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Edmund Lee

48 HOURS: You've been touring regularly in recent times. What do you think is the most liberating aspect about it?
CAT POWER: The most liberating aspect would be … being able to do that. You know, you get a stamp in your passport [when you visit another country], and if you have a certain stamp in your passport you can't go to other countries in the world - I learned about that two years ago. The idea of that is just so scary. But yeah, I think the most liberating thing about travelling is being able to do that.
Does it feel different in any way when you perform in Asia?
[Whispers] No, sorry.
It's OK. For your last album Sun, you ditched the guitar and piano and went with the drum set and synthesisers. 
Yeah, technology.
Do you see yourself experimenting with these new tools from record to record?
No. I was told that the songs I played before I wrote the songs for Sun were boring and too slow and stuff. I wouldn't have these songs if I wasn't defeated by the comment.
And you ended up playing almost every instrument for that record.
I played everything you hear except for one part in Ruin, when the drums pick up in the chorus.
Is that something you've always wanted to accomplish?
No. There was a period of time during that record which I was afraid - not because of myself but because of what I was hearing, that I needed a top producer or famous musician. I was afraid because of what I was being told. And so I got my friends and I spent my savings on trying to … and it didn't work. The only way I knew it was going to f***ing work is if I f***ing did everything myself - and that's how it worked.
In the early stage of your career you were known for suffering from stage fright. 
Yeah, it's because with music there's a lot of posturing - especially in the Western mentality which is male-dominated, everything about rock 'n' roll is pretty much that. You know what I mean? So, there was that posturing and I didn't think that it was important to me. I just thought the sound was what's important.
Have you managed to make sense of what it is you're afraid of?
Fear. Just fear. If you ask somebody what they're afraid of, no matter what they do for a living or for fun, they have a million answers. I try to be as practical as I can; when someone asks me 'why was the show bad tonight?', I can give them an exact reason. The monitor sucked. Or there was somebody in the audience with a gun - that's happened to me twice.
And you saw it?
Yeah. Twice - in different countries. So there's a lot of reasons why you may have a s****y show or why fear may come. Fear is like the worst enemy.
Do you think you connect with audiences because we are all emotionally fragile?
Yeah, because we have no access to knowledge about how to be emotionally strong. There's no education for that in school; they teach you intellectual subjects like maths and languages. They teach you to be disassociated with yourself.
Do you take comfort in this connection that you share …
[ Interjects] That we all share - we're all animals. I wouldn't be here talking to you if people didn't prove to me that I was valid. Only through them have I been forced to sit down and notice, you know? [ Chuckles] They're validating me. And the only reason they're validating me is because they're identifying with me. Their identification with me only makes me feel like I'm not alone, which therefore makes them feel they're not alone because I keep trying to be around.
Do you agree that you're something of a tortured artist?
No, I'm just a regular tortured human on earth. You know, from a regular, working class family that comes from abuse and stuff. Just like everybody else.
I guess I'm coming to my final question …
Here we go. How fat am I? I'd say I'm 18 pounds overweight. What was the question?
 


The Inquisition: Cat Power, singer-songwriter

The American singer-songwriter has a lot to get off her chest

The Inquisition: Cat Power, singer-songwriter

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The American singer-songwriter has a lot to get off her chest

The American singer-songwriter has a lot to get off her chest