Vanessa Carlton
Exclusive Interview on New Music & Album Release of Liberman
"We kind of got a little bit more dreamy and psychedelic with this record. I really wanted to create a kind of meditative, kind of other-wordly aesthetic that you would want to listen to while you're walking."
Tell me about your new album
"It's really short-like ten songs. So you kind of get to be in this little fantasy dream and then you wake up from the dream at the end. It's not very personal, in terms of the lyrics. It's more philosophical and it's really peaceful. The name of the album is Liberman, whcih is my grandfather's."
How did you end up with something like that rather than a pop album?
"Well, I just think it's really important to explore the sounds and vibes that attract you as an artist. I think that's the best way to go, in terms of whatever your next project is, whether you're a writer or a musican or whatever. I just think it's really important to follow your nose. So that's where it took me. I really think, as I've gotten older, too, I really look to music as an escape, and I just wanted the record to feel like an escape."
I read the recording sessions were six months apart?
"It took a while to craft the stuff with Osborne, and we ran out of time before he had to work with another artist. And I had three songs left and so I just jumped into the studio with John McCauley and Adam Landrey with the Playground studios in Nashville, a dream. It's like a garage turned into a recording studio. All analog, it's a dream. That's how I was able to round out the album."
Tell me about your life growing up in Milford. Is there anything you took from Milford that you still carry today?
"Well, I wrote a song called 'Willows on 'Liberman' about it. My dad is a pilot, and my mom is a piano teacher and they cam our here 'cause my dad got a job...and they bought this old cabin on top of a hill on this beasutiful polot of land- it was so cheap. It was all about being outside, and my mom would have piano lessions out of the house-all the kids would come over once a week. I think ultimately, I felt really safe and felt like I could be outside all the time. I also went to the Homstead School, for like, eight years and it self-defining- the environment there and the woods-the outdoors element to it."
You've changed record companies a couple of times and taken long times between records. Was there times when you became disillusioned with the record business?
"I don't think I ever understood how it worked. I probably still don't...I think I navigated it the best that I could, but you get scared you could lose yourself, and I made some records that I was not happy with when I was done with them. I think though, that I can't really complain. I got such a huge boost in the beginning in terms of, like, I can carry the success I had with my first record. People don't make money off of selling records anymore, but I got in right before everything crashed. And I don't have to work- I can still do music as my work. And that is partially because of that time. So I can't really shit on my record labels because for me, it still really changed my life in a positive way. It's hard to figure out the balance, but you can as you get older.I think honestly, I could probably navigate it now pretty easily. It's just less angst and more about the music."
Why did you decide to name it that?
"It's a really strong name, and it means 'Honorable Person,' which I love. And it's the truth for my family. Going back, that's the truth-that is the name. So I thought it would be right for the music- to kind of go back to the truth for."
It doesn't sound like you considered the commerical aspect of it
"Oh, I don't know. I mean, I don't know about the stuff until people hear it, I guess. It's not really part of the process. I think I make what I really connect with and getting to work with an artist like Steve Osbornne is such a privilege. So we just kind of cook uop something that we love- that feels good to us. Maybe if I connect to this, then someone else is going to feel the same feeling when they listen to it. But that's my version of whatever is the commercial element."
You're married.
"The real initial move was when John tweeted me, asking me out for a beer. I couldn't respond back through Twitter, I didn't even know how to direct message. So I had Patrick give Paul my number."
Stevie Nicks performed the ceremony. What's the story behind that?
"Oh, I just asked her. Stevie and I have beens friends for 10 years and that's just the type of friend she is- you ask her...send a link to the thing online where you can become an officiator, and she was totally into it. Something like a ritual that's about love and connection, she couldn't of been a better person to do it. 'cause we didn't want to have a wedding, and we just wanted a friend to do the ceremony and I thought that was perfect. It was really fun."
Do you ever look back and reflect on a dozen years ago with "A Thousand Miles" becoming such a hit and what was happening and what made it connect so well?
"It was a big moment in my life and it led to so many things, so yeah, it will always be a part of me. When I think back on it and I think, 'Why did that happen?' I think I really liked the piano, or maybe they liked the lyric- it's a very simple lyric and I know it came out around 9/11. But I think everyone's a stickler for a good little hook on the piano- I know I am. So I think that was one of the reasons, I don't know."
When I hear that song and "White Houses", it seems like a very distilled statement on young adulthood. And I'm wondering whether you now say,"I'm not that person anymore?" Or do you find something new in it when you sing it?
"That's a good question, 'cause that's like a living, breathing realtionship that's changing all the time when you play your old songs. Like for a while, I was like, 'I don't know who this person is.' And then it went back to when I wanted a lighter chapter in my life where I just felt warmer and optimistic. I understood songs again. I think they are very specific from a young person's point of view, but they are pure. You can still connect to it as an adult."