Melissa Ferrick

Genre: Rock

Style: Alternative Pop/Rock, Singer/Songwriter

Instruments: Vocals, Guitar

Similar Artists: Liz Phair Joan Osborne Sheryl Crow P.J. Harvey Morrissey Jewel Patti Rothberg Beth Orton

Performed Songs By: Rob Laufer

Worked With: Marika Tjelios 4 O’Clock Catie Curtis

Singer/songwriter Melissa Ferrick emerged in 1994 as part of a group of new female “alternative” singer/songwriters, much in the vein of Liz Phair. Ferrick began singing in coffeehouses after dropping out of college, eventually winding up in Boston. Her major breakthrough arrived one night when she replaced Morrissey’s opening act less than an hour before showtime. Ferrick’s performance impressed Morrissey and he invited her to open for him for the rest of the tour. The tour earned her a small cult following as well as a contract with Atlantic Records. She released her debut album, Massive Blur, in 1994 to good reviews; the critical reception for her stripped-down second album, Willing to Wait, earned even stronger reviews. Everything I Need followed in 1998, and in early 2000 Ferrick returned with Freedom.

Melissa Ferrick – Indie artist paying her dues and making it big.

Interview by Madalyn of gogirlsmusic.com

Freedom is the newest release from Boston’s Melissa Ferrick. It was written, performed, recorded, and produced almost entirely by herself. We recently had the opportunity to chat with Melissa by phone, the following is an abbreviated transcript of that conversation:

GG: Tell us about your new release Freedom.

MF: It’s my fifth album and just really happy with the production and the lack of production thereof, the way it sounds and made for real slim budget.

GG: I read in Billboard, it said that you recorded the album for only $5000. Tell us about that, what was it like?

MF: Well it was really frustrating and very difficult. I’m not sure I’d like to do it again. I think what ended up happening is something that you know really lent itself to the way this record sounds. I did it on a digital 4-track and my bass player and I made it together, mixed as we recorded. It’s frustrating as an artist because there’s a lot of stuff I wanted to do that I was not able to do because of the financial, because the budget was so small.

GG: You originally started on Atlantic Records.

MF: Yeah, so I was kinda used to the six figure budget. My experience with Atlantic was great. I’ve seen both sides of it now. I’m kind of coming to the conclusion that I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want the big deal and want to go with a major. I think it’s a good chance to take. It’s like playing the lottery, god if you win you can just have an amazing ride. And there is a lot of support at major labels, not only financially but mentally as an artist you’re really taken care of, there’s a lot of people that work there, there’s a lot of people in charge of lots of things and they have people that work for them. At the indie that I’m at right now, WAR (What Are Records?), Josh the Radio Guy is the Radio Guy. I think that part of what record labels originally were supposed to be about was supporting the artist, and I think we as indie artists lose that support system. I think I’m finding now five records and 30 years later I’m starting to find a way, I think, that’s going to make this work which is to maybe put records out on my own and hire my friends. Which is what Ani did when she started. I should have jumped on her bandwagon five years ago! I think maybe with everything comes a different bag of problems.

GG: Tell us about how you hooked up with your indie label, WAR?

MF: I just played a show and the guy was there. I met Rob Gordon years ago in 1990 before I went on tour with Morrissey. You know big circle comes around and eight years later, I think it was ’98 or ’97, I did a show in Boulder supporting a little tiny cassette that I put out called Maid of Honor. Then I went on tour in my little Honda Civic hatchback and my first show was in Boulder, Colorado, and that’s where WAR? is based. Actually that’s not true, my first show was in Santa Fe then I played Boulder. And he was there and he just kind of walked up to me said “I want to put this out.” We worked together for a year without a contract. This is my third album that I’ve put out under that label.

GG: With the Internet being such a big part of the indie movement, has that really just been tremendous help for you?

MF: I think that the Internet has catapulted my popularity. I think it would be ridiculous to ignore it. When I was on Atlantic, I had a web site too. I had a fan club and all that kind of stuff. They were really good about it when I was dropped. I got to retain all that information because it’s really important information, as we all know. It’s really valuable. My word of mouth has always been the number one way people have found out about my music and I think word of mouth includes the Internet.

GG: How did you get involved with the documentary, For The Love Of Rock?

MF: I don’t even remember how I got involved, I just know that my manager called me. It was very easy just like the WAR? thing. Wendy (Tumminello – producer of For The Love Of Rock) called, she wanted to shoot, me to be involved in this documentary kind of thing about women in the music industry and women who are out there doing it on their own at different levels of success. I told her about another woman named Doria Roberts. It’s just a real great example of people sharing information and helping each other out.

GG: A lot of stuff I’ve read and heard about you, you’re very out as a musician. Have you seen that affect your record sales, popularity, opportunities?

MF: I try not to equate it to record sales or radio play. I am who I am, I talk the way I talk and I talk about girls because I’m gay and that’s who I date. It’s interesting when you say “very out.” It’s kinda of like what’s out then?

I think people that are just alluding it through lyrics or content or whatever are not out. I think it’s important to talk about being gay if you’re gay and I think it’s important to be out. It’s really, really important especially right now I think that enough kids are killing themselves and that we have enough crap going on in the world and I think it’s really important for gays and lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals to be out there and to be visible and be vocal and to let the world know that we are not delinquents of society, we are tax paying and, uh, fabulous citizens of the world.

GG: You go girl!

MF: I’m out here to make a difference. There’s a lot of kids that come to my shows, lots of 15 year olds and 16 year olds, and I think part of the reason why they come is because it’s a safe place to come to my show and it’s because they know that I am out and they feel safe around me and they don’t have a lot of places they can go where they feel safe and they can be themselves and if that alone is why I have records out or what I’m here for, then that’s enough. That’s how important I think this is.

GG: Well tell us about touring. You tour a lot. Do you love it, hate it?

MF: I love it. I get home and I have a week off and it’s like, uh, or rather if I have three weeks off, after the first five days I’m calling my friends and having emotional breakdowns that my career is over and nobody will ever come to a show. Then when I’m on the road, I’m like I can’t believe I booked all these dates and I’m so out of my mind. I forever kind of in this state of battling discontentedness. It’s just kind of my own personal battle of like staying positive and staying in the moment, staying and moving forward and not getting stuck in all that kind of stuff. I’m out here living a life too. I’ve been on the road since I was 19 and I’m going to be 30 this year. I’ve spent all of my 20’s on the road and so I’ve sacrificed a lot of things to do this and I never really looked at what I sacrificed, meaning relationships, especially lovers that I’ve lost over the years because I’m not home because there is no continuity in my life and that I’m constantly on the road. What’s important to me now is changing what I want out of life. I want to be in a relationship and I want to have a home and a house and a place where I don’t have to worry about my cat. When I started out I really was doing this because I wanted to be rich and famous. Now it’s like really for the love of the music and it’s really that I love to play live.

GG: What advice could you give to other indie artist?

MF: I think it’s really important to not sign anything and I think if you have a contract that really is valid enough to be signed, I think that any $250/hour lawyer would negotiate that for you because they would know you would be able to pay them. I that’s really imporant. Just from my experience, I’ve been there in these situations. I’ve signed bad contracts and been sued before. I think it’s really important to retain all the rights to your songs. I own all my publishing and it’s the smartest thing I did by mistake. I still book myself, I don’t have a booking agent. And I think as long as you continue to book yourself, the better off you are. All you have to do is pick up the phone and call a club. I talk to club owners and I set my prices.

GG: Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us.

MF: You’re welcome.

From: Go Girls Music

Learn more about Melissa and her music at http://melissaferrick.com/

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