Paul E. Pratt
OUT in the City

Joan Jett is an icon, especially among the GLBT community. She shot to fame with her 1982 smash I Love Rock ’n Roll, which topped the charts for a remarkable eight weeks. Jett scored additional Top 10 hits with I Hate Myself (For Loving You) and Crimson & Clovers before hitting Broadway in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This summer the original “riot grrrl” returns with Sinner, her first studio album in more than a half-decade. Backed by The Blackhearts, Jett spends the summer first as part of The Warped Tour before headlining gigs throughout the fall. She appears at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds on Thursday, June 22. Jett speaks with Out in the City celebrity writer Paul E. Pratt.

1. With some tracks on Sinner recorded eight years ago, was it difficult to remain contemporary and timely?
I dont know what I think about being contemporary in the sense I play rock 'n roll. I play three-chord rock n' roll, and that's what it's always been. People know what to expect from me, so in that sense I never worry about disappointing them. I don't worry about being timely either. I think themes of love, sex, social issues and politics are universal and, therefore, timeless.

2. Several tracks comment heavily on politics. Tell me about Riddles?
Every sentence in the song is commentary on what's going on in our country, whether you're talking about the war, Katrina or debt today. Our government doesn't say anything straight to us. It's like “What are you saying? Speak clearly.” It's not just the administration that's in office today. I'm sure the Democrats would have just as much double-speak. Change the World is not necessarily saying start a movement, but you can change the world by making sure your outlook everyday is bright. If you can't change the world on a global scale, change the world you exist in. Making someone else smile changes things.

3. Why include A.C.D.C., a great cover that talks about sexual ambiguity?
It's a song I go way back with. I heard it in a disco in L.A. It was a disco for teenagers. It was all glamour music, Gary Glitter, T-Rex. It's a great rock 'n roll song. It's very pertinent to the world we're in today. We've been doing the song live for a couple months now. Audiences don't know the song from a hole in the wall, like I do, and they're really responding to the song. It's great to see that.

4. What inspired Androgynous?
Paul Westerberg of The Replacements wrote that for me. I had to record it. It's something that really touches me. It's the path I tend to walk, even though I know I'm a girl and that's who I like to be. I don't tend to go into these roles people dictate about how we're supposed to dress, who we're supposed to be. I think it's fun to comment on that. We're all androgynous in that we embody both the male and the female.

5. Do you like to blur the lines?
I'm all about blurring lines. I think we get too caught up on 'you're on your side of the line and I'm on mine. We can't ever dip our toes on the other side of the line. To me, it's like a chalk line. I'm that person who comes across and wants to step over it just because it's there. Today, we almost get caught up in a group mentality, and that can be dangerous, poisonous.

6. Would you say your core audience is gay?
I'd think my core audience tends to be larger than the gay audience. Unless you're performing at a gay pride event or something, you never know. As you know, people don't really wear signs. They're just people. Some are out about who they are, but there is a larger audience you can't tell who they love.

7. Are artists with such long careers always looking for the next "big hit"?
Not in a calculated sense. I know my strength, and that's just being me. I know what people love about me, and that's playing songs like I Love Rock 'n Roll and I Hate Myself (For Loving You). If we have another big hit, great. If not, we just go out and play and do the best we can. We've had a chance to look at the songs on this album a couple times maybe because of how long it took to record, so maybe we have a better chance of having a hit? I just hope fans are as excited about this record as I am.

8. What do you think of the Britney Spears version of I Love Rock 'n Roll?
If you can believe this, I've not heard it. Most of my friends wouldn't play it for me. I haven't heard it on the radio. I don't know if it's on MTV. I'd be fine if I heard it. You're flattered if people cover your music. In that instance, I just don't get it. Usually you cover songs that say something to you. I don't know if that song says anything to her. I don't know what it could say to her. She didn't even know it was me. She thought it was Pat Benetar. I don't begrudge anyone covering music, though. That's why it's there, but you should do songs which speak to you.

9. What do you try to convey in your live performances?
Fun, really. I try to connect. If in that connection it conveys something, great. The main thing for me, though, is that connection with the audience. That's what gets me off. When you lock eyes with someone, and you see them beaming, so happy, you know it's about so much more than being that person standing on stage. The music is so special. It's a hard moment to describe, that connection. Some of those moments are heaven on earth -- to me, anyway, and that's so important. People come up and say “I went through this thing in my life . . .” and they tell you with such conviction how the music got them through the worst time -- or the best time -- in their life. That's why you're playing, and they're constantly happening if we just slow down long enough to see them.

10. By forming Blackheart Records, you were one of the first female artists to also be a record executive. What has that meant to you?
It's allowed me to continue to exist as an artist. It was do or die. It was no choice. To see it go from the trunk of a car as an office and now, 25 years later, to be able to put out our own records and help other bands put out records, that's awesome. It's just great. When you think about how many people don't get to do what they love as their work, their life, I'm just so lucky. It's an amazing thing. It shows other people you can do it -- even moreso, nowadays, I think -- with the big record companies not caring about things that sell a half-million records and under. It helps to have the indies out there. It really allows people to have choices.