Meredith Brooks: Hi, this is Meredith! I welcome all questions, let's talk!

DreamCatcher_123 : How long have you been a singer?

Meredith Brooks:My whole life, since I was two.

Mix_n_Match_n_Erica : Hey I'm a bitch just like you, and i would like to know what inspired you to write that song? Thanx, luv ya

Meredith Brooks:The point is . . . I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, etc. What inspired me to write the song was knowing that we all have different sides to us...in order to be a whole person, we have to integrate all sides and functions with all sides.

sungodess90 : who is the most important person in your life?

Meredith Brooks:Well, there is definitely more than one. I would have to say my mom, my family, my boyfriend and my immediate, close friends.

don5_1999: Meredith - Did you enjoy doing Lilith Fair?

Meredith Brooks:Yeah, it was a great experience, I loved meeting all of the girls who I worked with. Especially Queen Latifah, whose rapping and singing on my upcoming new album.

sungodess90: fill in the blank: if not for ______ you wouldn't be here now?

Meredith Brooks:My survival technique.

kendalilama : Do you feel you have changed at all since you have become famous or do your family or friends treat you differently???

Meredith Brooks:(laughs) No, my friends and family don't treat me differently, they know better than that. In some ways, yes, I've changed. Hopefully, for the better. And, in some ways, I've changed, because it can also become an isolating experience.

manolis_varnassinger : what are the artists you'd love to work with?

Meredith Brooks:I'd like to work with Jacob Dylan. The top of my wish list is Queen Latifah. I'd like to work with Sheryl Crow. We've tried, but we've been too busy. And a list too long to continue!

deconstructing_the_edges : Hey Meredith, can't wait til the new album, I love the song clip of cosmic woo-woo... what is your fav. song on the new album and what was your inspiration to write it?

Meredith Brooks:that's really hard to answer because, like a mother with her children, I love them all the same, and yet, all differently. One of my top favorites is "I Have Everything." What inspired me to write it, was getting such huge success, and not having my soul mate to share it with.

manolis_varnassinger : is it true your father is a sheriff?

Meredith Brooks:Yeah. (laughs) Yes, that is true! He's a retired sheriff now.

korul88 : Meredith, what makes you laugh and are your feet ticklish?

Meredith Brooks:(laughs) cute question, I've never been asked that before. One of my favorite things in life, absolutely, is getting my feet tickled. It makes me fall asleep. But you have to tickle me just right. What makes me laugh is when someone cracks a joke when I'm being too serious.

Limp_Fred_Lady_6969: Got any pets?

Meredith Brooks:I just got a new kitty. His name is Mr. Tobias, I call him "Toby." I'm gonna put a picture of him on my website.

deconstructing_the_edges: Do you have any idea what your first single will be titled?

Meredith Brooks:Sure do. "Lay Down." It's the one Queen Latifah sings on. One of the schools that I mentored, Crenshaw High, they sing on it, too.

manolis_varnassinger : what happened to the members of your old band do you keep in touch with them?

Meredith Brooks:Yes, they played on my album. Mark, the bass player, is coming over in about an hour. The drummer will be touring with me part-time. He has a baby, and he doesn't want to be full-time on the road, and I agree. Yogi joined a band called Buck Cherry. Paul, my keyboard player, is in big trouble becuase he joined a band, and I wanted him to tour with me. But I wish him the best anyway.

NorthernLights91 : If you could do a duet with anyone, who would it be?

Meredith Brooks:My first choice was Queen Latifah. Jakob Dylan, George Michael and Sheryl Crowe would be my other top choices.

kool_kat_1 : Would you encourage teens to follow your footsteps and take up music, or would you tell them to do something more academic?

Meredith Brooks:I have a mentoring program called AMP . . . Anybody's Mentoring Program. I go into high schools and I encourage kids to respond to their creativity by reaching out and networking, right in their own back yard, to start with.

happydaisy54 : Meredith, in your song bitch, did you feel that you were in a sense "taking back the word," kind of like how some gay people refer to themselves as fags?

