Freda Love Smith, writing at Talkhouse:

Juliana Hatfield and I were bandmates in the Boston indie-rock band Blake Babies. This year marks the 30-year anniversary of our music video for the song “Out There,” which featured us shaving our heads on camera.

In early 2020, my band Sunshine Boys supported Juliana for a few shows on her US tour, and during a backstage chat we discovered we were both sick of dyeing our hair to hide the grey, and had both been thinking about chopping it all off to let nature take its course. Months later, during COVID-19 lockdown, we decided to take the leap together again, making a tidy bookend with the “Out There” video shoot 30 years earlier.

The article goes on to include an edited transcript of an email exchange between Freda and Juliana as they "reflect on now and then, going grey, and growing older."

There are photots of their glorious new haircuts there too, so I won't spoil the reveal by posting them here, particularly if you haven't seen Juliana's Twitter in recent days!

talkhouse.com/freda-love-smith-and-juliana-hatfield-got-matching-quarantine-haircuts/

Michael Lello, interviewing Juliana for Highway 81 Revisited on the Police covers album:

[Juliana]...quickly dismisses the notion that performing songs written and originally sung by a man had any impact on her approach to them.

“No, not at all. I don’t think gender matters at all in these songs,” she says. “I did not change the gender because I think sometimes when a woman sings a man’s song, sometimes they change the gender and I always find that very jarring. It disturbs the song. It takes you out of the trance of song. I don’t think it matters what pronouns I sing. Plus it changes my perspective too. With ‘Roxanne,’ when Sting sings about it it’s a different story, it’s about a streetwalker, being in this agonized love affair with a streetwalker. When I sing ‘Roxanne’ I’m singing about a friend who’s a streetwalker.”

From an interview by Brent Thompson for Birmingham Stages ahead of the upcoming US tour:

Birmingham Stages: You have a large catalog of music at this point in your career. With that said, how do you comprise your set lists these days?

Hatfield: It can be really random. I made an album of covers called Juliana Hatfield – it was self-titled and kind of an obnoxious name for an album of covers [laughs] and I made it seven or eight years ago. Someone reminded me of the song I recorded by Teenage Fanclub called “Cells” which I hadn’t thought of for a long time. And I thought, “Oh, maybe I’ll play that one in the set” because I remember how much I liked it. There’s no real system. I’m trying to pull things from lots of of different years – doing a bunch from the last few albums and then going back to the first and second albums.

Juliana is interviewed by Craig Rosen, talking about her Olivia Newton-John and Police projects as part of a feature at Tidal on the subject of covers:

Hatfield admits that she has done at least one ironic cover, in her earlier days. Earwig, a 1989 album by Hatfield’s band the Blake Babies, featured a cover of the Stooges’ highly sexualized anthem “Loose.” “That was a little ironic,” she says. “It was also kind of a joke, because I was a virgin at that time and I was singing this cock-rock song.”

These days, Hatfield says she’s no longer interested in being ironic. “What’s the point in belittling anything that was made with love?” she says. “Music is really precious, but it’s complicated because it’s all caught up in commerce. You have to be careful. If you’re going to knock something publicly, there has to be a real reason for it.”

Here's a couple of 1993 TV interviews that have appeared on YouTube in recent weeks, both of which I don't think I've seen before.

There's Gary Crowley giving it a big British "JuliARNER" pronounciation in his London interview (which also has an acoustic version of My Sister), and a Japanese TV interview from earlier in the year previewing Become What You Are.

Thanks to Carlos for the info.

Juliana is interviewed by Dan Alleva for The Aquarian to talk about the Police covers album:

[DA] I think a perfect example of that on the record is your rendition of “Roxanne.” You completely deconstructed and reinterpreted it in much darker context. It sounds as though you were really trying to underscore those lyrics and the narrative as well as you could.

[JH] Well, actually I think I didn’t really have a clear concept when I went to record that. I was thinking that I can’t do reggae. I’m not a person who can play reggae authentically or anything like it. I’m not going to even attempt to go there, because it would seem false and poser-ish. I was just thinking like, ‘Oh, take away the band and just make it really stark and it’ll be like me talking to my friend, the prostitute, and trying to help her out of the life of the street.’ And really, that’s the whole concept. Just break it down so it’s like me pleading in a way with her, like, ‘Come on, you can have a better life.’ It’s sort of supposed to be like a conversation between me and my friend, Roxanne, the prostitute. It’s very raw. The situation is very raw, and to me—I don’t want to make a big thing about it, because I think that sex workers have a right to do that kind of work—but when I do think about prostitution, I just think like, ‘Ugh… what a harsh life that must be.’

[DA] It’s an interesting construct because with the original version, it’s a man speaking to a woman, and with your interpretation, it’s two women having a conversation with each other. I don’t know what the right word for it is, but it seems—I don’t want to say that Sting was disingenuous—but the patriarchal nature in which Roxanne’s plight is narrated by a man is different than how you presented the theme.

