Publication: Rock & Folk [Fra]
Date: January 1997
Section:
Page Number(s):
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Title: "Interview With The Vampire"
Interviewed By: Eric Dahan

[Translated from Rock & Folk, the monthly French music magazine, by Pierre Igot]

An authentic odyssey through great American music, from Dixieland band music to techno to gospel, the "Emancipation" triple album by the Minneapolis funkster is a kind of black box, the evidence of an outdated period when people who made records were still musicians. The release was the occasion of an exclusive interview at the Diva's home, his recording studios.

[Omitted: Intro text. Hopefully, this will be included later.]

Then it is time for the big event. I take the trip to Chanhassen, wait in the hall decorated with Miami Beach style velvets and satins, keeping my ears open. All of a sudden, the young Paisley Park employee is there: "He's waiting for you." I climb the big stairs and wait again in the hall for ten minutes that seem like an eternity. When the door half-opens and reveals the figure dressed in an apple-green outfit, turtleneck floating over the pants and high heeled shoes, I walk forward, shake his hand. He smiles: "Please sit down." Again, I express my appreciation of the latest album, "Emancipation" and he accepts the compliments politely. Then I ask him to forgive me if I get straight to the point, but the alloted twenty minutes seem way too short after fifteen years of silence. He nods, grins like a child.

R & F : Somebody's Somebody talks about your difficulty in finding a partner for life, but also seems to refer to your difficulty in regaining an audience who might have taken a vacation...

: It took a long process of working on my own self before I could finally feel completely free with someone. One always has this idea in mind that, once you are married, you lose the whole sexy aspect of things, but in reality, feeling in complete freedom with another soul is the sexiest thing in the world. Egotism is often the thing that ruins sexual relationships. Once you're liberated from your ego, you can really give in to your partner.

R & F : Obviously we cannot tell as far as your personal relationship is concerned. But it is very clear in your way you play the guitar now. It's still very lively and sharp, but it seems to have acquired a newly found fluidity...

: Yes, I'm very flattered that you're talking about that, people rarely talk about the music with me. Indeed I think that my guitar playing is less demonstrative than it used to be. Most of all I listen to the sound, it's more important to me than to impress people with technical prowess.

R & F : You put a lot of emphasis on your newly found happiness. Do you see the preceding twenty years of your career as some kind of therapy?

: I think that anyone who has followed my career through the years can easily realize that, in the past few years, all my various experiences were leading to the realization of this new album. After "Emancipation", the question will be: what am I going to do now? Maybe I will have to record something experimental, totally "out there". Mayte recently told me that, during these past few years, she never doubted that we would spend the rest of our lives together. She is so young and spiritual in her way of making her own way, quietly, through life's many ups and downs. She only has one goal: to bring me back home at the end of the day. She inspires everything I write now, which explains that when I get a new musical idea, I don'teven need to write it down anymore.

R & F : On this subject, precisely... What's your way of working? In the past few years, we had the impression that you felt compelled to record everything you composed, without necessarily giving your ideas some time to mature.

: I often hear the chorus and verses directly in my head... But for the first time I'm not afraid of forgetting anything, because everything I write is inspired by Mayte. If my inspiration was pure, I just need to remember what she said at some point and immediately the melody comes back to me.

R & F : Do you ever think of all those fans that were disappointed by your behavior in the past few years, those left-overs given to Warner Bros. as a kind of punishment?

: If someone likes my music, they will like "Emancipation" because I feel more focused on the process than ever. In the past, when I was recording, I would ask myself all kinds of questions: do I really have the sound of the day? will this be a hit? shouldn't I be using the latest slang in these texts?... It's easy to get trapped in these kinds of questions. Maybe that's one of the reasons why everything you hear on the radio today sounds the same. If we really have the feeling that nothing is evolving anymore, it's because people cut themselves from their own truth.

R & F : Have you always wanted to have a child?

: No. I didn't want to have a baby, not until I saw the eyes of his or her future mother. It is important to know if you loved your wife in another life, before you create a new soul in this life. This new soul, you want it to be better than you are. If they don't recognize you, they will kill you when they come down on earth. Before having a child, you should ask all these important questions to God. You should pray, it's very important.