Meredith Brooks:Absolutely.

NorthernLights91: You seem like the kind of person a lot of girls could relate to and look up to. Do you ever think about what it means to be a role model? Has it/Does it affect you in any way?

Meredith Brooks:I think about it all the time. That's what drives me to do AMP. It keeps me clean. In other words, I have to really do what I tell others to do. I have to walk that same walk. I can't get away with being bullsh*t, not living up to my own potential, if I'm encouraging others to live up to theirs. And that can be hard some days.

Limp_Fred_Lady_6969 : Who is your favorite woman rocker?

Meredith Brooks:Chrissie Hyndes, hands down.

manolis_varnassinger: is there any song you d love to sing but you still haven't?

Meredith Brooks:Probably "I can't make you love me." I probably won't ever sing that becasue Bonnie Raitt did the most incredible job that anyone could do on it.

NorthernLights91 : Do you diet and worry about how you look?

Meredith Brooks:I really try not to obsess on how I look, but obviously the disease of our country does not support people being at their natural weight. It supports women to be impossibly thin. And very self-obsessed so, I excercise moderately, probably every other day. I just try to watch my sugar intake.

Limp_Fred_Lady_6969 : Have you ever wanted to act?

Meredith Brooks:Not really.

chick_021 : What do you like most about your clothing style?

Meredith Brooks:Probably that in ten years that I can look back in ten years and not be too embarassed, because my clothes are pretty simple and classic.

sungodess90: what's your favorite body part?

Meredith Brooks:On others the eyes, on me, my breasts.

happydaisy54 : Do you ever get tired of playing your hit singles in concert? It seems that the crowds always demand the songs they know from the radio.

Meredith Brooks:No, not with a song like "bitch," it rocks. The message is good. It's fun to sing. I'm very proud of that song.

happydaisy54 : A lot of people feel that your work is very female-centered. How do you identify with your male fans?

Meredith Brooks:I try to be human-centered. And, obviously being a female, I'm going to see it and express it from my point of view. But I have tons of male fans, not just because the way I look. One guys said, he thought I lived in his apartment for two years while I was making "Blurring The Edges."

Chonas14 : Wut do you do in your spare time??

Meredith Brooks:What spare time? Because of AMP, I don't have spare time anymore. But once in a while I just hang out in my house. I just moved to a new house. I hang out with my kitty, and my girlfriends a lot.

SELZTER : Do you find yourself to be a helpful person to society?

Meredith Brooks:I would like to think I am. The first reason I might be helpful is that I took time out of what people in society think you normally should do. I work really hard on dealing with my problems. And secondly, I've taken my problems and put them to music. I've taken it to kids and other people to help them.

littleangel745 : Do you plan on visiting any canadian schools to speak about the benefits on mentoring?

Meredith Brooks:I go to schools wherever I tour.

umbx : Do you have any plans to tour the UK?

Meredith Brooks:I have before, and I will again. I don't know . . . as soon as "Lay Down" becomes a hit. (laughs)

Black_Roze_Blue_Heart: do you have any tips on a begining song writer?

Meredith Brooks:Don't let anybody around your music that's negative. Keep pressures away. Try to write every day.

sungodess90: if you could spend the day with some1 who you haven't seen in a while or is dead who would it be why and what would you do?

Meredith Brooks:My grandmother Brooks was a writer, she passed away. I just had all of her belongs passed down to me. I would really love to just have one more day with her to talk, but I get my strength from her anyway.

sungodess90: if you could come back after you died what would you come back as?

Meredith Brooks:I hope I don't come back this time. If I did, I would want to come back as a much more evolved person.

Ratz005: If you ever need back up singers would you consider using middle school students??