[JH] I think it’s more sympathetic coming from me. Because in the Police version, it is certainly a john who’s in love with a prostitute, and he’s just really selfish and jealous. Like, he doesn’t want this person that he’s in love with to do it with any other men. And it’s really selfish, I think. My version is not selfish; I’m trying to help my sister out of that life rather than just be like, ‘I don’t ever want you to [see] any other men.’ It’s about being better to yourself.

From a feature in The Boston Globe by James Sullivan, Juliana on The Police:

“I was a huge fan,” she said. “I had everything. All the B-sides. I had all the bootlegs on cassette. I knew every second of every bootleg. Every nuance.” While still in high school, she saw more than one Police show at the “enormo-domes,” including the 1983 gig the band played at what was then Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, with the Fixx and A Flock of Seagulls.

Sullivan also mentions a bit about the writing project she's working on:

Since finishing the latest album, she has turned her attention to some new long-form writing — essays, mainly, about the process of making a record from an artist’s perspective.

From an interview by Bruce Fagerstrom for Magnet Magazine:

[BF] Sting has commented that the surface prettiness of “Every Breath You Take” lulls some people into missing the sinister nature of the lyrics. As a singer how do you approach songs with such strong narratives? I’d throw “Roxanne” into that as well.

[JH] I know these songs and the melodies so well that I almost don’t even think about the lyrics because they are like second nature to me. Especially when I am singing; singing is such a physical act for me. I rarely think about the words I am singing. It’s just trying to push the notes out. But when I listen, I am drawn to things that have a darkness, have more than one layer of meaning. I get bored by love songs, I don’t relate to them. If “Every Breath You Take” were a straight-up “I love you forever, baby” song, it would bore me.

Juliana, from an interview with Will Hodge for GRAMMY.com, on the genesis of her latest covers project:

Almost immediately after releasing the Olivia Newton-John album, I started thinking about who I should do next. For a while, I was actually thinking of doing Phil Collins, both his solo songs and also his time in Genesis. I had already started to make a list of his songs when one day I was listening to "Long Long Way to Go" from No Jacket Required. Sting sings background vocals on that song and as soon as I heard his voice, I was immediately struck by the thought, "Wait, I should really be doing The Police."

I have much more of a connection to The Police and was a bigger fan of them than I ever was of Phil Collins. Apart from two Genesis albums that I really love, Duke and Abacab, Phil Collins is more of a singles artist to me. But growing up, I was truly fanatical about The Police and had all their albums and knew all the deep cuts. I just switched my brain over to Police mode and that became the new concept.

From Darryl Sterdan's interview with Juliana for Tinnitist:

Are you already writing your next album?

JH: I’m actually trying to write some other stuff first. I’m taking a few months to write a long-form prose thing. But I’m starting to get ideas bubbling up, and I’m writing down some lyrical ideas. So I have a feeling I’m going to start writing pretty soon.

Do you think it will be another introspective album like Weird?

JH: No. I think it’s going to be like Rage Against the Machine, but my style. It’s going to be a protest record. But I want to do something that’s really really simple, with repetitive choruses and not a lot of words so it’s deceptively easy to sing along with — but very definitely protest music.

From an excellent article by Justin Chadwick for Albumism where Juliana comments on each of the songs on the new record:

“Every Breath You Take”

This is another one of those deceptive creations that at first makes you think you are listening to a straight-up love song. But really it’s pretty twisted, sung from the point of view of a creepy stalker, a person who won’t go away, who is obsessed with an ex. The song structure—the way it moves and flows and builds—is perfection. It’s sonic ambrosia. I can’t get enough of it. This song is the gift that keeps on giving

From an interview by Katherine Yeske Taylor for The Big Takeover, Juliana on upcoming plans:

So you’ve already started working on your next album of originals?

JULIANA HATFIELD: Well, I am actually taking a little break. I’m writing other stuff, I’m working on a longer form prose thing. I wanted to step away from making music for a couple months, just to write this other stuff, and then I’ll get back to songwriting in the beginning of the new year. I have to be creative: I also draw and paint. I have to be doing something all the time or I just go crazy.

Are you going to do any tour dates for this Police covers album?

JULIANA HATFIELD: Yeah, we’re going to tour in January and February, about a month in the States. It’s going to start in Chicago and go down and West and all around and end up in New York around Valentine’s Day. We’re still finalizing the dates, but we’ll put them out there as soon as they’re all fixed.

Juliana, from an interview by Dave Rayburn for Discussions Magazine covering a number of area around the soon the be released Police covers project:

DR: ...Why The Police?

JH: I sort of did it on a whim. Actually, I was preparing to do Phil Collins covers, and then sort of at the last minute… you know what, I don’t really have an emotional connection to Phil Collins. And, there’s just not enough depth there. So, I just went sort of automatically to The Police because I do have an emotional connection from childhood. They were a big, big thing for me during my adolescence. Same as with the Olivia Newton-John record. It’s like I’m being drawn toward artists that were very important to me at a certain time in my life. I mean, I have a plan to do more of these albums and I think that in the future I’ll be able to look back and say, “Oh yes, these all had something to do with what I became.”

