Tori Amos - J Files interview 16th July 1998

Awkward telephone interview airing on Australian radio station Triple J's 'The J-Files' program, airing 16th July 1998. Tori is interviewed by host Richard Kingsmill.

[@davidhanifin]

It sounds like Tori had a difficult time with the press prior to this interview. Credit to Richard Kingsmill for handling the interview so well.

[@rosadeo7763]

Speechless. Flawless. Ready or not she reading.

[@trudeau5944]

He is just like "I'm a hard Investigator", fail in this, fail in her. An absolue fail in everything around music. I'm a fan of hers and saw this today for the first time: Love.

[@eamongilligan3262]

I remember listening to this live, and feeling kinda disappointed in Tori because she'd always seemed so open and pleasant in other interviews and here she was being kinda difficult. She may have been overtired as she mentions being awake over 24 hours, but it still was very awkward. Then later I heard about the combination in her life at this time of miscarriages and terrible treatment by the music industry and I could empathise somewhat with her. Then about 10 years later she came back to Australia and had another interview on JJJ where they played this old interview back at her and she was mortified and wanted to apologise directly to Richard (I think she wrote him one as he wasn't in that day?). This video should be somewhere online too. The fact she owned it later and made no excuses and apologised was very mature I thought.

[@B-rock-braga]

It's very obvious she was in a bad mood, and the misunderstanding got carried away. I've been there.

[@cmcgrew98]

"This would not get played in America". Me in 2021 listening in Michigan, lol.

[@MitchQuintana]

This interview is so cringe-worthy.

[@KaliyanCJPalmer]

I love tori so much

[@bigtimetorifan]

Thinking that perhaps Tori came to realize over the years that when being interviewed she is aware about being perceived as a 'space cadet' and typically is very long winded with her answers & maybe she's trying to reel herself in with her clipped sounding answers here. Jmo

[@reanolan]

Feels like she was fuming about something that had nothing to do with the interviewer. Her mention of not being able to chose where she goes (..."ask East-West" when he asked when she would come to Australia) suggests something... anyhow I think she was being resistant, and projecting some frustration onto him. Poor guy. I say this as someone who has always held Tori in the highest regard, she's among my top 5 most important artists and influencers.

[@HawkOfGP]

Tori does elude in the interview to having been badly represented by the press at 4:50. Clearly she was not in the best of moods here. I would guess she might have read something about herself she was particularly unhappy with recently. Or had a particularly frustrating interview before this one. Who knows exactly. Awake for the last 24 hours as she says could be the explanation in itself, I'd think. Now the only mistake poor Richard here does is not quite getting to the same wavelength with Tori who is really not in the mood for a regular interview. Instead he gets completely perplexed which is of course understandable. Now, it could have gone a lot, lot worse than it did too!

[@CarolH2O]

wow she was up 24 hrs here so maybe she had taken ayahuasca the day before?

[@meganwarman6688]

This doesn't even sound like Tori!!smh.

[@czarcasmo]

I think the first question irked her. How would you ask an artist if they’re proud of their work when they’ve dedicated their life to it. I think perhaps she felt attacked by the first question and just tried to give him a hard time in the undertones of what she’s saying. Once she is talking about the muse, it’s really Tori talking to the interviewer...

[@8tsunami7]

It's a dumb question but harmless. It's something interviewers ask so the artist can talk him- or herself up.

[@fluorescenticon101]

8tsunami7 It’s not a stupid question. Many artists look back on their work and don’t like certain aspects of it or feel overall proud of it. Tori has literally said that about her “Y Kant Tori Read” album.

[@eleanor4759]

It's a basic/neutral question. She was so off in this interview.