E-mail a friendRosanna Arquette
airdate May 10, 2005
Rosanna Arquette was born into a show-biz family. In her acting career, she's appeared in many critically acclaimed films, including Desperately Seeking Susan and Pulp Fiction. She also won praise for her role in the TV movie The Executioner's Song. In '04, she produced and directed her first documentary, Searching For Debra Winger, on ageism in casting. Her latest effort, All We Are Saying, is a look at what makes musicians tick. Arquette also champions awareness of breast cancer - a disease that felled her mother.
Rosanna Arquette
Tavis: Rosanna Arquette is a talented actress with memorable roles in movies like 'Pulp Fiction,' 'The Whole Nine Yards,' and 'Desperately Seeking Susan.' She clearly picked something up from being in front of the camera because she's now a successful filmmaker in her own right. Her first documentary 'Searching for Debra Winger' won acclaim for tackling the issue of ageism for women in Hollywood. Her latest project takes a revealing look at life in rock 'n' roll and what makes musicians tick. The film is called 'All We Are Saying,' which just debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Here now, some scenes from 'All We Are Saying.'
Steven Tyler: There was a time when our catalogue was worth $24 million. Now it's worth like 12 cents since they've invented downloading.
Iggy Pop: Right...
Chrissy Hynde: Fashion has destroyed everything I love about rock 'n' roll.
David Crosby: That's what puts Britney Spears, who's about as deep as a birdbath, in front of joni mitchell.
Tom Petty: It looks a lot like professional wrestling. They know it's fake, but they don't really care, you know?
Man: Snoop and Dre were Mick and Keith. I mean, this is what the Stones look like today.
Second man: Hip-hop is the new rock 'n' roll because of the machine.
Marilyn Manson: The only way to be revolutionary now is to take the revolt that you have for the world and create something that is revolting.
Tavis: Rosanna Arquette, nice to meet you.
Rosanna Arquette: Nice to meet you.
Tavis: Glad to have you on the program. Where did the idea for this one come from?
Arquette: You know, I'm friends with a lot of musicians and, um, I love music, and I was just starting to see, 'What is going on? What's happening to the bands that I love?' And music today is--young artists don't have the same kind of lifespan anymore, you know? I mean, a new band could come out and if they don't make it immediately, it's over, you know? And I was kind of sad, and I thought, 'I want to talk to some of these great heroes of mine and see--see-- I wanted to cover 3 subjects. I wanted to talk about the state of the art of music today, inspiration and muse and their balance--how they balance their life with their art. And so, I asked these questions and, um, put together a film.
Tavis: Let's take 'em and pick 'em apart for a few seconds, if I might. So, the state of music today. What did you learn there?
Arquette: You know, it was really great, I interviewed Jimmy Iovine, who probably is the state of music today. He's like the guy and runs it all pretty much. And, you know, he said some very interesting, powerful things about how, you know, hip-hop is the new rock 'n' roll and rock 'n' roll has kind of gotten lazy, and he's hoping that the saturation of hip-hop in our culture even would at least maybe scare rock and make, you know, some new, cool rock 'n' roll come out there and--and so that was really interesting to me, you know, 'cause I still love rock 'n' roll. I love hip-hop, too, you know, especially when it's great. But there's, you know, bad rock 'n' roll and there's bad hip-hop, but, you know, both of them are--
Tavis: Is that really what the answer is, that rock 'n' roll has gotten lazy? And I ask this because I was just looking at an article the other day somewhere, on a plane reading a bunch of stuff and came across an article that talked about how there is an uptick, a significant uptick in radio stations that play hip-hop, and there is a downturn in the number of stations that play rock 'n' roll, so hip-hop is really pushing rock to the fringes in terms of radio airplay.
Arquette: That's very sad. I--
Tavis: But is that because it's gotten lazy, or something else that I'm missing?
Arquette: I think it's because it's--what is in the forefront of popular culture is hip-hop right now, but, I mean, I still love--I mean, I love to hear a Tom Petty record. I love-- Bruce Springsteen is going out there playing, you know, acoustic right now--
Tavis: And selling out.
Arquette: Yeah, of course. And U2, I mean, anywhere they play, but there's new young bands. I mean, I really love-- I think Green Day is a good rock 'n' roll band, and, um... But I don't know what the answer is. I don't know why it's that way. It just seems to be that it's what is selling more. It's just really strange. Tom Petty says in the documentary, you know, that rock 'n roll has gone the way of blues and jazz now. You know, it's not in the forefront, and that's kind of sad.
Tavis: For you, before I go to the second issue you covered here, the inspiration, before we jump to that, tell me for you, a rock 'n' roll fan, what the downside to that is. When you hear less rock 'n' roll on radio, when new bands don't get the chance to have the kind of longevity that the stones have had and others have had, what's the downside for a rock 'n' roll fan like yourself?
Arquette: You know, I find myself just listening to old music a lot, you know? I'm still--I still also play Led Zeppelin records and the Beatles, you know? I will because I love that kind of music, but then you have like a Sheryl Crow, who is out there, you know, still playing arenas. But, you know, as a folk rock act, you know, there's a lot of talent out there. It's just sad that they're just not getting signed like they did, you know? Like it's really hard for a young artist to go and get a record deal anymore. But then you have the fact that the Internet, even though there's a lot of bad things about this downloading thing, there now is a way for young kids to kind of put their music out there in these, you know, websites they do, like myspace. Then you'll have a whole, you know, huge, 60,000 kids, you know, writing each other about a band that's, you know, popular. And they don't even have a record out, but they're just kind of putting it out, um, independently and that's maybe the way of the future, too, you know?
