Related artists: - Eurythmics - Madonna - Billy Joel Other features: - Join our   mailing list - Send this page   to a friend        Photo by Glyn Emmerson, April 2000 Photo © 2000 NY Rock Cyndi Lauper is concentrating on being a mom these days, which explains, in large part, her contribution to the family movie Rugrats in Paris. But motherhood hasn’t taken the edge off the Grammy Award winner’s flashy style. For a recent interview with NY Rock freelancer Prairie Miller, Cyndi showed up strutting and beaming in a two-toned 'do. The girls chatted about the Rugrats movie, Cyndi’s child and her soon-to-be-released, yet unnamed, album. CYNDI: Hello Dahling! Sorry to keep you waiting. I thought this was going to be for TV, so I fixed my makeup. Well, hey, now I look nice for ya! NYROCK: Where do you get all your energy from? CYNDI: A lotta coffee! NYROCK: There was some talk after you won an Emmy for "Mad About You," that there was a sitcom in the works. What happened? CYNDI: I tried. Of course, what I was trying to do was really too radical for what they wanted. It was a sitcom incorporating music and video. And they kept making it conform to their thing. And then they said, well, this is too straight for your stuff. NYROCK: That sounds rotten. CYNDI: But it will come. There will be some place that I can do that. But you know what? I spent so much time on it, that I lost my momentum for my music. And then I started to feel like, hey, I don't feel good anymore. I'm one of those people that, you know, I gotta sing. And I gotta do the music for physical reasons. It makes me feel grounded, and I feel better then. I'm a lifer, that's not ever gonna change. I'm always gonna do music. It's funny, because when I first started, there was this guy who was really powerful in this business. He told me, we're making disposable art. And I thought to myself, whoa. Maybe that's what you're making, but that's not what I'm making. So I have tried to just continue my work, and not make it disposable. But it was a good thing he told me that, because then it made me concentrate even more on what I was doing, and why I was doing it. NYROCK: Is there a connection between your song for Rugrats in Paris, and the fact that you're now a mother? CYNDI: Yeah. And because the subject really touched me. I mean, Chuckie wanting a mom. I took my son Declyan to the premiere because he wanted to meet Chuckie. But the ride in the limousine with him was torture. Because he's a toddler, and so he wanted to run back and forth because the limousine is, you know, long. NYROCK: How long did it take you to write the song? CYNDI: For me? I came in, and they wanted it yesterday! So I did it in about a week. I wrote, produced and recorded it in a week. And arranged it. I mean, it was very exciting. Like okay, I can do this. Anything else you got to throw at me? But it was great, and the movie is really sweet. And Susan Sarandon, I didn't even recognize her voice. She was the mean one. Hey, she's always the nice guy, so it was good that she got to be the mean guy. NYROCK: How did you feel about writing a song for a character that has no mother, since you are a mother now? CYNDI: Well, I wrote from my kid's point of view. So it's a different perspective, and I tried to do it really from his eyes. And it had to be sung really simple and small, like a little kid, not big. I did a kid's voice, so it had to be the purest and simplest, in a key that a kid could sing along with easily. So that's what was going on. NYROCK: In what direction are you taking your own music right now? CYNDI: I have a record coming out. I play dulcimer. And some people feel that is the bane of their existence. I thought, there should be a jug band with women; it'll be great. Like "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," with everybody playing something. They said, what about a dulcimer solo? I don't know; I'm playing the bow and I'm not really good with the bow. I'm over there like sawing wood. You know, I play like a barbarian. But it's all feel and it's texture, and all rhythm stuff. I intend to bring the dulcimer into places it was never intended. But since it's an American instrument that's fun to play and you can tune it to a chord, you can play melody on it. And I'm really good with my rhythm. But it works in a textural sound for me, so I incorporate it. And it's bandlike, what I'm doing now. There's stuff on this album that we did together that's really wonderful, I think. Because it's really positive. I always try to reflect the time in which we live, and what I am really going through as a human. So that if it's real and it's not contrived, then someone else will probably relate to it. Because you're never the only person going through what it is that you're going through. As an artist, I would hope that you convey real human feelings, and real situations. So in a way, that's upbeat. And I'm excited. I wrote a song with Rob Hyman again, and still writing. And I might ask Laurie Anderson or Yoko Ono to do something. I want to start to really make the kind of record that I can, you know, as if I'll never make another record. Those are the kinds of records I want to make. Because right here, right in this moment, right at this time, the music should be alive and vibrant, and you should be really excited about what you're doing. So for me, that's the most important thing, as a musician and a writer. NYROCK: When will we be hearing this? CYNDI: You'll hear it very soon. I'm comin', don't worry. We'll see. I want to take some very vibrant energy and life force, and bring it into the forefront. Something with a more positive view or story about humanity. And to me more of a real humanity than, you know, watching a car blow up. NYROCK: What's the album called? CYNDI: I don't know yet. But all the music that I'm doing, it's gonna come out in the year 2001. Which is really exciting. I'm like, remember 2001 back then? That was like, how?! Open the pod door. You know, I keep hearing that in my head. And I'm like, okay, you gotta take the future and put it into your music. Because we're in the future. Everything is always retro, retro. I don't think it should be retro. It's gotta be the future. And in a form that is accessible to people. I think that is what I can do best. So that's what I'm doing. I'm very excited about the new work. Because it's new, and because I have a new life. I'm gonna be on a new label, with people that have no preconceptions. NYROCK: What can you tell musicians about how to get beyond that, and not to get swept up by powerful people, and