Happy Birthday, Suzanne Vega!

Today, July 11, is the birthday of 80s folk-music star Suzanne Vega, and here at Hot Press, we're celebrating by looking back at a personal exclusive interview she gave Colm O'Hare back in 2000, shortly after the breakup of her marriage. Vega discussed the impact of her personal life on her songwriting process, what it was like being a woman in the 90s music scene, and combining her music with spoken word to create a different kind of gig. Read the full interview below!
Viva La Vega!
Suzanne Vega talks to COLM O HARE about the proliferation of serious female artists, the break-up of her marriage and incorporating spoken word into her performances.

When Suzanne Vega first appeared on the scene in the early 1980's there wasn't much call for earnest female folkies trading in confessional, introspective lyrics and acoustic melodies.

Nowadays women singer-songwriters are everywhere, commanding a sizeable chunk of the record market particularly in the US where the movement is underpinned by the hugely successful Lilith Fair tour.

"It's true, there are so many women out there making music these days," Vega reflects over a crackly phone-line from Moscow where she is in the middle of a European tour. "When I started out the only women making an impact were people like Cyndi Lauper and Madonna. The women artists these days seem to be a lot more independent minded than I was when I started out. Ani Di Franco for example is pretty adept at looking after her career. I've known her since she was very young. I used to stay at her parents house, and I've watched her grow over the years. She's pretty impressive the way she handles herself."

Since her self-titled debut came out fifteen years ago Vega has remained consistently popular with record buyers and live audiences, particularly in Europe where she scored her first hit with the sophisticated acoustic ballad. 'Marlene On The Wall'. She had a surprising offbeat hit when dance outfit DNA sampled her a-capella vocal on 'Tom's Diner' a track from her second album Solitude Standing. But her best-known song and biggest hit to date, 'Luka', offered a haunting portrayal of domestic and sexual violence that many saw as autobiographical.

"People always ask me what the story behind the song is but sometimes there's nothing more to say about it," she says. "It's just feelings I was experiencing when I wrote the songs. There are certain specific details that are factual but a lot of it is just impressions.

"The only thing about it is everywhere I go I get people coming up to me saying 'Hi Suzanne, My Name Is Luka'. And they're usually telling the truth!"

Now a single mother following her recent split from producer husband Mitchell Froom, Vega times her touring schedule to coincide with the school holidays.

"I'm very happy to do it that way, she offers. "It means I can look after her properly, providing a stable home environment."

"I don't know a lot of musicians who have kids so I don't know how they manage it. But I believe Sonic Youth are doing the same thing. They have some kids between them."

Vega first met Mitchell Froom, well-known for producing Elvis Costello, Crowded House and Richard Thompson, when he oversaw her 1992 album 99.9F. Froom, who was married with a daughter at the time, left his own wife for Vega. She once said in an interview that she couldn't imagine them ever being apart. Did it come as a surprise to people who know her when the marriage ended?

"It came as a big surprise to me. But for a lot of my marriage I felt I was single anyway so there isn't any great change there."

Does she envisage getting together with anyone in the immediate future, or is she happy to remain single?

"Well I grew up always wanting to be a part of a family, but I'm testing things at the moment, so I'll see how it goes."

Meanwhile Vega's greatest hits album is being re-released with extra live tracks and she continues to tour widely. She intersperses her performances with readings of her poetry and prose, and it seems audiences can't get enough of her philosophical observations on life.

"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't," she says. It depends on the audience but I'm always willing to try new things. I've had a pretty good career to date."

"There are moments where I have felt that I wasn't sure where I stood in relation to what was happening in music. But I'm very comfortable right now."