2nd wind for Mariah

How are you feeling these days? Are your batteries recharged?
They have been for quite some time, thank you.

What are you doing differently to avoid exhaustion?
I kind of had to put everybody in check who was surrounding me. People had to realize that I'm a human being as well as someone who is in the public eye and a celebrity. It's not all about working me to death, literally. It's about giving me some space, some time to actually have a couple of vacations a year, just to take a breather, which I never ever did before. I would just work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and that's not healthy for anybody.

Some people are calling your latest CD, Charmbracelet, a comeback. Do you think the reports of your recent ups and downs have been overblown?
I do look at it like it's been overblown, but if people choose to call it a comeback album, then that's fine. This album, in a lot of ways, is coming back to my roots.

You could have walked away from everything, relaxed and wealthy, before entering this new record deal. Why do it all again?
Because music is what I love, and it's hard to walk away from what you love. I do care about my fans, and I know that they wanted me to make a new record, and I wanted - and needed - to make a new record.

What approach did you take to creating Charmbracelet?
The experience of making this record was so cathartic for me. Just being honest with the lyrics and singing from my heart on songs like My Saving Grace and Sunflowers for Alfred Roy - which I wrote for my father after he passed away last year - songs that I needed to write. I needed to sing those songs, and that's why I did it.

You've said that pain sometimes produces great art. Are there songs on the new CD that reflect that?
My Saving Grace is very autobiographical. It kind of tells my whole story and how, when going through problems, I always lean on my faith and how strong an element faith is in my life. Sunflowers for Alfred Roy is something that I wrote for my father, in honor of him... He was very sick. He was in the hospital for a while, and we were there together. We hadn't had that close of a relationship, but we got to know each other a lot better than we ever had, and I'm very grateful for that. So going through that experience helped me produce something that I feel is in honor of him.

After your experience with Glitter, how do you view the film industry? Did you get soured by the negative reviews, or are you still optimistic about working in movies?
I was just happy that I had done WiseGirls. It was an indie project that I did with Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters. It got really good reviews in the Hollywood Reporter and Variety, and we went to the Sundance Film Festival with it. I did that against everybody's wishes, and it was just something that I did for the love of that role. I played a waitress who is a drug dealer from Staten Island, so it was completely different from the Mariah Carey image. I think that the lesson I learned from being involved with the first movie (Glitter) was that you don't do something just because it's what everybody says you should do. You don't have to just play a singer and be in some homogenized Hollywood situation because people tell you it's the right thing to do. I learned a lesson that it's all about art and all about doing what's going to be the best thing for you as an artist, creatively.

There's been speculation that your decision to play smaller venues might be due to slow ticket sales. Could you clarify that?
In all honesty, it's going to be so much more intimate and so much easier for me, because I tend to micromanage things, and that's what can contribute to my overextending myself. I don't want to do that this time around. I don't want to be worrying about the sound man, worrying about pyro stuff. I don't want to be doing things that are not about just performing and relaxing within my performance. My fans want to see me in this type of a setting, as opposed to an impersonal venue where they miss half of what's being said onstage and the sound is all boomy. So it's my decision to do that. I can play arenas if I want; that's not the question.

You're in your 30s now, as many of your original fans are. Do you see your concert audiences getting older?
I pretty much see all ages and all different demographics. It's cool, as a multiracial person, to be able to see all different races, creeds and colors out there.

You write most of your own material. Is that one thing that sets you apart from other "divas"?
It's something that's such a part of me that I wouldn't even feel like a whole person if I couldn't do it. It really is something that's always been a healing savior for me. When I go into the creative mode and I start writing, it takes me to another level and I feel like a totally different person... So it does set me apart in that way.

You've been through a divorce and a breakup in recent years. Are you still optimistic about finding love?
Yeah, (but) I'm not obsessed with it, like the public is. Every magazine is like, "Who's so-and-so dating?" and, "What's going on with these two lovebirds?" That's not my focus. I know it's hard for people to believe that about a woman, because we're all supposed to be crying out and in need (laughs). It's more about being at peace with myself.

Are you in a relationship now, or are you taking a break?
Yeah, just taking a little break.

(The Arizona Republic)

Many thanks to Mariah Connection.