"SWEET MARIAH"

Music gave strength and inspiration to svelte soul songbird mariah carey,
steve edwards hears her chorus.....

I'm daydreaming, about to meet the biggest-selling female artist of the
`90's in a plush central london hotel. This is to be our second sitting, the
first was over two years ago, celebrating the release of "music box", her
fourth album for Sony. The stream of journalists and TV reporters came as
no surprise, some had been waiting at least two hours. Most preoccupied
thenselves with constant deliveries from room service whilst awaiting an
audience with Mariah Carey.

SE: a lot has happened since 1990, tell us about it.

MC: I've put out six albums in five years - i dont know other people that
have done that. I'm not quite sure how i did actually, but i remember that
after completing the first album i had so many ideas i didn't want to just
shelve; i figured i would accumulate stuff and just carry on recording.

SE: were these songs you had penned at high school?

MC: yes. i wrote most of the first album when i was in high school, shopping
for a record deal in the hope of fulfilling my dream. "my whole life i've
always wanted to sing". I've been singing since i was four years old and
started writing at 12.

SE: what were the things that excited you the most in your early childhood?

MC: i had a crazy childhood. i moved a lot with my mother and had a lot of
hectic things happen in my life. the constant thing for me was my love of
singing, music got me through anything i was going through - which further
confirmed my desire to be come a professional singer.

SE: was the lifestyle associated with the music business an attraction?

MC: i think growing up and not having  a lot motivated me, because i never
felt stable. i always felt like the rug could be pulled out from under me. i
didn't really have any stability in my life and i guess that was a driving
force.

SE: as the records go by you're doing more duets. you teamed up with luther
(vandross) on "Songs" and Boyz 2 men make an appearance onthe current album,
a very different collaboration.

MC: i had a great time working with Wayne, Shawn, Nate and Michael, it was a
uniquie experience. i had the idea for this song, "one sweet day", i did
half the melody and lyrics and then stopped because when i wrote the chorus
i thought "this is a boys 2 men chorus". i could hear their voices on this song and i
thought it would be the ultimate if i could get them to sing on it.

SE:why "if i could get them?"one would think that at your level in the
business it was easy to get togetther with such stars.

MC: well, i hadn't met them before, we had only waved at each other at award
shows, you know. i dont take thing kind of thing for granted, so we got
together and i palyed them the idea and sang my few lyrics, i had the hook
already. The themeis about losing a loved one, Nate had written a very
similar song for their road manager who was killed few years ago. Lyrically
it was almost identical to mine and melodically he could sing it over my
track, which created an incredible feeling in the room. it was an amazing
moment, so we put the two songs together.

SE: you've managed to tap into the pulse of society across the world. what
is it that your are communicating through your songwriting that is so
consistently successful?

MC: "i live for the radio". Everywhere i go i have to have it with me, i
feel that "it keeps me in touch with what's going on" in music today. On
"daydream" i really enjoyed working with new young producers like Jermaine
Dupri, puffy combs and odb.

SE: was there a "back to the roots" directive for this album as apposed to your
regular mainstream/crossover appeal?

MC: i would have loved to have been doing this the whole time, but i also
love to sing ballads and express myself in that way; i think once that
happened and it hit, people though "we've got to have those ballads and pust
it in that direction". that's great too because those songs make a great
impact on people, which is important to me. i love doing stuff where i can
stretch vocally, for example on remixes, people really respond to them
because they're exciting records. i feel that if the track reflects
something that people are feeling then it's going to work, that's how new
artists become popular. it's not necessarily true that, because i have a big
name now, anything i do is going to 
blow up and be the biggest thing and connect with people.

SE: if it all stopped tommorrow, how would you deal with the change?

MC: i would sit back and try to understand what happened and why, look at
the situation and everything i've accomplished. be thankful for it, hang out
at home and play with my dogs, do whatever i feel like doing and maybe
record an album that's not commercial - go in a different direction.

SE: what do you think that your represent to the women of the world?

MC: some women identify, some probably don't.

SE: and for those that don't?

MC: i really dont know , it's very hard for me to analyse and understand
other people's views of me because i'm the person living inside myself. i
think that the danger that you get into when you're a public person isthat everybody
forms opinions about you , good, bad or indifferent. when your sit douwn to
an interview you're not going to say the things your would say to your
closest friend. when i first met somebody i'm kind of shy, as i get to know
them i loosen up and when they really get to know me i become a total freak!
i think the same thing has happened with my career in general; my
comfortability level-just talking about stuff and relaxing - has risen, when
i started everybody made me feel so paranoid, being a young girl surrounded
by powerful people who are pushing you in different directions and taking
your through the motions. not that they're trying to, but they end up
moulding and controllingh you - "i knew nothing other than writing songs and
being a kid, dreaming of being a singer".

SE: Does your marriage to the head of Sony, tommy Mottola, have any
influence on your career?

MC: i didn't enter the record business being his wife, you know. I had a
demo that he happened to hear, a lot of songs on that demo ended up being
very successful.

SE: you directed the "fantasy" video yourself, why?

MC: it was a very interesting experience directing my own video, a learning
experience too. i've done a lot of videos and never felt 100% happy with
them. some things i like, but when your communicate something to a director
they can only do it from their point of view, they're not inside my head
seeing what i'm visualising. so i got a great production team who helped me
thru if and explained things to me. i worked with a great director of
photography, his name is max and he's young and cool and didn't have an ego
problem dealing with me. i just wanted to get my vision across and they
helped me to do that.

SE: why did you decide tostart your own label?

MC: i love music, and i think that working with new artists will be really
exciting - i kinda know how it feels tobe the artist dealing with the record
company people and stuff. i've been in contact with a number of artists who
don't have deals and are very talented. It'll be fun, another creative
outlet for me and a chance to spread out and do a bunch of other things.

SE: thanks for the daydream!