|
She (UK magazine) She hit
the big time with Cornflake Girl and Tori Amos has a kooky take on everything
from fame to romance. By Francesca Ryan. Tori: Either a ballerina or a sewage
manager. I always wondered where everyone’s stuff went - who does that job? I
could have been a dancing sewage manager. Q: As a minister’s daughter, how
oppressive was was your religious upbringing? Tori: From the age of 5, I hated my
grandmother. She was also a minister and believed that a young woman should
turn her body over to her husband, who then owns it. Until then, she said, you
should remain untouched. She told me that if I didn’t love Jesus there would be
no money for me in the Christmas kitty. Tori: Everything apart from my lips,
feet and hands. I’m only 5ft 3in, but my hips are 2ft wide, so I really wish I
was elongated. Tori: No, I really wish I did. I’d
rather clean the house than exercise. Sadly,
I’m 34, so I know I have to go to the gym or I’d turn into a blob. Tori: Every 30 seconds I click my jaw
back into place - I’ve had braces and bite plates, but I still get chronic
nerve pain. Tori: I hate people cutting me up when I’m
driving and when I was a teenager I used to take my truck and block the
traffic. I would get out and stand in the road with a crowbar, daring people to
pass me. Tori: In the early 90s a friend and I
were stopped at the border at Aachen, Germany. She had cannabis on her, so the
sniffer dogs came to the car, the police searched us, and they wanted to pump
our stomachs for drugs. Thankfully,
they changed their minds. Tori: I’ve been fortunate because men
have been very creative as far as romance goes. One man took me to a cliff - I
thought he was going to throw me off, but he took out a bottle of wine and an
elaborate picnic. Q: On your first album you sang about
rape, and on your new album you sing about miscarriage, is there anything you
wouldn’t sing about? Tori: There are lots of things I don’t
sing about. Sometimes I put something in a song, but I don’t want to wreck
someone’s life, so I disguise it a little. I don’t believe in censorship, but
if someone’s going to be hurt, names and places should be changed. Tori: You feel like you can’t even have
an argument in a restaurant without it being broadcast on the internet. I left
some underwear in a hotel on tour and people were trading it on the net. I
freaked out, but you just can’t keep up with it. All you can do is be aware of
what you carry with you - you don’t leave letters or diaries lying around. Tori: These days, if you don’t have a
stalker, you don’t rate - there should be a TV show called My Favourite
Stalker. I left the States to get away from a guy who had beaten his sister to
a pulp and been put in a mental institution, but escaped four times. He managed
to track me down to the tropics. Tori: I think I’m a really fair boss,
When I’m on the road I have 35 people with me and I work them really hard. But
I don’t like bullies - if there’s a bully we weed them out. Tori: What really pisses me off is that
the British aren’t self-made - they want to win the lottery or go on the dole.
I hate people who bitch about people who do well - if someone wants my career
they should get off their butt and play in a band for 14 years. Tori: Drinking 1981 Krug champagne,
sitting in the sun with my friends and listening to Marvin Gaye. But I’ll
probably end up in England, eating chips and freezing my butt off. Tori Amos’s fourth album From The
Choirgirl Hotel (eastwest) is released this monday. |