November 23, 2003

Publication title: Yahoo! Launch, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Dave DiMartino

Re-Surfacing

It’s been six long years since Sarah McLachlan released her last studio album, but take one listen to the Canadian songstress’s much-anticipated comeback effort, Afterglow, and it’s like she never went away. Gorgeous ballads like the album’s single, “Fallen,” mark the return of a strong, extraordinary female voice that’s been sorely missed in this current age of disposable pop, and when she came to LAUNCH’s Santa Monica studios to perform the song accompanied only by her piano playing, it sounded just as pitch-perfect and beautiful live as it does on record.

McLachlan then sat down with LAUNCH executive editor Dave DiMartino to discuss what’s been going on in her life for the past six years, how she feels about returning to the scene after such a long absence, how she balances her career and motherhood, and what she plans to do next. Here’s what the Lilith-Fairest of them all had to say:

LAUNCH: For a longtime fan who’s been waiting for this record, what do think will be the thing they’ll notice first?
SARAH: I don’t know if there’s any great difference. I always like to think that creatively and artistically I’ve moved forward; there’s no reinventing the wheel, though. It’s not wildly different. I think it’s a more dynamic record than Surfacing was. It’s really hard for me to even be objective about it at this point. We finished mixing last week! So I was still so in the thick of it, and I sort of need a bit of time and space to listen to it with any sort of sense of objectivity and say, “Oh, there’s these themes…” But, you know, I love it. I’m really, really, really proud of it–happy with every song. I don’t think there’s any filler, which makes me feel really good. I think it’s a really good album, and I think it listens well from beginning to end.

LAUNCH: A lot of stuff happened since the last record: Your mom passed away, you had a daughter. I know that that can take a lot out of people. Did those things take a chunk out of the act of music-making for you?
SARAH: I say that this record took two and a half years to make, and about a year and a half in the middle of that was useless, largely in part due to the fact that my mother became ill and I had time off anyway, and so I just took time away from music and spent as much time as I possibly could with her. I went to every treatment with her, all the doctors’ appointments and stuff like that, and moved to Victoria [British Columbia, Canada] in the end to be with her until she died. And at that time I got pregnant as well…so yeah, huge life changes. I lost my mother, had a child four months later. These were all huge distractions–the daughter was the most beautiful distraction in the world. It was very difficult to get back to music after that. I knew I would, I just didn’t know how long it would take. I sort of pushed myself back into it a little too early, which wasn’t such a great idea, because trying to force creativity is never good. So I just had to sort of give myself time and know that it would come back, or hope that it would come back eventually. And it did, and I was able to finish the record, because about three-quarters of it was actually written before my daughter was born. I tried to get as much done as I could because I knew that when she came I’d be useless. And so finishing the record was indeed a really difficult task, just trying to find an hour in the day to be creative and say, “OK, go!”

LAUNCH: In your heart of hearts, did six years seem like an extraordinarily long time for someone to take to put out a record? Or do you think it’s just fresh as a daisy?
SARAH: Seems like the perfect time for me, six years! [laughs] I couldn’t have put it out any earlier. I wouldn’t have been happy with it. I’m really lucky that my record companies have been patient with me and they leave me alone and give me the time, whatever time it takes, to make it right in my mind.

LAUNCH: Have you kind of kept in touch with playing music in the interim, by and large? Or were you totally divorced from that whole sonic world?
SARAH: Not at all. It was, I suppose, a separation from the job that I’ve created for myself in the musical world. I didn’t do any shows. But I did do a few musical things. I did a song for I Am Sam, the movie. I did [the Beatles song] “Blackbird.” And I also did a song for a CD called For The Kids which was [the Muppets song] “Rainbow Connection.” I actually did that about, gosh, I think a couple weeks before I had my daughter. So I definitely dabbled in it, but there was just no throwing myself or immersing myself in it, just because I was too distracted.

LAUNCH: I have two kids now and I remember when the first one was in sort of prenatal stage, my wife and I went to the MTV Music Awards, and MC Hammer came on and the bass kicked in and the baby kicked real hard. As far as your daughter India is concerned, did she get any kind of a special sort of musical “prenatal treatment”? Or is she hearing a lot of music now?
SARAH: Well, I play piano every day, and so she heard that. I sing all the time. She heard that. I do think she is extremely musical already–of course, we all think that about our children–but every time I take her down to the studio, she goes straight for her daddy’s drum kit, and she loves to play it. She’s actually got really good time already. She’s only 18 months old and she’s got it!

LAUNCH: How did you balance those two things, your career and family? Does one distract from the other?
SARAH: Well, Lilith [Fair] was a huge distraction from my artistic life. I enjoyed it, it was incredible and very fulfilling on a lot of levels. It was truly an amazing time and I loved it, but I didn’t get much writing done. Like any kind of touring, it’s a different realm that I have to exist in to cope with whatever is coming that day, and being away from home, being away from creature comforts, is just not conducive for me to be very creative and write. I sort of need to go home or go be by myself for a while to write–which was a challenge this time because I had a child and I couldn’t leave her. I didn’t want to leave her. So trying to find an hour in the day where I could run off and say, “OK, be creative, right now!” was a challenge.

LAUNCH: I know your husband is your drummer. The separation of business, family life, music, coming home with you and coming to the studio with you…tell me how that has worked.
SARAH: Oh, we tend to strike a really good balance. It’s great that my husband is my drummer and he’s in the industry, because he understands all of it. He knows what it takes for me to do what I have to do every day, especially during promotion and stuff, so he’s incredibly supportive. He has no interest whatsoever in being in the limelight himself, so he’s great. He’s there for me. He’s there for our daughter. And he picks up the slack when I’m not there. And the few times that he’s not there, the nanny picks up the slack, but we’re very hands-on as parents and we have an amazing relationship. He’s an incredibly patient, understanding guy. I feel really lucky that I found him, and we’re doing great. It’s been eight years and we’re fantastic.

