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by Jeff Bateman |
The walls of Alanis Morissette's bedroom are plastered with pictures and posters and favourite cartoons and clippings. There are a few prerequisite "hot babes," otherwise known as "hunks" though Alanis figures "babe" can be used in reference to either sex in the brave new 90s. Mainly there are photos of friends-happy, smiling, clowning friends, some a touch of out-of-focus but the good times shine through.
"My posse and my family are real important, particularly now," says Alanis. "I need some reality in my life."
This, you see, is no ordinary 17 year old Grade 12 student from Ottawa. She's the darkly beautiful dynamo whose prophetic dance hit Too Hot heated up the summer of '91 as much as C&C Music Factory and KLF. Her debut album is selling in remarkable numbers, making her second only to the Crash Test Dummies as Canada's most successful newcomer.
Somehow she's also found time to be an Ontario Scholar (marks that average in the 80-85 percent range). "I try to keep everything in perspective," she explains, and that's where her pals come in. "I haven't seen them as much lately; it's been so busy. I went across the country talking to radio and press. I've been making videos, working on new songs, but I was doing an autograph session in Ottawa, just signing album after album and I looked up and there they were, saying 'Please, can we have your autograph?' It was so cute. Friends like that are really cool."
While Madonna, Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul are her immediate musical influences, level-headed Aussie Olivia Newton-John is her true role model. "She had her stardom, but she had a family life and she is such a nice woman," says Alanis, evidently a pretty nice person herself. "It was so great watching her in Grease, combining talents as an actress, dancer, and singer. That was my dream as a little girl."
In the videos for Too Hot and the sultry follow-up Feel Your Love , Alanis did the all-singing, all-dancing thing, acting, as well, but that's nothing new for Alanis, who was a regular on the slapstick You Can't Do That on Television ( now seen on YTV).
Her immediate priority is school, and getting far enough ahead so she can afford to take time off early next year to promote her album in America. Alanis gets her respect for education from her parents, both former teachers.
She can also thank her dad for the unusual name. He is named Alan and wanted a counterpart for his baby girl.
"I've got a lot to be thankful for, but mostly I'm glad my parents and my brothers are there for me. As long as I have them, I'm happy, I'm sailing."
tgmag@tgmag.ca