Tavis: Before I go to inspiration, something just hits me now as I'm sitting here talking to you, Rosanna, and, if I were a cynic, and I'm not sure I'd have to be a cynic to say this, but let me phrase it this way. I could argue that maybe this is the chickens coming home to roost. Rock 'n' roll started being stolen from people of color, namely African Americans, who did the riffs, and Elvis--a lot of stuff--we all know the story of what Elvis took--and Elvis wasn't the only one--but a lot of folk who don't look like me took stuff from people who do look like me, and that's what gave rock 'n' roll--all it takes is hearing Little Richard somewhere to remind you that they stole it from me. So maybe the chickens are coming home to roost now that rock is being pushed out, hip-hop is on the front. What do you think?
Arquette: I think music is good no matter what it is. If music is the language that we all can understand, it's the one thing that can bring people together. So whatever, however it gets out there in whatever form it is, it's important. I think music is really important. I think it can change people's life. I think it can get messages out there. I mean, I personally, you know, love a lot of hip-hop, you know? And even, you know, when they're commenting, you know, the poetry of violence, and it's just commenting on society and the way their lives are, and I like it.
Tavis: Yeah.
Arquette: But I also love rock 'n' roll, too. And I do agree, yes, um, rock 'n' roll was inspired, got its roots from blues, you know? Absolutely.
Tavis: So maybe Jay-Z is getting the revenge for Muddy Waters or something. I don't know. To the inspiration. What did you learn about their inspiration?
Arquette: Well, ultimately, you know, everybody kind of writes from their own life experience and their... You know--it's funny, I have Andre 3000 in there and he was saying--
Tavis: From Outkast.
Arquette: Yeah, from Outkast, and he says, um, he was wondering do people get better when they get married in their writing, or do they get worse? And he says it seems like they get worse because people are writing about, you know, their pain and the search for love, and then when they're happy it's like nobody wants to hear those songs.
Tavis: Yeah.
Arquette: So it's funny.
Tavis: What was the thread here? Was it the muse?
Arquette: The muse is, like, just--the musician's inspiration and where it comes from for them. I just really love the creative process a musician has that just kind of--just can, out of nowhere, it comes through them, this, you know, call it God if you want. Something's coming through, you know, the talented, great musicians, and they just suddenly--where did that come from? And I'm fascinated by that. I know that happens to a lot of great actors, too, you know, like I've seen their work and they sometimes will go, 'Whoa. Where'd that come from?'
Tavis: Just channeling.
Arquette: Yeah.
Tavis: I wonder whether or not you think that music speaks to us today in the way that, one could argue, it used to? And that's really about lyrical content and inspiration, but music--you know, I love music in part because it can make you laugh, it can make you cry, it can make you think, but on some level music speaks to you. One could argue that maybe the music today isn't speaking to us in the way that it used to--not that every song--
Arquette: Does it to you? Like, what do you think of hip-hop?
Tavis: A lot of it does, and I'm not suggesting that everything written has to be socially redemptive, because everything--you know, Marvin Gaye talked about what's goin' on, but he also said let's get it on.
Arquette: He's one of my heroes--
Tavis: Yeah.
Arquette: God, I would have loved to interview him, 'cause he is one of my favorites.
Tavis: I wonder what you think, whether it speaks to us and maybe that's what it's missing, that it's not saying anything.
Arquette: Well, it's--it-- I think it's saying a lot. I mean, there's a lot of--lot of music that's saying a lot right now, but I don't know if people are listening to it in the way they were, maybe because of just--it's so, the computers and the busyness and the stress of life, the war, the news. You know, music used to be the way that we actually could change the world with music. I mean, you know, it was great when Springsteen did this tour recently with Vote for Change, which was, you know, a very powerful, important concert, I thought, just to bring awareness. All he was saying was that you have the choice. And in the sixties, that was such an important thing, you know. You could do a Woodstock and--
Tavis: Your parents took you to Woodstock, did they not?
Arquette: Yeah, I was there. I wish I could say that I remember Hendrix and all that, I really wish.
Tavis: You could lie and say it. We wouldn't know the difference.
Arquette: I only remembered Country Joe and the Fish, but I just don't remember--God, I wish I could have seen Sly and the Family Stone, you know? Now that was a great band.
Tavis: So, I gotta get out of here right quick. You're gonna do more of this? You have to give up on the acting thing, though, because--
Arquette: No. I just did a pilot for ABC that J.J. Abrams produced, Dana Stevens wrote, so that's exciting, but I'm actually gonna direct 2 features, so I'm doing 2 feature films, and I have another documentary that I want to do.
Tavis: I could have guessed that the feature was coming with these 2 successful documentaries. Nice to have you on the program.
Arquette: Thank you.
Tavis: 'All We Are Saying' is a new documentary by Rosanna Arquette. And Rosanna, again, nice to have you on the program.
Arquette: Thank you so much.
Tavis: That's our show for tonight. A reminder: you can catch me back on public radio this weekend, and for that matter, every weekend now. We can talk once again on public radio through Public Radio International, PRI. So I'll talk to you on radio this weekend. Check your local listings for that, but I will see you back here next time, as always, right here on PBS. Until then, good night from Los Angeles. Thanks for watching the program, and as always, keep the faith.
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