Interviewee: Alanis Morissette
Interviewer: Jian Ghomeshi

Considered by the music authorities as one of the greatest female singers of all time, Canadian musician/songwriter/music producer Alanis Morissette is a true gem of the music world. Known as a female with an inclination towards rock music, Alanis has her origins deeply rooted in pop and dance. In fact, her first album entitled Alanis (released in 1991 and only marketed in Canada) was a dance-pop album that went platinum.

The world eventually got hold of her in 1995 when her third album titled Jagged Little Pill was released. A collection of hits in the album like You Oughta Know, You Learn, Head Over Feet, and her greatest single ever, “Ironic,” catapulted Alanis to international stardom. Jagged Little Pill became (and remains) the world’s best-selling debut album by a female artist of all time. Alanis went on to win various awards from the music industry including 12 Juno Awards and 7 Emmys.

To date, Alanis has sold 55 million copies of her albums around the globe.

On April 1, 2007, Alanis Morissette released a video satire of the Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps,” which she performed with a slow beat, accompanied by a piano. Speculations about the video being an April Fools’ Day joke flew. Alanis Morissette though, explained that she was so stressed out while making new songs and did the video as a means of escape.

Fortunately, the Black Eyes Peas took no offense. On the contrary, the group’s female vocalist, Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson, even sent a buttock-shaped cake to Alanis with a note of approval.

After a brief hiatus from music and a publicized estrangement from her fiancé (actor Ryan Reynolds), Alanis has returned to entertain the world with her own brand of music.

Her seventh and latest album, Flavors of Entanglement, is receiving mixed reviews from critics. Most of the remarks are positive; the best is that the passion evident in Jagged Little Pill is very much around in Flavors of Entanglement. Seen by most fans as a comeback album for Alanis, Alanis concurred in an NBC interview that she wrote the songs in Flavors of Entanglement while she was in the “thick of it,” her phrase for the hiatus wherein she claimed she was sorting out her life and “dealing with monkeys on backs.”

Alanis Morissette says that she plans to promote Flavors of Entanglement in a series of concerts throughout North America in the later part of 2008. For the meantime, she will do some appearances in music festivals and shows to give Flavors of Entanglement public exposure.

Alanis’s last real album prior to Flavors of Entanglement was Alanis Morissette: The Collection, which was released way back in 2005 as a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Jagged Little Pill. After the 2005 release of the greatest hits collection, Alanis went on to perform and showcase her songs but only in music festivals, TV appearances, and never in a single concert.

As of late, Alanis Morissette has been writing a memoir that emphasizes on issues that women are facing with major points on sexuality, relationships, beauty, and work.

Alanis Morisette says that her inspirations come from women who come to her to pour out their stories of pain and suffering on a regular basis. The memoir is halfway finished.