![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Alanis-issue.jpg\" "\\"Alanis-issue\\"")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nIt\u2019s a midsummer morning, and Alanis Morissette is enjoying some rare downtime in her hometown of Ottawa, Canada. Although she\u2019s lived in Los Angeles since the mid-\u201990s, clearly there\u2019s no place like home. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve been here,\u201d she says. \u201cI used to come up three times a year but almost two years have passed this time. Today we\u2019re getting all the cousins together\u2014having about 10 kids in one place. I\u2019m being Auntie Alanis. It\u2019s great.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Family has been on Morissette\u2019s mind of late. In 2010, she married rapper Mario \u201cSouleye\u201d Treadway, and on Christmas Day of that year the couple\u2019s son, Ever, was born. A devoted mother, Morissette has never let her artistic spirit languish, but she admits with a laugh that touring and recording have become complicated propositions. \u201cWe just got back from doing some shows in Europe,\u201d she says, \u201cand my arms have become very strong with Ever in tow. I bow to my husband and the team we travel with for making all this possible. We travel now as a large village.\u201d<\/p>\n Casual fans might be surprised at how fervently Morissette has embraced domestic life. She exploded onto the scene in 1995 with Jagged Little Pill<\/em>, a ferociously soul-baring album that helped erase the boundaries for what so-called women-in-rock could accomplish\u2014both artistically and in the marketplace. Produced by Glen Ballard, the record sold more than Morissette\u2019s rise appeared meteoric to the world at large, but in fact she had already achieved stardom as a child in her native Canada. By age 12 she had not only written her first song, she had also earned enough money to record and self-release it. Her debut album, a dance-pop record titled Alanis<\/em>, went platinum in Canada and garnered three 1992 Juno Award nominations. She earned a win for Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year. A second album, Now Is the Time<\/em>, yielded three singles that reached the Top 40 on the Canadian charts.<\/p>\n Still, Morissette\u2019s youthful success hardly prepared her for the onslaught that came in the wake of Jagged Little Pill<\/em>. Disillusioned with fame and its trappings, Morisette embarked on a spiritual quest, embracing an ongoing journey of self-discovery that\u2019s shaped her subsequent work. She doesn\u2019t disown her role as a pioneer for the likes of Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne\u2014who have cited her as a profound influence\u2014but she admits to mixed feelings. \u201cI have some conflict with that, but only in the sense of ego versus humility,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s a certain humility that\u2019s indigenous to the Canadian culture. I\u2019m proud that I was on the crest of a massive wave\u2014a social movement\u2014but it was going to happen whether I was there or not.\u201d<\/p>\n Morissette, 38, often refers to her albums as snapshots of her life, and her latest, Havoc and Bright Lights<\/em>, is no exception. While many of the songs center on her new role as wife and mother, the record remains distinctly Morissette as matters of gender, celebrity and social consciousness are explored as well. \u201cI never really know the theme of an album until it\u2019s finished,\u201d she explains. \u201cOnly then can I see what\u2019s emerged. For this, I think it\u2019s mostly the deepening of intimacy in relationships, including the one with myself.\u201d<\/p>\n To record the album, Morissette turned first to London-based producer Guy Sigsworth, who manned the boards for her 2008 \u201cbreakup\u201d album, Flavors of Entanglement<\/em>. But where Flavors of Entanglement<\/em> was rife with foreboding, sporting a dense, sometimes industrial sound, Havoc and Bright Lights<\/em> contains less clatter, more equanimity. Part of the sonic difference can be ascribed to initial sessions, which took place in Morissette\u2019s L.A. home. She also credits co-producer Joe Chiccarelli for adding \u201chuman elements\u201d to what she and Sigsworth came up with. \u201cGuy is a savant-genius,\u201d she says. \u201cHe has a magical quality about him that\u2019s almost otherworldly. And then a lot of the songs\u2014like \u2018Numb\u2019 and \u2018Empathy\u2019\u2014really wanted what Joe Chiccarelli provided, which was warmth and an earthy, modern-rock sound.\u201d<\/p>\n Contrary to what some believe, anger and heartbreak are hardly the only forces that fuel Morissette\u2019s creativity. \u201cFor me, passion leads the charge,\u201d she says. \u201cWhether I\u2019m scared, infatuated, loving, lustful or in pain, if there\u2019s passion behind the emotion, that writes the song.\u201d Morissette spoke with us about the new album, her goals and why fame isn\u2019t all it\u2019s cracked up to be.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When did you begin work on the album?<\/strong><\/p>\n I had a naive notion that I could write the album while I was pregnant, but at around 3 p.m. every day I went down for the count on my couch. So that goal went out the window. But once Ever was born I moved quickly. I feel very alive when I\u2019m writing, whether it\u2019s articles, songs or just having a philosophical conversation. When I\u2019m not doing any of that, I feel I\u2019m not living my purpose. I didn\u2019t want to experience that \u201cunlived life\u201d thing as a parent. So the challenge became how to be a vocationally inspired alpha woman\u2014and a mom\u2014at the same time. That remains the challenge, and it\u2019s a sacred one.<\/p>\n Which song set the tone?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cGuardian\u201d was the first one out of the gate. It was a very important song to start on for what are probably obvious reasons, with my having a 5-month-old baby. We hit the ground running. We built a makeshift studio in our living room so that I could be an attachment mom and be available 24 hours a day\u2014and at the same time write the record. \u201cGuardian\u201d was the tone-setter in terms of the chorus being about protectorship, and wanting to guard my son\u2019s safety and freedom. And then the verses were about realizing the need to direct some of that maternal and paternal energy to myself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How makeshift was the studio?<\/strong><\/p>\n It was very simple. Basically we got ProTools and a table and some amazing speakers. My husband and I built a vocal booth. There was no lock on the door, but there was a \u201cmust knock\u201d imperative. Probably 95 percent of my vocals were recorded there. After that, Guy did some stuff in London, and Joe Chiccarelli added some human elements at Sunset Sound in Hollywood. Today anyone can make a record in their living room and have it sound really gorgeous.<\/p>\n Describe your songwriting process.