the wrong people? CYNDI: You do. I always do. I'm still a knucklehead. But I try not to be. I don't have a great business sense. I'm not a great businesswoman, obviously. I always wanted to be this great artist. I still hope that one of these days, I'm gonna make something that will just live and it's there. And it's just gonna be great. You know, you keep wanting to do that thing, so you keep trying to do it. It's very hard to want to be successful, and want to do something great too. Because sometimes – and not all the time – being successful and doing something really powerful don't meet. But sometimes they really can. So that's what I always strive for. Because if you're gonna do something powerful, you want it to be heard. So that it could affect people. And as it affects other people, that affects you. Because we're so connected, all of us. So it's important. I don't know, you always have to take a deep breath, take a step back, and go, Okay, knowing what I know now, right now at this very moment, what would make me happy? It seems so simple, but it's the hardest thing in the whole world to do. Because you're always thinking, well okay, all this stuff happened in the past that I wanted to happen. But if you stay right at this moment, then that's where everything great can happen. And it's the hardest thing to do in the whole world. How do you do that, you know? But you look at what you want and what would make you happy, it's all do-able. And don't bump heads with people who don't understand you. Take a step back, wait, stay focused on what it is you really want, and what would really make you happy. And write and write, and sing and sing. And there's always a way around the wall. You don't have to bang into it. That's what I'm looking at. I'm always looking at a way around the wall. Because everybody is always gonna tell you that you can't do this here. And at this age you have to look like this, and you can't do that. They got rules, a lotta rules. The only rules I think you should follow is your facial creams. Nightly! And every morning. NYROCK: Are you going to be in any more movies? CYNDI: Yeah. I'm looking for the right thing. I would love to do something again. NYROCK: Now that you're a mother, are you more self-conscious about fully expressing yourself as a woman because your son may be sneaking a glance at you? CYNDI: I consider that all the time. Like when I first became famous, after being in Blue Angel and Real Rocker, and lying down on the floor and sticking my dress up, doing whatever. You know, free spirit. Then I started seeing all these little girls dressed up like me. So all of a sudden you're like, you dirty thing. You know, you can't. Who are you? You're little. So all of a sudden you feel responsible for these little guys. I mean, they're right up front in your face, what are you gonna be doing? So I always like kinda considered that. And now that I have Deck, I think that what I can show him most is that you have to have integrity. And that's a real important thing, integrity as a person, and integrity as an artist. Or whatever it is that you do. Do it well, and be proud of it. It's very much a part of who you are. And whatever you do, make sure you are happy at what you do. Because there's so much unhappiness. You can focus in on that, and be miserable. So if you strive to be happy, which is also the hardest thing, and easier said than done. But my son is gonna have a different background. So maybe for him it will be a little different, more understanding. Less fear, and all of that stuff. NYROCK: Is it true that you named your son after Elvis Costello? You know, Elvis's real name. CYNDI: Yeah. NYROCK: Does Elvis know? CYNDI: Yes, I met Elvis and I shook his hand. And I said, you know, we named our son after you. He's a great artist. But if you met my son, he'd tell you Elvis is a drunk. NYROCK: Precocious kid! What were you doing before you made it as a musician? CYNDI: I worked in a department store. Because when you're in a band, where are you gonna get a job? My hair was funny; my clothes were weird; I worked until dawn. And then, you know, you show up cross eyed, at eleven or twelve o'clock. Who's gonna hire you? So I worked at a concession stand. And one of my first fans was the assistant manager. He got me a gig with Doris, the lady there who engraved jewelry. But what that taught me was how to write an autograph. You know, it was always like, "Dear Grandma, Merry Christmas." So I got a lot of practice on a pie plate. But hey, everything comes in handy. NYROCK: Your look is still pretty... unusual. What does your Deck think about that? CYNDI: He's still too young to say Ma, why can't you look like everyone else? He's only three. NYROCK: Why are you having one of your albums re-released? CYNDI: Yeah, that's Epic. I'm not. I have no say. The only thing they said to me was, we're gonna re-release this, and we found this song... And I'm thinking, no, no. That was not even a real song, don't do that. So I told them, I have some live material, I'll mix it for you. I found it in my locker, let me mix it. So they said, okay, mix it. I said, Listen, let's offer something else, okay? You know, not the same thing. But it was nice that they included me. NYROCK: Is there one song that's most personal for you? CYNDI: That whole time period was very personal. But I don't think of them as individual songs. I think of them as like little snapshots of what was happening at that time. And when I look at the video, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," it's all my friends. My mother, and my brother and everyone I love, right in there. So many people helped me do that video. We did it for nothing. I went in my closet, pulled out all my stuff, and my friends lent me stuff. I took my makeup and I said, okay, here. And we were all using everybody's makeup. I mean, that time I came back with pink eye. NYROCK: Ugh! CYNDI: But, you know, every time I look at those things, I feel grateful. Because I tried to include the people I love, and they're in there. My aunts too. One of them has passed away. But there's Aunt Helen, Aunt Mae – Big Mae – my Aunt Gracie, and my mother. And there they are, like a swat team there for me. And that's so great. I don't know many people who could say that. I'm so lucky that I could do that. NYROCK: Why do you think the most played of your songs now is "Time After Time"? CYNDI: Yeah, Patti Lupone. She's still singing it; I can't believe it. That's really wild. Send this page to a friend!

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