R & F : Your music seems to be inspired by a profound knowledge of classical music... Do you have favorite composers?

: I am listening to "Kama Sutra" by the NPG Orchestra for which I compose. We have twelve new compositions, very melodious like my pop music. Clare Fisher does the arrangement for all these pieces. Then we play them and make small tapes...

R & F : But more seriously, are you interested in people like Fauré, Schönberg, Bartok, etc.?

: No, it's very difficult for me to listen to music I didn't compose.

R & F : Your music seems to be haunted by different lives and different worlds, as if it bore the trace of astral trips... Did you have a lot of experiences with drugs? , visibly shocked by the question : If you are under the influence of drugs, who's making the music? It's not you. In fact, you've become the instrument of the drug. Some people make that choice, it's not mine.

R & F : Will we ever hear the music that you recorded with Miles Davis? And among all the Miles Davis instrumental pieces that have surfaced on bootlegs, which ones are legit?

: Warner Bros. is only allowed to put out what I recorded under the name "Prince". These tapes belong to me and I will put them out when I think the time has come. All I can tell you is that nobody has ever heard the titles that I recorded with Miles. I know that some people have those tracks where you can hear this muted trumpet sound and people think it's Miles... Whatever happens, fans shouldn't listen to bootlegs, shouldn't give money to people who are doing an illegal trade... What else can I say? Miles and I were very close, even though we didn't talk much. He was not very talkative and neither am I. He was very funny: one day, after a concert, he asked me to come and meet him in his dressing room. His assistant opened the door of the room and there he was, completely naked. I said: "Hey, not for me! I think I'll wait outside..." He loved making people uncomfortable. He often called me in the middle of the night and would eat on the phone, not saying a word... I knew immediately that it was him.

R & F : In 1993, when you announced the suicide of your former self to the media, you talked about never recording again and only work on movies and ballet soundtracks...

: I was disgusted by the music business, I wanted a different life. I said a lot of things at that time. Now I am glad that I can freely talk about my projects without feeling like I owe something to a company. The NY Times article describing my life at Paisley Park is a good description of what's going on here. At the same time, my group is rehearsing the new songs in one studio, in the other one people are working on my next video... Paisley Park is my village. If you listen to the song again, you'll realize that that's what it was all about... I am a workaholic, it's not just a cliché.

R & F : And all this promotion, are you excited about it or do you feel it's the lesser of two evils? , with a wheedling smile : But... I'm enjoying every second of our time together! I find it very interesting to discuss my music with you. (Another wheedling smile.)

R & F : People say that you collect paintings. Could you tell us what kind of paintings?

: Only unknown artists. I am only concerned about things that make me happy. We are reaching a new era, with the dawning of a new awareness. I want to be ready for the great transmutation, I don't want to be loaded down with prehistoric stuff. The world has changed, we have new tools to propagate love, the Internet, new foods... We know that by eating less, you can develop your conscience further.

R & F : As musician, are you still learning new things these days?

: Of course. I'm always learning new things with all these new instruments that appear on the market. Not to mention my new bass player who's a killer and from whom I'm learning a lot of new things.

R & F : You have the reputation of a real torturer. What kinds of things must a musician who works with you absolutely refrain from doing or saying if he or she doesn't want to disappoint you?

: He or she'd better not take any kind of drugs. (The clerk opens the door of the big office: "Sorry, it's over." proposes to answer one last question.)

R & F : I heard that you're playing tonight, someone left a message on my answering machine... It's incredible, all these devoted fans who are following each and everyone of your moves...

: I don't understand all these people who spend their lives being interested in someone else's life.

R & F : Now, let's imagine that after a dramatic karmic accident, your future career is a complete flop and you're condemned to choosing between the three following options: spend the rest of life 1) as a piano player in a deserted bar, 2) as a blues guitarist in the streets of New Orleans, or 3) as a producer of techno music who has to spend the rest of his life working on a console. What option would you prefer?

: Any of these. What's the most important is to be able to give joy to people. God gave me this ability so that I can inspire people. Yes, that's what I want to do -- inspire people.

R & F : Thanks for welcoming me in your place and see you tonight.

: If you come, you mustn't sit, you must dance.

R & F : Certainly...