<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s like a stream-of-consciousness conversation. I don\u2019t want to get too precious or pretentious about it, but for me songwriting became a channeled experience. When I first began writing in that way it was overwhelming. Now it\u2019s something I rely on and am humbled by. It usually takes about 30 minutes to write an entire song. Once in a while, I\u2019ll escape and run upstairs to finish a verse or something, but the songs write themselves pretty quickly. Of course, the living of the life that I\u2019m commenting on happens for years before the songwriting comes out. By the time I write, I\u2019m ready at long last to render what might be a complicated idea in a very pithy and clear way.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With pen in hand?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes. I\u2019m sitting there with my journal as the music\u2019s playing, and I\u2019m either guiding Guy, or I\u2019m being guided by a sound or a verse that\u2019s inspiring. The music and lyrics are written at the same time. Sometimes we start with a chorus, although it usually doesn\u2019t matter which section of the song we begin with. We just go.<\/p>\n Did that start with Jagged Little Pill<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n It actually started long before then, when I was 9. As a teenager, I had two records in Canada that were well received. My style of writing at that time was more perfunctory. I had some fears related to not rhyming, things like that. That was a great experience as a kid cutting my teeth and getting a general sense of the craft\u2014the whole idea of arrangements and how songs are written. But I also knew at some point I would return to an unprecious, unfettered approach to writing\u2014the way I have a conversation when things come off the top of my head. I returned to that way of writing after teaming up with Glen Ballard on Jagged Little Pill<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Who were your early influences?<\/strong><\/p>\n Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston. I also listened to Heavy D and other rap and hip-hop artists. My brothers were into them. There was also my parents\u2019 music\u2014Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Carole King. I loved the idea of blending technological, bass-heavy dance music with pop\u2019s beautiful harmonies and choruses, and combining that with real autobiographical storytelling. Blending those sensibilities became an ideal for me. On this album I feel all those things are well represented.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How did fame affect you?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was sold the same bill of goods we\u2019re all sold in this Western value system, which is that the three most important things are fame, staying 21 forever and being really rich. That seems to be the way of North America, and I bought into it as much as anyone. I thought fame would afford me connection and give me high self-esteem and lots of friends, and that I would be surrounded by support. What I found instead was that fame amplified whatever was already there. If there was any self-hatred, any self-doubt or traumas being acted out, fame blew that up exponentially. So I was disillusioned for a while, and crestfallen. But sometime in the late \u201990s I began to think, \u201cYou know what, I have an agenda here. I can use fame as a means to an end, rather than have fame be the<\/em> end.\u201d That\u2019s when things started to get exciting again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Do your albums always capture a snapshot of your life?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes. If someone tosses me an album cover when I\u2019m 100, it will be like seeing a photograph that reminds me of that era. There\u2019s always so much growth happening, I could\u2014and often do\u2014write new songs every day or every week. But there\u2019s something about corralling these songs every few years that feels like I\u2019m compiling a chapter. But who knows? Someday I might start writing and releasing songs all the time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Do you think your songs reflect what\u2019s happening in other people\u2019s lives?<\/strong><\/p>\n I hope this comes across in the way that I mean it, but that\u2019s really a secondary concern. I write these songs for myself. The artistic process is by necessity for my own growth, my own understanding and clarity. When I\u2019m being asked to distill a complex idea into a four-minute piece, that helps me<\/em>. And then when I offer that to others\u2014and this is where the fame part becomes a tool\u2014they can make it their own. I\u2019ve heard some glorious misinterpretations of my songs, and that\u2019s great, too. These songs aren\u2019t mine anymore once I share them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Are you into social networking?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve begun to be more aware of it. I have great reverence for the old school in terms of the sweet mystery artists once had. You could create a sort of idealized fantasy around an artist. Today it\u2019s about leveling the playing field and creating human interaction with artists. I enjoy both. In an evening\u2019s tweet, I have to ask myself, \u201cHow transparent am I going to be? How much will I let people know about what I\u2019m worrying about today?\u201d It used to be about mystique. Now it\u2019s about how brave you\u2019re willing to be about what\u2019s going on in your life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m trying to segue into being more of a teacher than a student. It\u2019s a no-brainer that I\u2019m a student. But I want to be brave and step into the role of being a teacher and a mentor and an active participant in larger conversations of social relevance, and not be ashamed of the part of me that\u2019s geeky and academic. I\u2019ll also be writing songs until I\u2019m dead. I\u2019ll always make albums and I\u2019ll always write books and I\u2019ll continue to travel and be in the public eye. Beyond that, I hope to blossom my family\u2014God willing\u2014and nurture my personal life.\u00a0 M<\/p>\n It\u2019s a midsummer morning, and Alanis Morissette is enjoying some rare downtime in her hometown of Ottawa, Canada. Although she\u2019s lived in Los Angeles since the mid-\u201990s, clearly there\u2019s no place like home. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve been here,\u201d she says. \u201cI used to come up three times a year but almost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4835,23],"tags":[4537,4538],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7182"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7186,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7182\/revisions\/7186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n30 million copies worldwide\u2014and it remains the best-selling major-label debut album in music history on a global basis. Jagged Little Pill<\/em> earned Morissette a slew of Grammy nominations and several wins, including the coveted trophy for Album of the Year. One of the album\u2019s harrowing singles, \u201cYou Oughta Know,\u201d nabbed Best Rock Song honors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"