Jewel This Way Forward
One listen to Jewel's new This Way and you might be a little
surprised at the noisy guitars and sexy attitude. Sounds like
the Alaskan songstress has some explaining to do.
by C. Bottomley
here are two kinds of people in the world - those who think
Jewel is a true poet and those who find her too winsome to bear.
But the singer-songwriter's new album might just eradicate that
latter group: in sound and style, This Way is a bold leap
forward. For her third disc, the 27-year-old singer grabbed the
production reins herself. In doing so she's captured an
immediacy that comes close to the friskiness of her live shows.
Gone is the fey attitude that's occasionally marked past discs.
Here, she embraces roadhouse swagger and Eastern sensuality.
Fans should be happily surprised, and critics - well, they may
have to reconsider their previous stances.
Content in her relationship with rodeo rider Ty Murray, brassy
enough to go hook up with "Smooth" songwriter Itaal Shur, and
surprised at how many listeners have found post-September 11
solace in her hit "Hands," Jewel sat down to tell VH1's C.
Bottomley why she isn't going to be standing still just yet.
VH1: This Way seems to have a deliberately broader scope than
previous records. Are you going for broke this time?
Jewel: I really wanted this record to reflect more of what I do
in my live show. And it's been harder for me to do it
previously, because records have never really been my strong
suit. I've always been a much better live act. I didn't
understand the language of the studio. You sing differently in a
studio. The language, the craft - it's just a whole different
deal. I avoided the problem on my first record by doing a live
album. My second record I used a producer, which was frustrating
in a way, because I think a lot of the punky spirit and
provocative nature of the lyrics didn't come across - the music
was pretty. This time I really wanted it to have a much more raw
feel. And so I just decided to take control. It was a project I
drove from the beginning because I had a very strong vision, and
I was very protective of it. I think because of that I came out
with a record that I really think sounds like me.
VH1: How do you think the fans that have gotten their idea of
who you are from the radio will react on first listening? Or
more to the point, what reaction are you hoping for?
Jewel: I don't know. I feel like you have to listen to the whole
record to get a picture of the macrocosm. If you listen to one
song, it will be a really isolated event. But to get the feeling
for the whole record, you've really got to go from track to
track and see how each song is juxtaposed, because one track
will be almost opposite from the next. Which was fun for me,
because I could show a wider range of my vocal ability. So I
really don't know how people will react. It's sort of impossible
to predict, to tell you the truth.
VH1: On this record you're really trying to change people's
perception of you are as an artist. Is the title - This Way - a
warning? Does it tell us you're on a musical journey we should
follow?
Jewel: No, not necessarily. I think partly it's the perverseness
of my humor. A record that most people will see as different for
me - songs like "Serve the Ego," say - they'll hear as a slight
departure. I liked titling the record after something... using
the irony of that. The sentiment is really the opposite. To me
it's just my own sense of humor, my own private joke. The record
title had less to do with the actual title track than it did a
road sign saying, 'Come this way.'
VH1: You've taken time off from the music business over the last
couple of years. What has happened - perhaps more personally
than professionally - that has prepared you to make this album?
Jewel:There are many paths you can take throughout the course of
a career. It's really important to know where you'd like to end
up, so that as you make decisions, you navigate a path that will
lead you to your ultimate destination. Some people want fame,
popularity and huge sales. I've always hoped to have a really
long career. So I've tried to make each of my creative decisions
and business decisions to allow for longevity. As a side effect
I got really famous and really big. I didn't realize the two
could go together. I didn't realize that I would be as big as I
was without necessarily striving for fame.
Once you are successful, there's a very seductive rhythm at work
that keeps you wanting to outdo yourself. By the end of Spirit I
felt like I didn't want to get into that trap. It almost makes
you cartoon-like. I really wanted to make sure that I was able
to stick up for the creativity of my songwriting instead of all
my writing being skewed by, 'I want a hit. I want a No. 1 hit.'
So I took a lot of time off. I wasn't really sure if I would
come back into the big pop machine. What I ultimately realized
is that I was going to keep about it like I originally had.
Which was to just do music that I like - if it ends up becoming
a hit, that's great. So the idea was to get away from it long
enough that I could come back with my head clear, able to make a
record that I just really, really enjoyed. One that I felt was
provocative and spoke to social issues and spoke musically in
new ways. I wanted to grow and change.
