Tori's Chat On AOL
September 29, 1999

Added September 30, 1999


On Wednesday night, September 29, 1999. Tori chatted for about 35 minutes on AOL prior to her concert in Dallas, TX. The chat started at 7:30PM ET. I must say that while it was short, it was a really good chat. Someone jokingly asked me to use as the headline, "An AOL Chat That Did NOT Suck." Tori was in a really chatty mood and some of her answers to the questions were quite long and fascinating. The 11 questions in general were pretty good too. Here is a transcript:


Question: DizzyPlatinum:Where did the inspiration for TVAB come from??

EAToriAmos: This is a three-tiered answer.
EAToriAmos: The initial jolt was when I was having
EAToriAmos: a really good Corton-Charlemagne with
EAToriAmos: two of my girlfriends in Ohio. I think
EAToriAmos: it was a Dayton show, but it was
EAToriAmos: near the end of the tour last year.
EAToriAmos: And I knew that we were doing a live
EAToriAmos: record and at the time I thought we were
EAToriAmos: doing a B-side record with a few
EAToriAmos: extra tracks, not knowing what the few
EAToriAmos: extra tracks were at all because
EAToriAmos: they hadn't been written yet. So, my
EAToriAmos: two friends were coming up with all
EAToriAmos: sorts of things and I knew I had to
EAToriAmos: go to somewhere and back from somewhere.
EAToriAmos: Finally, after all of, you can imagine
EAToriAmos: the silliness, Natalie looked at me and
EAToriAmos: said, you'd go to Venus and back
EAToriAmos: if you could. And I looked at her and
EAToriAmos: said, absolutely wherever Venus is, I
EAToriAmos: would go there.
EAToriAmos: Second tier: Now that the title was
EAToriAmos: in place, strangely enough, songs started
EAToriAmos: to come and visit me. And, not one at
EAToriAmos: a time, but several motifs and themes
EAToriAmos: would come belonging to very
EAToriAmos: different essences. I knew that we
EAToriAmos: were starting to go through the live DATs
EAToriAmos: end of February of '99. What I didn't
EAToriAmos: realize is all the songs were coming or
EAToriAmos: that a new album was in the birthing. When
EAToriAmos: I ended at and the Cornwall, at the end
EAToriAmos: of February, which is where Martian
EAToriAmos: Engineering is, my hangout, I had no idea
EAToriAmos: even still that I was making a new record.
EAToriAmos: And I played all the songs from Mark & Marcel
EAToriAmos: who engineered this album and mixed it.
EAToriAmos: and they looked at me and said that
EAToriAmos: sonically these songs really would sound
EAToriAmos: random if I put them on a B-side
EAToriAmos: compilation.
EAToriAmos: Third tier: As I opened up much more
EAToriAmos: to the Venus spectrum, people have
EAToriAmos: been sending me information on Venus
EAToriAmos: mythology. I should say Venusian, I guess.
EAToriAmos: And I don't just mean in the sense of a
EAToriAmos: woman, but in the sense of feminine
EAToriAmos: consciousness. And it's quite strange
EAToriAmos: how none of these songs started to
EAToriAmos: come except for Juarez, which came
EAToriAmos: while I was in Texas. Which is where
EAToriAmos: I'm talking to you from right now.
EAToriAmos: (Juarez- accent over the e)
EAToriAmos: And only that came in bits and pieces
EAToriAmos: and that was in October of last yaer.

Question: EADavid: You mentioned last year in an interview that your favorite
Question: singer is Elizabeth Fraser and your favorite song is "Treasure." Have
Question: you ever thought of collaborating with her or any other musicians you
Question: admire?

EAToriAmos: No. I'm kind of a hermit. I think
EAToriAmos: collaboration comes out of a relaxed
EAToriAmos: atmosphere, usually when you're just
EAToriAmos: hanging around and in this day and age,
EAToriAmos: people don't hang around anymore, if
EAToriAmos: you've noticed. It's sort of a different
EAToriAmos: time for that. But I'm also quite shy.
EAToriAmos: I know it doesn't seem like it, but when
EAToriAmos: I'm not behind a piano, I am.

Question: Sigpieces: What is your idea of a perfect concert experience?

