Ani DiFranco - folk singer - Interview

Q: Reminds me of my favorite Dylan line: "He not busy being born is busy dying."

DiFranco: Yeah, totally. So, you know what, I may not be the person you expect me to be, that I was two years ago, or five years ago, and I may not fit whatever image of me you have in your mind.

Q: Is that why you say on Little Plastic Castle (1998), "Someone call the girl police"?

DiFranco: Yeah, you know, I learn so much about societal, cultural dynamics through my constant growth. My whole early prehistory, you know, shaved-headed little girl in overalls and big old boots. There were very practical reasons why I looked like that. In my own life, I wanted to move away from the life I led as a teenager, playing in bars where I had long hair and looked very feminine and the attention I got was very male and very sexually oriented. There was just that vibe. You know, young chick.

I found that not conducive to my work, or to what I was trying to do. So, cut my hair off. Changed my shoes. And bang, boy, did that change the environment of my performances.

And then after many years of doing that, it's like, OK, I want hair to play with. Or, oooh, that's a pretty dress. And I remember the first time that I started walking out on stage in a dress and hearing young women screaming "Sellout!" They were just coming to know their own anger, and it hadn't deepened with an awareness that feminism is truly about women becoming themselves, and having choices, and I remember those angry, angry responses, and thinking, "Wow!"

Q: That didn't get to you?

DiFranco: It totally did. And there were so many things like that along the way, every little change.

Q: You never thought, screw this? Take this badge off of me?

DiFranco: Oh, no. If anything, it makes me feel like I've got to fucking walk out there in gold lame and pumps.

Matthew Rothschild is Editor of The Progressive magazine. Righteous Babe Records can be reached at P.O. Box 95, Ellicott Station, Buffalo, NY 14205, or by calling (716) 852-8020.

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