by: Alisa Bellettini

10,000 Maniacs is one of those rare groups who are an exception to the supposed rules of the star-making machinery of pop music. Formed in 1981 in rural Jamestown, New York, the band made independent records for the first few years of its existence and, along the way, built a devoted underground following both here and in England. Recording for Elektra Records since 1985, the Maniacs have steadily drawn more and more new fans to their distinctive music - music centered around the thoughtful and sensitive lyrics of lead singer Natalie Merchant. On the eve of their latest and biggest-ever tour, Merchant sat down with MTV's Alisa Bellettini for this revealing interview.

A lot of your songs seem like short stories. Do you ever feel like a storyteller more than an entertainer when you're onstage?

Natalie Merchant: I think that 10,000 Maniacs has always struck a balance between entertaining and trying to convey some sort of serious content in the music. We can do a song like My Sister Rose, which to me is a pure, joyful frolic across the stage, and then do a song like Dust Bowl, which conveys the unfortunate situation of so many people in this country. While singing, I can feel myself taking on the song's character, almost as if it's theater, but it's deeper than that. The song is something I wrote, and that's different from performing something that you haven't written and don't have the experiences to put behind.

You started out performing at a really young age. What's the difference between then and now?

Well, 10,000 Maniacs began eight years ago as just a form of entertainment for the people in the group. We lived in a small town where we didn't really have anywhere to go or anything to do. It was never really a career choice; we never thought we'd be professional musicians. Now it's our way of life, and over the eight years we've come to accept this.

Are there any performers you look up to?

I think at different ages there were performers... I mean, I really loved Elton John's music when I was seven years old. I thought he was a really great songwriter, but I thought his stage persona was a little peculiar. So to say that I was inspired by Elton John's stage persona would be a lie. I don't think I had rock role models. I wasn't a child who collected all the latest rock singles and had the posters on the wall and said, 'Oh God, if I could just be a pop star, that'd be my dream come true.' I wasn't like that. So I think that's why I don't bring a lot of that cliché rock pandering to the stage. 'Cause it's not in my experience at all.

Do you think your videos enhance your songs?

I'll start out by saying I think video is tyranny. I don't really think that we would be making videos if they didn't have such a powerful influence on people and the way they buy music now. It seems like it's an arena we have to participate in, so we do them. But I don't like them because they control imagination. It's become a necessary evil too, because in so many ways, if a band refuses to make a video, it's as if you're damning your single from the beginning. If there's no video, there's no single, which is a shame because, as I said before, that's where we have to participate. With that in mind, I enjoy film. It's been very challenging to work in a medium we know nothing about.

Is there any one thing that you wanted to get across on this new album?

When I write this stuff I always take the attitude that people listen to the music as well as the lyrics. And since I have a hand in both, and I may be reaching a million people with this album, I think, 'What have I got to say that's important to me and hopefully important to other people?' Because these things affect all of us. That's what I write about. And if the music can communicate something intrinsically, then fine; something's been accomplished. I don't want to confuse people and make them think I'm taking the role upon myself to be a spokesperson for anyone other than myself. But I'm just hoping that this one person, with these thoughts and these feelings, will find something in common with other people. I'm just lucky enough to have this platform of sorts.

It's a strange position to be in because I've always written songs about what I think, what's important to me. But now it's a matter of more people listening, and having the potential to reach so many people - people as far away as New Zealand. When I started writing songs in Jamestown when I was 16 years old, those weren't my concerns, and I'm beginning to wonder if they will be my concern in the future.

Do you still get the same pleasure out of writing?

I really stress to make myself understood now - whereas before things were a little bit more obscure - as a reaction to knowing that people are listening, you know? I think that I enjoy the challenge of it. It's difficult to write words for songs. It's much easier to just write words. To write prose or poetry and not be concerned about how the syllables fit - the rhythms of songs and the patterns of notes.

Speaking of just words and how they sound, how did you come up with the title, Blind Man's Zoo?

I've known of the phrase for a long time. I found it in a children's book, Things To Think And Do. I always thought that if anyone ever came up to me and asked, 'What should we name our band?' - because kids are always asking us that - I'd say, 'Blind Man's Zoo.' So it became the title of the album mostly because the words bring to mind the image, just on the most literal level, of a blind man in a zoo. It suggests total chaos. You could apply it as a metaphor for all the situations in the world that are pretty troublesome; when people try to control something that's uncontrollable, or cage something that can't be caged. For instance, nuclear power. It's like a blind man trying to control zoo animals. It's inevitable that there'll be danger. I really like the title because it can be applied to so many situations.