EAToriAmos: Well, that's an interesting one because
EAToriAmos: I'm making the set list now to go on
EAToriAmos: in about an hour and a half and I'm
EAToriAmos: trying to get a sense of place. I'm trying
EAToriAmos: to get a sense of the amount of photons
EAToriAmos: that are hitting the earth right now in
EAToriAmos: this particular place, which is Dallas.
EAToriAmos: And, you just try and kind of get your
EAToriAmos: audience and the show in the beam where
EAToriAmos: that speed of light beem is coming from.
EAToriAmos: And I know somebody is rolling their
EAToriAmos: eyes at me right now, but you try and
EAToriAmos: play to 10,000 people and see if you can
EAToriAmos: hold them. When you make it all about
EAToriAmos: you, it gets boring very quick. So,
EAToriAmos: ultimately, people come to a concert
EAToriAmos: because they want to take a trip.
EAToriAmos: And, music, as we all know, has a certain
EAToriAmos: power if it's done right, because you're
EAToriAmos: translating from the ether, you're translating
EAToriAmos: the non-tangible and you still can't
EAToriAmos: hold it in your hands. Not like a painting.
EAToriAmos: That's what it is. The CD isn't the music,
EAToriAmos: do you see what I mean? So when we're
EAToriAmos: playing live it goes through a person's
EAToriAmos: being and I think music has the power
EAToriAmos: to change forms and shapes, a person's
EAToriAmos: aura.
EAToriAmos: Do I believe in auras? Of course.
EAToriAmos: Do I know many people who can
EAToriAmos: read them? Of course not.
EAToriAmos: I can't read them, but I can sense sound.

Question: BrianC777:Tori, thank you for all of the wonderful music you write.
Question: "1000 Oceans" is an amazing song and one that is especially meaningful
Question: to me as I am currently losing the love of my life. What inspired you
Question: to write "1000 Oceans?"

EAToriAmos: Well, different things really. I was
EAToriAmos: woken up in the middle of the night
EAToriAmos: at about 5:30 in the morning or something.
EAToriAmos: And a woman's voice was singing it
EAToriAmos: to me. She was African, quite ancient.
EAToriAmos: And I couldn't understand any of the
EAToriAmos: words, but she was humming hte first
EAToriAmos: couple phrases. So I crawled out of
EAToriAmos: bed and found my way to the piano and I
EAToriAmos: put in on a little ghetto blaster so I wouldnt
EAToriAmos: forget it and in the next few weeks I
EAToriAmos: started to shape it. It wasn't about
EAToriAmos: one event. It was clear to me that
EAToriAmos: there was this endless determination
EAToriAmos: that the song had to reach her love.
EAToriAmos: And I don't know if that was a child or
EAToriAmos: a lover or a friend who the song couldn't
EAToriAmos: seem to be able to make contact
EAToriAmos: with anymore. So when I finally found, and
EAToriAmos: I was looking through a map and when
EAToriAmos: I look for lyrics I go hunting. So, as I was
EAToriAmos: looking through all the maps and
EAToriAmos: finding places, I was looking on maps
EAToriAmos: of Dartmoor and I was working with a lot
EAToriAmos: of different regions. And finally it hit
EAToriAmos: me, that it was through the solar field
EAToriAmos: and it wasn't listed on the maps.
EAToriAmos: Because I was being dragged away from
EAToriAmos: the maps to go to sort of a physics book,
EAToriAmos: actually an astronomy book, a book on all
EAToriAmos: sorts of laws and principles of the universe
EAToriAmos: that Marcel had. And, as I finally found
EAToriAmos: solar field it was like I started to feel her
EAToriAmos: jump up and down. Sometimes the songs
EAToriAmos: do that. Y ou get a sense of that they
EAToriAmos: really are alive. So, my husband had
EAToriAmos: lost his father and he would swing
EAToriAmos: by where I was playing and he would
EAToriAmos: say to me, can you play that little song
EAToriAmos: about the oceans? And that seemed
EAToriAmos: to be sort of a way that we would talk about
EAToriAmos: his dad when no other words could work.
EAToriAmos: So, I think it means different things for
EAToriAmos: different people. But the sense that I got
EAToriAmos: was I couldn't measure the amount of love
EAToriAmos: that this song had for the person that
EAToriAmos: she was singing it about. And it was quite
EAToriAmos: ....it moved me. It was like a resolve, an
EAToriAmos: endless resolve to follow her love.
EAToriAmos: And, she's not a stalker by the way.

EAMusic1: WE ARE CHATTING WITH TORI AMOS and her new double CD- TO VENUS AND BACK

Question: You talk a lot about wine in your interviews. Do you have any
Question: particular favorites?

