RNW:  So what’s coming up in 2001 for Fisher?

RW:  Touring hell.

KF:  Lots of clubs and stuff.

RW:  Actually, we start, we were asked to play three shows at Sundance.  So we’ll be up there in January at Salt Lake City where, its really odd, like Salt Lake, Seattle and then east of the Mississippi the song (I Will Love You) is really huge.  So when we just got back from this 12 city thing, it’s all through the Midwest and East Coast.  So its massive West Coast, it starts thinning out more and more except for San Diego and Seattle.  For whatever reason.

RNW:  Any of the LA radio stations picked you up yet? 

RW:  Not a single one yet.

KF:  You know, the thing that we learned is that things don’t start in LA, you know.  We like to think that LA and New York are cutting edge, but the bottom line is, the labels start out with the smaller stations first, the little tiny ones.  And if they pick it up, they don’t have as much to lose and I guess you don’t have to give them as big of gifts, you know?   To get them to start playing it.

RNW:  There is that . . .

KF:  Yeah, the gift, the gifting.

RW:  But with us, they actually started at top 40, which everyone went, are you nuts?  Because that’s the brass ring and they responded really well, so we’ve been really lucky.

KF:  Yeah, I mean, my God, we were doing a Christmas show last week with Christina Aguilera and I’m like, what are we doing here?  We’re Fisher!

RNW:  I think that’s phenomenal, and you know what?  That kind of media attention is really well earned on your part.

KF:  And its neat.

RNW:  It’s your vibe, its cool.

RW:  Its just step one of many, I mean, you know, a lot of the hard core fans were like, well, it didn’t chart after seven days.  And we’re like, you don’t understand.  It could be months, it could be three CDs.  They don’t know what bands go through.  They think you put it out and you’re big, and this is a lot.

KF:  Well, to them, since we’ve made such a big splash in the internet world, they expect 2 million downloads to transfer into 2 million in sales the first week, and that’s just not how it works.

RNW:  So how are you transferring that internet success to your touring now?  Do you have a mailing list so you can tell people when you are coming to their town?

KF:  Yeah, it was really neat because we did a club show in New York City last week and it was as if we were in our home town because we had all these internet friends and fans that we made over the last couple of years.

RW:  Yeah I just sent out, Like I went through Outlook Express, cause one of the interesting things is now Interscope handles the entire data base of all the fans, but they can’t search it by city yet.  We’re working on it for next year (2001), I know, we can’t figure out why.  But I have the fan base too, and 14,000 emails saved in one of the folders, so I’ll just type “find New York,” hit it, and several hundred came up, threw them into another folder and sent them all emails saying we’ll be playing in New York.  Half the addresses were dead already, but it came back cause we packed the place.

KF:  I mean, sometimes you feel like you are taking a chance going to a new city, but the fact that you’ve already established an internet fan base there, they’re there for us.

RW:  And people will say, do you want to have dinner?  We’ve had fans and we’ve hung out with them for the whole day before hand, and it’s been amazing.

RNW:  Sight seeing and stuff.

RW:  Yeah, they’ll take us sight seeing, they’ve invited us to their houses to stay.  It’s the best.

KF:  Its fine.  Some people think it’s kind of creepy, but I don’t know.  When you’re writing to someone for a year or two, I think you get a real sense, unless you’re just stupid as a nail.  I mean, I just think you can get a real sense of whether they’re psycho or not, you know?  They usually start writing stuff like “I was walking through the woods and you naked came into my head.”  Then you know . . .

RNW:  Warning, warning, danger Will Robinson!

KF:  I don’t think we’ll be having lunch in New York.

RW:  Especially when they write that to me!

KF:  Then you back off from some of those.  You go oops, I don’t have time to answer that one today.

RW:  But its funny, even with everything that’s going on, and walking into the radio stations and them saying “So, what’s it like to be a star?”  Which, we’re like a million miles from that, but saying well, maybe we’re actually getting closer to that.  But all this attention, all the best things are still like, getting that email.  And when I get that, and they’re like “This song says everything, and my husband, that I’ve been with for 15 years, and we’ve been working shifts, different shifts and taking care of the kids, and we sat down and hugged each other all night because of that song, and he’s gonna change his job.  You know, we’re getting stuff like that, and “Thank you, we finally were close again for the first time in five years.”  That’s all that matters.  So, if we’re doing that, and helping out a few people with that particular song, that’s what’s worth it.

RNW:  Isn’t it interesting that you get your rewards in ways you never thought you would?

KF:  Oh yeah.  When I was in school and I’d sit down to a computer and I’d touch it, it would like explode, you know?  I’m not computer savvy.

RW:  That hasn’t changed one bit.

KF:  It has not changed one bit, and I don’t think I ever could have, first of all I don’t think I could have ever imaged that a computer would change my life in such a drastic way.  Second of all, I don’t think I could have ever imaged going on after Pat Benatar in an arena of 15,000 people.  My girlfriends and I used to walk down the road singing Pat Benatar songs.  I used to cover them in my first rock band, so its like, Fisher?  After Pat Benatar and then Fisher!

