POP
QUIZ: LISA MARIE PRESLEY
Aidin
Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, April 3, 2005
| Yes,
Lisa Marie Presley is the daughter of Elvis and ex-wife
of both Nicolas Cage and Michael Jackson. But rather than
hitting every lousy celebrity party with Nicole Richie
on one arm and a Chihuahua on the other, she's actually
doing something with her life. |
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This
week, Presley releases "Now What", the follow-up to her 2003
debut album, "To Whom It May Concern." The new CD features
collaborations with Pink, former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve
Jones and songwriter Linda Perry, as well as a cover of Don
Henley's '80s hit "Dirty Laundry." She spoke to us recently
by phone from her home in Los Angeles.
Q:
I understand you don't think this album is going to do very
well.
A:
There's not a large market for this kind of music on the radio
going on right now. It all seems very Stepford. So I don't
know.
Q:
I'm sure people are willing to make room.
A:
Well, it would be nice. I just don't think they're going to.
Last time, I was pushed into the Top 40 thing, and that's
not my demographic. I think that was a mistake. If it's just
a fad thing, I'm not interested.
Q:
Don't you need the fame and money?
A:
Oh yeah, I've been waiting for it all my life.
Q:
You've got Linda Perry helping out. Doesn't that automatically
make the CD quadruple-platinum?
A:
I don't know, does it?
Q:
And Pink. What did you have in common with her, since you
came from rock royalty and she basically came from a trailer
park?
A:
We have a lot in common. She came out at a time when a bunch
of other young female artists came out and got stuck with
that whole scene, when it's not really who she is. And then
there's me, and whatever is thought of as being me.
Q:
I noticed you have the lip-curl thing happening.
|
A:
Oh my God.
Q:
Did you have to practice that in the mirror, or is it
an involuntary motion?
A:
It looks premeditated, but when I sing, I get this snarl
going, and genetically there's no way possible that
I won't look like my dad if I do that. And my leg goes,
too, sometimes. I can't stop it.
Q:
After 30, we all become our parents. There's nothing
you can do about it.
|
 |
A:
It's true. But that was my dad. It's not like he was my uncle
or something, and I'm trying to ride his coattails. But I have
noticed when I snarl like that the fans go nuts, so I tend to
do it more when I get egged on, and I don't realize it.
Q:
Does everything else come just as naturally to you?
A:
When I first started playing live, there were some natural
elements, but my discomfort level tipped the scale. The thing
with me is, I'm not vain and I don't want attention on me.
But you need to be front and center onstage. You have to want
attention, and I had to really find my way with being OK with
that.
Q:
Didn't you have an Ashlee Simpson moment on the "Today Show"?
A:
Oh my God. I fell off the stage on live television. But I
jumped up in time to catch the next line. I think if I had
a meltdown, that would have been an Ashlee Simpson moment.
But I kept going.
Q:
And you're actually showing your face in public again.
A:
You know, what am I going to do? At least I recovered from
it somewhat. I had other singers tell me they would have run
crying. I had no choice.
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