Catching Up With Etty Farrell

[Mike]

Good interview. Anymore left or has it reached the end?

No not yet.
There's still more to come I'm still working on finishing the transcription.

[janesayssitdown]

i wouldnt go back to lolla unless the line up was really amazing.

Is there anywhere to read who/band was at each lolla from the very first 1 in 1991?
I was at 1,2&3 probley only remember 1/2 the bands but id love to see the headliners for all of them.
by the 3rd lolla all the alcohol rage induced JOCKS had taken it over.

oh i wasnt talking about lolla as a touring festival, i was talking about lolla the destination festival.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lo ... ps_by_year

[faerieb]

Hello all. First of all thank you Hydra for your spontaneous advertising that you've done for me! and Mike, the name is FaerieB (pronounced fairy-b) ...thanks for remembering the necklace I gave Perry! That was so exciting for me! It was even more exciting when I started to notice him wearing it! I get like, all freaked out and psyched everytime! He even wore it when they were busking(?is that the right word?) out in San Fran...I love those vids! Anyway, thanks for asking my questions. I just thought that it's important for us to know a little about Etty personally.
I read an awesome article in a new magazine...I think it's called "Best Life"...and the interview was about Perry's proposal to Etty and the circumstances surrounding it. It was a beautiful article. Perry went through such a transformation it seems. I like the transformation. I feel that he's more grounded and really focused. I've noticed no signs of his voice going bad(which someone on here had claimed), I've seen a return to the small club shows with the real fans, and I am loving every minute of it! Enjoy the Satellite Party small club shows while you can people!...if Jane's reunites, (which would be awesome...down the road away...I heavily agree with Etty on this one)...then it will be back to stadium and arena shows for Perry! Yes, Jane's puts on the best concerts, but I really enjoy seeing Perry up close and personal on an old-school level again. I mean how many people of his caliber are willing to do it for the fans the way he does????? So my thanks go out to Perry, Etty, and Carl (who by the way is an awesome find...the guy is amazing!) for keeping it as real as they can, in a world that makes being real so hard!

[Mike]

faerieb, the above is such a great post.
Thanks so much for chiming in with it.
You helped brighten an otherwise quite dreary day.

Also I totally get your name now that you've typed it up like that.
It makes me feel like a dummy but I won't be forgetting how it's pronounced anytime soon.



My apologies to everyone for not getting an interview segment up today.
This last part is very large and I feel it's important that it be posted as a whole.
Please bare with me.
I hope to get it posted at some point tomorrow so long as I can spend the time needed to finish transcribing it.

[esqfool]

Cool interview Mike. I appreciate that you ask all the questions most of us are burning to know. Thanks. Not big on the more hip-hop at Lollapalooza but then again there's only probably 100 other bands to check out so I'm sure I'll live.

[hydro]

i wouldnt go back to lolla unless the line up was really amazing.

Is there anywhere to read who/band was at each lolla from the very first 1 in 1991?
I was at 1,2&3 probley only remember 1/2 the bands but id love to see the headliners for all of them.
by the 3rd lolla all the alcohol rage induced JOCKS had taken it over.

oh i wasnt talking about lolla as a touring festival, i was talking about lolla the destination festival.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lo ... ps_by_year

oh thats right.....snap
thanks for the info though!!!

[hydro]

I've seen a return to the small club shows with the real fans, and I am loving every minute of it! Enjoy the Satellite Party small club shows while you can people!...if Jane's reunites, (which would be awesome...down the road away...I heavily agree with Etty on this one)...then it will be back to stadium and arena shows for Perry! Yes, Jane's puts on the best concerts, but I really enjoy seeing Perry up close and personal on an old-school level again. I mean how many people of his caliber are willing to do it for the fans the way he does????? !

I agree 100% ill take a small club show over an arena ANYDAY!!!!!!!

and your welcome FaerieB your a sweetheart!!

[faerieb]

awwwwe...thank you! I dig you too Hydra! I can't wait to meet you on the next SP tour! You too Mike! I wish they were starting their next round of tours today! It will be soooooooo awesome!

[Mike]

Sorry this last segment took so long to get transcribed and posted.
It all goes together and I didn't want to post it piece meal.

I want to thank Etty once again for taking the time to talk with me.

Mike: I’m trying to think if there is anything else here I’m missing. That’s all Box Set related. Here’s one that you may or may not want to answer.

Etty: (Laughing) OK.

Mike: I hope I know what the answer is and I’ll tell you what I think it is. I think that you just ignore the stupid stuff.

Etty: Uh huh.

Mike: But I know you visit our site.

Etty: Yes.

Mike: Our site is tame compared to other sites.

