Thursday 17 April 2003

Mariah Carey: Bouncing back

You talk about how you get only a few hours' sleep a night and used to go without it altogether. How does that happen?

I learned to say no only this year. I was talking to Oprah Winfrey the other day and she was echoing what I was saying... saying, unless you're in the business or you are famous it's really hard to explain to people because you just dont' get the intensity of living under a microscope 23 hours a day. Magnify that by me being in New York doing a phone interview with Australia in the morning because of the time difference and getting maybe an hour of sleep and getting up and doing a photo shoot and 20 more interviews, then going on TV. It was so intense. Nobody was caring for the human being inside the machine.

You went on Oprah talking about your breakdown. Do you think the general public can relate to it?

Well, there was a woman with four kids and she was saying how she was exhausted all the time and after hearing my story she realised she had to make some changes in her life because it's just not healthy. That makes it all worth it. You have to talk about stuff that goes on so the public can understand it, apply my larger-than-life situation to their circumstances. If it has helped one person change their life, then mission accomplished.

You talk about how you have a very special relationship with your fans. Can you describe it?

My hardcore fans really did stay with me (during the breakdown). They've always been there for me. I kind of consider them an extended family, which is a strange thing to say because most people don't have that kind of relationship with their fans, but I really do. I think my fans understand me a lot more than the press writing about me. People who follow your every move and understand inside jokes get it.

You have had a lot of control over your music. Do you think the Glitter movie went wrong because you handed over that control?

I was naive in assuming it would be a similar process because it was an idea I brought in. But they changed writers in the middle of the movie because it was going too edgy, which is what I wanted, something with some substance to it. But everything happens for a reason. I did an independent movie right after that, Wisegirls with Mira Sorvino, which was really edgy. My character was a drug-dealing waiter. We went to the Sundance Film Festival and got great reviews, a standing ovation. That was a great moment of validation. I'd just come out of a horrible experience and then got to feel a different side of the movie business. I have other independent projects in the works, to showcase that I do like to do character roles, I don't need to just be a singer to be accepted. I always wanted to do independent, edgy roles, but people were saying it was too controversial and might harm my career, or they'd say nobody will be able to look at you as other than anything but Mariah Carey the singer.

Toni Braxton recently came out and gave your credit for mixing diva R&B with hip-hop way before it became cool.

Yeah, I saw that, that was nice of her. I love hip-hop. I grew up on hip-hop in New York. I experienced the birth of hip-hop. It's organic for me. But people don't understand. Take Dream Lover. It's a cute little pop song, but it's based on a sample of a record called Blind Alley which has been used by so many rappers just freestyling - Ain't No Half Steppin' by Big Daddy Kane for one. The average public hears Dream Lover and has no clue. But Q-Tip said to me, "You realise you're a catalyst for what's happening in music right now. You used Blind Alley, you sang over that loop." It takes someone knowledgeable about old school hip-hop to know that. I love ballads, they're therapy for me. But doing Boy I Need You with Cam'Ron or You Got Me with Jay Z, that's part of me too.

You recorded with Justin Timberlake for Charmbracelet but didn't use it on the album. Why?

We didn't get it finished in time, so it'll have to be a remix. It's actually really nice. It'll come out.

You've also covered a Def Leppard song, Bringin' on the Heartbreak. Is there a rock chick inside you trying to get out?

That's the smallest part of me, but when I love a song and I'm passionate about it, I think a song can stand up to any arrangement. I did love that song when I grew up.

Does it bother you that your past few albums haven't sold as well as previous releases?

What matters is expressing myself creatively, feeling as if I've put everything I have into my music. Obviously it matters to maintain a level of success, but the one message that comes across on the album is hope and faith, celebrating life and not taking it for granted.

You've never been an artist who tours a lot. Will that change with this record?

I'll definitely tour this album, but I have to conceptualise the show. I'm itching to get back on stage.

(HiT)

Many thanks to MariahDownunder.com.



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