Ahead of her Detroit show this week, Juliana is interviewed by Jeremy Porter for The Pencilstorm:

JP: Weird feels like a natural transition from Pussycat and JHSONJ – not so much lyrically but musically. The guitar tones, arrangements and riffs have a nice growth but a consistent feel that sort of takes your natural pop vocals and vocal melodies and puts them above a musical bed that weaves somewhere between 70s classic rock and indie-pop-rock. Do you approach the writing process with a direction in mind? Or do you just sit down and whatever happens, happens? Can you expand on that a bit and how it might relate to the feel of this trilogy of records as compared to some of your previous releases?

JH: I never have a direction plan when I sit down to write. I have an open mind. But I do have habits and things that I tend to do over and over again. I can't change my instincts. I have a certain aesthetic preferences, and I have a certain natural, personal style that I have settled into and I produce all my own stuff which is why my stuff lately tends to have a sound and a feel. It's raw and unpolished but also really melodic. I am also in love with the mellotron flutes sound on my Microkorg keyboard that I acquired about five years ago so that sound ends up on everything I do these days. No matter how gnarly the guitars get, I always like to mix in some keyboard flutes. It sounds good with everything.

Juliana, interviewed by Scott Tady, for The Beaver County Times ahead of her show in Pittsburgh, commenting on Weird and the recent video for Broken Doll:

“I think (the video) came out really funny but also provocative. Another thing in it is physical comedy, which I’ve always wanted to do. I’m a big fan of pratfalls, so I wanted to do that. Like Chevy Chase in the ’70s on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ or Chris Farley. So I got to do some of those falls,” Hatfield. “But it’s also making a point about how women in our society are put out to pasture. And it’s making fun of glamor, which is based on such a lie.”

See also a separate interview with Jeff Niesel for Cleveland Scene, also about the lineup for the US dates:

For the current tour, Hatfield recruited Dean Fisher to play bass and has “two local Boston guys who I’ve never toured with before” in the band as well. They'll play songs from her 30-plus year career.

Freda, John, and Juliana are interviewed by Jack Rabid for Rock and Roll Globe to talk about the reissue of Innocence and Experience. It's an excellent read. They talk about an unreleased song ("Radiator") which they all seem to love and which any fan reading will now be very keen to hear! They also all speak in remarkably candid detail about the early 90s break up. An excerpt:

FREDA: Regarding our demise, it was indeed, as Juliana remembers, long and drawn out! What was hardest for me was that we agreed to break up but kept playing shows, mostly to fulfill our obligations. Being a dead band rocking was no fun, and on one long tour I was very depressed then got super sick and went home in the middle—to be replaced by Juliana’s brother—and then I opted out of our final tour of Europe because it just felt sad and pointless to me. I’ve always needed to feel like I’m working with a sense of hope and direction and forward momentum, and the Blake Babies had that in our early years, which was exciting, and when that was gone I checked out, disappointed and a little wounded. Now I wish I had rallied to keep my shit together for a strong ending. My regret about that was one factor in my suggesting the [2001 comeback fourth LP] God Bless the Blake Babies reunion album and tour—I wanted a happier final chapter for us! I’m not sure if it’s because of the reunion or because of time, or because of love and friendship, but I don’t have any bad feelings about the breakup now. I just feel lucky I ever got to be in a band with Juliana and John.

From a feature published today at Under the Radar:

For our recurring Self-Portrait feature we ask a musician to take a self-portrait photo (or paint/draw a self-portrait) and write a list of personal things about themselves, things that their fans might not already know about them. This Self-Portrait is by Juliana Hatfield.
...
Read on as Hatfield writes about the skill she wants to master, her hands, and the thing that most makes her stomach queasy.

Read Juliana's words in the article at http://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/self-portrait_juliana_hatfield

Patrick Hickey Jr, with a great interview for Review Fix with John and Juliana reflecting on the recently reissued 1993 Blake Babies compilation:

Review Fix: What made this album special for you when it was originally released?

JH: Well, it was a compilation of a lot of stuff that had already been released so for me personally it wasn’t so crucial that it was even put together. But I think it was nice for a lot of people out there who maybe hadn’t heard the original albums to be able to grab one single overview that contained a bunch of songs from a bunch of different places so that they could get a taste of the band.

JS: I enjoyed compiling this album, but it was intended to be a sort of retrospective once the band was in the process of breaking up. It was really emotional for us at the time, but I think we all believed we were on our way to more significant career accomplishments after Blake Babies. It was true for each of us I suppose, but not necessarily in the careers we intended. But I think it’s undeniable that our band launched Juliana as a force in popular music in the 90s, and any ambivalence I might have felt at the time has resolved into feeling very proud of what we all did together.