a conversation with liz phair
Like most people of a certain age, who were buying records at a certain period of time, Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville is one of my musical cornerstones. I played that record to death when it came out, relating to parts of it more than I wanted to admit. So getting the chance to talk to Liz about Exile for eMusic was something I approached with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.
I was deeply afraid that Liz was going to be either surly or distant, but she was neither. As I’d expected, she was deeply thoughtful and extremely articulate, but she also has a rich sense of humor, and very little fear about making potentially incendiary statements. My personal fave:
God it’s amazing who the fuck they hire to be presidents of major labels. I’ll never understand. I’ve met so many shitty presidents of record labels. How these assholes get promoted to the level that they reach… If I had fucking three million dollars a year to spend on someone, I think I’d fucking pick someone a lot better than that. Someone that had some leadership, or maybe some wisdom? I mean, God, what happened to leaders? Where did they go? What is with the dysfunction in seats of power? How do they get there?”
This has particular relevance coming shortly after Liz’s widely-derided stint with Capitol. The pair of albums she made for them — particularly the first, self-titled record — seemed to infuriate people to levels that were perhaps a bit ridiculous. I personally don’t care for those records, but I don’t begrudge her for making them. As she tells it, it was as much therapeutic as commercial:
I think the first thing that separated me from [the album] is that there was a shitstorm when it first came out. I was part of this little “alternative music” scene in Chicago. I wasn’t the oldest member of that scene. I was sort of a newbie, fresh from college, thinking I’m all that. And then I make this record. And it gets huge amounts of attention almost instantly. Suddenly the perception of me in that whole world changes. I remember a lot of people resented me and said a lot of mean things about me.”
To hear her talk about it, her move to Capitol was both an escape and a fuck-you! to the indie rock boys’ club that shunned her for not owning enough Neu! records.
That was the whole point: Exile in Guyville. I was someone with broader tastes, stuck in this little indie world where I wasn’t allowed to say I liked Squeeze. I was ridiculed for being an omnivore.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Liz is currently swinging back to the other end of the sonic spectrum.
I’ve been having quite a lot of what I consider non-productive discussions with people that I’ve been working with, because I won’t let them finish it off. I want it all raw and demo. So they’ll be like “But…um…I…uh…just want to move the bass,” and I’m like “DON’T TOUCH IT” [laughs]. I’m like, “This is the easiest 5000 bucks you’re ever going to make, just shut up and let me fucking do it.”
At long last, Exile in Guyville is available on eMusic. You can read my discussion with Liz here
I’m not familiar with Liz Phair at all, but that is a great interview.
Oh. Listened to the samples of the ‘classic’ album. I’m just going to go over to the Souther Lord page now and not bother you people any more ok
When I first read this, I thought Liz was talking about her first album for Capitol when she described the “shitstorm when it first came out”, especially since Joe had just mentioned her major label stint in the paragraph above the quote.
Then I read his interview with Liz and realized that she was describing the “shitstorm” of attention that followed the original release of Exile in Guyville.
But she could be describing either one of those records! When she signed with a major label and chose to record with the Matrix and market herself with the Gap, she got a lot of negative attention. “The perception of me in that whole (alternative music) world change(d)” again. And once again, “a lot of people resented me and said a lot of mean things about me.”
Yeah, I guess I structured that weirdly — the “shitstorm” comment was in reference to Exile but, as you pointed out, could have just as easily been about Liz Phair. She seems constantly subject to that kind of negative attention. It’s kind of a drag.
It does seem like it is more difficult for her to get a fair evaluation from critics and fans, especially those in the indie-rock Guyville who didn’t like the major label move but still have a crush on her (myself included). Now there’s a poorly structured statement.
Joe, you mentioned on this site that you wrote an article on the National for Creative Loafing in Atlanta. Did you live in ATL at the time?
I didn’t; I was just freelancing all over the place. I basically went from New York to Philly for a while, then back to New York. World traveler!
Speaking of negative attention, Phair played ‘Exile’ from start to finish at the Vic here in Chicago and the review in the Tribune cut the performance to shreds:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-phair-ovn-0626jun26,0,7318459.story
man, sentences like this:
Barely dressed in hip-hugging hot pants, high-heeled sandals and a sleeveless black vest that afforded generous exposure to a purple bra/bikini top, Phair could have passed for a Bunny in the old Playboy Club.
seriously bother me. i feel like it tells me more about the critic than about Liz.