| admin |
ok, she is here... joan is in the room!
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| ATN |
You just came back from a long tour..
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| Joan |
Yes, we've been touring since feb '95
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| ATN |
How have you been coping with touring?
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| Joan |
Not so well and sometimes well, it gets a bit draining. I
can't do much drinking or partying, so i try to just get
away to a more real-life environment everyone once in a
while. I'll go to a museum or hang out in a part of town
that has nothing to do with the show for the night.
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| ATN |
With your huge success do you feel like you've become a
role model?
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| Joan |
I sort of have mixed feelings about that. I was very
inspired by certain very strong women in music-- both by
the music they were making and the images they presented.
So, I think it's something you can't avoid if you are doing
music in a very public way. You can't avoid being some sort
of a role model.
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| Joan |
So I try to take the repsonsibility somewhat seriously. If
people get a little bit of a broader vision of what can be
sexy or strong or feminine from what I do then I'm happy,
but it's not the main reason i'm doing this. It's a
byproduct of me making music the best way i know how. I try
to be aware of it but not be too obsessed with it.. my
appearance or glamor, etc.
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| ATN |
Your musical style reflects a very diverse influence, what
do you pull from?
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| Joan |
A lot of the really great soul and R&B singers.. Tina
Turner .. Al Greene, Etta James, Otis Redding. There's a
real excitement about their performing style that goes back
to expressiveness of gospel music, the ecstatic spiritual
nature of gospel music. I get a lot of inspiration from
that. I also like Van Morrison a lot. He was able to take
traditions of music from his own country and America and
combine them into his own style and something unique. If I
had to describe what I wanted to reach, that is the closest
description.
|
| Joan |
I also listen to a lot of hip hop. Not so much the gangsta
rap, that becomes a bit generic after a while. I like more
of the stuff which is very playfull like A Tribe Called
Quest-- music that plays with a lot of rhythms. I like
Quawwali music (from Pakistan and India).
|
| ATN |
I understand you recently took lessons in india?
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| Joan |
Yes, I went there to study their classical music.
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| ATN |
What was that like?
|
| Joan |
Well, I only scratched the surface. People study that for
years and years, I can't claim to have learned it all, I
just want to start learning. They use a lot of varying
scales and tonal qualities and I think it will give me more
to pull from for the next album's material.
|
| ATN |
Is it hard for you to stay focused on the music as your
popularity grows?
|
| Joan |
Yes, the success and the fame becomes a phenomenon unto
itself which is fine. I feel it's more responsibility to do
interviews and get the music to a larger audience. It's
what I am trying to do.. but it does get difficult. It's
hard to find the mental space to come up with new ideas.
|
| ATN |
What do you do to keep your sanity lately?
|
| Joan |
Well, when I can see my boyfriend I do.. which is pretty
rare. But he's not my "boyfriend"-- I hate that word.. I'd
say "lover"-- that's a much nicer word. That's about it
(laughs).
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| ATN |
It seems like people who like your music are very critical
of it. Why do you think you provokes extreme reactions?
|
| Joan |
Well the extreme reactions i Think are from 'One Of Us' and
'St. Teresa' which affect people's strong opinions.
|
| ATN |
Do you have religious fanatics chasing you about?
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| Joan |
Well, not down the street (laugh).. but I do get letters
and once in a while we get picketed from an anti-choice
group or something.
|
| ATN |
What is your reaction to picketing outside a show?
|
| Joan |
Well, they can't force people to stay outside so I pretty
much ignore it.. there's no need for me to go out and
confront people.
|
| admin |
Joan is now looking through a list of questons which came
in from the net...
|
| admin |
From the net: "Do you get a lot of fanmail from people
who see you as a sex symbol and what do you think of
that?"
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| Joan |
Yeah, some mail from guys.. some from girls too. It's very
flattering. I have always felt very sensual when I perform
and have always relalized that peop le perceive performers
in general as somehow more sexual than the rest of us, so
it's sort of an occupational hazard. Usually it's pretty
positive. I haven't had too many run-ins with obnoxious
people trying to grab me or anything like that. Usually
people are pretty respectful.
|
| Joan |
I just hope that the reason they see me as sexy is because
of my intellect and the spirtuality of my work and my
commitment to what I do, not just because I sing a song
like "Right Hand Man." I hope people are getting the
sexyness of the picture as a whole, not one element.
|
| admin |
From the net: "What are your plans when the tour is
over?"
|
| Joan |
I plan to hide myself away where no one can find me, no one
can call me, and no one can come visit me for a couple of
months. Then I'll start piecing the new records together
in my head. We'll probably go on a tour of Australia and
Japan in the fall and then start in the studio when that's
over. It's hard to give an exact date on the next album.
|
| admin |
From the net: "Where do you see yourself 5 years from
now?"
|
| Joan |
Hopefully still doing music in some sort of satisfying
way. Whether it's in this very public pop world or not,
I'm not sure. I hope there is an audience which is still
interested in five years. I also would like to do more
work in film again. I was able to direct our latest video
for "St. Teresa" and that was a really fun and challenging
and just basically a cool experience. It's reopened my
head to these ideas that I used to have about films I want
to make films and documentaries, so I'd like to try to be
involved in that again.
|
| admin |
ok, we're going to open things up here-- go ahead and ask
any questons.
|
| BobTP |
Joan what are you whispering in the backround of Lets Just
Get Naked?
|
| admin |
bobtp: she's thinking..
