| American
Mavegarick
An
interview with host Suzanne Vega
By
Anna Christopher
 Long
considered a music maverick in her own right, celebrated singer-songwriter
Suzanne Vega is now the focal point of a Minnesota Public Radio
project to recognize the iconoclastic composers from another
genre: American classical music. The 20-year folk veteran hosts
the 13-part American Mavericks, which airs Fridays
at 10 p.m. on 91FM, and the pairing couldn't be better suited.
Like Vega -- who penned eclectic, emotion-clad tunes like "Tom's
Diner" and "Luka" at a time when the airwaves
were filled with Madonna-esque pop -- these 20th-century artists
didn't stay within the boundaries set by European standards,
but incorporated the feelings of independence and innovation
happening around them into their compositions.
"The
idea that there were these rebels and outcasts and misfits and
eccentrics all through American history making classical music,
to me was very exciting," she said. "They're sort
of like the rock and rollers of their era. I thought it was
an exciting idea to bring to radio."
As
evident in her own music, Vega also has a penchant for adventurous,
limit-stretching sounds -- a single element that unites most
of the artists featured in Mavericks. From her home
in New York, Vega spoke about being a first-time host, the energy
generated by incorporating musical genres and why she's okay
with being called "maverick."
How
did you become involved with the American Mavericks
project?
SV:
It was one of those funny things were I was at home,
not doing anything much, and I got an email from the producer
of the show -- Tom Voegeli from Minnesota Public Radio -- saying
'Hi. Would you like to be the host of a new show called American
Mavericks?' He explained to me what it was, and it sounded
very intriguing. They liked the sound of my voice, and I think
they also liked what I've done in my own music, and felt I would
be an appropriate host.
What
was it about this radio series that brought you in and made
you want to be a part of it?
SV:
I thought it was such an unusual angle. You know,
we have classical music stations, and whether or not we talk
about it, there tends to be a sort of repetition of what we
hear. There's sort of a Top 40 of classical music. So the idea
that there were these rebels and outcasts and misfits and eccentrics
all through American history making classical music, to me was
very exciting. They're sort of like the rock and rollers of
their era. And right up until the present moment with people
like Philip Glass or Meredith Monk -- people who are still alive
and making music -- I thought it was an exciting idea to bring
to radio.
You've
worked with Philip Glass, both on your album Days of Open
Hand, and then on his "Songs From Liquid Days"
song cycle. Can you talk about collaborating with a composer
like him, and incorporating folk into classical? What was that
experience like?
SV:
Working with Philip Glass is great. He's such an interesting
person, and the way he thinks is different from the way other
people think. It was a very natural collaboration. For his "Songs
From Liquid Days," I just gave him the lyrics. I had bunch
of different lyrics that I offered to him, and he picked two
of them -- "Freezing" and "Lightning" --
and he had an analysis of why he picked those particular lyrics.
After that he just did what he wanted with the music and I was
both interested and surprised with what he did.
And
then for the Days of Open Hand song, I gave him the
song and he made up a little story to go with it and created
this atmosphere. I wanted something simple and I really loved
what he did. I thought it was terrific. We've worked together
on other projects as well.
What
other projects have you done together?
SV:
There was a song that he did for a movie called Jenipapo,
and he had written a song for me to sing. He wrote the music
to it and the lyrics were by a Brazilian poet. He said something
very funny; he said: "Suzanne, you have three really great
notes, and I've put all three of them into this song for you."
I don't think he was trying to be funny -- I think he was actually
being sincere. But I really enjoyed singing it, and I sang it
well I think, considering he put my three best notes in there.
In
your own music, critics have noticed elements of bossa nova
and other rhythms that aren't normally associated with folk.
What are the benefits of combining music genres, and do you
also see any negatives to putting pop into classical or classical
into pop?
SV:
The positives are that I think you get a nice feeling
of energy from crossing over pop with classical and classical
with pop. Some of the music that's discussed on the show is
not so much crossing over to another style of music, but just
a way of thinking and expressing yourself in classical music
that's different from what was going on at the time -- whether
that's minimalism or the use of distortion or clusters on the
piano. All of these were revolutionary ideas in the moment that
they were being used. So I think when you introduce elements
like that you get this great feeling of energy and freedom,
especially in the way that you think about music, and the way
you think about art formed.
Do
I think there's anything bad about it? No, not really. I mean,
you can always revert back to a more classic form. Beethoven
will always be Beethoven as he was; you can always hear those
forms. Just because you play around with it doesn't mean that
you can't go back to its original state.
In
the intro to American Mavericks, you say you have a
"passion for adventurous music," which in many instances
describes your own work. What is it about this type of innovative
or adventurous music that continues to interest you?
