Vanessa Carlton bucked the odds. A ballet school drop-out who plays the piano? Doubters didn't think it would fly in a chart dominated by half-clad pop tarts. But with the success of 2002's "A Thousand Miles," Carlton showed a knack for verbalizing hopes and fears of teenage girls. On the new Harmonium, the singer's melodic flair serves the darker aspects of her personality on songs like "White Houses." She told VH1 about working with boyfriend Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind and why Broadway might be next.
VH1: You worked on the new album for a year and a half. Was it a relief to get it released?
Vanessa Carlton: It was really an intense time. It still doesn't feel like it is closed for me. There is no closer on the project for me.
VH1: How have you changed since your debut Be Not Nobody?
VC: In some ways a lot and in some ways not much at all. I have gone from being a 21-year-old with wide eyes to a 24-year-old woman. With success comes a lot of responsibility and power. In a lot of ways, things get a bit heavier as you get older. The ways I haven't changed are in the lightness of youth. I am able to be as girlie in ways that I should be.
VH1: Was it important to have your boyfriend working with you on the album?
VC: That's the first time I have ever worked with a producer that is also a writer. He has the confidence to say, "You know what? I don't think that lyric is finished. You know what? You should push yourself more in this way or in that way." It made for an uncomfortable environment sometimes, but that's the environment that ends up breeding great art - or at least improving what was there originally.
VH1: Lindsey Buckingham helped on a track. How did you guys hook up?
VC: Fleetwood Mac was a couple of doors down from us at the Record Plant in L.A. Stephan actually ran into him in the kitchen and he asked him if he wanted to come hear a song. He played him "White Houses" and he loved it, so he picked up an acoustic guitar, played a few things, and left.
VH1: Does working with such vets rub off on you in any way?
VC: It's more of a personal learning experience. I am not this big celebrity, but it gets really crazy. You have to go through the nuts of blowing up, in a sense, and then figuring out how to live your life with that.
VH1: Is it difficult to talk about songs that are so personal to you?
VC: Every time I get up on stage it is almost like VH1 Storytellers. I'm telling the stories of the songs and I enjoy sharing that with people. I don't necessarily feel comfortable divulging the details of my life, but there is always a way to communicate to the people that are listening. That's really important - not just to hear the music, but to hear the song behind it also.
VH1: Do you have any idea of where you are going from here?
VC: Some part of me says it might get a bit more esoteric, but you don't know what songs you are going to write. I don't put boundaries on myself when I sit at the piano. Who knows? Maybe my next album is going to be an album of waltzes. Or maybe I will score a film or do theater or guest in a Broadway show. I want to be making records for years and years, and I think to have major commercial success and maintain your artistic credibility is difficult. If I was to choose one over the other I would chose artistic credibility, but who knows? I have no idea what is going to happen. I just sit down and write my songs.
VH1: Which is probably what happened with a song like "A Thousand Miles."
VC: Right. It just kind of happened and it will never happen again like that.
