10,000 Maniacs are not the sort of American pop group that washes up on the shores of Britain every day. Their up-beat, folksy brand of music has the added bonus of lyrics which actually have something to say. But whether it's because of these lyrics or the casual, unpretentious image of the band, people can't seem to resist the urge to compare them to the beatniks and hippies of past generations.

Natalie Merchant, lyricist and lead singer, resents being consistently portrayed as a Sixties throwback.

"There are certain points in history when people were thinking and acting upon their thoughts in the way that I do. It might have been things that happened in medieval times, like herbology. I believe in it, and then again so did the primitive Indians. And," she adds in a voice rich with soft laughter, "so did the hippies.

"I wasn't really even conscious of the Sixties at the time. I was never a Sixties kitsch collector. I find the aesthetics of the period revolting. All the beads, leather fringed jackets and long hair that's not kept very well. I was never really attracted to that."

Natalie fidgets in her chair while trying to think up ways she can change the media's perception of her. She crosses and uncrosses her legs, and finally settles in a knock-kneed position with her jumper pulled up above her head framing her face like a nun's habit.

"Maybe if I put on a lycra mini-skirt and wore lots of make-up and got a very fashionable haircut we could shake that image. Is it just the fact that we're not very image-conscious and we just get onstage and play our music?"

Perhaps, but Natalie Merchant doesn't need a slick new haircut or a new wardrobe to appeal to her audience. The band recently played to sell-out crowds in London, and 10,000 Maniacs' latest LP, In My Tribe, received both critical and popular approval. Natalie's lyrics identify problems that plague society, ranging from child abuse to man's selfish misuse of the land. Alcohol abuse was the topic of the first single to be lifted from the album, Don't Talk. Stimulating collective awareness is clearly important to her.

"Obviously I feel responsible, especially in this medium. If I'm given the opportunity to speak to thousands of people intimately, the ones who buy our albums, I can't justify not reflecting the times and not reflecting the world or observing it as it is. It's my perspective. I know that I'm just one person and I can't live through all the things that I want to write about, so I'm observing from the other side."

In the cluttered press office where we are sitting, large Warhol-like portraits of Madonna line one wall. Natalie, the complete antithesis of a glitzy 'star' like Madonna, doesn't resent personalities who don't share her ideas on artistic responsibility.

"I think I'm more irritated at the world that we live in and the culture and society that builds and maintains a Madonna. To me it just seems that there's only so much attention - this goes for myself and the band - that pop art, a musician or performer deserves. There's only a certain amount, and then we have to realize that there are thousands of other people who have valid things to say."

When faced with the prospect of 10,000 Maniacs gaining widespread popularity, Natalie jokingly fakes terror.

"A near brush with popularity. Oh, no!"

But a breakthrough into the mainstream for 10,000 Maniacs is not really a question for the distant future.

"It's already happening. Don't Talk is being put in that context and I think that's great. I think the popular music scene is really pathetic right now, and I think that only by participating in it, and I mean by having our music played alongside the other music for comparison, can you change it. You can't just sit around and moan in the indie scene and play to the few thousand people who are already converted. It just seems like there are probably thousands of people who are looking for an alternative to what's represented in the media, and maybe thinking it just doesn't exist any more." After pausing for a world-weary sigh, she says, "We're not that radical, that's the thing."

Assuming that stardom brings with it a fat bank account, if she became a pop star how would she spend her fortune?

"I have two friends that I've promised to put through college if I made a ton of money. I would obviously buy my mother a house, if she wants that. I'd send my father to Argentina, or wherever he wants to go on vacation. I'd probably buy a house.

"I'd love to have a home in the country. Land is what I really value in life, though it seems like such a lie to try and own property, but that's just the way things are."

What does Natalie Merchant see herself doing 10 years down the road?