Linda Perryis a little frustrated.
Still, all we can do is focus on the right now, she says.
Its not, Why arent there any women producers or engineers,' she says.
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Its, Why arent they being presented?'
On the other hand, its vitally important to show that this isnt some sort of token moment.
Youre a producer, not a female producer.LINDA PERRY:You are absolutely right.
If I were Pharrell, wed be talking about my songs and the music I have done.
There is not enough time spent on what women are doing, because we are always busy catching up.
We havent been focused on why we deserve to be here.
Its fresh, its cool, its done live.
And there are not a lot of producers doing albums right now.
Theyre doing a song here, a song there.
But at We Are Hear, we are signing artists, not people who need to be put together.
Thats why this nomination is so important to me.
So lets just do that focus on the now, and talk about the art.
We are getting collages that dont seem to quite fit together.
My job as a producer is to make the story cohesive and fit.
But I like doing albums.
I get approached all the time to do one song for somebody but I dont do that anymore.
It definitely seems like the single is valued over the album these days.
Great albums like Adeles, or Chris Stapletons sell, and sell well.
But it feels like were moving away from that.Its all about the playlist.
But whatever happened to the good old-fashioned album?
Labels say, Lets record a song and get fancy players, and release that.
Because it costs a lot of money to make and promote an album.
This is a woman who has written hundreds of songs.
Who has been in this business and gives 100 percent, all the way.
I have never met anyone with a work ethic like mine, and we matched there.
Time or breaks or food were never discussed.
How did you approach putting together theDumplinproject?
So I cleaned it up, hired a band.
Mind you, I was only asked to do one or two songs.
So I go in there with Dolly and shes like, Oh my god!
They are still me but they have an edgy, a more modern raw thing.
And Im in heaven now; Dolly Parton has just approved these songs.
I talk to her every day.
Will you do more projects together?We will write again and record again.
I told her, she is never working with anybody, ever again, besides me.
And youve produced the next Natasha Bedingfield album.
Shes been out of the scene for far too long.
We immediately signed her, because I know what she is capable of doing.
Everyone else wanted her to do Pocketful of Sunshine.
But we want to do what Natasha is now.
The record is so fing good.
People are going to go, What the fk, how did that happen?
And thats how I like to write music.
And thats the only thing I can hope for, for all songwriters.
I start adapting other peoples personalities, and their emotions and visions.
I need a retreat, and I need to be wiped clean.
Because Im just beginning.
When I turned 50, I literally felt like my career just started.
And if Im just starting, you better watch out, because there is a freight train coming through.