VH1: You're famously independent. But are there any other
artists you have looked at and thought, 'They have done this,'
and that gave you the courage to make the decisions that you
have?
Jewel: There are a lot of people. I think Neil Young was
actually quite a big influence on me. I toured with him when I
was about 21. He just impressed upon me the fact that it's
important to really communicate to an audience. To fight for
that, more than to fight to be liked. I think Merle Haggard is
that way. I think he's sort of punk rock in the sense that he
always does what he wants as an artist, and doesn't necessarily
kowtow to stereotypes, even though he's in country music - a
business that's typically stereotyped. I think Joni Mitchell is
someone who always just did what she wanted musically. I think
Nina Simone and Josephine Baker were like that. There are a lot
of writers, too. I find it happening more in writers than I do
in musicians. I think fame affects them in a slightly different
manner. They're a little bit more removed from the grip of it.
VH1: It's interesting you mention country artists. A lot of
these songs could be pigeonholed into the country rock genre.
Did you gravitate more to that genre than on previous albums?
Jewel: I feel that my first record had a lot of country
influence. I can't really help it. I mean, I was raised on a
ranch and my father was a cowboy. I grew up in such an odd
melting pot of cultures. I grew up very redneck, but with a lot
of artists around. It's usually not a mix you see together. My
first record had several waltzes on it. I don't really think of
what kind of genre I'm in. I just think of the song and whatever
fits on it. I do think the new record kind of crosses genres. I
thought that "Everybody Needs Somebody Sometime" was kind of a
John Mellencamp or Bruce Springsteen type of thing. How I hear
it in my head is totally different from how you hear it, versus
how somebody else hears it. And I love that.
VH1: "Everybody Needs Someone Sometime" sounds like something
Shania would do.
Jewel:: That's funny.
VH1: But I'm not quite sure if that's a compliment or criticism.
Jewel: When I think Shania I think of really slick. I think Mutt
Lange. I think of Mutt Lange's producing and those types of
things. Very different context.
VH1: Had you recorded in Nashville before or was this your first
musical stop on Music Row?
Jewel: I've done quite a bit of recording in Nashville. I think
my first record was actually mixed in Nashville. I think I may
have redone "Who Will Save Your Soul?" in Nashville. I've worked
there quite a bit over the years.
VH1: Does the place's influence seep through onto the record?
Jewel: No. I actually liked recording in Nashville better
because I was able to detach from pop and rock culture more
easily. I think when you record in New York and L.A., the
musicians, at least subconsciously, are aware of the guitar
tones found on a Creed record. The sound of radio and pop
culture seeps in accidentally, and you end up seeming dated. I
really try and keep my records as timeless as possible, so that
hopefully they'll sound good in 20 years. I try to use timeless
instrumentation. So recording in Nashville I asked people from
very, very different worlds to record music they wouldn't
normally be asked to record. I think it got them to sort of work
outside of their own heads and to be able to come up with more
original stuff.
VH1: How has your relationship with Ty Murray influenced the
songs on the album?
Jewel: It isn't over-personal. I think whatever you're doing in
your life affects your songwriting, whether it's directly or
indirectly. But to a large degree it actually doesn't. A lot of
it is just my active imagination. Also, some of those songs I
wrote for this record, like "Love Me Leave Me Alone," I wrote
when I was 20 years old. "Cleveland" I wrote when I was 21. Some
of them are quite old. So the writing really goes across a large
span of time.
VH1: On your past albums, there's usually only one
co-songwriting credit. On This Way, you drafted more
collaborators than ever before. You wrote "Serve the Ego" with
Itaal Shur and "Standing Still" with Rick Nowles. What do you
look for in a songwriting partner?
Jewel: On this record I wrote all the lyrics and all the
melodies, and it's the music that we'd co-write. It's sort of a
pleasure for me, because I can sing the chords I want a lot
quicker than I can find the chords on the guitar. A lot of the
chords I tend to go toward are easier to access on a piano than
a guitar, and I don't play piano. So it was really fun and
actually it sort of expedited the process to write with someone
who played piano. "Serve the Ego" actually had three writers on
it. But for some reason no one's really talking about that.
