Musician Aimee Mann Opens Up

by Katie Hasty

The way you write is very literary, lots of narrative—and this is a love story. What do you consider a great love story?

I’m very suspicious of love stories because they give a really false impression. Love stories depend on the idea that you can gain your emotional sustenance entirely from another person. I think that’s a very dangerous road, because you can’t. It’s a huge burden on the other person, and inevitably one of the people starts pulling away, like “Aah! I can’t take being your caretaker.”

Any relationships that were a catalyst for your songwriting?

I had a relationship with [musician and producer] Jon Brion, and I found that really inspiring because he’s such a great musician and he also played music all the time in the house. He was the house DJ—always playing guitar and stuff. Just to be around such a great musician, it’s inspiring. So we made a lot of music together and played shows here and there, nothing career-based, but just for fun. He’d be hanging around in the living room in his pajamas, playing some chord progression, and I’d walk in and be like, “What is that? I have some ideas for that.”

How’s writing songs around your husband?

We don’t write together; we play shows, but don’t write. Most of the time when I play him something, it’s more for his professional opinion, like “Do you think this needs a bridge?” or “Should I keep it at three verses?” It’s not really like “Hey, honey, listen to my new song.”