When Paula Cole first joined Sarah McLachlan on tour a few years ago, resistance from promoters did little to discourage the idea of two female artists sharing a bill. The success of the pairing led to the idea for The Lilith Fair, the well documented celebration of female recording artists. Cole offered songs from This Fire, her second album, with the same intensity as she had earlier when showcasing Harbinger, her debut.
     InsideCx: The idea for the Lilith Fair began at the time Sarah wanted to tour with you. She was discouraged from having another female artist open for her. Why are there so many roadblocks within the music industry? It's a big question because it's not just in the industry. To me, it's society and the world as a whole. It's so hard for us. There's so many disadvantages socially growing up. You aren't encouraged to be a drummer or an electric guitarist when you're a female. Instead, you're encouraged to be a pianist or a singer. Women are encouraged to use their sex appeal and to be competitive with other women. It's really sad when I see woman who are so conditioned by society, that they aren't supportive of other potential friends and good talent who happen to be women.
     I went to Brooklyn College of Music where the ratio of males to females was like 13 to 1. I personally experienced a lot of bullshit in the industry and saw that it's not so easy to change. Sarah got pressure from men in the business who did not want her to take me on her tour. She didn't follow that advice.
     InsideCx: Would you want confront an issue and take on a role as a spokesperson? That's not my intention. I want to be a musician. I would never want to sacrifice my career to so much politics that it would overtake my musical achievements. Then people would dismiss me. I feel there has to be a greater drive for being a musician purely than being the egocentric purpose of it. My favorite musicians are people who did it for something greater than their own ego, like Bob Marley. He was very political. Maybe people didn't understand that because of his accent or they dismissed him as a Third World artist, but he had an incredible political message.
     InsideCx: Your lyrics express a lot of emotion. Do you feel vulnerable onstage? It was emotional at first. The first time I sang "Bethlehem" (from Harbinger) I cried. It was so new to me. I was so vulnerable. It's not that way anymore because I know how to deal with it now. I've had to perform every single night for so many nights that it's very natural to walk out onto that stage into complete blackness and get back into that emotion. It's very comfortable and natural thing to do. When I get bored, I test myself to see how can I go farther, how can I make myself interested in this again. I'll force myself to do a more interesting show for myself since I don't want to be bored. I try to improvise as much as I can whether it's talking about something different onstage, doing something musically different that night or thinking about the story behind the song.
     InsideCx: Has the touring hardened you? I don't feel hardened. I just feel that I'm much better at communicating my feelings. Being an artist and a musician has made me evolve and address my feelings. I had a lot harder time doing that before I started writing.
     InsideCx: How did the audience initially react to your use of visual presentations in your performances? The more they know of me and the more they're open to me, the more they can get out of it. (When promoting Harbinger) I was performing to a lot of virgin ears. The first time I was with Sarah McLachlan, it was largely her audience. A lot of people were hearing me for the very first time. I'm aware that's there's an entertainment part of the show that I need to dig into a little more to capture them. Sometimes, that's when the novelties work, the clarinet, the human beat box, the mouth percussion, the whistle, the red dress... Sometimes those novelties are what grabs people. Once those novelties grab you, there's a lot of emotion there. It just depends how far you want to go. I'm inspired when an audience is willing to go that deep. They make me perform better. If I have that kind of listener, I can do a pretty good job of conveying my lyrics live.
     InsideCx: Many of the lyrics of your songs are about pain. Were there happy moments to balance out this pain? There were. I did have a lot of happiness in my childhood. I don't want to be overly dramatic. I did have a lot of joy, but it's very ordinary to have pain and good to talk about it. My first record was a vehicle for my pain and self-examination. It was a wonderful safe place where I was really emotional and really passionate. Then I got praise for it. It worked out well for me. It felt so good not to have to bottle up the passion and emotion. I'm really glad I had an outlet for it.
     InsideCx: When did you first start writing songs? I was writing little songs when I was very young, but, I consider my first real song to be at the end of college. I pursued the analytical cerebral side of music, but finally rejected it and started writing some of my own emotional songs. Some of the first ones were really bad, but I was being honest with myself.
     InsideCx: Is this when you first discovered that you could write? I was in second grade when I took my first piano lesson. I hated it because it was something I had to do. I was in ninth grade and broke a bone in my foot. It prevented me from becoming a cheerleader that I though I would be happy being. I started to brood and feel sorry for myself. I had to let it out somewhere and started going to the piano where I discovered my natural ability. I was glad I found an outlet. My parents encouraged me. Little did they know where it would lead. They were kind of old fashioned, coming from jazz and folk songs kind of background. I studied that for a while, but I didn't want to be there anymore. I want to make my own kind of personal rebel music.
     InsideCx: Did you come from a close family? We were a small family and had our share of problems. It's just my sister and my parents. We're very close. My sister is my best friend. It's great for someone to love your core being like that & encourage your core being to grow.
I think that through women to their daughters, there's a continuous unspoken line of trying to make it better for that daughter. My mother did all that she could do in her lifetime and in her social setting to allow me the opportunity to do what I'm doing. Maybe I can affect my daughter, if I ever have a daughter. I've been the first female in my family who has been able to have a career.
     InsideCx: How did your parents influence you musically? It was pretty bizarre when I think back. There were a lot of corny, old songs. My parents play instruments so we would gather round the piano and sing folksongs. We would be driving in the car and my mom or dad started up a melody. We would then break out into three-part harmony. A hundred years ago that's what people did all the time. People do that in other societies today. They gather round the campfire at the end of the day and sing and make music. They don't derive it from a television or radio. Music is communicating. I wish in an ideal world everyone would make music. It would be a dialogue of you telling me about what you're thinking about today and I'd tell you back and it would all be in music. We're losing our sense of ability to communicate with one another this way.
     InsideCx: You were offered a deal with the GRP label but turned it down. I didn't like their music and I didn't want to be stigmatized as a jazz artist. They wanted a guinea pig to try to cross over into more of a pop format. I didn't want to be that guinea pig. I was so grateful to be offered that deal. It gave me a lot of confidence and I desperately needed it. I had just written my first song and was offered a deal with that first song. I felt that I could move on to better things with a major label and more in an alternative setting.
     InsideCx: How did you hook up with Peter Gabriel? My first record was not yet released, but he heard it through Kevin Killen (the engineer who worked on Gabriel's SO album) and he loved it. Sinead O'Connor, who was touring with him at the time, had just left the tour. Peter left a message on my answering machine saying that he really liked my record and asked if I would join the tour. I had one rehearsal and I had to then fly to Germany. We made the video a week later for his live album.
     InsideCx: What do you do when you're not writing or performing? When I come off the road I crave domesticity. I come home and clean my house. I'm totally excited about gardening. I want to work the earth. I love my two cats and wish I had a yard so I could have more.
     I thought about writing as a different medium. I do freeform writing and would like to make a book along with drawings and creations of mine. Music is a visual thing. I'm strongest in the visual world. I'm a bad oral learner, but a good visual learner. That's probably why I'm good at sight reading.
     I really want to live outside America. I want to learn how to speak French fluently. I want to learn how to circular breathe and play my digeridu. I want to visit Australia again. I want to study science, human anatomy and physiology, anthropology and archeology, in particular. I want to study about the origins of mankind. I'm fascinated by the larynx as the mixing link of humanity. I happen to be a singer, so it's an interesting position to be in. I'll be studying the very thing that has made me successful.