BY GEMMA BROSNAN - IN NEW YORK

INDIA.ARIE is a refreshingly honest artiste who has never been scared of going against the commercial grain or telling it like it is, which along with her phenomenal talent, is definitely part of the appeal.

Since her 2003 ground-breaking debut ‘Acoustic Soul’ - which secured seven Grammy nominations and reminded women they could be real - the striking inspiration has produced three more albums, including her latest offering ‘Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics’, a follow up to the 2006 album, the earnest ‘Testimony: Vol 1: Love & Relationships’.

Her ability to reach the hearts and souls of women worldwide has won her many high profile fans from Michelle Obama to Oprah Winfrey, and she has just set up her own label SoulBird Music to help explore future projects.

We caught up with INDIA.ARIE to find out more.

GEMMA: You are currently on your SoulBird tour in support of your new album, ‘Testimony: Vol 2: Love & Politics’, which is a follow up to your earlier recording ‘Testimony: Vol 1: Love & Relationships’. How is it going?

INDIA.ARIE: It’s going good, I have finally made the kind of album I have wanted to make so everything is going great and I’m happy about it.

GEMMA: You have said previously that your mission with this album is "to spread love, healing and peace through the power of words and music."

How easy is to stay true that ideal when caught up in the commercial trappings of the music industry and was this one of the reasons you decided to set up your own label, SoulBird Music?

INDIA.ARIE:  Well, the mission statement is not just about this album, it’s about me as a person. In terms of the industry, at times it has been harder during my career and other times it has been easier and at this time in my career it is easier.

I have challenges, but in the end, I am proud of what I have done and know that I did the right thing for me with everything, from the lyrical content to setting up SoulBird, not so much because it makes it easier for me to be my real self, but having something like SoulBird is what I always wanted to do and I got distracted from that earlier in my career so this is now my vision for myself and for life.

GEMMA: Do you feel you have greater artistic control with SoulBird?

INDIA.ARIE: I do not think that is the case, I think I have greater control because I decided to make different choices about the outcome, but I’m looking forward to seeing what SoulBird is going to grow into because I am able to be with more expressive with myself and have other things I want to do.

GEMMA: There are various labels you have been given in the past, but you have made it clear you have no desire to be anyone's characteristic checklist of what it means to be neo-soul or neo-classic soul.

Is this because you prefer to avoid being defined by a particular genre or is it just a reflection of your distaste for labels in general?

INDIA.ARIE: I didn’t like the idea of someone taking black American music and taking the smallest section and dividing people into what they thought they were because it just didn’t sit well, putting black American music into smaller and smaller boxes and putting tight parameters around people who were actually being very free and expressing themselves in ways which were not typical at the time.

GEMMA: I know, I was given a copy of ‘Acoustic Soul’ a few years ago by a friend and I thought it was distinctively magical, not only because of your vocal ability, but because that acoustic soul fusion was so different to anything else out there at the time and the lyrics were very real, especially from a female perspective.

INDIA.ARIE: I’m really pleased to hear that, thank you so much.

GEMMA: You’re described the likes of Stevie Wonder and Sade as being inspirational figures for you. Where else do you seek inspiration for your music? 

INDIA.ARIE: I idolise James Taylor and he has brought me a lot of comfort all of my life and I have all of this other kind of music I love so I feel as though I’m a composition of all of my favourite stuff. I think that inspiration is a very spiritual process and songs are always in my head.

GEMMA: You recently played some of your new songs in NPR's Studio 4A, accompanied by reggae artist Gramps Morgan and singer/guitarist Blue Miller. What was it like working with them?

INDIA.ARIE: It was really natural, very organic and that’s what I love about this album.

GEMMA: Out of all of the collaborations you have done in the past, who has been your favourite?

INDIA.ARIE: All of them for different reasons.

GEMMA: Is it true that Akon was not your number one choice for your 2006 collaboration, ‘I Am Not My Hair’?

INDIA.ARIE: It’s true, I did that for commercial reasons and after I did that, I promised myself that I would never do that again. I like making music and creating musically naturally but with Akon it was that other thing. I don’t regret anything I’ve ever done in life – well maybe a couple of things – and I don’t regret that, but it definitely taught me a lesson.

GEMMA: Who would you have chosen to cover it?

INDIA.ARIE: There was a version on iTunes with Pink and that’s who I wanted to do it, but for some political, red-tape reason it ended up being on a television show with Akon and then released as a song.

GEMMA: Pink would have been a better choice, in my humble opinion.

INDIA.ARIE: Yeah, in my humble opinion too. I actually felt that I did new fans of my music a disservice by not being clear about who I am because I was reading comments on iTunes saying ‘I went to check out Akon and he is nothing like India.Arie’ and I did it because I knew Akon from over ten years ago back in the day and I was excited about this guy, but I wasn’t clear on who he was and in hindsight, I don’t regret it, but it taught me a good lesson about who I am and you’re right, he was not my first choice.

GEMMA: You have some very high-profile fans, including Oprah Winfrey, Nelson Mandela and, more recently, Michelle Obama. Who is your favourite?

INDIA.ARIE: I don’t know if I can really count Nelson Mandela as a fan, I met him and we had a really cool conversation about my music career, but I don’t know if he is a fan of mine. I consider myself a friend of Stevie Wonder because we talk about things other than music such as life which is cool because friends care about each other as people – it’s not just talking about their music.

GEMMA: You are hugely influential and considered by many females to be an empowering inspiration. Do you agree with those words and what advice would you give to any young women starting out in the music business?

INDIA.ARIE: I agree with those words and I am thankful and honoured for being viewed that way as I think that it is part of my calling to be empowering as a woman and feel that women can identify with my music because all of my songs are about me and my challenges and are from the perspective of a woman.

There are a lot of distractions in the industry and people often relate more to your physical being, so you need to stay true to who you are. If you want to be sexy, be sexy, if you don’t want to take you clothes off, don’t. It’s about knowing how you are.

I don’t make choices for the sake of making some kind of statement, I make choices to be true to myself and my own musical identity.

GEMMA:  You’ve recently branched out into acting and starred in the Atlanta-based indie flick ‘Pastor Brown’, where you played Sister Fatima and you have an upcoming starring role in the Broadway revival of Ntozake Shange's ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf’, the musical, which outlines the dilemmas of black women and is set to open in 2010.

Are you excited about it and how did you get involved?

INDIA.ARIE: You have to check out the cover of the book which came out the year I was born as I look so much like the woman on the cover. I remember being in my early 20s and people saying ‘there is a poster of you in our school’ so I went and got the book and when I got the call about being in the musical and they said I want you to do this, I love your music and we’ll make it work for you, I said yes.

I have been learning lots of things about acting and I’ve been able to really go and be in a place emotionally as a person which is great as acting was something I always wanted to look at and it is really good for experimenting but the real question is whether I prefer writing songs or whether I prefer writing essays and short stories.

GEMMA: Do you find writing therapeutic?

INDIA.ARIE: Oh yes, oh yes, if I didn’t write it down, I would have a lot of stuff spinning around in my head so I need to get it out.

GEMMA: It sounds like you have a lot of stuff going on and an exciting year ahead. Best of luck with everything and looking forward to hearing you at Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom tomorrow evening.

INDIA.ARIE: Thanks so much.

For more information on Indie.Arie’s new album ‘Testimony: Vol 2: Love & Politics’ and shows check out http://www.indiaarie.com