Lisa Marie Presley


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ASCENSION ROCK by Christopher Loudon photography by Christopher Wahl SHE'S NOT THE FIRST CHILD OF AMERICAN SHOWBIZ ROYALTY TO EARN INTERNATIONAL FAME SIMPLY BY BEING BORN.
Almost exactly 5 years before Lisa Marie Presley entered the world on February 1, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, the arrival of Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV (aka Desi Arnaz Jr) bumped the inauguration of President-elect Dwight Eisenhower off newspaper front pages and earned the hours-old lad the cover of the debut issue of TV Guide. Nor is Lisa Marie the first offspring to follow in a legendary parent's giant footsteps. Desi Jr/ did it, with limited success, by fronting, with fellow second generation musician Dino Martin, the bubblegum trio Dino, Desi & Billy and by costarring in his mother's third hit series, Here's Lucy. So, too, did Jerry Lewis's son Gary, Judy Garland's daughter Liza Minnelli, Nancy Sinatra, various Crosby kids and assorted others of widely variable talent. But Lisa Marie's trajectory has been differently angled. First, she's chosen to wait far longer than most to launch a career, recording her critically acclaimed debut album, To Whom It May Concern, at age 35. (Indeed, for a while there it looked like Presley would, much like Christina Onassis, Anna Nicole Smith and Paris Hilton, remain famous simply for being notorious, especially in the wake of her short lived, high-profile unions with second and third husbands Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.) Also, though her illustrious last name obviously helped open certain doors, she didn't, unlike the majority of her celebrity progeny peers, rely on parental influence or intervention to gain mainstream success.
NOW, WITH THE RELEASE OF HER MORE ASSURED SECOND ALBUM, NOW WHAT, PRESLEY SEEMS HEADY, WILLING AND ABLE TO ASCEND PERHAPS NOT TOTHE EXALTED THRONE OF HER ICONIC FATHER BUT CERTAINLY TO THE UPPER RANKS OF ROCK ROYALTY'S REIGNING GENERATION. ON A RECENT VISIT TO TORONTO, THE FRANK AND REFRESHINGLY UNGUARDED PRESLEY SPENT AN AFTERNOON WITH INSIDE E, DISCUSSING FAME, FULFILMENT AND HER FATHER.
IE:	History has proven that making it as a second-generation performer can be mighty tough. Have you ever compared notes with other celebrity kids in the same situation?
LMP:	I have, but I'm not going to name names. It's interesting because I know people who are talented and come from parents of the same era as mine. They either sabotage themselves or simply give up because they're afraid. There's incredible pressure, and it's really not fair. I'm not complaining or whining, and I will admit that the beauty of [having a famous parent] is that it gets you more attention and in certain doors, but inevitably you get compared and crucified, and a lot of kids in that situation are never able to come out from under.
IE:	So, with the strength of the new album added to the success of the first, have you yourself reached a point where you no longer think of yourself as 'daughter of'?
LMP:	Honestly, no, not yet. It's quite a mountain to climb. I know I've made some headway but I'm very realistic and know I'll never get there entirely. It's too much of a long shot to ask for that. But do I feel like I've broken new ground and made a good thumbprint? Yeah.
IE:	The music business is, it seems, even worse than the movie and television industries in terms of its intense focus on youth. You made the brave, bold decision to enter the arena after age 30. At the time of the first album, did you think about how much more difficult it was not being 17?
LMP:	I didn't think about that. I don't go with the status quo anyway, which right now seems to be all about being 12 and half-dressed. There are other artists out there who have their way, like Melissa Etheridge and Alanis, I know what you're talking about, though, and I think it's a shame. I'm hoping that it's going to change soon. I was shocked that [To Whom It May Concern] even landed in the top 10, because I was thinking, 'there's no room. It's all rap and 17-year olds right now, and there's not much space at all for women in rock.'
IE:	On Now What's first track, "I'll Figure It Out", you use the expression "bullshit detector:' At this point in your life, do you have a pretty reliable detector?
