Unbelievable
Catching Up With Cher as She Releases One Album Online and Prepares for the Follow-Up to "Believe"
by Lawrence Ferber
We believe in life after love, love after sex and especially Cher. And because she knows we're hungrily awaiting the official March 2001 follow-up to "Believe," the diva has decided to share an intimate set of pre-vocoder recordings with us in the form of an album titled "Not Commerical" (or "not.com.mercial" as the album cover art reads).
The creation of "Not Commercial" began in 1994, when Cher absconded to Miles Copeland's castle outside Bordeaux, France, for one of his semi-annual songwriters' conference/collaborations. Having always scribed poetry, the diva learned to set her words to music, and after collaborating with songwriter Bruce Roberts, Timbuk 3's Pat MacDonald, and David Letterman's band, she had an album's worth of songs. They touch on her World War II vet grandfather ("Fit To Fly"), a period during her infancy spent in a Catholic orphanage ("Sisters Of Mercy"), one of her daughter's ex-girlfriends ("Disaster Cake"), and even the tragic loss of Kurt Cobain ("The Fall").
Dance fans take note, however: "Believe" it's not. Instead, think country-tinged folk pop, with plenty of guitar strumming, soul and campire spirit, not to mention a personal, dark and impassioned Cher we've not heard before. In fact, it's such a Cher we've not heard before that the singer slapped a warning label across it and is exclusively selling the disc herself through her official online store/site -- www.cher.com -- and Artist Direct Network's www.cherdirect.com. As for what she believes regarding this latest release, well, it was with great pleasure that Cher put in a call to discuss it, her acting projects, her kids' tastes in girls and, of course, love.
Lawrence Ferber: Tell us about "Not Commerical" in a way you haven't told anyone yet.
Cher: I was actually listening to it and what I realized is that I'm not so sure it's a very good album. It's kind of like stories that are sung instead of stories that are told. I'm just not sure how musically important it is. I just think the stories are very interesting and worthwhile, but I'm just not sure -- like if I were a critic, I'm not so sure how I could critique it! We did the whole thing in two days with the guys from the Letterman band; we were just making a demo. And it was kind of like a garage thing, you know what I mean? It was a studio, but it was a very do-it-yourself kind of deal.
Lawrence Ferber: Did you write the poem to the song or the song to the poem?
Cher: I actually wrote the bodies and the ideas pretty much before we put them to music, and then while we were doing the music sometimes I would have to change them... The majority of them, like "The Fall" is exactly the way I wrote it. "Sisters Of Mercy" is pretty much exactly the way, and a lot of them are pretty much exactly the way I wrote them.
Lawrence Ferber: What sorts of poems and feelings an thoughts and stories didn't make it to the album?
Cher: There was one, a really great one, but we never finally finished it. It was called "Obviously Caucasian" that I wrote about my son, because he's running around like some guy from East L.A. and yet he's this blond-haired, green-eyed, palest person you ever saw. So I just wrote this song about him with this really cool guy named Bink who was at the castle, but we never really got it together. There's another song I wrote about myself called "Phoenix" that I got the word, but never quite could pay enough attention to get it into real song form.
Lawrence Ferber: Tell me about "Disaster Cake".
Cher: [Chastity's ex-girlfriend] Heidi was in a really bad place and she was staying at my house. This is after they broke up and she was staying with me and just headed for a really bad situation, so I wrote "Disaster Cake" about Heidi. She heard it when I first did it; she thought it was funny.
Lawrence Ferber: "Sisters Of Mercy" is about growing up in an orpahange with nuns?
Cher: Well, I didn't grow up there. I spent some time there, I'm not exactly sure [how long] because my mother doesn't really like to talk about it too much; it might have been anywhere from three months to six months to eight months. I'm not sure.
Lawrence Ferber: Were there lesbian nuns?
Cher: I have no idea. I was a baby.
Lawrence Ferber: I read that "Believe" was "repaying" gay fans by being such a dancey, high-energy album. Who is "Not Commercial" repaying?
Cher: Actually, that was a portion of it. And the truth is "Not Commercial" is not really for anybody specifically; it's for myself. One thing that I've noticed about myself, and gay people that have been my friends, is that we've both been through emotional turmoil in our life, and so I think that they can quickly access emotional values.
Lawrence Ferber: What sort of relationship do you have with Chastity now? I understand it's close, but do you approve of who she's dating?
Cher: Well, it's none of my business. I actually happen to like [her current girlfriend] Stacey a lot because I think she's really good for Chas. I think she's a really nice girl, but my mother couldn't tell me what to do; I can't tell either one of my children what to do.
Lawrence Ferber: Who has better taste in girlfriends? Elijah or your daughter?
Cher: Oh God. (pause) I'm trying to think. It's kind of hard because Elijah is into quantity right now, so it's very difficult to pin him down with girls, and Chas is very monogamous.
Lawrence Ferber: What about your own taste in relationships?
Cher: You know, I don't have taste in relationships. I just like people and think that you come in contact with people you're supposed to be with and you learn something from them if it's a moment or 10 years.
