yeah.

Perez: Because you have so many songs.

Tori Amos: But, and I have the mind of a goldfish so that I cant remember anything. That and I’m going to blind.

Perez: So how long of a rehearsal process will it be for this tour?

Tori Amos: Well, we rehearsed this day in quartet –

Perez: Already?

Tori Amos: — for five days. And they knew the album, but it was rearranged for quartet, because it was for octet. They come from the conservatory, the Vienna Conservatory, they’re Polish, and they’ve worked together for quite some time. And so that’s been exciting to how the live shows going to progress, and I must say I’m having to practice to keep up with them, I’m really having to –

Perez: But you never are at a point where I’m seen you like gosh over 30 times in concert. You’re not one of those people that have like a prompter though for lyrics though.

Tori Amos: Not yet.

Perez: Is that something you would explore?

Tori Amos: I couldn’t see it.

Perez: You couldn’t see them right.

Tori Amos: Yeah. I mean –

Perez: You could have them real big.

Tori Amos: I’ve been writing, I write things on my hand. But it’s getting to the point where if you see me bending over the piano, you know I’m trying to look at my hand, because I cant see the words from there.

Perez: Do you still love touring and –

Tori Amos: I love it. I love everything.

Perez: Its not a grind?

Tori Amos: Well, sometimes the, sometimes there are parts to it that challenge you, and can make you a little bit grumpy. But you have to, you have to really look at it as playing every night. Wow, what a privilege that people will actually come and see you, and they’ve worked real hard to save the money to buy their ticket, and after 20 years or however long its been since ’91, ’92 they’ve been coming to see me, I just — you think, no I want to them to feel like I didn’t take it casually. Because it isn’t, it’s not a casual experience. It’s a –

Perez: It’s a relationship.

Tori Amos: It’s a relationship, it absolutely is.

Perez: And so many people, their lives were changed by your music. Are there artists that have had a similar effect on you like this person –

Tori Amos: [Watch above.]

Perez: — I mean, like when I listen to that album, it completely changed my life.

Tori Amos: I’ve been listening to [watch above].

Perez: I love opera.

Tori Amos: Do you?

Perez: I love classical; I love stuff with people singing on it. I always like to — like even if I don’t know what they’re singing, it’s like, I still like to pretend I can go in front of the mirror, and like sing along.

Tori Amos: You have to tell me what to listen to. See I don’t know opera.

Perez: You don’t know opera?

Tori Amos: No, I don’t, I don’t. I just don’t. You’ll have to turn me on to it.

Perez: Okay.

Tori Amos: But I’m open, I mean, I’m open. People — have them send me some suggestions, and I’ll go do my homework.

Perez: I’ll tell you few quick questions from readers.

Tori Amos: Oh dear, okay.

Perez: Lets see here. Well actually, I want to ask, just a fun question.

Tori Amos: Yes.

Perez: You’ve been living in the UK for a while.

Tori Amos: So sometimes.

Perez: Sometimes. But you don’t have a case of the Madonna’s where you, you know talk with this British accent.

Tori Amos: [Watch above].

Perez: Why haven’t you — how have you been able to avoid that?

Tori Amos: [Watch above].

Perez: Yes, Chavs, chavs.

Tori Amos: Yes.

Perez: Dollanganger it says. Over the course of your career, you’ve learned most about the, you’ve learned a lot about the business. What advice would you give to others trying to get in the business?

Tori Amos: Oh goodness. You know one day maybe we should do, maybe we should really do a little forum. I know you’re a busy guy.

Perez: I would love to.

Tori Amos: But really do it.

Perez: Anything Tori Amos wants, Perez will do.

Tori Amos: Well, we have to — I think we should really go after it and answer some tough questions. And I’ll do this with you in the next few months.

Perez: Sure.

Tori Amos: We’ll figure it out, and get the questions because yes I could give you some advice, but I think this is really a forum. You know we could talk online with people, but it is complicated. I would be happy to walk people through the whole thing. But it’s a mirage. And from publishing, to contracts, to 360 deals; I don’t believe in them, but they are everywhere.

Perez: Well now it’s, nobody will get signed nowadays without them unless –

Tori Amos: Well, and I think that should be illegal. I don’t see how that’s okay. But anyway, it is legal.

Perez: Well I think it, and actually there’s always exceptions. It — what I find, I mean, I love and hate the music industry. But I think what’s fascinating is it’s almost like the Internet in that it’s constantly changing, and it’s never the same. So one way to get out of a 360 deal where a record label owns everything from publishing to touring –

Tori Amos: Right.

Perez: — is to just make it happen on your own without a label. And then you get a deal, and then you can really, you know make a favorable deal in your favor.

Tori Amos: That’s right, that’s correct.

Perez: Yeah, but, and it’s not that easy to do, but some artists are able — I mean, it’s crazy, that’s almost the new model. The new model is labels will sign you after, I mean, they’ll still sign the people to those 360 deals, but a lot of people are getting signed now after they make it already.

Tori Amos: Yeah.

Perez: Like Bruno Mars made it by writing all these songs for people, and being featured on them, or those rappers, Far East Movement, they had a hit in LA, and then they got signed. Or that girl Dev, you know it’s like all these people are like, they get songs on the radio without a label, and then they get a label deal. It’s kind of backwards or you know it’s interesting.

Perez: Yeah, it is, it is a fascinating time. When she’s asking for any advice, I think a key is you know you have to wake up with yourself in the morning as an artist. And if you start chasing other peoples opinions of you, yes, you can get motivated and think, hey, they had a good idea, I’m going to apply that idea to what I do. But, you have to start really allowing yourself to experiment. You’ve got to give yourself the permission to try things as an artist. Because you know it depends how old you are. But I’m changing all the time. You know I feel like I’m evolving, and sometimes especially when you’re young; you haven’t quite found exactly what your style is, or what you’re believing in. And it’s okay if it changes. Because sometimes people want to keep you in that place that they want you in. They like the you that they like. Well, you know she’s gone. She left the building. Now there’s somebody else, and I just think that’s really important that you don’t restrict yourself until you, I mean, ever.

Perez: Well, a lot of people wanted to ask this because she’s a friend of mine. So they want to know — and I didn’t get a chance to ask last time. But a lot of people like Dance Cash wants to know what do you think of Lady Gaga?

Tori Amos: [Watch above].