The only thing still missing from Natalie Merchant's five years as a successful solo artist is time to spare ... and a family
Natalie Merchant, 34-year-old veteran singer/songwriter, wants to be ready to make the most of her first visit to Japan late next month.
"I'm really looking forward to going there. I hope I have time to do some reading about the country before I go," she said, calling from a mobile phone in the back seat of a New York City cab.
It's been a busy five years since Merchant left [the] pop group 10,000 Maniacs to the shock and dismay of many campuses across the United States. Today, fans have benefited twofold from Merchant's decision to leave her first band: The Maniacs have survived and Merchant has managed to take her voice to new heights in a brilliant solo career.
While a student at Jamestown Community College in New York State, Merchant met the other members of the Maniacs at a party in 1981, and was invited to rehearsals. Merchant, then 17, reasoned the band would give her an inexpensive opportunity to see the country.
Merchant traveled around America for almost 13 years before deciding that it was time for a change. Her need for growth and her desire to collaborate with other artists led to her decision to leave the Maniacs in 1993.
Since then, Merchant has become a distinctive figure in the public's eye (a contrast to the anonymity of her low-key Maniacs' persona). Some have labeled her a humorless and cynical musician. Others consider Merchant to be one of the most intelligent, innovative and talented feminist musicians in pop rock today.
Merchant's first solo album Tigerlily was released in 1995 on Elektra Records (the Maniacs' former label, which quickly dropped the band after Merchant's departure). The album, which has reached quadruple-platinum status since its release, was produced, financed, written and sung by Merchant. The single Carnival reached No. 10 on the Billboard singles chart -- something the Maniacs were never able to do.
Merchant's latest album, Ophelia, sold more than 100,000 copies in its first week of release in the spring, debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard album chart for one week -- yet another example of a feat Merchant has achieved only after her departure from the Maniacs.
Work on a short film to promote her new album plus co-headlining this summer's most successful North American music festival, Lilith Fair, has meant Merchant has had her hands full in recent months.
"Next week, I'm going to England, then Germany and Canada," she said in the telephone interview. "And then we're going to take a week off, and then we go to Australia and then Japan. ... We've worked very hard this summer and fall."
Out of the 57 sold-out dates for the Lilith concert series, Merchant and her band performed at all but three. The festival was created and directed by Grammy Award-winning, Canadian pop diva Sarah McLachlan, who finished off the show after Merchant's set. Others in the Lilith all-woman lineup included Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Sinead O'Connor, Lisa Loeb, Liz Phair, Paula Cole, Queen Latifah and many more.
"I can honestly say that it was the best tour I've ever been on," Merchant said. "It almost felt like it was my own tour, except on a very large scale. It was almost Utopian, as far as the work situation. And it was great to be able to see a lot of different musicians play.
"But I think what was really great, what gave the tour a soul in spite of the fact that it was so big, was that Sarah made sure that a dollar from every ticket went to a battered women's shelter in each community we played in."
Not only was a dollar of every ticket donated to charity, but every organization or corporation that sponsored the tour was required to donate $200,000 (27 million yen) to a women's charity of their choice. Rape and incest hotlines, AIDS organizations and breast cancer research foundations all benefited from the tour.
"We played three shows in Detroit so we raised $45,000 there. ...The women who ran the shelters were amazed, because that's a huge amount of money for them. Totally unsolicited. And they didn't have to do anything but show up and pick up the check," Merchant said.
"It really touched a lot of the performers, and it made me respect Sarah so much because she could have easily decided not to do that. It could have not even crossed her mind."
Since Merchant performed much of her material from Ophelia during her Lilith Fair appearances, she plans only a few North American "filler" dates when she returns from abroad.
Merchant's short companion film to Ophelia is scheduled for commercial release in the United States next month. The film features Merchant as the female characters portrayed on the cover of the album. Among these are a film star, a Mafia courtesan, a Mexican nun from the turn of the century, a German physical culture fanatic from the '30s, an American suffragette from the '20s, and a Russian circus performer. The film also includes a compilation of the singer's videos since she began her solo career.
This introspective project allowed Merchant to explore several aspects of what it means to be a woman. It also helped her rediscover different aspects of herself.
"(The film) is all sort of a satire on the idea of the artist as a personality. You can go as deep as you want with it or it can just be Natalie having fun dressing up and pretending to be different people.
"I didn't want to do the traditional thing that I do. I'd make a record, especially the solo records. And I'd put a photograph of myself on the front, and it's supposed to mean 'Here I am! Natalie Merchant. Fellow artist, singer/songwriter bearing my soul to you.'
"I feel a lot of singer/songwriter albums are like this. This was my way of saying 'Well, these are the different mes.' They are all very distinct from one another, and I write with different voices. And I write from different perspectives and points of view. And hopefully that all comes through on the record," she said.
Piano, organ and strings accompany Merchant's deep and luxurious voice as she sings songs that seem to culminate her 18 years of songwriting.
What's next for Merchant?
"I'm at a great place. The one thing I would still like to do with my life is to have some children. ... That's my next project," said the songwriter.
"I feel fulfilled when I write a great song and people like it, but the industry leaves me a little cold... I'd like to have my little family."