LAUNCH: That’s really admirable.
SARAH: Yeah. It’s all him! [laughs] He’s such a good guy.

LAUNCH: In your darkest moments, what’s your deepest insecurity about being out of the picture for so long?
SARAH: [laughs] Oh, I didn’t have any deep insecurities about being out of the picture for so long. Honestly, I didn’t. I make my music, I live in my little bubble and I do my thing, and I’ve always been incredibly lucky that the music that I make, other people like it. I sort of feel like don’t fix it if it ain’t broke. I don’t think about what other people want from me. I just do my thing, and it’s worked out really well so far. And I’m really happy. I’m happy because I have made a record I’m really proud of, and to me that’s the success that I need to feel good about it. And that other people like it is just going to be a big old bonus.

LAUNCH: Are you nervous at all at any level about stepping back into the spotlight now?
SARAH: Yeah, I mean, I’m nervous because I have a child and it’s a big challenge to try and find a balance as a parent, because my daughter is everything to me, and her happiness and her well-being is so important to me. It’s a challenge because every time I’m taken away from her, I feel like I’m taking something away from her. And it’s probably more me. I probably have more of an issue with it than she does, because she is surrounded by tons of people who love her and adore her and do anything for her, so she’s fine. It’s me that has the problem. But that’s probably the only thing that worries me a little bit, just how to try and find that balance. That’s an issue that I will always face every time I go down the road.

LAUNCH: So in terms of promoting your record, as artists tend to do when they release an album, how will fans be able to see you in the coming months?
SARAH: I’m going to be working pretty hard the next couple of months. I’m doing a lot of radio shows. I’m going to be doing a lot of TV appearances. I’m going to be hauling my daughter all over the country! She really seems to like traveling quite a bit. She likes change. I’m just going to do it in a way that I still get to spend a lot of time with her, but get the work done that I need to get done as well. So I think there won’t be a big tour of North America probably until the spring or summer.

LAUNCH: By the way, I pulled out your first record and I listened to it last night..
SARAH: Oh, God! You mean to embarrass me? [laughs]

LAUNCH: No! It’s funny to you because you’re so close to it, so you’re making jokes about being embarrassed. When you hear that stuff and compare it to what you do now, how do you think you’ve grown the most as an artist?
SARAH: Everything! I mean, that record was the first record I had ever written. Those were the first songs I had ever written. So yeah, I’m a little embarrassed about some of the lyrics, especially when I listen back to it, but I was 19 years old and, you know, when I think about it, I’m pretty proud of it. That was where I was at 19, and it was my first attempt, and I think I did pretty good. I think I’ve really worked on the craft of songwriting, of creating a story, and especially lyrically, I think that’s probably where I’ve advanced the most in my mind. And I think I’ve become a much better singer, too. And a much better player. You know, just years and years of playing a couple of hours every day will do that.

LAUNCH: Are there any areas of music out there that you are interested in now that you might want to explore further?
SARAH: No, not really. That’s kind of embarrassing to say, but I’ve been living in such a bubble making my own music, listening to a few things. My husband listens to everything, but you know, I’ll listen to it once or twice and it either does it for me or doesn’t. And it usually doesn’t, and then I just go back and listen to my 10 classic favorite CDs. One of the albums that’s come out in the past couple of years that I love is Coldplay’s A Rush Of Blood To The Head. I think that is an amazing record. U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind–I’m so happy they made that record. But as far as new musical genres, there’s really not a lot out there that personally excites me that much, you know?

LAUNCH: I know you said this record took just the right amount of time, based on what was going on in your life. Do you expect the next record to take as long?
SARAH: Honestly, I think it probably will take as long, because I’m going to tour this record. I’m going to work it. Then I’m going to have another kid. And the same cyclical thing will happen again. It might even take longer, and it will be a really different world then because India will be in school and there won’t be any going on tour, because I’m not going to be taking her out of school–she needs that consistency. So we’ll see. It’s too far ahead for me to really think about that; I try so hard to live in the moment, so I don’t think ahead very much. But I’m going to be around for a while. I’m not going anywhere soon.

LAUNCH: Besides your daughter or your family life, what else is going on in your life that are you most excited about?
SARAH: Well, at the risk of tooting my own horn, which I don’t want to do, a dream of mine finally came true a couple of years ago. I started a school in Vancouver where I live. It’s a school for kids at risk to get music education, and it’s from K to 12. We have about 350 kids enrolled in program, and they can learn guitar, piano, percussion. There’s a junior choir, a senior choir. And that is something I’m so, so, so, so happy that I was finally able to do. I partnered with a group called Arts Umbrella, and they’ve been giving arts education to kids for I think 25 years now in Vancouver. They have a huge bursary program and they seem like a really good organization. I need somebody with infrastructure, and they are running this thing just amazingly. They’ve just got the most amazing teachers. And you see these kids when they started out not even knowing how to hold an instrument, and two years later they are giving a recital and they are really playing well, and they are so proud–and that to me is incredibly exciting, to see kids getting into music and loving it, because it is such a powerful tool. I mean I sort of feel like music saved my life when I was young. This is the one thing that I knew I was good at. I was a pretty insecure kid, and didn’t have a lot of friends, and was picked on a lot, and music was it for me. It gave me confidence. So it’s so nice to see that in the kids’ eyes, that they are getting something so good out of that.