Etty: Right. Well actually others meaning just one other.

Mike: No I mean like... yeah I know what you’re saying. But if I just type Satellite Party and Google it. There was some bad press about it. Some people didn’t like the artwork.

Etty: Right.

Mike: People don’t like the fact that you’re working with Perry and a member of the band. Does that stuff ever bother you?

Etty: You know what on a personal level of course it bothers you. How can you not let it bother you? Because they are attacking you on a personal level and I do get insecure and I do get… I get upset over… As one should, right? If somebody was saying things about you, you would get upset too. Perry has been really; really incredible in stepping up and saying “It is what it is. You’ll always be attacked because you’re my wife”. That’s the way it is. I think I work very, very, hard. I’ve trained very, very hard. I’ve been a professional performer since I was nineteen working in L.A. so it’s not like I was a nurse married him and decided hey guess what I want to be a singer too. You know what I mean? Like I feel that at a certain point I’ve paid my dues as a performer and I do think… I went as far as speaking to my publicist about this and she said at a certain point you’ll always be the wife. You know you’ll always be… If I was not his wife people probably would not be as harsh or would not say half the things they say about me.

Mike: Hum.

Etty: But because we do have a relationship. At a certain point we’re very happy. We think we do very well. This is something that Perry has always said to assure me, all of his other girlfriends have pushed and tried to be where I’m at. He just never allowed them to because they weren’t trained or they weren’t good at it.

Mike: OK.

Etty: I’ve always said that this is what I’ve done for a living. I was working before working with Perry and if it doesn’t work out with Perry and I working together I will work again as my own independent entity.

Mike: I just don’t think people give you a fair shake because I think sometimes they just want it to be just Perry singing. I mean they may like your voice but they just don’t want you singing with Perry.

Etty: Yeah but Perry had other people singing.

Mike I know. I know. Pete…

Etty: So what difference does it make? Would you rather have him… like on Strays he brought in singers.

Mike: I know.

Etty: Just because he was you know… somebody that he brought in as a session player. On Song Yet To Be Sung he had session singers come in. On Porno For Pyros he had session singers come in.

Mike: Yep and on the live shows…

Etty: Just because he gets it for free with me and my schedule works around his schedule and we happen to live together and married.

Mike: Hey you’re preaching to the choir when you’re telling me. I love your voice. On the track we were talking about earlier Nightbloom I love your singing on that.

Etty: Ooh, thank you. Thank you.

Mike: I mean that one I think you’re really featured more on than you are on some of the other songs. You’re more like a… it’s more kind of like a duet kind of thing as opposed to you just being a background… not just being but being a background singer on the other tracks.

Etty: And it’s just you know whatever fits the bill. Like again as you know being as familiar with his work as you are, he’s always had singers.

Mike: Absolutely. Even like I said on the live… I started to say on the live shows you can always hear Pete singing in the background on the live shows with him.

Etty: Exactly he’s always had people singing. In fact though something very interesting I read somewhere once somebody said “Well I just wanted Jane’s Addiction to be back in the day when there were like no dancers.” I remember you wrote no, no I have a tape of them ’88 and they had dancers so I don’t know which era you’re referring to.

Mike: They had dancers even before that.

Etty: Yeah and Perry said I don’t understand I have always, always had dancers. I was one of the dancers in ’97. People didn’t have an issue with it because we weren’t married then.

Mike: Yeah that’s, that’s I don’t know…

Etty: Can you believe it? I’m like what is that?

Mike: It’s foolish to me but it is what it is you know. I mean some of the stuff though I even get aggravated about. Like if somebody makes a stupid crack like she’s like Yoko Ono or some stupid crap like that. It’s just like what is wrong with these stupid people? I argue with them sometimes but you know what sometimes I just let them talk their stupid stuff because to me they are just making fools of themselves.

Etty: This is my insight on it. I understand a lot of times where people are coming from. Because for a lot of people, I’m sure for you as well or for any of us there’s a specific moment in time and there’s a band or a work of music that’s related to the specific moment in time of the person’s life where they’re the happiest. Usually when they are young and they are invincible. They’re not held accountable for anything. They’re free you know? They have like the future in front of them and they’ll always associate Jane’s Addiction with that good feeling. So Perry will never compare to the Perry then. Not because he is a lesser person or a lesser artist; because he could never replace that feeling that generated at that specific moment in time.

Mike: Exactly you can’t go back in time.

Etty: You can’t and we all have that one song. Like when you listen to those classic stations… that one song you just remember WOW I was sixteen I was driving in my first car. I just got my drivers license. Those great feelings in life and I think people now are trying to recapture that. I have to say you’re never going to be thin again and you’re never going to have a full head of hair and you’ll always have bills to pay.

