MARCH/APRIL 2011 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM Q&A Mark Liddell AVRIL LAVIGNE A pop princess strips down her sound—and fi ghts for her vision

GOODBYE LULLABY IS AVRIL LAVIGNE’S of compression on it, and the character tour. But the overall process of this record fi rst new album in four years—and her most and tone can get hidden. I want people was different. I worked in my home studio for emotional effort yet. “It’s not like I haven’t to hear the emotion. the majority of recording, and took more time gone there before,” says Lavigne, who has than I had on any of my other albums. sold more than 10 million albums since What emotional vibe did you want? releasing her debut, 2002’s Let Go, at age The main emotion is bittersweet, a blend How long did recording take? 17. “I’ve done that on some of my albums, of happy and sad. The overall message is I worked on this album for about two years, but I was really in that place and wanted to about life and its journey, moving forward so I’ve actually been done for quite a while. go more in that direction.” Ontario native and fi nding inner strength, being strong There were a couple of different release Lavigne has always had a hand in writing and getting through things. The album dates planned, but they didn’t happen. I ran her songs, including hits like “Complicated,” has a positive message, though. It’s into a little fi ghting with the record company, “Girlfriend” and “My Happy Ending”—but she not negative at all. because sometimes they come along with goes one better on the stripped-down new their vision. I said, “Um, hi, I have my vision, record, writing half the tunes on her own. What inspires you lyrically? this is my life, my record and these are my So much of it is from my life. I write songs. It’s my name, and you can’t tell me This album is your most acoustic-based about things I see my friends or family what to do. Do you write my songs? No, so yet. How did that develop? go through, things people in general you can’t tell me how to do this.” I’ve always enjoyed doing acoustic go through. And then a lot of it is me. performances. When I would do that with Actually it’s mostly me. Can you relate to the songs on Let Go my previous songs that have fuller pop when you sing them now? production, like “Girlfriend” or “Sk8ter Boi,” Why did you write alone this time? I connect with them. I love them. I love to play I would end up singing them differently I’ve written songs on my own before, I just them, and it’s nice to go back to them. I’ve when they were stripped down. I like how hadn’t put them on my records. For instance, always put a lot of myself into my music, so that feels, so I wanted to make an album I have a song called “Darlin” that I wrote it represents me, it was part of me—and it still that was more about acoustic guitars when I was 14 and put it on this album. I is. I’ve had this consistent message, without and the vocal performance. You can typically write on guitar but I wrote a lot of even saying it, of being a strong person and do a good vocal take with a lot of these the songs on the piano at my house or on standing up for myself. pop tracks, but the producer puts a lot the road. I’d been playing a lot of piano on –Eric R. Danton ‘I’ve always put a lot of myself into my music, so it represents me. It’s part of me.’

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