Speaking with … Aimee Mann

By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
August 8, 2003

Aimee Mann creates perfect mood music. “Voices Carry” set that tone in the 1980s when she fronted the band ‘Til Tuesday. Her Grammy and Oscar nod for her solo songs in “Magnolia” clinched it. Touring in support of her latest album, “Lost in Space,” released on her own SuperEgo label, Mann will perform tonight at Navy Pier’s Skyline Stage.

HERE’S WHAT MANN HAD TO SAY:Voices still carry: You never know what people will like. We had no idea that song would still be played on the radio today.

Latest purchase: I bought an iPod [digital music player].

Best advice you ever got: [The Cars’] Ric Ocasek told me to keep my own publishing. That’s the best basic business advice, ’cause [musicians will] need it to live on in later years.

Favorite Chicago museum: The Museum of Contemporary Art is awesome.

What you’d do here if you had more time: Wander around the neighborhoods. It’s nice to get a sense of a town other than whatever bizarre corner your hotel happens to be on.

Touring truths: Unless you’re someone like the Rolling Stones staying at the Four Seasons and shopping in the glorious districts, you rarely get a chance to sight-see. The best you can hope for is to find a Borders or a Starbucks.

Worst job you ever had: Waitress. I tip at least 20 percent because of that experience.

Last good movie you saw: I just saw a screening of “The Human Stain” starring Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins. I’m going to write a song for it. Before that it was “Winged Migration.”

Scoring music for films: It’s kind of out of my league, but I would probably try if given the opportunity.

Book you’re recommending: I’m re-reading A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Broadway, $14.95) by Bill Bryson. It’s really funny ’cause he totally doesn’t know what he’s doing in the trails.

On the great outdoors: It sounds like fun but sleeping outside is not my thing. Maybe it’d be OK if I went with someone who knew what they were doing.

Outdoor vs. indoor concerts: For outdoor shows, music is taken as more secondary. So people are less likely to be concentrating on the music than enjoying the fresh air or whatever. That’s OK by me.

The last word: I’m happy with the way things are for me right now.