SV:
I guess I'm a person who's not afraid of new forms
of music. Like, I listen to hip-hop and I listen to avant-garde
music or electronic music, and folk music, and really all different
styles of music. And then I synthesize them in a way that makes
sense to me, both emotionally and both that fits in the world
that I live in. I live in New York City and it's a very busy
city with lots of different types of people, and I relate to
a lot of these different types of people. So I feel that I can
pick and choose from these different types of music and synthesize
them to make something that I feel is modern, but also that
connects emotionally.
How
would you define a "music maverick," and who do you
consider to be one, whether from folk or pop or classical?
SV:
Well, the classical ones obviously I've been talking
about them on the show, and I think we've talked about some
of them: Philip Glass and, again, Meredith Monk is such a great
example of someone who is a really original thinker. In folk
music, Joni Mitchell is probably the biggest maverick. She was
combining forms of music back in the `70s -- African music with
more traditional types of music. There're examples everywhere.
Do
you think of yourself as a maverick, especially since your music
in the early `80s sort of cleared the way for a whole range
of female artists in the 1990s?
SV:
I would say I feel more comfortable with myself as
maverick than as sort of a leader of other women. I guess I've
always felt that the way that I write is very distinctively
my own -- from some of the earlier songs like "Cracking"
which had no melody and had certain repetitious elements. I
choose the music that expresses my particular point of view,
and in that sense I feel that I'm a maverick.
Did
working on this series cause you to reflect on your own music
in ways you hadn't before?
SV:
Yeah, sure. I found myself listening especially to
some of the early music which was kind of hymnal in quality.
It made me feel maybe that I could write a simpler kind of music.
And some of the other composers also gave me some ideas. There's
a composer from the late-1800s named Amy Beech, and I thought
her compositions are beautiful and they have really interesting
harmonies and atonalities in them. She was sort of a contemporary
of Chopin, so she has that romantic feeling, but there are interesting
colorings in her compositions, and that made me think of my
own work and how I could change it to reflect some of the things
I had learned.
Have
you started incorporating any of these elements into your music
since ending the series?
SV:
Not consciously. When I'm sitting down actually writing,
I tend to sort of become unconscious of what I'm doing, so I
haven't actually applied, say, these major chords into my songs
in a way that I can feel yet. But I'm not finished -- I've only
just started writing a whole group of new songs, and we'll see
in the end how it applies.
When
I was reading the bio on your Web site, you say that sometimes
you wonder how much music can connect with people. And that
seems to be in the same vein of Program 12 "Is It Music
If Nobody Hears It?" How does that question affect your
music, or does it affect your music?
SV:
It does in a way. I write songs for myself all the
time that I don't intend to play for an audience. And some of
them make it through. Sometimes I live with it for a while and
say, 'ok, maybe I'll share this,' or 'maybe I'll share this
with one other person,' and then they like it so I share it
for an audience. But there are quite a few songs that I've written
for myself just because I need to write them. And maybe eventually
they'll find an audience, too.
Then
there are other songs that I write completely with the audience
in mind, where I say, 'how can I make this clearer?' A song
like "Luka," for example, I really was thinking of
an audience. 'How do I make this situation clearer to someone
who's not really thinking about child abuse?' 'How do I present
this in the simplest way?' I almost thought of it like a play,
so that's why it starts with that simple language: 'My name
is Luka,/I live on the second floor.' You're introducing yourself
to an audience in a sense.
Have
you ever done any sort of radio series like this before?
SV:
No, I never had. This was my first time being the host
of a show. And I loved it. I thought it was so informative and
interesting and the material is so exciting. I was surprised
in a sense that it hadn't been thought of before. It just seems
like a way to get a whole new audience -- people who love punk
rock, or people who love other types of music, I think, would
be pulled back into classical music.It's a way of revitalizing
a kind of music that's been in existence in America for such
a long time.
What
are you working on now?
SV:
Mostly I'm writing. I'm writing a batch of new songs
and sort of seeing where they take me. It's always hard to talk
about music when you're in the middle of it because you have
no perspective, and I'm no exception. It's all coming kind of
slowly, and right now it seems like the new songs want to be
very acoustic. Sometimes I love playing around with techno ideas
and rhythms and beats and stuff like that, but that's not what's
happening right now with the groups of songs I'm in the middle
of. So, they'll probably have a more classic feel than some
of the other albums that I've made -- but that doesn't mean
it won't take a sharp turn somewhere.
And
then I'm touring which I always do. I'm not sure if I'm coming
to Philadelphia anytime soon, but I'm definitely around, and
performing in New York and performing in other parts of America
and also in Europe. |
Suzanne Vega:
Michael
Tilson Thomas: