Sneak Peek: Avril Lavigne talks The Black Star Tour

 

Avril Lavigne is finally saying "hello" to Canada for her latest road trip, The Black Star Tour, in support of her fourth album, "Goodbye Lullaby," which was released in March. She has spent the past five months taking her new live show all over the world -- China, Russia, the Bahamas, Brazil, Italy and in between. The pop singer begins an extensive Canadian arena tour in Victoria, BC on October 1 and ends 16 shows later in Montreal on the 25th.

MSN spoke to Lavigne on the phone from Paris about what she has in store for her countrymen.

Karen Bliss: At what stage in the making of "Goodbye Lullaby" did you start thinking about the tour?

Avril Lavigne: I always think about the tour when I'm writing the songs. I was ready to not have to try to rock out so hard and to be able to take it easy on stage. This album, in general, I didn't want it to be over-produced and I didn't want it to have a ton of tracks. I wanted it to be about the vocal performance, capturing the emotion in it and just being able to hear it and get the feeling out of it behind the lyric.

"What The Hell" is the first single but it isn't really what the rest of the songs are like. I'm excited to be releasing 'Wish you Were Here' as the third single because that song really reflects this album and what it stands for. I wanted this album to be little more song-driven, more stripped-down -- respect being a singer and being a songwriter. I love the song 'What The Hell' and it's so much fun to play live and it's kind of like my older stuff, but to get to this point now with this single, I'm excited for that.

KB: On your earlier tours, you would sit at the piano and you'd just have the band, no dancers and no distractions. We could marvel at your voice or see you play guitar or sometimes get behind the drum kit for fun. Is this tour just the band or do you have dancers?

AL: The tour is just the band and I. There's not much of a production. It's just us up there playing the songs. There's a lot of rock-out moments where I'm playing all the older songs, like "Sk8er Boi" and "Girlfriend," and even "What The Hell," and then there's some more stripped-down moments where either I'll be on the piano or it's just more acoustic, so there's a mixture there. And it's nice having those moments to switch it up and just be like, 'Okay, I'm going to chill out right now and just sing [laughs].

KB: What about the stage design and lights?

AL: For lights and stuff like that, I just wanted to keep it dark, to use a lot of red and blue. Just keep a moodier, darker tone.

KB: Last time, you were all about the pink and black. On the DVD that comes with "Goodbye Lullaby," there's a tour rehearsal segment with your band where you are all joking around about the silver. Is there still a silver drum kit or silver mic or silver guitar?

AL: Yeah, we have a little bit of silver. Like the boys are wearing silver shoes and some of us have silver guitars, but we have silver and red. And there's a red curtain behind us. And, yeah, the last tour was the biggest production that I'd ever done with dancers and all that, pink and flashy [laughs].

KB: Are you changing anything up for this [Canadian] tour, even for yourself, because you've been touring for so long?

AL: We're gotten into a bit of a groove. We changed a lot around in South America. Every night I was putting in a different song, taking something out. The set has progressed and changed. You can only change it so much though because you kind of perfect it after experiencing it live.

And you have different sections. The beginning, of course, is my rock-out section. I run out and I'm like, "Woo!" get the crowd to dance. And then I like to strip it down and do some kind of moodier, more mellow pieces, and then I like to come back out and try to rock out again, but the thing is, I don't have a million fast songs so you try things out. Sometimes you try different versions; sometimes you speed it up; sometimes you strip it down.

KB: When you recorded "Goodbye Lullaby," you hadn't road-tested any of the songs so they hadn't taken on a life of their own. Are they any from the album that have now changed from the recorded version?

AL: When I do "Stop Standing There," I play it on piano and my guitar player gets on the drums.

KB: That's my favourite song on the album with that rhythm...

AL: Thanks. I wrote that one myself. And I like to play that one on the piano because I wrote it on the piano, so I'm like, "I already know how to play it. Let's just do it like this [laughs]." Yeah, every country and every audience responds and reacts differently. Sometimes, you feel like you want to play more fast songs. Sometimes the slow ones go over really, really well in certain places. See, I was kind of feeling it out, vibing it out, and switching songs up.

KB: What have been the highlights of the past five months on the road [Avril started touring in China at the end of April]?

AL: I feel like it's different. It's easier and it's the most fun I've ever had because of my experience now. I have a bigger catalogue so I have more songs to pick from. I always found it challenging on my first tour because I only had one record to work with and what happens is that certain songs go over really great live and some are okay, but some are better than others. So now, I get to pick and choose, "Okay, love these ones live. These ones aren't my favourite." So now I have more options.

Also, I've been working on my vocals and I've trained with a vocal coach so that I don't lose my voice. I feel like my vocals are definitely the strongest they've ever been because: a) experience; and b) I'm singing correctly. I put so much work into this tour with training, and I do 45-minutes of vocal warm-ups because I get out there and I focus really hard and sing differently from a different place and sing correctly.

And I have such an incredible band. They're so professional and they're amazing musicians that when I get out there I don't have to worry how is it gonna sound or how is my voice gonna be? I get to just put all my energy towards the audience and performing and making sure that they have a good time. So it's a different type of headspace that I'm in.

KB: That said, is it weird to look out and all these people who have paid money to come see you play are watching your show through their camera phones?

AL: That's what I do when I'm sight-seeing or something happens, I pull out my camera and then I'm like, "Why aren't I just looking at that?" I have a bit of a funny story. When I went to Japan for the first time, they were all saying, "Hey, when you're onstage, you might see people holding up cell phones. Just so you know, it's 'cause there's cameras." Because they had that way before we did. But, yeah, it is funny, the whole sea of people usually do have their flashes and their cameras. I never really think about it, but it's cool; it just means that they want to remember the moment [laughs] and stick it up on YouTube.

KB: I know. It's such a different time. I don't have to remind you that next year will be 10 years since you put out your first album.

AL: It's insane and since I started writing my first album, since I was 16, I've been literally living this for 10 years at this point, but yeah, it's crazy.

KB: What do you recall about that young teen, right before "Let Go" was coming out?

AL: [Pauses]. I was so innocent. I was super-young. I just loved music. And it happens. And I still can't believe that it did. And every day, I'm super-grateful. And I still can't believe it, you know? Definitely for me, a dream come true and I'm so appreciative and I'm so grateful. I'm here and I'm making the best of it and having as much fun as I can.

KB: Is it more work or more fun than you imagined back then?

AL: It was a lot of work in the beginning. And I was young. I've learned to find a good balance between not exhausting yourself by over-working and enjoying it because it's music. It's fun! But it gets to be hard when you're gone on the road for two years and you're away from your friends and your family and your body takes a toll. So I've learned how to keep a balance, to make sure that I enjoy myself. I work hard, do what I need to do, but you gotta have fun with what you're doing. It's really important.

KB: Some people want to be famous. That's their goal, which is a hard goal, but you were the shy kid who loved music and had a fantastic voice and wanted to write songs. And on that first album, you became massive and have stayed there. Have you settled into fame nicely as you've gotten into your 20s?

It's funny because living in Los Angeles, everyone wants to be famous. Everybody wants to be either an actor or a singer or this-that, but their intention is that they want to be famous and rich. And my intention as a little girl -- I didn't even know that this was really an option -- I loved to sing and wanted to be onstage, whether it was being in my parents' family room in front of the guests or being up onstage in my high school, singing the Dixie Chicks [laughs] or singing around town or even singing in the mall in Toronto. I just wanted to sing, and so it came from a pure place. And I'm glad it did because it's something that I love. And so it was super genuine.

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Posted in: Avril Lavigne Interview,The Black Star Tour