Vanessa Interview by Tricia "DixieChck615"

On November 26, 2002, we were given the awesome opportunity to chat with Vanessa Carlton. Here's what she had to say.

Tricia: If you were asked to describe your style, what would you call it?
Vanessa: I would say, I write what I would like to hear, melodically. The things that I like are derived from all the classical pieces and a lot of soundscapes in rock, like Pink Floyd, etc. So I would say it's kinda classically infused. Classically infused piano rock.

Tricia: We all know that you sometimes post on the message board, how often do you lurk?
Vanessa: Lurk? Umm, I usually post when I lurk. I guess. I'll visit...whenever I'm by a computer I try to stop by. I would say once a week.

Tricia: Do you ever go back and read the replies to your own posts?
Vanessa: Sometimes. Sometimes it's hard, there ends up being so many. If I'm on a crappy computer, and I'm not using my own, it takes too long. It takes a long time for that one to download, to come up, so I kind of avoid it.

Tricia: Are there any gifts that you have received from your fans that stand out as unusual and particularly memorable?
Vanessa: They always give me creative things. I get a lot of unicorns. Like little stuffed animals. I think everything I get is pretty memorable. I keep it all in a little spot on the bus and I unload them when they get too much and I get to my apartment in New York, I'll unload all those gifts.

Tricia: You have a little gift room set up?
Vanessa: Yeah. I have a spot where I keep all them. They mean so much to me.

Tricia: Are you officially working on your next album, or just writing songs here and there?
Vanessa: I'm writing songs. I don't have time to go into a studio because my schedule is so insane. So I have to book time and I'm going to start booking time in Spring and I'm really really excited about it.

Tricia: When you do record your next album, do you plan on collaborating with other artists? Or maybe just have a few you'd like to work with if given the chance?
Vanessa: Yeah. I'd like to work with, I'd like to sing again with Neil Young. I'd love to have Lindsey Buckingham play acoustic guitar. And I'd love to have Stevie Nicks sing a song. We'll have to see.

Tricia: You've been nominated for a couple of cool awards, the VH-1 Big in 2002 and the American Music Award, congratulations. Are you planning on attending the ceremonies?
Vanessa: Yeah, definitely. I'll be in LA. I have a day off during the VH-1 Award. I don't know when the AMAs are, but I'm going to definitely show up.

Tricia: You're winning right now I think for the VH-1.
Vanessa: How cool! Excellent.

Tricia: They've been voting hard on the message board.
Vanessa: I have, I really have the ultimate fans.

Tricia: What's the one story that your family always tells about you that's super embarrassing?
Vanessa: Oh God, there's so many. Well, I got up on the table when I was about 3 or 4. We were having Thanksgiving dinner with our extended family, so there was this group. Our whole family was eating at this really long table, and supposedly someone asked me if I would sing. I was in this little ballet class when I was young, and I had just learned this little song and dance called "Me and My Teddy Bear" and someone, basically got me to get up, I think it was my grandpa, he was like "Show us the dance. Get up on the table and do it." And I was like "OK". And I just got up on the table and started dancing with all of the food and everyone...I think it was pretty funny, and people thought I was really cute, but if I saw a kid dancing on a table with food everywhere in the middle of a Thanksgiving dinner, I'd be so appalled, and that was me.

Tricia: Aww...so you're not going to do that this year?
Vanessa: Definitely not.

Tricia: What's been the best moment from the tour so far?
Vanessa: There's been so many. It's been amazing. I love meeting the fans afterwards. I love stepping out on stage at the beginning. I love being able to play live for people who don't expect this to be a very strong live experience because people think that if your song is on the radio, that it's contrived, that you're not a real musician. I love that I can disprove that theory. Just being able to travel the country and have people in every spot wanting to hear what you have to say is more than I could ever ask for.

Tricia: Do you have a favorite place you've played so far?
Vanessa: I think one of my favorite shows was outside. It was so freezing. In Salt Lake City. I also had my first show in Dallas. It was a teeny show. It was great. I had a great show in San Francisco.

Tricia: I was there.
Vanessa: Awesome! That was really fun. I had two there. And then I just had a really great one last night at the House of Blues in Orlando.

Tricia: What is your favorite song to perform live?
Vanessa: I like playing the new song, "She Floats".

Tricia: Do you have a special pre-show ritual?
Vanessa: Umm...what do I do? Oh yeah, every night before the show I have Amy's Tofu Lasagna.

Tricia: Tofu Lasagna?
Vanessa: Yeah. It's excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone.

Tricia: When you meet your fans, do you ever get nervous like they do when they meet you?
Vanessa: I feel like...it was funny. I was walking out of New Orleans. New Orleans was a great show too. I was walking out of the venue and there were all these screaming fans and people think that "How do you feel about that? You must feel like so kinda like you're beaming, like it's such a high." But really, what I feel like is "Damn. I'd better live up to their expectations. Because they're everything. Fans are everything. That's why you're able to travel the world. That's why you're able to sell records, so you can make more. So if the fans are nervous, I don't necessarily get nervous, but I do want to make sure that I'm giving all of myself to them because that's what they do for me.

Tricia: How do you feel your first headlining tour is going?
Vanessa: I think it's going really well. I think we've surprised a lot of people. I'm looking forward to...it's really my first official tour...to picking up and going out again and kind of winning over more people.