Mike: I think it’s unfair, very unfair expectations of people when they expect Perry to put… like the Satellite Party album that you guys just released last year. It’s not Nothing’s Shocking but I don’t think it’s fair to compare it to Nothing’s Shocking when the record came out nineteen years later. Perry’s not the…

Etty: Right and people have changed. Nothing’s Shocking obviously is an incredible album standing on its own. I think the Satellite Party standing on its own if it’s not compared to anything else that Perry has ever done is an incredible piece of work. But I think people who do the comparisons; again it’s been twenty years. You’re never going to be back in college smoking weed with no bills to pay.

Mike: I think there’s going to be a lot… I’m sorry. Go ahead.

Etty: Right?

Mike: Ooh true, absolutely true, true.

Etty: And that’s how I feel a lot of times the comparison is. Sometimes as a woman, I always feel very insecure. I am never one to force myself into any situation and you can always ask Perry. I don’t ever say “Ooh I want to come in and record.” No, no he has to ask me over and over again. “Can you please come in now? I really need you to record.” I don’t push myself into the situation. I always wait to be asked at least twice. OK with that being said I feel a little insecure about it. He would say he has never been happier in his entire life and all those people who wish that he was how he was nineteen years ago don’t care very much about him as a human being.

Mike: No because if he was like he was nineteen years ago he’d probably be dead.

Etty: Exactly and anybody that cares truly about him as a human being will see that he’s settled, he’s happy.

Mike: Yeah.

Etty: You know what I mean?

Mike: I can see it in his face every time I see him. You know… I mean I’ve told you this countless times and I just basically said it again. But I think if not for you that Perry might not be around right now. You know what I think…

Etty: Thank you. That’s very kind of you. Well, I do whip him into shape so. (Laughing)

Mike: (Laughing)

Etty: I ride him pretty hard. But yes that’s my answer to that. Of course people… a girlfriend of mine has always said “People are going to think what they’re going to think regardless”. And I think now I can accept it’s not me personally. It’s anybody that’s put in this situation they’re going to hate.

Mike: I think you’re right.

Etty: Fair enough right?

Mike: Yep. Yep.

Etty: I’m generally a very nice person. I do my best to be kind and considerate to everybody.

Mike: I’ve never in all the times that we’ve talked I’ve never found you to be anything but a very kind and just a nice, sweet person you know. I mean… genuine too. It doesn’t come across as fake or anything. We’re not like best of friends obviously or anything like that but… I don’t know. You make me feel comfortable when I’m around you.

Etty: Ooh thank you, well you know we should all feel comfortable around each other at the end of the day right?

Mike: Sure.

Etty: But back to what you were saying. Yes it is hurtful but I think I’ve gotten over it.

Mike: Good. I’m glad because...

Etty: And it’s really… you tell me. It’s really still the same five people right?

Mike: Basically yeah. I mean they have nothing better to do with their time. It’s like every thread that goes on, on some of these boards. Whatever the subject is about it’s got to come back to how wretched they feel the cover for the Satellite Party record is or...

Etty: Then don’t buy it. Then don’t listen to it and stop writing about it.

Mike: My Son is right here. He’ll tell you I listen to it all the time still.

Mike’s Son: Uh huh.

Etty: You love it and they don’t love it. It’s OK we’re not dying to please you five people.

Mike: (Laughing)

Etty: You know what I mean? I don’t understand. If you hate it so much then cut it out of your life. Why are you still wallowing in it?

Mike: It makes sense to me.

Etty: It’s been a long time. You know we’ve been married six years and I’m not going anywhere. So as much as you can hate on me you just have to deal with it.

Mike: This anniversary that just passed by that was your six year anniversary?

Etty: It’s our sixth year anniversary and um… Yeah we’ve been married for six years. We’ve known each other for ten.

Mike: A little over ten right?

Etty: Well we met in ’97 so ten years and maybe two months.

Mike: Well I think I asked you pretty much everything that I’d intended to ask you. Is there anything you’d like the fans to know?

Etty: No. Just thank you so much for supporting us. This last year has been an incredibly trying year and I think that this year we’re going to come out on top.

Mike: I’m looking forward to greener pastures as they say. You know what I mean, better times.

Etty: We are too. It was hard last year. I will ask him when he’s available that question about who he wants to work with and then I’ll email it to you.

Mike: OK. Remind him about the Three Days poem.

Etty: The Three Days poem OK.

Mike: Thank you so much for taking the time Etty. I appreciate it.

Etty: No problem. Thank you.

[OzMic]

Thats wassup !!!