RW:  That’s the part that’s so unreal that you just don’t perceive it as other people perceive it.   Because you know, we’ll just be driving the Ford Exploder back to LA, and tomorrow we’re on the plane to Oklahoma.  So it’s just, its just really odd.

RNW:  You know, sometimes artists go through their entire careers still feeling that way.  And I think, in a sense, that’s a good thing.

RW:  So do I.

RNW:  And its those people who don’t think that way anymore, where you kind of see their performance, really just what they put into their music, become lackluster, you know?  When it all becomes old hat . . .

RW:  That’ll be no good.  Then I guess we’ll stop.

KF:  Its interesting, the people around us, we’re so not cocky and I think some of the people that we work with, they’re used to those kind of bands, right?  The cocky bands, and so whenever we allow ourselves to enjoy a positive moment, it freaks them out, because they’re like, oh man, is Fisher gonna stop being cool now?   Is that little switch in their brain gonna flip?  And we’re like, you know what guys?  Calm down.  We’re just enjoying today.

RW:  Yeah they’ll call us when we’re on the road and they’ll say, how did it go?  We say we were at three stations and it went great and they say that’s good, cause there going to be some bad ones.  We’re like, no s***?

KF:  God Sherlock, you know, that’s life.

RW:  Did I say it wouldn’t be this way?  I haven’t experienced one yet?  I’m not 14.

KF:  Its weird, they are conditioned to working with those kind of artists.

RNW:  There is a reason that we are you know . . .

KF:  And we’re not overnight success here.  We’ve earned our battle wounds.  We’ve got our battle wounds, and how ever far we go, we’ve earned it.

RW:  So I always bring up our Atlanta story.  We got asked to play at the 94 Olympics.  Turns out of course, there was this explosion, and we were in Olympic village as it is.  So we show up, I have an 88 key keyboard four band, but they’re renting the drum kit and the guitar amp, so those guys have it made.  I have this 110 pound keyboard.  We go through security, it’s a half mile walk.  No golf carts, nothing to help.

KF:  And it rained.

RW:  So I schlep it, we go on stage, it rains.  Now in Olympic village is this guy dressed, for whatever reason, as a giant blue tooth.  And his job is to go around reminding the athletes to brush their teeth.  So we do this whole set in the rain, to a giant dancing tooth.

RNW:  Come on, you’re messing with me!

RW:  So when we have a good day at radio now, it’s a good damn day, because that was a baaad day!

KF:  A baaad day.

RW:  And we still were laughing about it. 

KF:  I was devastated.  Oh, we played to a f***ing blue tooth.

RW:  I didn’t even know what it was.  The guitar player and I Jim, we just kept looking out there and I’m going that looks like a damn tooth.  And we went and asked.  And he’s like oh, I remind the athletes, he was like a Crest, a Crest sponsored tooth.

KF:  And there was a gold guy.  You know the blue guys?

RNW:  Blue Man Group?

KF:  Well this guy was like, all in gold.  He was all in gold and he was just like this tai chi man (posing).

RW:  This we have pictures of.

KF:  So Jim and I have pictures of where were like, facing the gold man.

RW:  It was bad.  That was a weird day.

RNW:  So, touring hell in 2001.  Are you writing, are you creating?  Do you do well on the road with that?

RW:  Actually, its interesting.  Two things have come up.  We’ll be doing the tour, which they didn’t know how long it would be, but it will probably be a lot of Borders book stores cause the label, and we’ve decided now maybe there’ll be a second single maybe in February or March.  Then we just signed with a huge booking agent, so he’s like maybe you should go on tour with David Gray, so they’re working on all these things that would be great.  So we said, well, if we have any down time, we’d love to start writing.  Even though it seems really early, its never too early to start.  And they’re like, wow, that’d be great.  And then Lenny Warniker, who’s President of Dream Works was talking about us writing with Rufus Wainwright for his next record, which would be wonderful.  So that kind of stuff will be great.

RNW:  Well, I wish you a lot of luck with what you are doing.  I think you’re off to a wonderful start and right on for getting it going on the internet.  It’s fantastic.

RW:  It’s been the best thing!
 

“True North” is a beautiful collection of music that speaks to the heart, whether it talks of becoming a victim (“Human”) or everlasting love (“I Will Love You,”) Kathy Fisher’s voice entwines perfectly with the thoughtfully written melodies to make this a must hear.  Two million people on the internet and out there in radio land can’t be wrong!  Sample a slice and let us know what you think in the fan speak section below.

Check the Fisher Tour Schedule

Listen to and Purchase Fisher's "True North"

Photos by Debbie Seagle. All Rights Reserved

FAN SPEAK:

Now its your turn, what do you think? Have any comments and questions for Fisher? Her is your chance! 

Fan Speak:

Posted by Max:
I haven't heard a note but I like the people. I can understand why they are making it they have a great attitude. The music industry needs more Fishers and less Fred Durst's!