EAToriAmos: Yes, actually. I love a good pomerol.
EAToriAmos: Bordeaux is really my fave.
EAToriAmos: Red Bordeaux, White Burgundy.
EAToriAmos: When you get a 1990, you're really in
EAToriAmos: heaven, they're really yummy.
EAToriAmos: I can get into a Borolo.
EAToriAmos: Italian wine can be gorgeous.
EAToriAmos: I'm going through some great
EAToriAmos: Spanish reserves right now. A good
EAToriAmos: reserve.
EAToriAmos: '94. California wines, sometimes I
EAToriAmos: really enjoy, but sometimes they're a
EAToriAmos: bit tricky.
EAToriAmos: Kissler's worth going for, a good Kissler.
EAToriAmos: And Silver Oak is really good too.
EAToriAmos: And, for the White Burgundy's it's always
EAToriAmos: good to go for a good Montrashet.
EAToriAmos: but there are many different kinds.
EAToriAmos: You've got to find a house... '96s are good

Question: You have done work on several soundtracks for movies. Do you consider
Question: these songs children like all others, or are they different because
Question: they're created for a specific movie?

EAToriAmos: Little different. It depends what my
EAToriAmos: memory is in the movie. Experience, like
EAToriAmos: butterfly I have great feelings about because
EAToriAmos: I enjoyed doing it. I didn't enjoy doing
EAToriAmos: Great Expectations in the end because
EAToriAmos: it got politically weird and people weren't
EAToriAmos: forthright anymore. And, you have to understand
EAToriAmos: something, having a studio tell me
EAToriAmos: what to do after we'd made an agreement
EAToriAmos: isn't what I considered having integrity.
EAToriAmos: So, in my world, we have a team of
EAToriAmos: people and we talk about things and
EAToriAmos: we make decisions based on the creativity.
EAToriAmos: And we sometimes have our hiccups
EAToriAmos: and stuff, but musicians are sometimes
EAToriAmos: just extraneous for film people and
EAToriAmos: I don't see writing songs as extraneous.
EAToriAmos: Obviously, it's not the center of the
EAToriAmos: film, but there needs to be a level of
EAToriAmos: respect and some film people forget that.
EAToriAmos: When I remind them of that, they seemed
EAToriAmos: quite shocked. When in actuality, I call
EAToriAmos: it just bad manners.

Question: BTEE14: Tori, once your done with your solo leg of the tour, and go to
Question: Europe, will you be back to visit us ni the states anytime soon? Just
Question: like, tour alone for Venus and Back? We'd love to see you in Fl!

EAToriAmos: I don't know where I'm going after this.
EAToriAmos: It's hard to know. Things move so
EAToriAmos: fast right now on the planet, as we all know.
EAToriAmos: You have to change your plans because
EAToriAmos: a little lightbulb goes off and you realize
EAToriAmos: what creatively you need to do . And right
EAToriAmos: now I don't have a lightbulb that tells
EAToriAmos: me anything after 2000.

EAMusic1: plans for the millenium?

EAToriAmos: Not really, quiet. I'm looking to 2012 anyway, that's the Mayan calendar
EAToriAmos: of record keeping that I go by. It's not
EAToriAmos: that I think that this time isn't valid, I do.
EAToriAmos: But I follow the Mayan calendar.

Question: Antny23c:" You are considered one of the Goddesses that have a very
Question: fanatical fan base..... I was just wondering how that devotion affects
Question: you in your life and music choices and paths....., how your feelings
Question: about that devotion that some fans have for you

EAToriAmos: Well, you don't get caught up in it if you're wise.
EAToriAmos: Because, you have to understand that I
EAToriAmos: translate the songs and the warmth that
EAToriAmos: I get from people is unbelievably moving.
EAToriAmos: But it's quite sacred. And, I think over
EAToriAmos: the years, you really realize that the
EAToriAmos: people are identifying with the songs and
EAToriAmos: essentially I try and hold a space for them
EAToriAmos: as a woman, as a musician, and somebody
EAToriAmos: that's just trying to be a good co-creator.
EAToriAmos: And we all have this ability. No matter
EAToriAmos: what anybody tells you, you all have
EAToriAmos: the ability to co-create. Now, it might
EAToriAmos: not all be music. That's not what I'm saying.
EAToriAmos: So, I just try and remember to be
EAToriAmos: gracious, because, in all honesty, she
EAToriAmos: could take off and leave me in the dust
EAToriAmos: at anytime. And I know she might. And
EAToriAmos: I have to feel like that I did a good job
EAToriAmos: holding the space and that I tried
EAToriAmos: to be honorable.

Question: *Pele boys: Do you think it is likely that you will be creating more
Question: music as a solo artist in the future, or do you plan on sticking with a
Question: band?

