Lauren Hoffman
e-mail interview - jan 31st 2002
by Angus Anderson

Thank you for accepting the interview. First, excuse me for my English, I may sometimes 
sound horrible, anyway...

don't worry, your english is better than my french! (i wish that i could
speak french, i am taking a french course now at university). i came to
toulouse on tour actually, with the les inrockuptibles festival, but I 
didn't get to see anything, just the place where we played and the places
where we ate and slept. c'est la vie en tournee. thank you for answering
my questions, now i will try to answer yours. 

Would you like to introduce yourself ?

bonjour. je m'appelle lauren. je suis de virginia. j'ai vingt-quatre ans. 
(that is what i learned in french class)

Are you definitely out of the music business ? Are you working on a new album, or 
any other artistic productions ?

for the moment, yes, i am definitely out of the music business. i do
still play music and write songs. i have a project that i am working 
on, but we are taking it very slowly, so i don't know how long it will be
before it is ready to be made public. 

You were 20 when Megiddo came out. The songs are rather sad, intimate or ironic.
Was it a painful album ?

as many people have said before, it is much easier to write from pain
than to write from joy. but recording the album was actually a joyous
experience.

I pointed a lot of references to blood in your texts. Were you in some kind of morbid period ?

blood was a useful metaphor to me, often referring to the 'essence' of life; 
the internal or essential part of something. i didn't realize that i used it so
many times until the album was done. i should have just gone ahead and
called the album 'blood'.

 In a interview, you said you felt that Virgin Records had been trying to turn you into a 
new Alanis Morisette after the first album. Why did you refuse that ‘easy way’ ? Wasn’t
it tempting ?

i am stubborn and i didn't want anyone telling me how my music should 
sound. 

'From the Blue House,' the second album, was completely under your control, wasn’t it ? 
What about this ‘evil dictatorship’ mentioned in the notes ?

yes, from. the blue house was much more of a solo project than Megiddo, 
if you know what i mean. it was like an x-ray. 
the 'evil dictatorship' was just me asserting my will upon my life and my 
music. 

This album is much more acoustic than Megiddo. How do you explain that?

i was more interested in being bare and honest. i wrote the songs on 
acoustic guitar so it seemed that they belonged there.

In a song, when you're addressing a "you", do you always know who you're addressing? 
Is it an important matter for you when you're writing?

um... yes, i do usually know who the "you" is that i am addressing, but 
sometimes the "you" is sort-of a made-up character that is inspired by a 
real person or inspired by an idea.

Did you enjoy touring? and promotion? 

no, mostly i hated it, and that has a lot to do with why i left the business. 
i felt like a 'product' and it was dehumanizing, lonely, and depressing (to 
be perfectly honest!) 
however, my very last tour in france was really great. i still hated the 
promotion part but the shows were a lot of fun and all of the people we
met at the clubs were really cool. 

Now here are some silly questions. Feel free :

Do you have plans for this week end?

i'm going to see my favorite local Goth band--Bella Morte

Do you prefer Mulder or Scully ?

mulder 

Do you like Moustaches ? Sideburns?

no, i think that i would look silly with either one.

Do you prefer daytime or night time ? why ?

um.. j'aime le deux egalement

What is the latest record you bought ? is it good ?

Cat Power's covers record. it's great.

What is your favourite chord ? (I am fond of Bm)

yeah. Bm is really great. almost anything minor i love. 

/pic from www.laurenhoffman.com/