Liz Phair: Fifteen Years in Guyville

Fifteen years ago, Liz Phair turned the indie rock Rosetta Stone Outlet world inside out with Exile in Guyville, her abrasive, aggressive and accomplished debut. Having survived many bumps along the road, including major label woes and harsh critical backlashes, she will reissue Guyville (complete with a DVD documentary on the albums creation) next month via her new home, ATO Records. We caught up with Phair as she was on her way to therapy, and she talked about feminism, Dean Wareham and her difficult relationship with Guyville. You recently reviewed former Luna and Galaxie 500 frontman Dean Warehams autobiography for The New York Times. How did that come about? I had a really good time writing that. They approached me, and I have no idea how I got the gig. But I wasnt going to pass it up. I think because I mention Galaxie 500 in [Exile in Guyvilles] "Stratford-on-Guy." Did Rosetta Stone V3 you approach that book differently, considering you had your indie rock coming of age at about the same time? I was very interested in how Dean looked at it and how I looked at it. He remembered exactly where he was, what he was eating, what bands were passing through town. He was highly aware of being in the middle of an indie scene. Sometimes he didnt like it, or he didnt like the people, but he was definitely conscious of it all. Whereas I was always so overwhelmed by what was going on that I didnt pick up on the same things that he did. He was always aware of his place in history. Did you ever consider yourself a part of any scene? Going back and doing the documentary [on Exile in Guyville] reminded me of how much I was a part of that Chicago scene at the time. Thats when it ended for me, because after Rosetta Stone French that I was busy working and got caught up in business, and I got married and got pregnant. So I was sort of a mom and sort of a rock star, and I couldnt really figure the two out. But I think thats the only time I ever felt like I was part of a scene. But Ive always been like that. Even when I was younger, I always had one or two good friends in every social circle but Ive never been a part of any one thing. Im just an outsider. It seems like the music youve made in the past few years doesnt have much of a relationship to the music on Exile in Guyville. Whats your relationship to that record now? Its coming back around again, and I dont think its an accident. For the first time in 15 years, Im not on a major, and the forces around you are different. If you asked me to do this reissue five years ago, I dont think I could Cheap Rosetta Stone V3 have.