Liz Phair: Fifteen Years in "Guyville"

You've been critically attacked for most everything you've done since Exile in Guyville. How have you dealt with it?
It did bother me. I stopped reading press because I couldn't write. I couldn't deal with reading about what people thought about me all the time. But how could I escape it? Everyone was like, "You suck! You don't just suck, you really suck!" They were so angry, and I couldn't understand what made them so angry. I reserve fits of anger for people that I know who might have done something mean to me personally. I got into it with one writer who was like, "Do you know how personal that record was to everyone?" And I was like, "Do you know how personal it was to me?"

Do you consider yourself a feminist icon?
I don't think of myself as an icon, but I think of myself as interested and can get ruffled at gender inequality. I still get touchy when people say that guys are interested in sex and girls are interested in love. It's bullshit.

Do you think you were treated differently as a woman in the business?
I think the inequality extends everywhere. I think it's also a drag to be a guy in a lot of situations. We have trouble with differences, and I think we're approaching it the wrong way. But I think we can evolve as a species.

Did you gain anything from your major label period, or was it all a disaster?
I enjoyed a lot of it. I enjoyed having a Rolling Stone cover. I enjoyed having a radio hit. I think people who loved Guyville didn't understand this, but I'm a lifelong radio listener. My experience with music my whole life has been finding music I like on the radio. I loved making expensive videos and going on fashion shoots, and there was a lot of stuff about business that fascinated me too. I felt good about a lot of the major label experience, but it's not where I really shine. I'm so much more passionately involved when I get to do it my way. But I still love singing those pop songs.