A Conversation with Joan Armatrading – HuffPost 3.26.10

Mike Ragogna: This Charming Life seems to not only be the title of your album, but also its theme.

Joan Armatrading: Yes, it’s a very “up” album, it’s very positive. I’m a very positive person, so it comes out…it’s what I’m thinking inside of my head, but I have to say it outside of my head as well.

MR: Has this approach to life been rewarding?

JA: Yeah, well, I’ve always had that approach. I only know myself like this, I don’t know myself any other way. I always think we’re to be happy, we’re here to appreciate, to help. So, that’s what I try to do, just enjoy being here. I like to look at the “now” as well, I don’t look at anything with any regrets, not that I have any. I not only look at what I like to do, but what’s happening now. When we look at “now,” it’s much better than we imagine.

MR: As emphasized in Eckhart Tolle’s The Power Of Now that focuses on living in the moment. There’s also a sense of empowerment that runs through almost every song, like on “People Who Win” during which you sing, “We’re fierce like a lion, strong in our conviction, we are determined in our heart and soul.”

JA: I believe there are always things conspiring to not let things work, to bring you down, making it seem like things are not possible. But it’s all possible. I said that to somebody once who said, “Well, what about the people that it doesn’t work for, what about people who are in a really, really bad position.” But even being in that position, you need to be thinking positive to get yourself out of that bad position. You can change the equation.

MR: Your song “Virtual Reality” points at the problem of not living in the moment, of living some other life and avoiding reality.

JA: Yeah, I think you’ve got the record. (laughs)

MR: Thanks. So, who’s the jerk in “Two Tears”?

JA: (laughs) That’s actually a combination of a few different people, and as you can tell, it’s about an abusive situation. But the person’s finally woken up. Again, yeah, it’s a positive thing, about taking responsibility for yourself, realizing your worth, and not letting people undermine you. To find you’ve woken up and what a great feeling for those people to finally come to their senses, to realize they don’t have to put themselves through this nightmare.

MR: There are those who can’t really get out of the relationship because it feeds something they gravitate to psychologically, good or bad.

JA: In terms of the degree of unhealthiness, I suppose. There are people who do fall in love no matter how bad or whatever the relationship is, they just can’t see it because they’re so in love. If you’re in it and there’s abuse, then it’s certainly not healthy and you should definitely be away from it. But there might be other things that make it possible to stay in, where you get some joy at some point out of it.

MR: You also have songs where people are trying to make problematic relationships work. In “Love Love Love,” a Britain-France, long-distance relationship seems to be used both as a literal, geographical separation, and as a metaphor to bring home the point.

JA: This one is about distance in relationships, where some people do need to have a long-distance relationship. It’s not about me, but it’s about this situation that I know of. As hard as they tried, they just couldn’t get it to work because it was just too far. They’d hook-up every now and again, but it doesn’t really do it.

MR: You’ve covered long-distance relationships before like in “All The Way From America” from your breakthrough Me Myself I album.

JA: That one is somebody wishing that they could be with me, and I wasn’t available to go out with. So, it’s slightly different in that it was a relationship that wasn’t a relationship at all, just somebody wishing that it were. Where as in “Love Love Love,” they do have a relationship that’s affected by the distance.

MR: Speaking of America, it looks like you’re “Heading Back To New York City.”

JA: That’s so riveting, isn’t it? It’s very rock, it’s something I’m looking forward to playing onstage.

MR: Was the song inspired by the city?

JA: I love New York. I spent a little bit of time there, not for touring, but just to stay there because it’s so great. It’s a very, very friendly place. You can go into a restaurant or café or someplace, not know anybody, and start up a conversation and people will talk to you. Just walking around The Village or different streets in New York, it’s just so interesting what you’re looking at–the people, the buildings, the atmosphere. It’s great.

MR: You were there a couple of years ago for a certain event, right?

