A Few Minutes With Lisa Loeb

The multi-faceted artist who roomed with then-future children’s entertainer Elizabeth Mitchell while both were students at Brown University just might have more items on her “to do” list than most world leaders.  She’s had her own reality TV shows on Food Network and E!, written books and recorded albums for children, and has her own “Camp Lisa,” dedicated to kids who normally would not have opportunities to experience summer camp.  But that’s just a quick glance into the Lisa Universe.

While chatting with Pollstar, Loeb covered a multitude of items including her 2013 album, No Fairy Tale, how she approaches songwriting and what prompted her to cover Cher’s 1970s hit, Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves –  expressing herself on all subjects via her signature style, wit and charm.

You have a new album and a tour.  Are those the biggest things you have going this year?

Those are the concrete things you can go buy or order online.  I have other things.  I just finished writing a song for a movie that’s coming out this summer.  Being a musician, I do a lot of different things; a song here, a song there. I’m working on a kids’ musical that’s going to be in New York City in the spring.  There are a lot of things going on but the concrete things you can get I would say are my No Fairy Tale album, which is a grown up record I made with Chad Gilbert, and my sing-a-long book that’s for kids – “Songs For Movin’ And Shakin.’” Then non-music wise, my (Classique Eyewear) line, which is very exciting (Lisa Loeb Eyewear).  If you want to make it musical, you can sing along while you wear them, but it’s not required.  I also have coffee where all the proceeds go to Camp Lisa.

Those are the main things.  I’m [always] working on new songs. … Luckily the way the music business is now, I get to tour off and on throughout the year.

While you wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on No Fairy Tale, two songs on the album were written by Tegan and Sara – “A Hot Minute” and “The Worst.”

I don’t usually put songs on my records that other people write, but I’m a huge fan of Tegan And Sara.  I actually listened to their music a lot when I was writing songs for this record, not even knowing that this was the record I was going to make. 

I was listening to Tegan And Sarah because it was very inspiring to me – the way that they write, and their songs and production.  Then my album ended up being a project in which Tegan And Sara participated on it.  I like that they wrote lyrics that were things I wouldn’t necessarily write – “I’ve been breaking my heart for the last 10 years, and it looks good and it feels good, too.”  I write about this a lot.  I think I wrote about it, thematically, in the song ‘No Fairy Tale” that I wrote with Maia Sharp.  When you go through experiences – some of them good, some of them bad – you actually have a [richer] life than when you try to keep yourself from experiencing things. … Better to have loved and lost than to ever have loved at all.

You’ve had some interesting covers, such as Cher’s hit, “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves.” Did you record the song because you like it or did someone bring it to you?

That was one of my favorite songs from when I was growing up. There was a guy named Bob Kulich who puts together a lot of cover albums and he usually calls on heavy metal guitar players to do them.  A long time ago when I was dating Dweezil Zappa, he asked Dweezil to be a part of an Ozzy Osbourne covers album.  We both suggested that I sing “Goodbye To Romance,” which is an Ozzy Osbourne song. After a little bit of a fight Bob thought it was a good idea and I did this song with all these other great musicians playing on the track.  It was a really interesting experience and added variety to the album.  So Bob called on me to do some other covers.  When the Cher covers album came up, “Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves” was always one of my favorites.  It’s so mysterious sounding and dramatic, definitely not something I wouldn’t do myself, I don’t think.  I was so excited to have the opportunity to sing that song.

Is it a thrill to record a song that was a massive hit for a superstar such as Cher?

So exciting!  And I had met Cher before (recording the song). I used to watch her variety show religiously growing up.  I loved all of her costumes and her comedy bits. It was very exciting for my imagination. Musically, it was interesting to see her sing everything from her own songs to Jimi Hendrix to storytelling songs.  I really loved it.

Soundtracks, albums, children’s albums, TV work, storybooks, coffee, eyeglasses – how do you stay on top of everything?

That’s a constant process … between my Challenge programs, the team of people I work with and I think a lot of scribble-scrabble on a lot of pieces of paper [that] list the things that have to be done.  I try to keep it organized.

