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Before recording her new album. ()n/y‘ livery'I/Iz'ng. Juliana Hatfield left Boston. disbanded her trio. turned up the volume on her amplifier and started an introspection-free diet. A new life beckoned. and Craig McLean was on hand to hear about it.
Juliana Hatfield: singer/songw riter from Boston. studied at the famous Berklee school of music. Used to be part of Blake Babies. used to go out with Evan l)ando (maybe). her virginity was her celebrity (kind oft. started solo career. although hidden behind collective cloak of 'l‘he Juliana Hatfield 'l‘hree. attd it went okay. in a lightweight. undemanding college- rock sty lee.
And that‘s it. The potted biography ofJuliana llatlield. aged 27. of New lingland. Why should we summon up any more interest'.’ Becatise now Juliana’s got a new life and got anew record. and the combination of the two makes for something that is. . heavyw eight. semi-demanding college-rock. There is talk of things scabby and grungey. an empathetic prayer for aiunkie. a love-song cooed in French. and the bitter insight that u hear; t/Io/ /1m'l.v is" u /1('(ll'/ I/Iul works. With (hi/y lit't'ryI/iilre. her third solo album. Juliana Hatfield has found a plot.
‘l‘vc always wanted to make this kind of record but I‘ve never really had the tools.‘ announces Hatfield.
‘There’s still plenty of angst, but it’s good to see angst from a new perspective.’
.-\nd what is ‘this kind of record"! ‘.-\ little bit heavy. a little bit oblique. Whereas the stuff that l'ye done in the past has been pretty lightweight and the lyrics were blatantly obvious.‘
It‘s a golden morning in the West Village in downtown New York. Hatfield tnoved here a year ago. alter growing up. going to school and basing her career in Boston. Spiritually. as well as creatively. it was the best move she could have made. Another record as fey and frothy as The Juliana Hatfield Three‘s Become Who! You .'ll'(' would hay c been too much ~ or too little - to bear.
‘l'd maybe used up all of Boston's resources. needed a change. at least for a little while.‘ she says. ‘The thing that made me want to move is the thing that made me want to write about new things and expand my lyrical ideas.'
What was that thing‘.’
‘Lim . . . Well. I think that I covered some new ground -- l was less focused on the fantasies in my head. I was more focused on the things that were going on around me. the people around tne. and the effect that those things had on me.‘
And before that'.’ ‘l was really isolated and extremely introspective. l
. still atn very much like that but I‘m starting to open
my eyes tnore to what's going on around me. There‘s still plenty of angst but it's good to see angst from a
new perspective.’
Was it scarey to step out of her hometown and her
established songwriting patterns?
‘Yeah. it was scarey. but all good things are scarey. You have to will changes or else they‘re not gonna happen. Just like I didn't want to get stuck in Boston my whole life. I didn't want to get stuck in my writing patterns. Even though I had a good thing going. [just don‘t like being comfortable. I don't like that kind of creative security. This record is ntore a reflection of my true self. my true personality. I‘m proud of what I've done before but I think that imposters catne in and were working through me.‘
Now she can manage this ‘crcative schizophrenia‘ better. Now Juliana Hatfield has a more ‘personal. honest' record. but one that is also more ‘cryptic'.
Juliana Hatfield: moving into the heavyweight division
The litte 1/ My o' performer. (Hit/[(11]![EU/(Ultlt'i'tlli um lsnppowtf Io lie (/Hlt'll and (lie in ‘l)ying l’roof‘ « what does this tell us about the new Juliana Hatfield .’
‘ln that line I was empathising with the junkie. Sometimes life seems like it's a performance and some people jttst aren't actors and can’t live up to that. So I can understand why someone would want an escape.'
.\nd her escape. from the numbing relationships and tiecting anomie and clear-eyed devotion that people (lit/z If: {rt/tum. frotn the spotlight of life.’ It's the spotlight itself.
‘lx’iglit now lcnioy the being the focal point. it’s something l have to get out of my system. .' 'l‘here she can hide. she shrugs. in the warp and weft of her cloak of songs. ‘l'm not responsible for the contents of my imagination .
Julio/m l/d/fu'lt/p/(rvs f/It' (Jamey. (i/ttypuit' on ll'n/
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The List 7—2o Api- was 35
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