Jewel – Interview

Jewel is about to deliver her most personal and autobiographical record so far-Goodbye Alice in Wonderland. Not content to relegate herself to a traditional music arena, or to be typecast, Jewel has established herself as a culturally significant and relevant brand. Author, songwriter, actress, poet-there are no limits to how Jewel can and will deliver her message. The underlining truth that ties it all together is the integrity of that message.

We interview Jewel!

Hip: You know, I saw you open for Neil Young and Oasis outside of Toronto like ten years ago.

Jewel: That was right when everything was starting to take off.

Right. I remember the whole thing with the finger picking and yodeling. I don’t think anyone had ever seen a pop artist that before.

(Jewel laughs)

It was phenomenal. I was blown away.

Thank you for saying that.

I know that “Goodbye Alice In Wonderland” is very autobiographical—however do you still want people to put their own lives into the words. We all listen to songs and make up our own meanings—would you like that to happen or do you want them to see your life in those songs?

That’s interesting. You know I ah… both are true in a way becuase I like to write a song specific enough that you can latch onto a specific emotion and you can feel that heartbreak or love in a very specific way. But I try lyrically to never make it so specific that it alienates the listener from having it be about their own story and their own life. That is a trick in the writing. It’s part of the craft. I don’t mean it’s a gimmick. It’s a line you learn to instinctively walk poetically. I also have never felt like what I was saying was so interesting that they need to get what I think out of it. I’m perfectly happy that people come to their own conclusions. I never try to be didactic in what I’m saying. Even on my political or social songs. I’m conscious to stay away from that.

As a fan, I don’t always want to know what a song is about. I’d rather just enjoy it because some times you are let down when you are told about the song’s meaning.

Yeah I agree. One of my favorite Bob Dylan experiences is completely mishearing what he is saying. (Laughs)

I remember talking to someone recently, an artist, who said he loved a song and found out the song was meaningless and it really ruined the song for him.

That is part of the fantasy. You get really involved and put in your own emotions. That is what is great about music.

When you listen to music now do you listen as a fan or as a lyricist?

Hmm. I’m a lyricist until I’m moved and then I’m a fan and then I go back to being a lyricist and what combination gave me those feelings. If it was a phrase or what.

Is it like being an athlete where they want to be better than everyone else?

It’s a sort of naive gleeful fascination. Words have always fascinated me and so has melody and the explicable other thing that happens that has nothing to do with me or a given writer. Something magical comes inside and brings life to writing. I’ve been a fan of writing and literature. I’m just a better songwriter than novelist. (Laughs) I tend to get that feeling most through written word. It still tickles me. Its like when you eat a great meal and you are like ‘oh my God what is that?” that is how experience music. With TV commercials I’ll think to myself “I don’t think I would have worded it that way.”

I’m like that with music. I will hear someone like Prince now and it would seem too easy for him. If his song sounds generic it seems too easy and not perfect. Maybe it bothers me more because I’m a writer.

Yeah, you never know. Every one interprets things their own way. Even artists interpret things their own way.

I’m curious, I don’t know if it’s a dumb question but some artists that become famous lose their ability to write great songs. How do you get around that issue and still write good songs?

Aren’t you clever? (Laughs) What do you write? You must write quite a bit.

JEWEL

Yeah, I do.

Obviously. That is the biggest game. If you are a fisherman that is the biggest fish you are trying to catch. Writing great is very hard and very few people accomplish it. It’s a gift and a blessing and all that. And having a hit with it—the stars have to be aligned for that to happen. It’s like rarer than lightening striking. It involves luck and talent. Being able to maintain good writing over a long period of time I think is one of the most difficult things an artist can do. You really have to keep your guts alive and make sure your writing stays alive and vital. The ones who pull it off have to go insane for it and horrible things. It’s almost that they have to torture themselves to keep it going.

Right. I mean you have a John Lennon who is a total freak of nature but there are some artists that can sell a gazillion albums like a Motley Crue, but then all of the sudden it just ends. How does it just end?

It’s the same as with novelists. Very few became a Steinbeck or a Hemingway, but again Steinbeck died estranged from his family and Hemingway killed himself. To me the trick to writing personally, I think everyone has their own combination. To me the trick is that complacence hurts, emotional complacence hurts. Wanting to always beeing curious is always a good thing. So you want to stay curious but what does that require? It requires humility. Because unless you can hear something you can’t absorb it but to be in the position of hearing you have to want to hear which means you have to think you don’t know. Sincerely, you can’t fabricate it—you have to think you have something to learn. Fame does the opposite—it tells you that you do know. It encourages all the wrong things for art. It gives you wealthy and comfort which leads to complacence and gives you ass-kissers that tell you that you are great when you know you’re not. You’re just a writer. The combination of those things combined with all of the distractions that fame offers like ass (we both laugh) and you know whatever people get into like drugs—they all lead to distractions. And when you have your hit you don’t know you are dead. I try to stay away from distractions as much as I can. I live on a ranch and lead a simple life style. I try to read as much as I can and honestly I hope that I’m just warming up. I hope my best writing is ahead of me. I hope that I don’t have to torture myself. I hope it’s an enjoyment of life that helps me continue to write. If the cost of great writing is becoming Steinbeck or Hemingway I’m willing to let some of my talent go in the name of happiness.

Does it drive you crazy that there is such an ebb-and-flow in popular music? Alanis’ last album was great and for whatever reason because music isn’t going in that direction it gets lost.

That’s like saying it’s unfair that I’m not the cheerleader of the year. That is the way life is. We are dealing with art on my level, I don’t mean in particular I mean as a songwriter, and you feed it into a machine. That machine feeds you and it that machine is also a cruel mistress at times. It isn’t fair or unfair. It is a fashion machine. It deals in fades. That is what “Intuition” was about, it dealt with the fad with body type like loving Twiggy or J. Lo’s curves. The key is doing what you love and is right. Even Neil Young over a long period he was considered genius and then when he started putting big bugs on stage and did heavy rock they thought he was going crazy.

I guess the thing about music that makes it tough is wondering if I can recognize what is good because it has become so trendy. It’s not about quality. I feel like I’m getting old.

Well that is why I made this album with a beginning, middle, and end. I wanted it to be like a novel. I was hoping that each song on its own would be interesting but when you put it together it’s like a mosaic. Each tile looks neat up close but when you stand up and look at it from an overview it’s a whole different picture. I like records like that. I love The Wall. Each song is sonically satisfying but you put it together and it’s a social statement. I miss records being made that way. A lot of the downloads have to do with technology but artists don’t make whole records anymore. They make two good songs a record. Why should you pay twenty bucks for two good songs and ten shit?

JEWEL

Did you have to write the songs in a specific way or piece them together so they made a cohesive whole?

Some of the songs are really old. I have a song on there called “Satellite” that I wrote when I was nineteen and a song called “1000 Miles Away” that I wrote when I was eighteen. And some of the songs are new like “Words Get In The Way” which I wrote while in the studio. There was a certain rhythm on the drums, it had a certain energy. Almost everything was written already. I do that a lot. I just pick through my catalog and then fill in the holes. My main thing is that I wanted to make an honest record that was embarrassingly honest and picked songs that fit my life story.

Does it bug you to leave some songs orphaned?

Yeah. I have a country record dying to come out. I keep trying to get some of these songs on the records but they never fit. I think it’ll have to be its own record. You look at Springsteen’s “Nebraska” and even Dylan’s country record.

+ Charlie Craine