Are you a micro-manager?

I am a micro-manager and I also have people who help me manage all the information and try to keep it all in perspective.  It’s interesting because there are so many aspects to a music career.  My computer is filled with those virtual post-it notes full of inventions that I have, projects I want to do and projects I am doing, all kinds of things.  Every once in a while I have to take a step back and look at all the different projects and figure out what is most important, what I enjoy doing most, what makes the most sense financially and juggle it all, keeping family as the first priority. It’s a work in progress.

Do you feel as if you’re in charge or do you rely on others to bring opportunities to you?

It’s really a combination. A lot of opportunities and things that happen in my career – I brainstorm and I come up with things I’m really excited about and I do them.  In other cases people come to me, like the coffee line – “Wake Up! Brew.” A friend of mine who manages Billy Bob Thornton, said, “Styx is working with this cool coffee company that’s doing charity coffee for them (Coffee Fool).” I’m a huge coffee drinker. I drink one cup a day that’s very strong and delicious.  It really motivates me and I’m really excited about good quality coffee.  It’s a combination of something that came to me and something I’m really excited about. 

You’ve written several songs about relationships.  Do personal experiences often result, if not in a complete song but in the seed for a song?

I don’t know if it’s directly (related to) relationships, like romantic relationships. When you’re in relationships, they affect your whole life.  What I try to do is write very good songs.

A long time ago a friend of mine named Dave Slomin, who is a singer/songwriter in New York City, said he wanted me to write something that was really real. Not a made-up story.  I think I prided myself on writing songs that were made up.  So that always sticks in my head.  I think I value songs that are real much more now than when I started out.  I listen to a lot of singer/songwriters in the form of bands – Led Zeppelin, The Police, The Smiths, Thomas Dolby.  I didn’t know how real (the songs) were, to me they were made up, and that was interesting to me.  Later I started listening to other singer/songwriters … like the Indigo Girls, and other people who wrote from their own experiences. To be able to do that well, it’s actually really challenging and amazing.

You began your children’s projects before you started your own family. Has having kids of your own changed your perspective regarding that part of  your career?

Having kids gives me some perspective on what I’ve already done.  I used to feel a little uncomfortable with repetition and simplicity in some songs, but now I realize that’s what kids really respond to, especially the much younger kids. This is the way kids learn. I still feel that music for kids should have the same production values as music for grownups and that we should never talk down to kids.  Having kids has given me a better sense of what I’d like to do next.  I also find that some songs are fun to play live, but less fun to listen to on the album, and other songs are really fun to listen to on the album, but don’t work as well live, so I have to continue to make different kinds of songs. 

If you could step into a time machine and go back to 1994 and meet the Lisa Loeb who was about to release “Stay (I Missed You),” what advice would you give her?

I’d remind that Lisa Loeb that it’s okay to have strong opinions about everything and to continue to stand up for those opinions. Everything from the music to the business to her styling  Although I’ve always been extremely committed to my opinions, I think it’s important to encourage artists rather than try to always change their minds. I’d also advise the 1994 Lisa that collaboration is important. From working with musicians to producers, photographers to music business folks, working with others is a skill that will help her along. She can learn so much from others, while still being true to her work.  

Lisa Loeb’s upcoming shows:

April 23 – Davenport, Iowa, Redstone Room
April 24 – Cedar Falls, Iowa, Gallagher Bluedorn PAC
April 25 – Bloomington, Ill., Bloomington Ctr. For The Perf. Arts
May 20 – Huntington, N.Y., Private Function
May 21 – Bay Shore, N.Y., YMCA Boulton Ctr. For The Perf. Arts
May 22 – New York, N.Y., Tribeca Performing Arts Center
May 23 – Sellersville, Pa., Sellersville Theater 1894
May 25 – Washington, D.C., The Hamilton
June 14 – Nashville, Tenn., Public Square Park (Nashville Pride Festival)
July 10 – Honolulu, Hawaii, Doris Duke Theatre
2015
April 25 – Scottsdale, Ariz., Scottsdale PAC Outdoor Amphitheatre

Please visit LisaLoeb.com for more information.