Tori Amos - Interviews Archive

Kevin & Bean Show (US, radio)
KROQ, Los Angeles
December 1, 2003

Tori Amos interview and live performance
songs: Honey and Crucify

transcript

KB = Kevin or Bean

T = Tori

KB: This is the world famous KROQ 106.7 K R O Q and it's the Kevin and Bean show about 12 minutes after 8:00.

KB: Kevin guess who is on the Tonight show Jay Leno on NBC tonight.

KB: ahhhhhhhhh I don't know...

KB: That's right... Tom Cruise... Guess who else. Tori Amos is going to be there and she's here in the studio with us on KROQ this morning.

T: Hello

KB: Hi Tori.

KB: How are ya?

T: I'm well...How are you Bean?

KB: Oh I'm doing well. It's always nice to have you back in America.

T: Thank You.

KB: She was sitting in the studio and she was warming up a second ago and she was so lost in her music that she didn't hear me practically knock the door down trying to get in. And then I realized she was sound checking so I tried to be quiet. And I was walking in front of her and I was doing jumping jacks. And I was throwing things across the room. She just gets so lost when she performs. I could have been nude it wouldn't have made any difference. Or she's ignoring you like the rest of us do when you walk into the room Kevin. That's possible too.

KB: So Tori what have you been up to?

T: Oh, well, just finished remixing everything for Tales of a Librarian, which is the best of. I'm feeling a little bit old because its music from the last fifteen years.

KB: Because you have a best of. At that point it does say something about how long you have been doing it, doe's it.

T: No, I know...Yeah.

KB: Yeah. It says you re-tooled. What does that mean? Did you go back for every song and kinda pull back it back out. Add some take away some. What did you do?

T: Well, we got all the original multi's in...the multi tracks. Which these days...

KB: Multi's Bean...multi's... Got it...short hand.

T: As the record industry is imploding, it's kinda good to pull in your multi tapes. I'm telling all the other musicians out there. If you haven't pulled in because you might find them in college dorms, ya know, under a pizza box.

KB: Is that right?

T: Oh Yeah.

KB: Now when you say pull them do you get them now yourself. Did you buy them back somehow or how does that work?

T: No it's about...You don't have to buy them back.

KB: I don't know. You already own them.

T: No, you get them in and you make copies of your own stuff so that you store them all. So they're all stored in my own studio. So if Warner just gets taken by aliens tomorrow I have my own back catalog.

KB: Isn't the record company just a wild wild world right now? Isn't it just crazy?

T: It's a little confused.

KB: Yeah. Tori, Tales of a Librarian.

T: Yes.

KB: You're like no Librarian we've ever seen. That uh, where did the title come from because believe me we have all went to the library more often if they looked like you.

T: Well thank you Bean. I've always had a librarian fantasy of being one. I just like...

KB: No one has had a librarian fantasy...

T: Oh I have.

KB: To be one?

T: Oh yeah..

KB: Because you were such a fan of books is that why?

T: Yeah. I love books.

KB: Oh really..So you figured what better place to work then be in a place where all the books were.

T: No, well I'm building a library now so I can have my fantasy and put cute shows on and just go pick out books.

KB: Where are you building this library?

T: In England, in Cornwall in an old barn. And so I'm collecting books from around the world. Not um, first folio's or anything like that but just things if people want to come in, musicians, and they have a writer's block. Not that that ever happens to any of us.

KB: No. Sure of course

T: Then they just pull out some, you know exciting visual arts books. I collect a lot of art books.

KB: Kind of gets the juices' flowing creatively in other words if you have some material like that around.

T: Yeah the tricky thing is, Tash, my little girl is 3 now and some of these art books shouldn't be seen by her...

KB: Sure...Put those on the high shelves. That's the answer.

KB: She can clime... Do you buy books on ebay Tori? Is that where we will find you most nights in the middle of the night?

T: No. No I just shop around, I just..

KB: How do you collect stuff? What kind of books do you try to find?

T: Mostly visual arts because I'm fascinated by photography and..

KB: That means Porn by the way Kevin. Visual arts..Let me make that...Multis and visual arts...Porn.

T: You guys are silly.

KB: Tori how difficult was it to select the songs for this...it's your first ever compilation and I'm sure that you get so much reactions so much feedback's from so many songs that you have done over the years that have touched people in different ways, was there a lot of people giving you input as to what songs were going to make this disc or was it just all your decision.

T: Um, a lot of people were giving me input and then at a certain point you have to say, ok, I have to go now and figure it out.

KB: Everyone be quiet. I'm going to make the decision.

T: Finally you do just because, ya know somebody walked in one day and she's really sweet. She's a friend of somebody and she said will you please put this on and when she heard it wasn't going on she how can you do that? And I just went Oh My God! (KB laugh)

KB: Yeah I do know...

T: How did you get in here? (KB laugh) You know, so I realized I needed to come up with a concept and the idea was a sonic autobiography of this woman's life as I know as Tori and so the songs kinda of, have to cover that she was a minister's daughter and still survived that. Survived Christianity, Yeah!

KB: I got you...So all of these songs paint a picture of who you are...it's an autobiography.

