Juliana Hatfield To Work Double Duty On Upcoming Tour

By MTV News Staff

April 27, 2000 / 12:48 AM

Veteran rock singer/songwriter Juliana Hatfield will hit the road next month to support not one, but two new albums.

Her Beautiful Creature will be released May 16, while a second LP, Total System Failure, credited to Juliana's Pony, will hit stores the same day. Both discs will be on Zoë Records, an offshoot of Rounder Records.

"It's a little complicated," Hatfield told MTV News of her double-disc situation. "Beautiful Creature is a bit more mellow, but it is 'the Juliana Hatfield record.' Juliana's Pony is a little side-project band, and that [album is] more rock. It's harder, maybe a little more fun. Well, they're both really fun, actually.

"A whole bunch of different people played on Beautiful Creature, and a bunch of different producers and studios as well," Hatfield said.

"The other album, Total System Failure, is sort of a power trio," she said. "It's more of a band. Me on guitar and vocals, [Weezer's] Mikey Welsh on bass and Zephan Courtney on drums."

On her upcoming tour, Hatfield plans to use a new band and feature material from both albums.

"The band that I have live will do some of the Pony stuff, probably, but it's mostly going to focus on the Beautiful Creature stuff," she said. "The record label is still not sure what album they will work a single [from]. They may work both at the same time, but I'm pretty sure they will focus on a song from Beautiful Creature called 'Somebody Is Waiting for Me.' "

Evolving Audience

From her early touring days in the late '80s with the Blake Babies through the '90s, Hatfield has steadily toured and attracted an audience that she said continues to evolve.

"Every tour I do, I get the feeling that I have turned on a few new people who had no idea or no interest, or thought they didn't like my stuff," Hatfield said. "I get the sense that people bring their friends who might have thought they didn't like me but get dragged along, and they actually end up liking it. I get a lot of people who come back and say, 'Wow, I never really knew that you were doing that, and I really like it.'

"I think that I'm better live than before, and ... God, I hate praising myself, but I think the live thing is a lot different than my old records, which is all some people know," she said. "I think the live thing is a lot richer, and deeper, maybe."

New Project

The past year has been a busy one for Hatfield. In addition to recording Beautiful Creature and Total System Failure, she also found time to work on a new project with her ex–Blake Babies bandmates.

"We made a record a couple of months ago," Hatfield said. "[Blake Babies/Antenna drummer Freda Love] called us up, and we all had a little time frame when we weren't doing anything, so we went to Indiana to record.

"John Strohm [guitarist for Blake Babies, Antenna and occasional Lemonhead] came up from Alabama," Hatfield continued. "Evan [Dando] came out too, and he played some guitar and some bass and some vocals, and contributed a song he wrote with Ben Lee. It was a really cool thing. John and I came up with some songs that we started working on through the mail.

Hatfield said she wasn't sure who was going to put the new Blake Babies record out or when.

"I think there are more people interested in the Blake Babies now than when it was actually happening," Hatfield said. "We are all keen on touring a little bit when the record comes out, so we'll see."

Despite her recent studio output, the singer/songwriter is looking forward to getting back on the road.

"I think that you can't really ever understand or know a band or artist or whatever until you see them live," Hatfield said. "The live thing captures a completely different kind of energy than being in the studio, at least for me."

Juliana Hatfield tour dates:

May 25; Burlington, Vt.; Higher Ground

May 26; Ottawa, Ontario; Zaphod Beeblebrox 2

May 27; Toronto, Ontario; Lees Palace

May 28; London, Ontario; Embassy

May 30; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Rosebud

May 31; Columbus, Ohio; Little Brothers

June 1; Cleveland, Ohio; Grog Shop

June 2; Detroit, Mich.; Magic Stick

June 3; Chicago, Ill.; Metro

June 4; Madison, Wis.; Annex

June 5; Minneapolis, Minn.; First Avenue