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| admin |
she's thinking hard
|
| Joan |
I don't know... I've forgotten but I'm sure it's very
important so you should spend many hours trying to
decipher it (laugh)
|
| markt |
Joan, do you feel any pressure for your next album to be as
commercially successful as Relish? And will it have
"Century" and "Hammerhead," they're such great tunes!
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| BobTP |
something about a phone call
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| bluenote |
do you feel a discrepancy between your live and studio
style-what is your future looking like?
|
| Joan |
Mark, "Century" and "Hammerhead" are definitely in
consderation for the next record. They seem to get better
as we play them live.
|
| Joan |
And as far as the commericial success goes, I know my
record label would be very happy if the next record is as
commericially successfuly as Relish. I just hope people
stick around listening long enough for me to keep doing
this.
|
| markt |
good answer :-)
|
| Skeeter |
Hey this is Doug, and I was wondering who you are DIEING to
tour with and you havent had the chance?
|
| Joan |
Skeeter, I just actually turned down a chance to tour with
Neil Young for 2 weeks this summer. It was torture to say
no, because I love Neil Young and I was very flattered to
be asked, but I've started feeling like this tour is never
going to end unless I do something drastic... I also don't
want to overstay my welcome with the touring.
|
| Skeeter |
I completely understand.
|
| Bobert |
Joan do you find your goal while is more based on
entertaining, then influencing?
|
| BobTP |
Joan. Eric Buxton told me to say, "hi"
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| Joan |
BobTP, I say hi to you and Eric Buxton both!
|
| infomas |
No question, Joan... Just want to say that I love the live
version of St. Teresa on the KSCA Live CD.
|
| Joan |
Bobert, I used to think that "entertainer" was kind of a
dirty word. It implied somone trying to get over by
manipulating and tricking the audience inste ad of just
being real, but recently I've loosened up on that a little
bit and realized that there are ways of being entertaining
that can be just as artistic as anything
|
| Joan |
If you need to entertain people in order to get them to
listen, then it's worth it if you have something
worthwhile for them to hear.
|
| Bobert |
Is there any feeling of intimidation when its seen how much
people love you (like me?)
|
| Joan |
Bobert, I wouldn't say I'm intimidated, but I try to
separate myself as a person from the "Joan Osborne" that
is in the media because ultimately there is always going
to be some difference between the two. If you love the
"Joan Osborne" that is in the media I can feel glad about
that because I'm at least partly responsible for creating
her.
|
| bluenote |
What's your favorite blues song?
|
| Bobert |
Do u ever get to see the mail thats sent to you, and does
it influence you in any way?
|
| Joan |
bluenote.. that's a very hard question! I dont think I have
one single favorite.. some of the ones I love are "Hip
Shake" by John Lee Hooker, "The Cause Of It All' by Howlin'
Wolf, 'Something's Got A Hold On Me' and 'At Last' by Etta
James
|
| bluenote |
ok, i'm going to find that and listen to it
|
| bluenote |
those i have
|
| BobTP |
Joan. Out of all the cover versions you have performed
since 1991 which has been your favorites. I love your
version of Tupelo Honey
|
| Joan |
Bobtp: Oh.. God.. Yes, that's one of my favorite.. I
sometimes start crying at the end of it, it's so intense.
|
| bluenote |
albert kings is my favorite but I am glad I saw you in the
village 5 years ago
|
| bluenote |
maybe easier-your favorite film?
|
| BobTP |
good question, susan
|
| DeBoer |
cool stuff
|
| bluenote |
have you heard irma thomas sing there must be a better
world somehwere?
|
| Joan |
bluenote, favorite film is 'The Exterminating Angle' by
Luis Bunuel
|
| ngreene |
You commented before on playing in front of friends and
family at home...is it getting any easier??
|
| Joan |
ngreene, yes it's easier become the theaters are bigger and
there are more lights shining in my face so I can't see
the audience as well. But my cousins are just as loud!
|
| admin |
From the net: "I was very interested to read in the
Rolling Stone interview that Joan had been influenced by
Elaine Pagel's work on the history of Christianity. has she
read of been influenced by any writing in the area of
goddess/nature-centered spirituality, or by the work of
comparative mytholigist such as joseph campbell?
|
| Joan |
I've only just scratched the surface.
|
| markt |
I'm partial to Dylan, and I enjoyed "Long Black Coat" a
lot.
|
| ngreene |
Do tell Stewart and Sara I said hello. It was great seeing
Sara here in L.A after the grammys
|
| BobTP |
What was more thrilling to you. Performing with Melissa
Etheridge on VH1 Duets or with Pretenders on the White
Room?
|
| Joan |
Well, I was more nervous for the Pretenders because I've
been a fan of Chrissy Hynde since high school, but
performing with Melissa was actually more fun. Probably
because she isn't as scary of a person-- not "scary", but
"intimidating."
|
| Bobert |
When you write your songs, do they just come to you, or do
have to actually sit down an organize a specific idea?
|
| Joan |
I sit down and organize the ideas that come to me.
|
| admin |
alas, time has closed in on us! thank you for all of the
questions!
|
| admin |
look for a transcription of the chat online at
http://www.mediacast.com/
|
| Joan |
Thanks for listening and for the interesting questions!
|
