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SPINOnline Interview

SPINOnline Interview

Alaskan yodeler Jewel is still out there saving her soul traversing the globe on eternal tour. The 21 year old cult singer stole the hearts of latent sincerists lurking in front of MTV with her 1995 debut "Pieces of You." And now 200 songs later and a contagious fan base, Jewel has turned out another album that will be released this March.

SPINonline chatted with Jewel from a tour stop in Germany recently, where as she'll explain, the shows have hardly been the giggling love fests that she's accoustomed to in the States. Over the AT&T lines Jewel came in crisp, a little tired perhaps, but with tons of news about the new LP she recorded last summer at Bearsville Studio in Woodstock, New York.

SPIN: I heard you recorded some songs for your upcoming album with Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. How did that all come about?

J: I knew Flea from back when I was living in my car in San Diego before I even thought about getting a record deal. he was one of the first people I ever played for. He encouraged me to make a record when I was in complete disbelief and thought I was terrible. We kept in touch over the years. He's always been a big supporter and wanted to play on the album. So I said okay.

S: What songs did you record together?

J: We did a song called Satellite which Flea does an awesome base line on. Its my favorite song on the record. We ran over four or five songs. "Face Of Love" "Innocence Maintained" ... I don't remember the names of the rest.

S: Were they songs that you wrote?

J: I wrote everything. Not all the songs I did with Flea will make it the final album though because the timing wasn't perfect or the piano was off. Things like that.

S: What is Satellite about?

J: To me its about that alot of us are taught to program our VCR's but not to understand our emotions. We know how to send satellites into space but we don't know how to relate to each other. I wrote it when I was doing preproduction for the album. I thought it was a terrible song and I almost threw it away. My producer heard it and said, "This is great."

S: Did you write most of the album before you went into the studio?

J: Its a real mixture. I have over 200 songs.

S: It must have been really hard to choose which ones would go on the album.

J: It was. I recorded over thirty tracks.

S: Is there a theme to this album?

J: Not really. I look at my first album as a pencil sketch and this one is more of a skilled drawing. There's more color. I've grown better at articulating musically and lyrically.

S: Was your frame of mind different this time around?

J: I was so scared the first time around. I didn't think anyone would ever really listen to the album. I was also scared of the musicians that worked with me on it. They were all so talented. They played on Elvis' albums and with Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan. Legendary!!

S: I heard there were some live tracks on the album.

J: Yep. It was really sweet, my fans asked me over the internet- I have a group of fans that named themselves after one of my songs "Everyday Angels I'm Sensitive" -- they asked me to put on a free concert if they all came to Woodstock. I said yes, and so people drove from San Francisco, Missouri, Florida, Canada, all over. They camped out and called it Jewelstock. I recorded those sessions and put some of the songs on the album.

S: How many of these fans are there?

J: I don't know really. Because radio never played me in the beginning and I toured so much, I got a really strong following going. They've really kept my spirits up. They bootleg my stuff. Their goal is to get all my material.

S: And that's okay with you?

J: Its good because I write alot of new stuff and I forget'em. If it wasn't for my fans sending me back the bootlegs the stuff would be gone forever. They don't sell'em.

S: Do you yodel on the record?

J: No. It was taking all the attention away from my songs.

S: The record's coming out in March. Will you tour in support of it?

J: I won't stop touring. This tour and that tour will blend together.

S: You've been on the road for two years now and your just going to stay on the road. Is that hard?

J: yep. I love what I'm doing and I feel thankful that I don't have to be a waitress. But at the same time getting 3 hours of sleep a night and doing 40 cities every 30 days playing 5 shows a day has been very tiring. I lose heart sometimes especially cause no bands would tour with me and so I was opening for gothic bands and punk bands.

Right now I'm in Germany with this guy named Willie Deville from New Orleans. He has no following except in Germany. His crowds are so mean to me. I've never played such tough crowds. It's a humbling business. It feels good cause fame is only in other peoples minds. Its not a reality.