JA: I did The New York City Marathon in 2008, and when you do the marathon, you go through the different boroughs and kind of see the different styles of what’s happening there, what people have built up, very beautiful. The first bridge we’d come over had an absolutely stunning view. It was worth it just for that view, going over the bridge, looking over the water and everything. It was gorgeous. New York is a great place.

MR: Was that experience partly what inspired the song?

JA: I heard a young girl talking who’d gone to New York for the first time. She was from somewhere in the country, came to New York and couldn’t wait to get back to it. She’d fallen in love with it. And that’s what started me off, and then as I say, I love New York anyway, so it all kind of tied-in.

MR: So how did you place in the marathon?

JA: I’m not going to tell you that! (laughs) But I was actually on course to do a great time, a really great time. I was coming in like in five-and-a-half hours. But just a few days before, I banged my knee.

MR: How did you…

JA: …I don’t want to tell you the story of how that happened. (laughs) But anyway, because of that I took a bit longer. I finished, got my medal.

MR: One of the most emotional songs on the project is your ballad “Promises.”

JA: I like that song, I love the intro in particular, the melody and the sound of the guitar. It almost makes you want to cry! I was in rehearsal, and the last song we attempted was “Promises.” I tell you, playing it in that situation and then thinking in terms of the audience and conjuring up the feeling of what’s going to happen in the hall, I really got a bit emotional myself.

MR: I especially love the tempo changes when it goes from 3/4 time in the verses to those elongated 4/4 beats in the choruses. It musically sets up the concept of how everything potentially changes as much as one wishes. And as you imply lyrically, that makes it hard to keep a promise.

JA: It does.

MR: And then there’s the song “This Charming Life.” You have lines like, “Every government must pass down a law that says the sun has to always shine, that everybody gets the chance to say, ‘I live and love with you this charming life.'” What a depressing statement.

JA: (laughs) Wouldn’t that be good? I’m very fortunate about the life I have, and it would be nice if we all can have the life we wanted. The government SHOULD pass that law–that would be really good.

MR: But governments are so much better at bickering over health care.

JA: Yeah. Really. But they need to get this one together.

MR: According to the credits, you’re a ten-piece band.

JA: I play everything except for the drums, and I engineered, arranged and produced it.

MR: Who was the drummer?

JA: Miles Bould, the same drummer as on Lover’s Speak and Into The Blues.

MR: Same approach on those albums?

JA: I also played everything myself.

MR: So, this is how you make Joan Armatrading records now, you get down all your ideas on the various instruments. When are you picking up the drum sticks?

JA: I keep saying I’m going to play the drums on one song at least, maybe not a whole CD.

MR: Joan, why the slacking off?

JA: There’s so much else to do that I keep kind of not doing that.

MR: You’ve had some amazing producers in the past. You used Glyn Johns, Richard Gottehrer, Steve Lillywhite. But in my opinion, it seems that when an artist has as broad an understanding of both music and sound as you do, you’re able to pull off a lot more, you can produce yourself once you learn the basics.

JA: Because of the early days when I never got a “co-producer” credit, I think people think it was the producer who was governing my records and my songs, but it never was. It was always me who arranged the songs, so it wasn’t the producer just doing things his own way.

MR: Then what is it like producing your own records without someone called a “producer” in the mix?

JA: To me the biggest difference is I don’t have to think about compromising at all, that’s the biggest difference. When somebody else is there, because they’re there, you kind of have to include them, without that sounding strange at all.

MR: I remember Daryl Hall expressing it in our interview a little differently, but he came to the same conclusion.

JA: The “producer” should do something. Otherwise, why is he going to be there? (laughs) This way, I can kind of get on with it since I know what I want, and I’ve always known what I wanted. And I enjoy it, I’ve done it for the last three albums.

MR: Is this how you’ll be approaching all Joan Armatrading albums from here on out?

JA: I have no idea what I’ll do for the next album, if I’ll do it myself or if I’ll work with a producer and musicians. I just know that over the last three CDs, I’ve enjoyed doing it this way.