T: Yeah. And also I think because of where we are in the world I had to slip a few songs in there. For instance, there was a song that I wrote about Junior's father. So George Bush Sr., his pop'sy.

KB: Yeah

T: And um about of course another Iraq war and I felt that it was vital that it got on but I re-tracked it because you have to sing it from the point of view that we're there with another George Bush.

KB: Re-tracked???? (Tori laughs) In other words you updated the original song to reflect what has happened since you wrote it the first time.

T: Yeah, so simply out of 20 tracks, 2 songs were re-recorded. They were written for Little Earthquakes and um, they got kicked off the album because Little Earthquakes was rejected because they wanted me to take all the pianos off and put guitars on.

KB: Is that right?

T: What cleaver....

KB: Still one of the great record company moves of all times.

T: What cleaver guys. But they..

KB: How do you tell??? Well Tori your not going anywhere with that piano playing, I've got news for you. How do they tell you to take off the piano?

T: That's what they said.

KB: Wow. That's insanity. It's in stores now by the way, November 18th in fact it came out a couple of Tuesday ago, Tales of a Librarian. Tori I went out day one and bought a copy and ended up giving it away to a friend of mine so now I'm going to have to go out and buy another copy. You're scoring twice here today. You got 2 Bean purchases. It also comes with a DVD. Is that right? What on the DVD?

T: On our last show we filmed the whole thing and the sound check we also filmed and it was just one of those intimate moments where um, sometimes when you're not pumped up for the show and your just having that little thing with the crew and the other musicians...I usually never show that part of the process, but I just felt because it was the last show after 10 months on the road, it was sorta a little goodbye. So we included that. There are 3 songs on that. And then there's a photo gallery of the last 12 years.

KB: That's very cool. Kind of stuff you can't do if you're just putting out a CD in it. Is the DVD, is that because of the whole downloading problem thing. Is it all CD's? I mean, I love it. I love the fact that every CD now pretty much comes out with a DVD. I think it is added bonus to the fans.

T: I think that what has happened it has given up the opportunity to be creative.

KB: To do more..

T: Yeah and so you can either take that on board or you can see it as oh jeez. Or you can say wow, We'll I love creating stuff so lets come up with something good.

KB: That's very cool. You're going to perform a couple of songs for us this morning. We have...lets do the first one, you want to do Honey?

T: Yeah this is a song that is on the DVD and it was suppose to be on Under the Pink but like a silly billy I kicked it off in mastering in the final hour because some gal who was walking through the studio said why are you putting this on? So I never listen to them anymore

KB: You can't listen anymore.

Tori plays Honey

KB: Look at that! Tori Amos live on the World famous KROQ. 106.7 K-R-O-Q Can you stick around and play some more for us?

T: Love to.

KB: We'll do that when we come back.

Go to Commercial

KB: Thank you Lisa. Tori Amos is in the studio with us here at KROQ. The new CD is Tales of a Librarian, a Tori Amos collection. And you're going to do another song for us live.

T: Yeah, this is um, another song from the collection from little earthquakes originally.

Tori plays Crucify

KB: Wow. You know its one thing to sing and its another thing to sing at this hour of the morning. That's unbelievable that sounds great. Nice Nice Nice

T: Thanks guys.

KB: We love you Tori.

T: Love you back.

KB: Uh, Tales of a Librarian a Tori Amos collection is the CD and DVD that's available in stores. Plus you got an updated website, is that right?

T: Yeah Yeah Yeah

KB: What have you done to that?

T: We love doing that. We just keep adding different little things. It's just one of my passions so..

KB: I like when you submit poetry form the road, that's my favorite.

T: Do you like that?

KB: I do. It's pretty hard to tell whether or not you're being serious or not Bean. Well I am because Tori's the only person that I personally know who still writes poems.

T: Well thank you Bean.

KB: I mean let's face it. You know its kind of a lost art Tori.

T: Well I could introduce you to some poets but you'd have to come...

KB: Yeah, you don't want to do that...

T: with me on a little road trip. ya know? We could go around America in a bus. Wouldn't that be fun? Looking for poets.

KB: That is something that I would like to hear about and not experience. I'd also want to mention since Tori's here...Mona Lisa's smile the soundtrack album I know is out and your on it with a bunch of ladies like Mandy Moore and Elton John. You guys are singing your songs and uh, are you in the movie too?

T: That's what they say.

KB: Really? You're in the film with Julia Roberts?

T: That's what they say, yeah.

KB: What's that like? Is that cool?

T: Yeah it's cool. She's lovely and um, I loved doing the music Trevor Horne produced, which is one of the greats in the music industry. He's great.

KB: Sure

T: He pulled in the orchestra and I sang to full Orchestra these songs from the 40's. 2 songs, You Belong to Me and Murder She Said. And it was just a hoot

KB: It's got to be...Is that what you do in the movie too? You perform in the movie, you sing..

T: Yeah I'm a big band singer and Trevor Horne is the Conductor.

KB: That's got to be cool to have a full Orchestra behind you..

T: It was really cool. Loved it.

KB: Alright, beautiful. Thanks for coming by.

T: Bye you guys... Loads of love...(blows kisses to everyone)

KB: See ya later, and thanks.

[transcribed by Heather Mayes]

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