Lawrence Ferber: Are you dating?
Cher: No. I'm working. Not that I'm not going to -- very soon! -- but right now I start at about eight o'clock in the morning and I finish about ten o'clock at night, and that's kind of the way my life has been.
Lawrence Ferber: Are you more of a romantic or a sleaze?
Cher: Oh, I'm much more of a romantic.
Lawrence Ferber: What, to you, is a romantic night?
Cher: Oh. (pause) The movies always play some part in it. Cristal, the movies, popcorn, M&Ms, and sex.
Lawrence Ferber: Who's been the best kisser in your films?
Cher: Sam Elliott [my co-star in "Mask"].
Lawrence Ferber: How did Nicolas Cage fare [in "Moonstruck"]?
Cher: I guess Nicky was OK. I don't remember.
Lawrence Ferber: Did you kiss Meryl in "Silkwood"?
Cher: Meryl and I never had any relations because she was in love with Kurt [Russell] so I was always kind of rebuffed.
Lawrence Ferber: Was that upsetting? Could you get into that feeling?
Cher: No, because truth was I was kind of like the little sister to both of them. My character was very nonsexual in a strange way. I had a girlfriend in the movie, but all I ever did was get made up.
Lawrence Ferber: Would you rather marry a gay man or another woman?
Cher: Oh my God, that's the most absure question I've ever heard. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with the human being. It has nothing to do with the title, it has to do with the person.
Lawrence Ferber: Have you fallen in love with women?
Cher: No. I've had great best friends that I adore and love, but no.
Lawrence Ferber: Definitely a man's woman.
Cher: Definitely, yeah. I mean, I love women and admire them and think they're brilliant, but I'm definitely a man's woman, or a woman's man or whatever.
Lawrence Ferber: Have you been pursued by gay men or women?
Cher: Not really so you'd notice. I've got so many gay friends, I'm always hanging out with them, we're all very close, and I've got every kind of friend you'd imagine.
Lawrence Ferber: I've heard several people make the joking remark "After the nuclear holocaust there will only be cockroaches and Cher." Your response?
Cher: I just think it's adorable. It made me laugh so hard the first time I heard it. I think it's great.
Lawrence Ferber: Is Cher indestructible?
Cher: Not really, but don't tell anybody.
Lawrence Ferber: What's happening with the acting career right now? I heard something about a film called "Breakers" you were up for.
Cher: It was a movie I was going to do with Jennifer Aniston, but neither of us like the way the script came out so we both just walked away from it. Actually, I'm going to direct and star in a movie in the fall called "The Enchanted Cottage." It's about when you love someone, no matter what you look like, you're beautiful to the other person, and it's kind of a fairy tale.
Lawrence Ferber: How do you feel about your writing now that you've put songs to tape, and how will that attitude affect your follow-up to "Believe"?
Cher: It really won't affect it in any way because, look, I wrote the second verse to "Believe" so it's not like I don't do it, it's just not the main focus of my life. I rewrite all the movies I'm in. There's moments in every movie that I've had to be able to change or readdress because I have kind of a strange speaking pattern. By luck or whatever people always allow me to make changes and stuff.
Lawrence Ferber: What was it like to have no conflict for once?
Cher: It was pretty exciting.
Lawrence Ferber: Did it spoil you?
Cher: No, it was a one-time deal, but I like conflict.
Lawrence Ferber: It's part of the artistic process.
Cher: Yeah. Art is so in conflict, it's like telling an oyster not to be in conflict -- well, then you don't get the pearl, do you?
Lawrence Ferber: Do you consider yourself a control freak?
Cher: Oh, not really.
Lawrence Ferber: So it's more like customizing things to your capabilities?
Cher: Yeah, I know when I really can't say or do something. I've got limitations. I know that.
Lawrence Ferber: Is there any recent creative conflict that comes to mind?
Cher: The last conflict I can remember was on "Believe" where they didn't like the vocoder thing and I kind of said, "You can change this over my dead body," basically. They were afraid people wouldn't know who I was, but I said eventually they will know who I am.
Lawrence Ferber: Now everybody's using that darned thing. I think they should rename it the "Divocoder".
Cher: Well, in England they call it "the Cher effect." I heard [Madonna use it on "Music"]. I thought it was kind of cool.
Lawrence Ferber: Another absurd question: Did you design the finale of your last concert -- the big "Believe" number -- to be the gayest moment in concert history, which it was? That's going to be looked back on in a thousand years.
Cher: (laughs hysterically) No, I never even think about that kind of stuff.
Lawrence Ferber: Is the rumor true that you're planning another tour?
Cher: Well, I don't know. I'm going to the Forum right now to rehearse the [Hillary Clinton birthday] show, but then I go to London in November to finish my album and might do a small tour in June or July.
Lawrence Ferber: And the final cliche: Do you believe in live after love?
Cher: I absolutely do. Lawrence Ferber: No elaboration on that?
Cher: No. It's just simple.
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