VH1: You also wrote one with Ty Murray that plays with gender
perspective - "Til We Run Out of Road." It seems written from
his point of view.
Jewel: It was New Year's Eve and we were camping in a cabin. I
just wanted to show him what it was like to write a song - what
the process was like. Until you go through it, you don't
actually quite know what it involves, the mechanics of it. It's
a mysterious. I thought we should write about something he knows
about. So we wrote about him being on the rodeo trail, which
he's done professionally since he was 18. There are many
similarities between rodeo and rock 'n' roll. Very few people
make a good living at it, very few get rich. Most do it because
they love it, and they spend a lot of time in a rental car, just
like young bands going around from place to place, trying their
hearts out. So it's written from his perspective, but he really
wanted to make sure the song wasn't exclusive - that you could
relate to the song if you weren't familiar with rodeo. He also
didn't want it to be cliched, so we stayed away from all
'bucking bronco' images and things like that. So it can sound
like me being on the road, but it mentions his friend Willy
Fields - a famous cowboy. It's definitely from his perspective.
VH1: Have you ever written a song from a male perspective
before?
Jewel: That's an interesting question. I tend to write a lot of
my songs from a male perspective. I've always wondered about it.
I think I grew up reading so many male authors that my mind
works in a somewhat male manner. My love songs definitely
aren't. But even then sometimes I write songs from a male
perspective that as a woman I would like to hear a man write for
me! I can name 15 or 20 songs I might have written from a male
perspective, actually.
VH1: This is a more sensual record than before. Your lyrics have
kinkier twists than people might expect from you. Can you
comment on that?
Jewel: You're the first person to ever actually brought that up.
Since my first record there have been quite a few whatever you
want to call it - racier, kinkier - references. Even on my first
record - I was sort of shocked that I got away with nobody
commenting on it. Like in "Morning Song" it says, "You remind me
of the man I used to sleep with." Sort of very strange, bold,
casual lyrics. I've read explicit love poetry since I was young.
Neruda gets very detailed. Bukowski's the same way. I grew up
reading writers like that, so it's always infiltrated my
songwriting.
VH1: You said that "New Wild West" was a more appropriate song
for the September 11 tragedy than even "Hands." What's the
background behind "The New Wild West"?
Jewel: I began writing it at least five years ago when MTV's
Rock the Vote asked me to host the Democratic convention. I
think it was in Chicago that year. It never got finished. It was
just one of those songs that started out as an idea but just
never quite came together. I was driving through the county
roads in Texas while recording the new record and it just came
out. It speaks to American social and political trends that I
find relevant - that sort of tell us where we're at today. As
this terrorist bombing has become a part of current culture, I
think the song's also relevant to that.
VH1: What do you think of the new relevance of "Hands"?
Jewel: I was pleased. Who wouldn't be flattered? My dad was
like, "Wow! It's President Bush over my daughter's song!" I felt
really proud that I think music at the least is entertaining and
at its highest is able to inspire all sorts of things, from fear
to hope. "Hands" is about walking the line between blind
optimism and crippling cynicism, which can be different sides of
the same coin. I don't think it helps a situation when you rub a
crystal and say everything's okay when it really isn't. You're
ignoring the problem as much as you're trying to say
everything's fine. Cynicism can cripple you. It makes it unable
to feel like you can ever have an impact on anything. So there's
this middle ground of how you stay informed, stay aware of
everything that's happening in the world and retain any sense of
usefulness. I think a lot of young people ask themselves, 'How
do you keep going and feel any sense of hope about this world?'
I was pleased that this older song was used in a situation like
this, that it was hopefully healing, and not just inspiring more
terror and anger.
VH1: Any chance of teaming up with Moby when you tour?
Jewel: Yeah. He and I have been trying to work together for so
long. I was supposed to work with him on Play, and then I ended
up doing that movie and I couldn't get away. We sat down and
kind of wrote a song together at his apartment, and I've never
put words to it. We've been lazy!
--
gender is just an excuse, relationship shouldn't just be an excuse,
love is often an excuse, although sometimes these excuses are all
we have to hold onto,
death is the reason and living is the celebration
- Beth Orton
--
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