Jane Siberry interview

[Tippi Chai <chai@utcc.utoronto.ca>]

Last minute note: for Toronto KaTemas on July 30, leave message at
416-260-0288.

As the release date of her new album draws nearer, short interviews appear
in Toronto newspapers.  Here are the significant parts of two of them.

                         From the NOW magazine:

_When I was a Boy_ is her most confident statement yet. Buoyed as always by
Siberry's gossamer, girlish vocals and spacious arrangements, the album
strokes the senses with featherweight instrumentation, skewed harmonic
turns and Siberry's suitably obscure lyrics.

But recording was a long haul, with Siberry scrapping much initial work
that she says simply didn't feel right.  Not surprisingly, Siberry found a
kindred spirit in the similarly unique Brian Eno.

"We come from two totally different places, " she says from her home, "but
we end up in the same never-never land.  And I think the association will
definitely raise my profile everywhere.  That's his real gift to me.  His
vote of confidence has had repercussions for me since the moment we hooked
up."

Among the disc's 12 tracks are "Bells", which is just that -- a collection
of chiming bells recorded in Zurich -- and the Siberry / kd lang
collaboration "Calling all Angels", from the Wim Wenders film _Until the
End of the World_.

While Siberry has no immediate tour plans, "I decided if I can;t see it, I
can't do it and I can't see a tour right now."

                         From the Toronto Sun:

Last November, Siberry found herself in Edinburgh as the opening act for
Mike Oldfield, who was about to premiere his long-awaited sequel, _Tubular
Bells II_.  But what looked like a golden opportunity to win some new
friends instead turned into every performer's nightmare.  Booed mercilessly
by an impatient crowd, she got through five songs before leaving the stage.

"The hardest thing to take was, after the show the (British) record company
had a big reception, and they wouldn't even talk to me," she's saying one
recent morning in the tranquil backyard of her Toronto home.  

"They felt I had somehow sabotaged the show by being too aggressive -- they
wanted me to do all my sweet, nervous stuff -- and they felt like I had not
been grateful for the opportunity to play there.  That really made something 
click inside of me.  And the months I was feeling badly about trying to 
somehow please other people, I could really hear what I wanted to do if I had 
nothing at all to lose.

"So I try to remember that state, of not caring what other people think, no
matter what.  No matter if you lose your career."

With the release of _WIwaB_, her sixth and best album, that scenario seems
highly improbably, at least in this country.  Unlike its predecessor,
_Bound by the Beauty_, it is an intensely "Jane Siberry" album, every bit
as dense and atmospheric as 1987's _The Walking_.  

"_BbtB_ was a breather where I deliberately tried not to do `Jane Siberry'
things," she says.  And what are "Jane Siberry" things?

"Well, on _BbtB_ I hardly directed anyone, arrangement-wise.  I just
collected musicians and wrote basic good songs and whenever I'd hear
something really detailed in my head -- things I'd normally pay attention
to and go for -- I would let it go.  That's what I called `Jane Siberry'
things."

_WIwaB_ was also influenced by two other experiences, each considerably
more pleasurable than the one in Edinburgh.  One, Peter Gabriel invited her
to his Real World studios in England for a week's worth of recording for
WOMAD.  Two, Brian Eno dropped her an encouraging note about some demos she
had submitted [and had a hand in producing! - TP].

Given the input of these two notoriously stubborn artists, Siberry's
feelings about the commercial fate of _WIwab_ are not as simple as you
might expect.

"I feel that inner movement forward should be manifested on the outside,
too," she says.  "I mean, I would think something was wrong with what I was
doing if fewer and fewer people wanted to hear my music, or if a static
number of people wanted to hear it."

But how does that notion fit in with the goal of not caring about what
anyone else thinks?  "The premise is trust, that the outward manifestation
of growth, i.e. being more successful, is an aside to removing whatever
stands in the way of you being clear and undiluted -- as true to yourself 
-- as possible."

-- 
**********"We all breathe the same air" KaTe Bush
Tippi Chai, Toronto, Canada  <chai@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca || chai@utorgpu.bitnet>
Disclaimer: all opinions, pinions and onions expressed herein are solely mine.