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This Isn't Kiddie Music: An Interview with Sage Francis (Pt. 2)
This Isn't Kiddie Music: An Interview with Sage Francis (Pt. 2)
- Genre : More Music
- Type: News
- Author : Super Admin
- Date : Tue, 24 Apr 2007
Speaking of "Going Back to Rehab"—one of things I really like about your lyrics is that you're always mixing the personal with the metaphorical. Are you comfortable revealing how much of "Going Back to Rehab" is based on personal experience and how much is meant to be taken more metaphorically?
Well, the whole thing is personal experience. It's just the way that I state things—I'm giving it higher meaning, just so other people can relate to it. But the imagery and just the concept of trying to reach somebody—I mean, if they're not gonna get better, in order to meet you in a clean and nice world, then sometimes you have to get dirty in order to find that person.
You yourself are sober, right?
I guess. It's a strange and convoluted term. I don't feel very sober, I don't feel very healthy, and I don't think I've been living a very clean, constructive life. I'm doing music, and I'm focusing a lot on my career. It's developing and growing, and I'm trying to ride it, and do what's good for a lot of people, but currently I think it's being more destructive to my spirit, more destructive to my actual physical form, than anything I've ever involved myself in before.
Just because it's too much work?
It's too much stress, it's too much thought—it's just all-consuming. I'm just so fuckin' sick of it. I need escapes, and I'm finding ways to escape from it for a little while, but then I just find myself right back in the shitty mix of things. I'm just in a weird place, and I've been here for a little while. I'm in this fucking house that's just filled with shit—just piles and piles of junk, and I just can't seem to clean it. I can't seem to get stuff organized and working in an orderly fashion. Fuck, whatever. I go on tour in a month, so I'll be gone.
I feel like the best part of my life is my girlfriend; I finally found the time to spend the night with her last night and it was great. I had the best sleep I've had in a week. But I can't do that every night because no work would get done. I work through the fucking night, you know? I wake up, do work, go to bed when I finally crash, wake up and do work again, and still the to-do list is so fucking incredibly long. And I'm hiring people—and I'm ranting right now, but Jesus. It's so fucking much.
Are you looking forward to going on the road and being away from all that, or is it a drag to be away from home and away from your girlfriend?
It's an incredible drag that I'm gonna be away from my girlfriend, but everything else is good about it. I mean, I want to get away. And I never look forward to touring—I don't really enjoy going from city to city to city, 41 shows in a row. The shows can be very rewarding, but everything else involved takes such a toll on you. It's great to make money, and it's great to share the music, but everything else... Talk to somebody at the end of their tour, and look in their face, and they just fucking look like trash. [laughs] You know? It's not natural, it's not good for a person. People glorify touring, but seriously, meet with somebody on the last day of their tour and look in their face and tell me you wanna look like that.
I can only imagine—it's a crazy lifestyle.
I've been a princess, though. I make sure I get all the satin-covered pillows. No one's allowed to talk to me until I'm ready.
You have a rider where the brown M&M's have to be taken out?
No, my rider makes people get me underwear and socks every day. I sweat like a fucking pig, man. After every show I'm just soaking wet. And I can't take that stuff with me in the tour van and let it pile up and have all the sweaty undies and socks everywhere. So I just throw them in the trash and put on new ones. It's the best part.
When you go out on this tour, some of the really personal songs on this album, like "Hell of a Year" or "Black Out on White Night"—are some songs just too personal for you to perform them live?
No song is too personal. I've already been doing
Well, the whole thing is personal experience. It's just the way that I state things—I'm giving it higher meaning, just so other people can relate to it. But the imagery and just the concept of trying to reach somebody—I mean, if they're not gonna get better, in order to meet you in a clean and nice world, then sometimes you have to get dirty in order to find that person.
You yourself are sober, right?
I guess. It's a strange and convoluted term. I don't feel very sober, I don't feel very healthy, and I don't think I've been living a very clean, constructive life. I'm doing music, and I'm focusing a lot on my career. It's developing and growing, and I'm trying to ride it, and do what's good for a lot of people, but currently I think it's being more destructive to my spirit, more destructive to my actual physical form, than anything I've ever involved myself in before.
Just because it's too much work?
It's too much stress, it's too much thought—it's just all-consuming. I'm just so fuckin' sick of it. I need escapes, and I'm finding ways to escape from it for a little while, but then I just find myself right back in the shitty mix of things. I'm just in a weird place, and I've been here for a little while. I'm in this fucking house that's just filled with shit—just piles and piles of junk, and I just can't seem to clean it. I can't seem to get stuff organized and working in an orderly fashion. Fuck, whatever. I go on tour in a month, so I'll be gone.
I feel like the best part of my life is my girlfriend; I finally found the time to spend the night with her last night and it was great. I had the best sleep I've had in a week. But I can't do that every night because no work would get done. I work through the fucking night, you know? I wake up, do work, go to bed when I finally crash, wake up and do work again, and still the to-do list is so fucking incredibly long. And I'm hiring people—and I'm ranting right now, but Jesus. It's so fucking much.
Are you looking forward to going on the road and being away from all that, or is it a drag to be away from home and away from your girlfriend?
It's an incredible drag that I'm gonna be away from my girlfriend, but everything else is good about it. I mean, I want to get away. And I never look forward to touring—I don't really enjoy going from city to city to city, 41 shows in a row. The shows can be very rewarding, but everything else involved takes such a toll on you. It's great to make money, and it's great to share the music, but everything else... Talk to somebody at the end of their tour, and look in their face, and they just fucking look like trash. [laughs] You know? It's not natural, it's not good for a person. People glorify touring, but seriously, meet with somebody on the last day of their tour and look in their face and tell me you wanna look like that.
I can only imagine—it's a crazy lifestyle.
I've been a princess, though. I make sure I get all the satin-covered pillows. No one's allowed to talk to me until I'm ready.
You have a rider where the brown M&M's have to be taken out?
No, my rider makes people get me underwear and socks every day. I sweat like a fucking pig, man. After every show I'm just soaking wet. And I can't take that stuff with me in the tour van and let it pile up and have all the sweaty undies and socks everywhere. So I just throw them in the trash and put on new ones. It's the best part.
When you go out on this tour, some of the really personal songs on this album, like "Hell of a Year" or "Black Out on White Night"—are some songs just too personal for you to perform them live?
No song is too personal. I've already been doing
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