Janette Parris in conversation with Melanie Keen
Melanie Keen You have introduced a new mode, the musical, through which to communicate your ideas and the medium changes the way people experience your practice. When did you first develop an interest in using music as a medium?
Janette Parris I have always been interested in music lyrics, and I used pop lyrics in one of my first animations called Boogie Wonderland (1995). It did not have any sound, but I drew these figures mouthing the lyrics.
MK Prior to that you were mainly doing drawings?
JP I was a painter for years, but as soon as I finished my MA, I stopped. Your work definitely changes when you switch from painting to video. I wanted to get something across that I was not able to do in my paintings. I have always wanted to use pop lyrics and have always loved musicals even though a lot of people hate them. It was through videos that I came up with the idea of doing a musical, although I think one of my earlier soap opera videos was really a pop video.
MK After painting, music or the idea of music became integral to your work. Can you talk more about this?
JP Yes. When I first did one of the SE5 videos with a puppet and an actor, they were supposed to break into song, but then I thought that it was so ridiculous that I did not bother. In the end, I just thought: 'I'm going to write a musical.' The first one, If You Love Me (1999), was part of a show called My Old Man Said Follow The Van about artists interpreting the musical hall. There is a great distinction between musical film and musical theatre; the emotional response from hearing music live is different. I felt that my musicals should be live.
MK It raises the question about the nature of the relationship that live work has with an audience, particularly in a visual arts context.
JP Yes, you do have to think about the context in which the musical will be shown. I had not realised that the artworld would cringe during the musical; I was expecting them to enjoy the narrative and the songs. I just thought: 'Why are you cringing?'
MK Perhaps because there is something embarrassing about someone spontaneously bursting into song.
JP I am so used to going to see musicals that I never cringe. The heightened sense of emotion being presented can be a bit embarrassing, I suppose. I knew that the second musical You're the One (2001) would create that 'cringe effect'.
MK Are you saying that you built embarrassment into drama?
JP Yes, the style is semi-naturalistic and then suddenly someone bursts into song, which throws it. You are not sure whether you are supposed to laugh or not. If I did not introduce the songs, it would not be as embarrassing as a straight play.
MK 'Straight' as in non-comedy?
JP It is meant to be funny in that you are meant to laugh, but you are never quite sure if you should be. I deliberately get the actors not to play it as a farce.
MK So immediately there is awkwardness built into the audience response?
JP Yes. If you read the script you would think it was slightly humorous - not laugh-out-loud, hysterically funny, but tongue in cheek. When I am directing, I tell the actors not to play for the joke, which is the best approach to comedy, I assume.
MK How does the music punctuate the script because you do not use an original score?
JP It has to be existing pop music as those types of songs are familiar, even if you do not know the exact song. Those songs evoke a certain intensity of emotion without me having to write it in the script. I only ever use music at certain points in the play; instead of expressing something in words, the character just sings it. I suppose that is why it comes across as surreal. If a character has just been dumped, that emotion is difficult to express in words, so a song is used to communicate those feelings, in a similar way that songs and music are used in films to convey emotion.
MK So what motivated you to do the current work, Mezzo Soprano? (2002), in which you are going to sing live on stage, accompanied by a band?
JP The tension lies in the fact that I am not a singer. I am an artist creating a situation that is potentially embarrassing for both the artist and the audience. In doing so, I am introducing an element of pathos into the work.
MK Is it about process and preparing for the performance or do you expect people to mistake you for a professional singer?
JP I want to get as close as I can to the genre I am borrowing from. With a musical, I know I can never replicate a West End musical, but I want to get as close to a proper stage production as I can within the limited budget available. It will always be slightly different because I am an artist trying to learn to sing. I will never sing like Chaka Khan unfortunately - it will always be me singing and no one will mistake me for a professional singer. I am not trying to be a pop star or get a record contract. I am simply interested in the pop song as a medium.
MK Can you explain why?
JP People already have a concept of what a pop song is all about because it has a huge history, which means that you can bypass a lot of explanations by using it. I am an artist who happens to want to talk about expression in relation to pop songs.
MK How have you chosen the songs that you are going to sing?
JP I have scripted the performance, because I am using song to tell a story in Mezzo Soprano?, but it will not be a straightforward linear narrative with a beginning, middle and end. Whether people understand the complete narrative through the songs that I choose is another thing. There will be an element of both narrative and fiction.
MK In using Mezzo Soprano? as a title, are you referencing the significance of the voice for conveying expression?
JP I do not think so. But if you say you are working on a singing project, some critics assume you are talking about the voice in conceptual terms.
MK Well, there are a number of projects, some live performance and some video work, which have used singing specifically to convey a range of concerns. Artists like Sonia Boyce, Jacqueline Donachie and Bethan Huws have used gospel choirs, country and western singers, and folk singers respectively. In those contexts, the voice has been a powerful transmitter of meaning.
JP Yes, it does carry meaning but I suppose most people think it is about giving myself a voice. In a literal sense, I suppose I would have to agree, as it obviously touches on those issues, but it was not something that I consciously set out to do.
MK I see this as a piece of performance art, with you as a performer.
JP I am using performance art like I use any medium in order to get an idea across. For this particular project, I just know that it is definitely me who has to perform, but I will have to wait until after the performance to figure out why.
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Interview with Janette Parris and Melanie Keen. 2002