EAToriAmos: I don't know. I don't know. I think that
EAToriAmos: the piano really wanted to have an
EAToriAmos: integration with other players and the
EAToriAmos: last few years of my life have been
EAToriAmos: about that, the rhythm of it, how to work
EAToriAmos: with all those little knobs in a studio,
EAToriAmos: making sonic shapes. Venus is very
EAToriAmos: much about that because VEnus comes
EAToriAmos: from the ether. She's not Little Earthquakes.
EAToriAmos: She's from different laws and that's really
EAToriAmos: important to remember.
EAToriAmos: I'm enjoying playing with the guys
EAToriAmos: immensely right now. We only have
EAToriAmos: 8 shows, including tonight so every minute
EAToriAmos: is so precious. I don't know if it is for
EAToriAmos: anybody else, but I already have tears
EAToriAmos: in my eyes, because to be a part
EAToriAmos: of other people that have so much passion
EAToriAmos: is a real gift. Play for people that are
EAToriAmos: open to hearing that and I mean as an
EAToriAmos: artist, you dream and dream of that.
EAToriAmos: So if you really begin to see that the
EAToriAmos: gold is not in how many records you sell,
EAToriAmos: the gold is that there was an exchange
EAToriAmos: between musicians and the people that
EAToriAmos: come to the shows.

Question: Kulebriz: what is one piece of advice you would give to a young person?

EAToriAmos: Well, I don't know how young you are,
EAToriAmos: but I think that each generation had
EAToriAmos: has responsibility to understand it's
EAToriAmos: here. There is a collective of that and
EAToriAmos: then there is the individual. A lot of
EAToriAmos: people want wisdom without doing the work.
EAToriAmos: In the ancient days, as we know, we all
EAToriAmos: had to become apprentices spiritually, and
EAToriAmos: it looked different for different people
EAToriAmos: because some people had gifts in some
EAToriAmos: areas and didn't have to work on some
EAToriAmos: areas, if you see what I mean. But the one
EAToriAmos: thing I find we can all do a little better
EAToriAmos: on is seeing our part in everything.
EAToriAmos: There is an argument when there's success.
EAToriAmos: Strange how we sometimes raise our
EAToriAmos: hands when we're a part in achieving somthing because we can't see our value.
EAToriAmos: Also strange how we can't raise our
EAToriAmos: hand when there's an argument because
EAToriAmos: of course we would never argue, we would
EAToriAmos: never stir it up. We would never say
EAToriAmos: something oh so subtly below the belt
EAToriAmos: that nobody picked up on. Jung calls this
EAToriAmos: working with your shadow. There are books
EAToriAmos: out there that I recommend for people
EAToriAmos: that want to go into the psyche. Anything
EAToriAmos: by Marion Woodman, powerful stuff.
EAToriAmos: He's a Jungian. Robert Johnson, he wrote a
EAToriAmos: book called Owning Your Own Shadow
EAToriAmos: which I think is powerful.
EAToriAmos: There's a book that I've just gotten, which
EAToriAmos: seems to be quite fascinating called
EAToriAmos: The Fruitful Darkness by Joan Halifax
EAToriAmos: Quite a fascinating book if you want
EAToriAmos: to go through the bloodlines called
EAToriAmos: Laurence Gardner, it traces back the lineage
EAToriAmos: of Mary Magdalen and Jesus Christ
EAToriAmos: and her life, Bloodline of the Holy Grail is the name of the book.
EAToriAmos: It's the hidden lineage of Jesus revealed.
EAToriAmos: And do you want to know who he is? He is the Chevalier
EAToriAmos: Labhran (accent on the "a" going to the left)
EAToriAmos: de St. Germain
EAToriAmos: So, his access is quite something
EAToriAmos: because he is the Jacobite Historiographer Royal
EAToriAmos: and he has a second book that just
EAToriAmos: came out that deals with before Jesus, so
EAToriAmos: lineages say 5000BC down. And all
EAToriAmos: this information about opening yourself
EAToriAmos: to different informatin, checking in with
EAToriAmos: your own instincts and seeing what feels
EAToriAmos: right and putting aside what doesn't
EAToriAmos: feel right at the time. When I mention
EAToriAmos: these books, there are zillions of books,
EAToriAmos: but it's about a quest and about getting
EAToriAmos: up off your ass and being part of the
EAToriAmos: creative process in your own life instead
EAToriAmos: of a blob in front of the TV screen all
EAToriAmos: the time. Balance the TV people.
EAToriAmos: It's one thing to enjoy it and it's another
EAToriAmos: thing to be a servant of it. Because it
EAToriAmos: sucks and it sucks and it sucks your
EAToriAmos: own creativity.

EAMusic1: thank you Tori so much for chatting with us :)

EAToriAmos: Thank you.

EAMusic1: Thanks for all of your great questions everyone:)
EAMusic1: Sorry we could not answer them all
EAMusic1: tori's new double CD
EAMusic1: is called to Venus and Back
EAMusic1: and it is wonderful - go check it out!
EAMusic1: Take care and have a wonderful evening :)

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