INTERVIEW WITH JANIS IAN FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES
DM) I've noticed a lot of newspaper articles which mention that you've used the website to promote your work. What made you begin that promotional method, and how is it going so far?
JI) I started four years ago... really late on the bandwagon. Two years after the site launched, we did an Internet charity auction in my mom's honor. We were hoping to raise about $15,000 by auctioning off some first drafts of songs that I've written, plus other memorabilia. Now we've raised close to $78,000. As for publicity, I found that the traditional means, like the Tonight Show, Time and Newsweek, simply weren't working out as well for artists like me, because we were considered too old and not quite important enough. So I started trying to find other ways of promoting myself so as to keep in touch with fans.
DM) And I understand your fans take a big part in the site?
JI) We've had a really active bulletin board, with members reading posts every day. I've always answered the questions myself, and I decided to be a little more active with the whole thing. From that, it evolved into weekly updates and pre-ordering the CD. For the next album, you'll be able to listen to sound clips of the album in process. It's a whole other community out there that is very active, so it's almost the equivalent of an old "grass roots" postal campaign gathering new fans. The great thing is that you can include people in other countries and they can become a part of it. Now fans around the world will work together, discuss the music, and even coordinate rides to the show. It becomes a little community, and when as much of your life is focused on creating community like mine is, that becomes a really cool thing.
DM) You mentioned that the Internet has helped get new fans. Who do you find make up most of your fan base at this point--the fans who grew up with your earlier songs like "Society's Child" and "Seventeen", or your current fans?
JI) I can only judge by the audiences, but we get about 30% of our audience in the 15-30-year-old generation. Many of them are songwriters who've read my column in performing songwriter magazines. A lot of them are kids who found the records literally in the back of their parents' closet. They pick up the record or tune into the website and then come to the show. Word of mouth is an interesting thing with kids.
DM) Do you find that lately there's been a greater resurgence of interest in your music?
JI) Oh yes, certainly, since I've been more actively performing lately. It's also due to my doing more touring and having more press and, I think, the more actively my fans get involved. They're a tenacious bunch!
DM) I noticed a lot of your fans are very... passionate about your work.
JI) Very! It's a great compliment. At times, they get a little overboard and I need to calm them down, but in general they're a great bunch of people.
DM) I was reading an article about the two careers in your life.
JI) (interrupting) Only two this time! I think that any time you're not having hit records, people think you're a "has been", and when you do have a hit, they say you're having a "second career."
DM) Then, in your own words, what is the real story?
JI) I've walked away from it a few times. Back when I was 17 and again when I was 31.
DM) You didn't have many releases in the 80's.
JI) Basically, I didn't do anything from 1982 to 1992. It was because I felt that my writing was going downhill.
DM) Did you find that the break helped the writing?
JI) Yeah, yeah. I found that when you're on the road full time and you're trying to record and write an album every year, and, in addition, you're on the road nine months of the year, it's a real hassle. You can't spend time dedicated to writing, and writing takes time. It takes a certain amount of reviving for you to be able to express what's going on inside of you. If you don't have any time to be rested, then the writing never comes out right.
DM) Do you feel that you could have written what you've written recently if you had not taken the breaks that you did?
JI) No. When things are going well and you tour as intensely as I do, it becomes a real Catch-22. You get tours when things are going well, but you have no time to write.
DM) Considering that things are growing pretty hectic lately, is it likely you might take a break again?
JI) No, not for another two years, at least.
DM) I find that cycle very interesting. In the 1960's with "Society's Child", your career was hitting excessive highs, and it was at that point you took a break.
JI) It's a good time to take a break when you have money in your pocket. (laughs)
DM) What struck me the most about you was that those articles seemed to focus on these transitions. From growing child star to singer/songwriter to living legend.
JI) Well, I try to avoid that word, legend.
DM) But there are people who look at you that way.
JI) That's great, but they are really looking at the songs.
DM) So when people react to you that way...
JI) I say, "Thank you very much." ( laughs) What else can I say? Ask my partner, she's certainly not living with a legend. The dogs don't think so.
DM) It sounds like you try keeping a "normal life", then.
JI) I think that if you're going to be a writer, you write about life, and not life on the road or life as a star. You write about everyday events that may be extraordinary. You can't do that unless you're writing every day.
DM) Speaking of songwriting, do you feel that any of your new material could reach the heights that "Society's Child" and "Seventeen" did?
JI) I have no idea. At the point when the album comes out, I've done my job. I've made it accessible and available to listen to. But beyond that, so much comes down to what shape the record company, the industry, and radio are in. Who's got what budget? It all factors in. I couldn't even wonder if something else I do could have that kind of impact, because so much is involved in making a top ten hit.
DM) Doesn't it ever get disheartening that something might mean so much to you but it might not make it to that level?
JI) But there are hundreds of thousands of people that feel that way about their work.
DM) A lot of songwriters have the feeling that what they've written should do very well, but with those other factors, it might not succeed at all, regardless of artistic merit.
JI) Absolutely! It's all in the luck of the draw.
DM) Is that something so easily reconciled?
JI) No, I'm sure it's not. It wasn't easy for me, but it's certainly reality. The bottom line is that it's a media-driven/money-driven business, like any other business, and you have to recognize that once you step out of the studio or onto the stage, you're basically selling soap.
DM) What do you mean, you're selling soap?
JI) I sell... the record company sells... the promoter sells... we all sell Janis Ian soap. If any of us don't have any of those factors, then the soap's not going to sell, and all you can do is try again or just get a day job. And you can't let that get to you. I hate listening to artists whine about how they should be more recognized. Joni Mitchell just had a TNT special; does she think she's recognized enough? It's never enough, so why go there? It's amazing to me that I learn a living and I have a house and a mortgage like everybody else. That's great. That's head and shoulders above my peer group. If I start going through, "How come I'm not the Dixie Chicks"?, I'd just drive myself crazy.
DM) It seems like there's almost an expectation that once you reach a certain level of success, such "normalities" aren't possible. The concept that Janis Ian should have a mortgage and a dog and a normal life doesn't seem to fit with the image.
JI) Well, that's from an audience standpoint. It's certainly not my nephew or dog's standpoint. I think I've made peace with what I do and what I want to do. I'm real clear on what I want to do with my work, and I try to avoid the latter and embrace the former.