MR: And really, the main difference between your last three albums and your earlier works is the later ones seem more personal, more immediate. But that makes total sense since, as you mentioned, you were really producing your earlier works too.

JA: That’s right, and that’s how it’s always been. And thank you for saying that, people might not recognize that. They might think, all of a sudden, I know how to do this. But you wouldn’t “all of a sudden” know. I’m 59. (laughs) I wouldn’t be suddenly knowing how to do this if I hadn’t been doing it for a long, long time.

MR: You cover a long list of genres on each of your albums–pop, r&b, jazz, blues, and even new wave in the early eighties. Having this wide range of knowledge, you seem to have created a Joan Armatrading kind of music since it’s not particularly specific or devoted to any one sound.

JA: Yeah. And if asked how to sum it up, that’s exactly how I’d sum it up. It’s Joan Armatrading music. When you’re listening to Into The Blues, it’s blues, but it’s Joan Armatrading blues. You can tell that you’re listening to blues-influenced music, but you wouldn’t say, “Oh, yes, she’s doing that particular style or being that particular person.”

It’s the same with This Charming Life. It’s rock-pop, but it’s my take on this kind of music, and I like lots of different sorts of music. I’m not constantly playing blues, rock, or anything, but I’m very conscious of music. I think I have a way of knowing what the music should be to identify as that genre, like when you hear Into The Blues, it’s got a very blues sound to it–the tone of the guitars, the solos, the phrases, the space. When you listen to This Charming Life and you hear “Heading Back To New York City” or “Best Dress On,” it’s definitely rock. Because I like all these different things, they come to me.

MR: Right, when I first heard “Best Dress On”–and forgive me, I know you’re not supposed to compare the artist to other artists in interviews, but let’s do it anyway…

JA: (laughs)

MR: …it reminded me of Annie Lennox, but in a way that she would have approached a song like this pre-Eurythmics records. Then I realized she must have heard at least a few of your recordings, and you might have influenced at least some of Annie’s nuances.

JA: (laughs)

MR: No? Not even one or two?

JA: (laughs)

MR: No, really, some artists such as Tracy Chapman sound like they’ve borrowed from or, in the very least, been influenced by you, though they may not be conscious of it. You’re considered an important singer-songwriter, although you may not be constantly heralded like Joni Mitchell. When “Joan Armatrading” is spoken, everyone in most musical circles knows who that is through your material, not your super-stardom. So, instead of your image being embedded in the culture, it seems it’s your influence that’s your major contribution.

JA: I know, I do hear that from people, that I’ve influenced others, and I think it’s great, it’s really nice. But really? All I’m doing is writing my songs. (laughs)

MR: Alright then, who influenced you?

JA: When people ask me who my influence is, I don’t go on about that because it’s not really a person, it’s just the music. So, I’m not listening to anybody then saying, “Oh, I’m influenced by this person, by that person…” I just like music, and that’s why I come across like Joan Armatrading.

MR: What is your advice to new artists?

JA: It’s kind of tough and easy, all at the same time. Easy in that if you have a love for music, then do it just for the love of it; some people have a love for it, but don’t have that creativity. They’ll sometimes pursue it as a career when really, it shouldn’t be a career. It should be a hobby or enjoyed in a pub band, like that, and don’t beat yourself up because you’re not playing on some great big stage. That’s that part of it.

But if you feel you have a real creativity and you’re honest with yourself–that’s very important, that it’s truthful and you know you’re really good–just beat down every door that you can to try and get to where you want to be! There will be people who will tell you it’s not possible–I’ve certainly had people tell me that. But I know it’s possible, never mind them, just get on with it. If you feel that you’ve got the talent, try whatever avenue you can to get your material out there, your songs out there, your voice out there…just do whatever you can to get yourself in front of the right people. Get yourself in a band, form your own band, get yourself onto myspace, tell the record companies to look at you there.

But the main thing is to be honest, what your quality is, how good you are, and what you want to do.