November 10, 2003
Publication title: Time (Canadian edition), vol. 162, Iss. 19, pg. 4
Place: Toronto
Writer: Unknown
10 questions for Sarah McLachlan
NEO-HIPPIE SINGER-SONGWRITER SARAH MCLACHLAN WAS ON HER WAY TO becoming a superstar in 1999 when the Lilith Fair founder dropped out of the limelight. During her sabbatical she watched her mother die of cancer, then became a mom herself four months later. TIME’S Steven Frank spoke to McLachlan on the eve of the launch of Afterglow, her first studio album in six years.
HOW’S IT FEEL TO BE BACK IN THE RAT RACE? I’m really really really happy and proud of this record, so that makes it easy to be talking about it and playing songs.
IS IT TRUE YOU HAD A NASTY CASE OF WRITER’S BLOCK? Yeah. I certainly got to a point where I thought everything was terrible. Writing is really hard work for me; it doesn’t come naturally or easily. It’s sort of a chore, like forcing yourself to go to therapy or to work out. You don’t really want to do it, but you know it’s good for you.
HOW DO YOU LIKE BEING A MOTHER? Oh, I absolutely love it. It’s the best thing in the world. I can’t wait to have more. I’m going to promote and work this record and go home and probably take another six years before the next [album] comes out. I’m in no hurry to crank it out. I love having a normal life.
YOU’VE ANNOUNCED YOUR NEW CD WILL SELL FOR 20% BELOW THE NORMAL SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE IN CANADA. WHAT’S WITH THAT? Because this whole downloading thing has become such an issue. They’re charging $21.99 for a CD that costs anywhere from $30 to $500 million dollars to make, yet they’re charging the same price for a DVD for a film that everybody knows costs $100 million to make. So the math doesn’t make any sense. The consumer is savvy, they know that and they’re getting sick of paying for it. Every successful artist out there makes a lot of money when they sell records. The record companies make a whole lot more money. I just think gouging people is not going to get anybody anywhere.
YOU PROMOTED YOUR ALBUM ON ITUNES. ARE ONLINE MUSIC SITES THE FUTURE? The future’s been heading that way for a long time, and the record companies have just been so slow to get with the program. You can climb on board or you can get left behind, and the record companies have been getting left behind.
WHAT’S AFTERGLOW ALL ABOUT? Please tell me because I have absolutely no objectivity. People ask me if mere’s a theme, and I never think along those lines. I do what I do very instinctively, and when I’m finished writing the song, I let it go. I don’t think about it again.
DO YOU THINK YOU’LL EVER REVIVE LILITH FAIR? Probably not, but I never say never. I think if we did consider putting together another concert tour, we’d include men. Music is music is music. If it’s good music, I don’t care if it’s men or women singing it. I never have.
HAVE THE PAST THREE OR FOUR YEARS BEEN A DARK PERIOD FOR MUSIC? Or really lite, depending on how you look at it-with all the bubblegum. I have to say honestly I’ve been really happy not to put a record out in the past couple of years. The day that Lilith ended I sort of feel like the door slammed shut, and all of a sudden there was a huge surge of angry white male music and boy bands and girl bands that just permeated the airwaves everywhere. Where were the singer-songwriters? I didn’t hear much from them for a while.
ARE THERE YOUNG MUSICIANS YOU LISTEN TO? Honestly, I hardly like any music.
YOU WERE BORN ON THE EAST COAST AND THEN MOVED WEST, SO WHAT ARE YOU? I’m Canadian, a real proud flag-toting Canadian. I love this country.
