MOST TALENTED AND LUCKIEST CELEBRITIES
FIONA APPLE
Name:
Fiona Apple. Birth Name: Fiona Apple Maggart. Height: 5'. 2''.
Nationality: American. Date: September 17, 1977. Birth Place:
New York, New York. Occupation: Musician, song writer.
Education: Senior High School (two months home study). Relationship:
Paul Thomas Anderson (screenwriter). Father: Brandon Maggart
(actor). Mother: Diane McAfee (former singer). Half Brother:
Garrett Maggart (actor). Facts: Musician Fiona Apple contributed some
music to MAGNOLIA (1999) and is also responsible for many of the paintings
seen throughout. When Fiona was 12 years old, she was raped in an apartment
where she lived. She has a sister named Amber Maggart. Her birthday is
actually September 13, 1977. Quotes: Come on. I got drunk when I was
like 5.
BIOGRAPHY SYNOPSIS: "The way I feel about music -- any song, any style -- is that there is no right and wrong, only true and false. If the music and lyrics are conceived out of honesty and if the production of the song goes along with its original message, then what has been expressed is art regardless of what anyone's opinion is of it. No one can negate an honest expression. So things are a lot simpler if you just tell the truth." Sage words. Insightful words. Spoken like a venerable music veteran who's seen it all and maintained integrity at all costs. Except they weren't. They were spoken by a debut artist. One who is yet to perform for the public. One who is 18 years old. But once you hear Fiona Apple's Tidal, her debut album on WORK/Clean Slate, you will not doubt that those words come from a wisdom that is beyond age, that is inherent, uncompromising and straight from the heart. Tidal is ten timeless songs. The music defies boundaries, the lyrics pure evocative poetry -- what you'd expect from someone who's sole influence is Maya Angelou. Although Fiona Apple is first and foremost a songsmith, her piano and haunting, dusky voice are the ultimate vehicles for her art. "It wasn't that I didn't think I had a nice voice, but I consider myself more a writer," Fiona explains. "I played piano since I was about eight, and always wrote songs -- I sang them because it wouldn't make sense for anyone else to." Such songs as "Shadowboxer," Tidal's chill-inducing first single, which explores the danger of desire and vulnerability against an eerie musical motif. Or the steadfast promise -- to seduce? succeed? Fiona hints but won't disclose -- of "Slow Like Honey." Songs that can rock with only the merest suggestion of guitar ("Criminal"), bring you to your feet with delicate dance-ability ("The First Taste"), soar with a rare glimpse of the upper register ("Never Is A Promise") or pulse with implacable strength to music that is stark, percussive and forthrightly primal ("Sleep To Dream").
The songs on Tidal reveal
an old-soul eloquence and depth that make rules (paying one's dues, building a
fan base, etc., etc.) rather irrelevant. Not that Fiona denied or refused to
follow them -- they just didn't apply. "This is something I think I've always
wanted to do but didn't say aloud -- I couldn't admit it to myself, because
admitting it meant making myself vulnerable to the possibility that it might
not happen, and that thought was unbearable. I didn't want to make a move
until I knew it was the right thing," Fiona says. "And I wasn't sure until
about a year ago." That's when "I decided the doors were open for me," Fiona,
a native New Yorker, says. "It's not so much that this is my destiny but I
made it my destiny -- it's impossible to imagine life not doing what you want
to do." So Fiona, the progeny of an artistic family (her father is an actor
and her mother is a real renaissance woman -- singer, dancer, nutritionist,
fitness trainer, cook) came to Los Angeles to spend time with her dad,
complete her high school education through independent study -- and do a demo.
Her objective was to make a slew of tapes and send them out widely -- but she
wound up saving the postage. As soon as the tapes were done, Fiona went home
to NYC for Christmas, bringing a few copies of her demo along. One tape wound
up in the hands of a friend who happened to baby-sit for a prominent music
industry executive; the friend passed the three-song demo on to the exec, who
in turn played it for a holiday party guest: producer and manager Andrew
Slater. "Andy called and said he wanted to meet me," says Fiona, "and we've
been working together ever since." At the time, however, Fiona didn't have
enough material she felt to be of album quality. "Songs don't just pour out --
so I pressured myself to write," she says. "I'd write two songs a week, and I
don't know how I managed it because every time I write a song I don't think
I'll be able to write another ever again." Once she was satisfied with the
songs, she entered the studio. No parts were written -- which translates into
Tidal's breathless spontaneity (indeed, several tracks are one-take wonders)
and a certain tendency toward improvisational fade-outs. "We just played,"
Fiona says simply. Upon the album's release, Fiona embarks on the next phase:
performing. "I know it's going to change my life...I'm looking forward to it
-- I think that's what all this blood, sweat and tears has been for," she says
with a small, dauntless smile. "I'll be nervous, but what else can I do? I
won't go backwards." While Fiona Apple's lyrics may be interpreted in many
ways, the overriding message of her debut is that life is the sum of
experience -- painful and joyous, tangible and emotional, positive and
negative. "My album is called Tidal partly because all this has hit me like a
tidal wave but also because 'tidal' refers to ebbing and flowing, and that's
really what life is, a constant ebb and flow."
Continues on the next page.