I'm working on a proper rock record, a good, old-school rock record. Finally.
— Liz Phair
So how does Liz Phair feel about Lana Del Rey? Well, as a recording artist, I've been hated, I've been ridiculed, and conversely, hailed as the second coming. All that matters in the end is that I've been heard.
I can't say I don't get nervous, but I really kind of enjoy performing now.
I knew that collaborating on songwriting would be difficult for a lot of people, because I was known very much, for my independence and the fact that I wrote these quirky songs that were not typical structure, not typical sound - you know, really original stuff.
I probably had some impact, because everyone keeps telling me that I did. I like to feel like I'm coming out with something to try to make room for other young women to make their art.
I'm really happy to be a mom, and I'm proud of the phase I'm in.
Like, I kind of developed my musical style in a vacuum. Even though I listen to a lot of stuff, the way I wrote was in my bedroom, really privately. It's still the way I write, actually.
That's what music is to me. Like, stuff that I really like to play loud. And I've got my quiet CDs, too, that I listen to around the house, but if you can't go there, then... Everyone gets so upset with me, I can't win.
Women artists need to break barriers in order for women's experience to be valuable.
No matter how I do this, my best songs have profanity in them.
Lana Del Rey seems to be bothering everybody because she allegedly 'remade' herself from a folk singing, girl-next-door type into an electro-urban kitty cat on the prowl (of course I like her), and they feel she is inauthentic.
I don't know; it just seemed like the cooler guys are playing Xbox. At least the ones I know.
I mean, I kind of remember... I'm 36 now, so it's kind of hard for me to relate to what it was like when I was 25, or 24, but I do remember a period in time when that's how I defined who I was, by the music I listened to and the movies I went to.
I think good art happens on that edge between comfortable and in a lot of pain, you know what I mean?
I'm very cerebral. I like to think things through.
My identity has everything to do with me and my instrument. It doesn't have to do with what production style I use, or how many people played on it, whether it's sparse or grandiose or whatever. And I'm social, frankly.
The big news already broke. The file-sharing and all that stuff, it's a done deal. And I think figuring out how to make that a fair exchange for the people that make music is still an issue.
You're really creative when you're in an environment that you don't know how to handle. So collaborating was like that for me. I think that was one of the reasons why I knew I was gonna get a challenging reaction.
Picture being forced to talk endlessly about your feelings and listen and care when what you needed was just to get something done.
I am a feminist, and I define myself: Be yourself, because if you can get away with it, that is the ultimate feminist act.
I just don't fit into the box.
I mean, I think about it, but I don't design my record to get a certain public response.
I'm competitive, so I don't like to feel marginalized by the people who sell a lot of records.
It seems to me like the Internet allows you to break that structure a little bit. You know, here's your CD that's going into stores, here's your EP that you offer online, here's a subscription for songs you recorded on the road, here's your live stuff streaming.
Now, in music, it seems more like the popular crowd suppresses anyone who is different.
When I use the Internet, it's pretty much strictly for music. Checking out other people's web sites, what's going on, listening to music. It's pretty much a musical thing for me.
