Tori Amos about her beginnings and influences

The singer Tori Amos talks with Guardian about her music beginning and her main influences.

What got you started?
I started playing the piano when I was about two, and got a scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore when I was five. But I left when I was 11.

What was your big breakthrough?
Leaving Peabody. My older brother Michael was into rock music, which my father hated. He was a minister, so it was banned in our house. But Michael would sneak the records in, and I’d play the Stones and Little Richard on the piano with him before dad came home. That, for me, was the beginning.

Which female artists inspire you?
I can’t name names: I’d be too worried about missing someone out. I remember reading an interview with one of my idols about 15 years ago, and she was asked something similar. She named all these other female artists – everyone around at the time who you could have mentioned – but not me. I was devastated.

Is pop having a feminist moment?
Ha! Yes – it’s great that there are lots of female artists around right now, but ask me again 10 years down the line. There is a phenomenal amount of pressure on women in this industry: they are considered vintage by the time they hit their mid-30s. Meanwhile, the men considered the world’s most beautiful creatures are hitting 50 – Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt are both 46

Original source: guardian.co.uk