Concert Preview—

Morissette Bringing A Mix Of New And Classic Favorites

To Waterbury’s Palace

By John Voket

WATERBURY — When she’s not making music, seven-time Grammy winner and two-time Golden Globe nominee Alanis Morissette says she is keeping herself really busy. Lately, she’s been discovering her domestic side with hubby, musician Mario “MC Souleye” Treadway, and their baby, Ever Imre Morissette-Treadway.

Morissette talked about how her new family is smoothing the rough edges of her former jagged life during a recent teleconference attended by The Newtown Bee.

“Instead of trying to rescue or dysfunctionally care take ex-boyfriends, I feel like now this maternal, biological imperative is being channeled into an appropriate little human being, so that’s great,” she said.

The pop star — who will bring some music from her new release Havoc And Bright Lights and her latest tour into Waterbury’s Palace Theater on October 19 — said being a mom has affected her artistic creativity. She even penned a new song, “Guardian,” in which she reveals her “great passion for protecting.”

“So that mama bear fierce thing definitely has come out in that chorus and in general,” Morissette admitted. “I also just care more. I feel like my heart has opened more and more, both because of, well, more than both actually, there’s my marriage that has opened my heart a lot, and then being a mom has definitely cracked open my heart.”

Morissette said during the interview roundtable that she has taken up painting, and has also filled in time between musical projects over the years with acting on screen and on stage. In fact, she admitted to The Bee that her favorite role — big surprise — was playing God, as directed by Kevin Smith in the film Dogma.

“Please don’t interpret this the wrong way, but portraying God in Dogma was really easy. It was easy … I said, ‘So how are you seeing God in this?’ He said, ‘Oh, just do whatever you think God is.’ So I just said, ‘Oh, okay. Well, God definitely has to have a sense of humor, has to be whimsical, very present, very filled with wonder and awe, and very sweet.’ So that was really sweet, improve really. Improv is awesome for me, and whenever there’s self-deprecating humor.”

Calling her latest project more of a relationship record than any that came before, the artist said her Waterbury audience will be getting a good dose of new material. But Morissette also said she will be performing “songs from the last 17 years.

“We change the set list a lot because we have the luxury of being able to do that,” she said. “And my bandmates and I want to keep our own selves on our toes, [so there will be] tons of songs from Havoc and Bright Lights, and we do a little bit of an acoustic set near the end of the show.”

Morissette said she wrote 31 songs for the new album and whittled the final cut down to a dozen. Among those dozen tunes, she said “Woman Down” was one of her favorites, “because there really is, for me anyway, no better time to be alive as a woman than 2012.”

“The days of old were such that women were owned and we were property. And then we went through the women’s movement, we became empowered, but in an individualistic, autonomous kind of way; neither style, neither approach afforded any kind of connection or intimacy,” Morissette observed. 

“And now we’re slowly segueing into this gorgeous era where we’re empowered, but we also have the knowledge that interdependence can afford this connection within and connection with other people. So the women’s movement is moving in such a much better way,” she continued. “And that’s not to say that misogyny and chauvinism and patriarchy isn’t alive and well in so many places around the planet, including this country. But it’s getting more and more balanced, to the point where not just females but the divine feminine itself is being more respected and revered as an important way to connect with each other and with spirit.”

Morissette also talked about how she is loving touring as a family.

“I’ve been touring since the summer with my husband and my son. My husband, Souleye, is opening up for our shows on this particular American tour, and our first show last night was a serious dream come true because I just watched him from the side of the stage with my son wearing his noise canceling headphones and I just thought this probably is the best moment of my life, watching my husband,” she said. “I fell in love with him as a fan first, and I didn’t think I’d have the gift of being able to actually go on a date with him, but he’s such an amazing stream of consciousness, high consciousness rap artist and so for him to be playing with me on tour with my son in my arms, who incidentally loves the communal traveling … I’ve never seen a happier little face in my life than when he’s backstage with all of us.”

 Responding to a question from The Bee about how Morissette likes breaking away from music occasionally to work on stage, or in TV and films, the artist revealed why she is her own favorite character.

“I actually think portraying another character is way more terrifying for me, for what might be obvious reasons,” Morissette said. “For me it’s just because when I’m singing and performing there’s such a direct experience, it’s such an authentic expression that I can almost relax into it.  I don’t even have to be in my head at all. 

“Whereas, when I’m on camera I actually do have to hit a mark and I do have to portray sometimes, a lot of times, qualities that aren’t default knee-jerk choices for me to make,” she added. “So I’m actually on the edge of my seat when I’m portraying another character, as opposed to improv, which is self-generated, and then song writing is self-generated and my stage music performance is self-generated, so in a sense it’s actually quite relaxing up there.

“I think it just feels more like I’m on edge when I’m portraying someone in Shakespeare or I’m doing a character on Weeds or whatever it is,” she continued. “I feel like I’m more responsible to the director and I’m more responsible to the big picture of the team putting on the play, or putting on the show, or the film.”

Tickets for the October 19 show in Waterbury range from $47.50 to $102.50 and are available by calling 203-346-2000 or visiting www.Palacetheaterct.org.