Tricia: When did you first start doing gigs?
Vanessa: I was 17.

Tricia: How old were you when you were signed?
Vanessa: I was signed when I was 19. So it wasn't that long. I wouldn't trade that period for the world. I loved it It was hard, but I was so adament about achieving this goal. I knew that if I just kept playing, and just kept writing. It was such a creative time. I was working so hard.

Tricia: Has your success changed your outlook on life at all?
Vanessa: Absolutely. I feel like I need to take more time to enjoy each day. I feel like I kind of appreciate my relationships more and those real connections that I have with people more than ever. Because I've met a lot of people in the past year that I don't know that do suddenly have this affinity for me. But it's because I'm Vanessa Carlton, not because I'm Vanessa, just the chick that lives down the road. In general, my character is the same. I'm the same girl that I was before, but I value my private time more. And I value my family and friends in a way, I've become more protective over them.

Tricia: To you, what is the best thing about being a celebrity?
Vanessa: Free lotion. That's it, free lotion. And you know what else? Being able to use your name to help with really important causes. This little girl who's dying of cancer. Her name is Victoria and she's 5. And I'm trying to call as much attention to her as I can because she needs a bone marrow transplant, she always needs blood donors. And just the fact that people know who I am, they don't know who she is, but they know who I am, they pay attention if I was to go on the radio or go on a talk show and be like "This is what you need to do. This is what I've experienced. Here...look." I'm able to be this catalyst in some way to expose the things that are close to me.

Tricia: What's the worst thing about being a celebrity?
Vanessa: I would say people think that you're larger than life in some way. You're definitely not. You're flesh and blood just like you were before. I would say that also people you know in the press or whatever, suddenly you become fair game to talk about and you become part of popular culture. So it's like you have to deal with whatever comes whether it's negative or not. Which is weird for me because all I know is that I like to write song and I love to play them for people and everything else is just extra and it's something I have to learn how to deal with.

Tricia: What are you most proud of so far in your career?
Vanessa: I'm so proud of the relationship that I have with my fans. I think that's one of the top three things. I see a lot of singers that don't have the type of connection, don't have the type of dedication that my fans have. I feel like it's rare, it's hard to have, it's hard to get. To get it, you have to give a lot and I don't plan on stopping that. I feel like I'm going to be able to grow old with my fans. That's a relationship that started this year.

Tricia: If you hadn't stuck with singing when you were 17 or 18, what do you think you'd be doing right now?
Vanessa: I don't know. Something in the arts, definitely. I probably would have gone to school a bit early. I might have majored in something. I would definitely still be playing music. I guess I'd just be doing it in the comfort of my own dorm.

Tricia: You're going to Columbia in the fall, right?
Vanessa: Not this fall. I'm not going to go back until after my second record.

Tricia: What are you thinking of majoring in?
Vanessa: Perhaps psychology. Perhaps English.

Tricia: For many of your fans, music is a way to unwind, for you, it's a living. What do you do for fun besides music?
Vanessa: Many things. But music is definitely the way that I unwind the best. When I sit down and play, it's really a time when I'm able to kind of feel normal again, feel the release of whatever's going on in my head. Another time that I feel that way is when I'm dancing or exercising. Whatever it is, it calms me down, so I like to jog as much as I can. I love to chill out and sit on the couch for hours and watch TV and talk on the phone. I try to get as bored as possible, which doesn't happen very much anymore. I love to go have a good dinner and a good wine. Go to the movies. Just like any normal person.

Tricia: While writing songs, what comes first, lyrics or music?
Vanessa: Music always. The lyrics are just inspired by the music.

Tricia: Have you written any songs lately that your dog has gotten really excited about?
Vanessa: It's really bad because I've been writing away from home so she hasn't been able to give her two cents. I miss her to death. It's horrible. But I can't take her on the bus. The whole shitting and shedding.

Tricia: I don't think the boys would like that.
Vanessa: Yeah, they'd be kind of disturbed.

Tricia: What CDs are you really into right now?
Vanessa: New CDs, I'm into...I'm not into that much right now to be quite honest with you. You know what I love? I love the new Trails of Dead album. I love the new Queens of the Stone Age album. I love...I don’t think I've got much else. That's about it.

Tricia: How was Regis and Kelly yesterday?
Vanessa: It was hot. It was good. They're sweet, they're very sweet. I was in Puerto Rico for one hot second literally.

Tricia: I was going to say, didn't you have a show last night?
Vanessa: Yep...that's my life.

Tricia: What are you planning on doing once you get back from Europe? Time off maybe?
Vanessa: I get to go to Australia, which I am dying to go over there. Last time I was supposed to go over there I got sick. So I'm going to go to Australia then I'm going to hop in the studio and start recording. I plan on producing with Daniel Linois and Nigel Godrich.

Tricia: When do you think the new album might be coming out?
Vanessa: Probably the beginning of 2004. Probably not the end of this next year. Maybe, possibly. But I love the first record, it has a special place. It's really the beginning of it all. I feel like the second one is kinda gonna blow it out of the water.

Tricia: Well, that's all I've got for you today.
Vanessa: It was so nice to talk you though.

Tricia: Thank you so much.
Vanessa: Excellent interview.

Tricia: Thanks.
Vanessa: Thank you guys.

Tricia: Have a good day.
Vanessa: You too.

You can also read this interview at www.crankitup.org