| TRUE SPIRIT INTERVIEW SPECIAL |
| Jill Walton from TRUE SPIRIT UK, got the great chance to interview Carleen Anderson for this very exclusive Christmas special!!! ENJOY IT!!! |
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| Jill: What is your most proud moment in terms of your musical career? Carleen: The proudest moment of my career was when Paul Weller called me up to tell me that he thought my new album, "Alberta's GrandDaughter" was the best work that I've ever done! J: If you could only take three songs/albums with you to a desert island what would they be and why? C: If I was on a deserted island, I wouldn't want to listen to recorded music, I'd rather listen to the sounds of nature and read books. J: What book are you currently reading? C: I'm currently reading a book by John Mortimer, entitled, "Paradise Postponed", which is about English life. J: Which song/artist makes you smile and sing no matter what mood you're in? C: The song that makes me smile, no matter what mood I'm in, is Aerosmith's "Walk this Way". J: What are you doing 5 minutes before you go on stage? C: I always pray right before I go on stage, that I make a positive connection with the audience. J: Your best and worst gig? C: I don't think I've had a "best gig", because I'm way too critical of myself to think that any of my performances could be determined as the "best one". I've had plenty of gigs that I felt bad about, but there was always someone in the audience that gave me such support that despite how horrible I felt about the gig, they appreciated my efforts anyway, so I couln't claim a worst gig without discounting their redemption of my performance. J: Which of your songs is your favourite and why? C: I couldn't choose just one favourite of my songs. They all have a special place in my heart. J: Other than music what are you passionate about in life? C: Emotionally, my greatest passion is the health and well being of my son. Physically, my greatest passion is horse riding. Spiritually, my greatest passion is my faith in the better good of humankind. J: The thrill of the big stage or the intimacies of a small venue, which do you prefer? C: By far, I prefer the intimacies of a small venue. J: Which person living or dead would you most like to meet? C: I would have loved to have had a very long conversation with Malcolm Little, aka, Malcolm X. J: What are your plans for this coming year? C: My plans for 2003 are the release of the single from my album and touring. J: When and where was your last holiday? C: My last holiday was in October 1999, in Portugal. J: Where is your favourite place in the world? C: My favourite place in the world is this small hotel in Utrecht, Holland, which overlooked a canal, that was located next to a church that was many centuries old. I was there only once, back in 1989, touring with Bobby Byrd. I was there for just one night, and I don't even remember the name of the hotel, as it wasn't the hotel that was worth mentioning, it was the location. I remember that when the tour bus pulled up to the place, which was at the end of the road, it had the countryside as the backyard and the canal as the front room view. After returning from the gig, I fell asleep, listening to calming sounds of the water flowing in the canal. I woke up early the next morning, bought some flowers from the street vendor, then, had breakfast at one of the cafes that overlooked the canal. I've never known a more peaceful time in my entire life. J: How long did "Alberta's GrandDaughter" take to make from writing to release? C: I wrote most of the songs for "Alberta's GrandDaughter", during a 2 week period in July 2001. The "Desiderata Triology", which the music was composed by Ben Castle in July 2001, I wrote the lyrics days after the 11th Sepember 2001 tragedy, which it is in tribute to. Ten of the tracks were recorded in 3 days in November 2001. "Don't Look Back In Anger" was recorded in December 2001 and "Famous Patience" was recorded in February 2001. The record mixing began in March 2002 and the master recordings were mixed in August 2002. The album was released in the UK on 30th September 2002, the day that my grandfather, who raised me, would have been 113 years old. J: Are your songs written from personal experiences? C: Most of my songs are written from personal experiences, but some of them are written from my view of the human condition. J: How would you describe your personality? C: I would describe my personality as extremely passionate. J: How did you get into horse riding and what is it about riding that you love? C: I got into horse riding as a way to distract myself from my distress about my only son leaving home to go to Australia for his gap year after he finished high school. What I love most about horse riding is the sense of shared freedom, power and telepathy involved with one of God's most noble creatures. J: What ambitions if any do you still want to fulfil? C: I'm not ambitious. All that I've accomplished has been through the neccessity of mere survival. J: Who or what keeps you grounded in life? C: My faith that there is a higher purpose to life, keeps me sane in an insane world. My son is my reminder that there is such a thing as absolute love. J: When and why was the last time you laughed until it hurt? C: The man that I wrote "Woman in Me" and "Famous Patience" about, came to one of my performances in the summer of 1998. He walked up to me, looked me in the eyes and we both started laughing, for no reason. It is still a great mystery to me that this kind can be so very painful, all at the same time. |
| Thanx a lot for the interview, Carleen. Jill Walton, TRUE SPIRIT UK |
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