THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Windy City Times: You've been to Chicago plenty of times before. What do you like best about it?

Sophie B. Hawkins: The people are what I like the best. The Midwest was one of the first places I toured. There is a simpatico. I have a sense of humor about things, Midwesterners have a sense of humor and are more tolerant. They are less judgmental about the superficial stuff. I always feel that the audience is really easy to relate to, so they expect more and I give more. I also love the architecture. It blew me away from the beginning, I can grow here, because there is so much room. Oh my god, it opened a new world for me. I love Chicago so much. There, I started to take visual art seriously—and this is coming from somebody from New York City.

WCT: You have a live double-disc CD coming out.

SBH: It has a really cool enhancement, too. It is very different, something a little more special. I am really excited about this live mix. It has the hits on it, but I am really different live. The mixer put it away for a couple of months and I thought I would hate it, but I was blown away. There are two versions of 'As I Lay Me Down' and they're totally different, which can happen depending on the night. Both are real and got soul. When I heard it, I said, 'I have got to get it out there! This is so unusual, so naked, so musical.' The musicians and I did not know we were being recorded, so there were plenty of mistakes. We pulled it off. This is a special record for me. It is an uninterrupted show. Right now I am hoping to get it distributed through Warner Brothers. But at my shows I will be carrying the live CD, starting in Chicago.

WCT: Over the years, I have seen you perform with a full band, as well with only two other musicians.

SBH: The band will be just the three of us—Darius Holbert on keyboard and Rock Deadrick, who was Tracy Chapman's drummer and has a voice like an angel. These are the same as the guys on the live record. Before hearing the live record, I was apologizing there were only three people on stage. There is so much room to explore and we really know each other.

WCT: You solely produced your third album Timbre. How different was it working with the Berman Brothers ( Amber, The Real McCoy ) as co-producers on your 2004 album Wilderness?

SBH: Wilderness was so low budget. I made Wilderness on my own and my demos were like an album. I didn't stop until I felt like I got it. I gave the Berman Brothers 32 tracks. What they did do, they made the sounds glisten more and redid the strings. I didn't have any money or a label, so they used musicians who were working with them on other sessions, pulling favors. This gave the album a more rounded sound.

WCT: What other projects do you have coming up?

SBH: I have a lot of songs for a new record. I am struggling on another song, which is always good as a writer. It's a big pain in the ass. It takes forever to finish a song because I can do 10,000 versions and none of them are right. Something new is coming, possibly later this year. Right now I am producing other artists, but only as much as I have to. It's good for me to write for other people because I love writing. I wrote some songs with John Neilson. He was really fun to work with. He's really weird, scruffy and artistic, like a young Tom Waits. He is so incredible, but he didn't get a record deal even though the songs are good. He's a real artist. I love this guy so much. I couldn't believe he didn't get a deal.

WCT: You were terrific on The Chris Isaak Show.

SBH: [ Chris ] is extremely sophisticated. He goes out of his way to make you comfortable. He really treats you like a guest and has an old-fashioned realness to him. Then I opened for him in Chicago. The shirt I wear when I perform live is a light blue shirt with ruffles and it is his. He was so jealous that he couldn't wear it anymore. I've worn it at every show since. That, and I wear my brother's jeans on stage until I wear them out.