LMP:	I do. I have to. I seem to have a pretty good gauge on people both in terms of their sincerity and other motives. It comes through trial and error. Things still slip through the cracks, but I seem pretty honed in.
~ "NOW I FEEL I'M MAKING MY OWN WAY, AND AFFECTING PEOPLE IN MY OWN WAY.~
IE:	So, you're like the personification of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."
LMP:	It would be very naive to say that. Whenever you think you're really good at something, life has a way of kicking you in the ass to remind you you've got a few more things to learn. But having good people around me helps.
IE:	Now What strikes me as gutsier and more self-assured than To Whom It May Concern, like you've found your own voice.
LMP:	I think that's true. I'm comfortable with my voice now. Comfortable with what I do have. What I do not have is technical perfection. What I do have is the ability to emote through my vocals. I can sort of purge my gut emotionally, and I think people perceive that.
IE:	You wrote six of the album's tracks with proven hit maker Linda Perry, but I understand you were at first reluctant to work with her.
LMP:	It was one of those situations where the record company said they wanted "hit insurance" and I was going, 'what are you talking about?' What does that mean anyway? Especially in the US, where it's very confused right now as to what is a hit and what's not. It's very political. I was very anti all of that and didn't even like being asked to do it. I immediately assumed them wanting me to work with her meant that I was selling out. But it was also a case of me not knowing much about her. So, I thought, 'okay, I've tried to write with other people and it was always like this isn't working out, so I figured, let's meet her and see how I fee. I went to a Christmas party at her house and we instantly hit it off. She's not anything like I thought she'd be. And our collaboration was a true collaboration from the very first chord all the way through the birth of each song. Also, she's fast, which I love. The first one we wrote was "High Enough," which is very noncommercial.
IE:	I like how you blend with Pink on "Shine." Were you comfortable pairing with her?
LMP:	I harmonize a lot with myself. I layer the vocals on my record like a maniac, to the point where it's a pain in the ass when I perform live. When she was harmonizing with me she sometimes sounded like me in the verses. But when she's doing her own thing, you can tell how distinct her voice is. We had fun together.
IE:	The album includes two nods 10 your friend Johnny Ramone, a bonus track cover of "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow," and your own tribute, "'When You Go"...
LMP:	I want to clarify one thing. When I wrote "When You Go", I had my mother in mind, I had my daughter in mind, my ex husband and a lot of other people I care about. The song is, metaphorically, about going off on a certain path and how you make other people's hearts break when you decide to head off, even if it's just temporary. And, it's also about beating yourself up while everybody else has to sit there and bear it. But it's also literal because right when I got it where I wanted it, Johnny went into the hospital, and I changed the words around a little bit. Then I had to sing it to him in the hospital before he died. That was hard.
IE:	Your father's fame shows no signs of dissipating, and obviously having his fans around has become a fact of life for you. Is that tough to deal with on such a constant basis?
LMP:	No, because it's not that constant. If it were, it would probably be very disconcerting. Also, there's not just one demographic. At the album signing I did [in Toronto on April 14], there were teenagers, Elvis fans, the elderly, people in my age range. Every type of person, and that's how it is at my shows, too. So it provides a good balance.
IE:	As you grow older, does your father's music resonate differently?
	No, it's always the same. I appreciate it for what it is.
IE:	Would you ever consider covering one of his songs?
LMP:	Not in the near future, but I would never say 'no.' I would have to feel like I had my own way to pull it off and not feel like I was doing it in order to get attention. I know it would be successful- [laughs] unless I really sucked at whatever song it was! It would kind of be a sure bet. I could have done that a long time ago. But now I feel I'm making my own way, and affecting people in my own way.
IE:	You're obviously not doing these albums to get rich or to become famous, which are certainly factors that drive some other performers. So, in terms of the music, what gets you out of bed in the morning and into the studio and on the road and willing to answer these same questions for the zillionth time?
LMP:	It's things like what happened at the CD signing. A girl came up to me and burst into tears and told me that her father was murdered around the time my first CD came out, and that the album got her through that. She was in tears, and put me in tears. That's what keeps me doing it.