Known worldwide for her smash hit “Mother, Mother,†musician Tracy Bonham is anything but a flash in the pan. A talented and classically trained musician, Bonham has continued to produce new tunes and tour over the years and in the process, amass new fans and develop as a musician. A tribute to not only her ability, but her willingness to experiment with her craft, Bonham, in a sense, has no true style and in return is as passionate about her work as ever. Chatting over the phone with Review Fix, Bonham discusses her career and the many roads she’s traveled on.
Review Fix: Many of our readers know you from your super-hit “Mother, Mother.†However, is there another song that you feel tells your story as a musician better than that?
Tracy Bonham: Well, I think the song “Mother, Mother,†was of a place and time in my life and I think I’ve grown away from that. I feel like the current music is definitely where my head and heart is at. It’s kind of frustrating to have to compete with a song that can really label you in one light. I have songs right now, like from my last album, songs like “And the World has the Nerve to Keep on Turning†and “Something Beautiful.†Those are songs that I feel are closer to where I am at now.
RF: Over the past few years, you’ve said numerous times that you write with your heart now, rather than your head. How did that process come about? Was it a natural process or more of a conscious one?
Bonham: I think when I started writing songs, I was a bit of a late bloomer. I started in my mid to late ’20s. I had a lot of stuff I needed to get out. My first album was really about me being angry at my ex-boyfriend and not knowing how to communicate with people and not knowing how to communicate with my mother and so I would mask things in my songs. I used song writing as kind of a medium to let my frustrations out. When I got older, or when I started to mature as a communicator, I didn’t have to rock the boat as much. When I was younger, I was scared of conflict. That’s why the songs were more edgy and distraught. But once I learned how to communicate better in my daily life, I was able to look inside and figure out, you know, what else I wanted to write about.
RF: You have an interesting introduction to mainstream music. Can you discuss that a bit? How did you go from being classically trained to succeeding in alternative and rock music?
Bonham: I think I’ve always had that kind of duality. Growing up with music, I had that type of love for classical music and did the whole practicing every day and the conservatory, but I always loved rock music, pop music, all types of music really. I always kept that with me. I wanted to be a Jazz singer for a minute and went to Berkeley College of music in Boston after studying violin. I always wanted to try different things. It was completely natural for me to just start writing songs on the guitar like the ones I was listening to in the ’90s by bands like The Pixies and other stuff that was inspirational to me.
RF: You’ve traveled all over the country during your career. Do you think that’s affected you?
Bonham: Well, there may be a story in there. There’s a saying that you can run away from a city, but you can’t run away from yourself. I think I may having been using that to kind of get away from myself. I’ve slowed down a lot now though and am dealing with myself a lot more.
Stay tuned for the next two segments of this feature!
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