Q & A

JULIANA HATFIELD

ON GIRLS WITH GUITARS, 'MY SO-CALLED LIFE' AND AN OLD SQUEEZE

BY ERIN CULLEY

TWO WORDS HAVE HAUNTED JULIANA Hatfield's singing career: Evan and Dando. The "alterna" darlings were roommates during their Boston-based music years, and, well, people talked. Still do. "But we're just good friends," says Hatfield, 27, picking her way through a bowl of vegetarian chili at L.A.'s Swingers restaurant. Besides, there's a lot more to Hatfield than a Lemonhead: She fronted Blake Babies in the late '80s, recorded two acclaimed solo albums (Hey Babe and Become What You Are), played "Spin the Bottle" on the Ubersoundtrack Reality Bites and, last season, was a homeless troubadour on My So-Called Life. Her new album, Only Everything, showcases a Hatfield totally unafraid to rock. "A lot of people had pigeonholed her as being kind of light and bubblegum," says album co-producer Sean Slade. "We wanted to rebel against that." All of which brings us to Evan who?

It seems like there are a lot more female artists in the public eye now than when you started out.

It's kind of in vogue to be a chick with a guitar. Five years ago no one wanted to sign me, but if I was starting out today, I'd probably be offered a million dollars by every record company.

The press has always had a field day analyzing your lyrics. What's been the reaction to the new album?

So far the reviews have been really good from men and not so good from the women. I've gotten a couple of pretty negative reactions from certain people who think a woman making music has to be on some crusade or something. I'm not writing about women's issues, necessarily. I'm writing about personal, human issues, and it pisses off a lot of women. It's very frustrating. The people who supposedly want progress are the ones cutting me down.

Do you consider yourself a feminist?

No. I hate labels. I don't belong to any group except a rock group.

How do you view your lyrics on the new album?

I see a lot of the songs as really optimistic.

Hmm. How about "What a Life," where you sing: "'Sick sex', 'drug-addled,' 'debauchery-monger'/Wear it like a trophy/Open like a cut/Pick it like a scab/Feed it like a dog"?

That one I'm kind of scared about the reaction I'll get. That song's pretty negative and grossly moralistic in a way and kind of disgusting. [Laughs] But it's just a song - it's not my worldview.

You sing "Fleur de Lys" in French. Why?

I wanted to make something of the eight years of French I took in school. And I wanted to write a rock song in French, because that's something you never hear. French music is just shit. French doesn't go with rock & roll.

Do you regret telling the press three years ago that you were still a virgin?

It just sometimes bums me out how it keeps getting regurgitated, but that doesn't really have anything to do with me. It's good to learn that something I say or do can get noticed: I could throw something out there and get attention if I needed it or wanted it. It works both ways.

You have a unique girlish voice.

When I was first taking voice lessons in college, I would claw at my throat and smoke and scream in an effort to roughen it up. But that stuff didn't really work. I'm not fighting it as much anymore.

What was it like growing up in the conservative New England town of Duxbury, Mass.?

It's only 45 minutes from Boston but surprisingly cut off. I didn't get much culture until I went to college. I never ate hummus. Never heard punk rock. And there were a lot of BMWs in my school parking lot. I don't like BMWs. They look really anal.

A lot of your songs are about love gone awry. But have you ever found true love?

I've never experienced a mutual, good love thing that lasted. But I definitely fantasize about it. I hear people say, "Oh, when I saw him, I knew I was going to marry him." That really happens in the world. I keep waiting for that to happen.

What was it that inspired you to become a musician?

Remember Donny and Marie on Friday nights? My best friend and I would watch that and act out all the skits and songs. I was usually Donny because I was more of a leader in our friendship. I was the take-charge one.

You played a homeless angel on 'My So-Called Life,' which was your acting debut. What made you do the show? Were you a big fan?

I loved it. It never ended the way you expected or wanted it to. There was always a lot of loose ends and weirdness, and I like that because that's what life is like. The right thing doesn't always happen. I think part of the reason it didn't do well was because it was on too early for the kind of people who'd be into it.

Any more plans to act?

I have this crazy dream of writing a novel, writing a script, directing it, acting in it. I would consider working at the craft of acting.

What do you get out of making music?

It's kind of necessary to my physical and mental health. I think if I didn't have it, I would just explode or implode or something. I would just, like, disappear.

Reproduced without permission from
Us, July 1995, p. 85.