Meredith Brooks:I'll be using School choirs in every town I come into for tours. And local rap artists. If the kids are in middle school, that's fine. So practice up!

shanecf: Do you play any other musical instruments, or do you want to?

Meredith Brooks:I play many different effects on my guitar. I play with the ebow live, pedals with different effects so, in a way, I play different insturments. So, officially, no, but I can make noise on just about anything.

NorthernLights91: What makes you cry?

SonicNetMod3: To find out more, please go to www.meredithbrooks.com Meredith Brooks:If somebody's mean to me or if I am mean.

DreamCatcher_123: do you have any dreams you hope will come true in the future?

Meredith Brooks:That I can have a child of my own. And that I can use my skills to juggle the balancing act of being a hands-on parent and a hands-on my own career artist.

JNCO_KoRn_sk8er_girl: What are your hobbies?

Meredith Brooks:Hiking, yoga...psychology is my absolute favorite hobby, the thing I work on the most outside of music.

c_abercrombie_00: have you ever had a stalker?

Meredith Brooks:Yes, but I don't feel safe to talk about that now.

nite15 : who's your favorite teletubbie?

Meredith Brooks:I don't know. I haven't really sat down and talked to them, because I don't just go on looks. I have to have a phone conversation before I know I like 'em.

TRIXY446: what famous person would u want to meet?

Meredith Brooks:Oprah. I met her once during a marathon. But never on a level where we really got to sit and talk.

NorthernLights91: Do you have any advice for teenage girls?

Meredith Brooks:If you can't talk to your parents find the counselor, the teacher or a friend's parents who you can confide in, and do it weekly.

amaven: What is your favorite movie?

Meredith Brooks:My new favorite movie is "Life is Beautiful." My old favorite movie is actually "The Wizard of Oz."

vinny_br: What is, to you, the biggest mistake of the world?

Meredith Brooks:Separation. That we would even, as human beings, would think that we're separate. That we all don't have a responsibility to each other.

Lithia_forever : What are your views on the feminist action taking part in the world now? Do you support it?

Meredith Brooks:Well, as I've always said, I'm not a feminist, I'm a humanist. When we quit separating ourselves from each other, we will have more empathy for each other. And that's where the healing begins.

cyanidegrrl: What was the best advice you ever got?

Meredith Brooks:When I was doubting myself, somebody said to me, "just keep writing." Whether I made it or not, it's my joy, whether I ever succeeded or not.

camillesg: Do you believe in reincarnation?

Meredith Brooks:I believe in Karma. And I believe there is a possibility of reincarnation. Who's to say? We won't know until we're dead.

AngelChick31: if you could do anything besides sing what would it be?

Meredith Brooks:Continue my work in psychology. Have a child, save the world, little things like that. All in a day's work!

snowjumper_1080 : Are you close to your family even though you travel everywhere all the time?

Meredith Brooks:Yes, very. I talk to my family all the time. I talk to my mom, at least once a week, if not more.

Female_Rock : Will You ever play unplugged?

Meredith Brooks:I will, for certain situations. I'm not as opposed to it as I used to be because I have mad e a mark for myself as a guitar player now. The reason I didn't do it before was becuase I didn't want to be stereotyped as just an acoustic guitar player. Because I worked so hard all my life to be a good one [guitar player].

heels5_99: Do you decide your fashion or do you have a public affairs person who does it?

Meredith Brooks:I decide everything.

kool_kat_1: Where you always around music, or what prompted you to pick up your first instrument?

Meredith Brooks:I think loneliness is what prompted me to pick up my first insturment because music usually leads to hanging out with a lot of other people. And so it became a way to socialize.

NorthernLights91: have there ever been any tabloid articles or unfair rumors about you that were totally ridiculous?

Meredith Brooks:No. The press has been pretty fair. There was one accidental one about me and hard drugs, but I cleared that up. It was untrue of course. There was one that printed that I didn't finish high school, which I corrected. The only unfair thing I've seen the press do is try to review my album without listening past the first two songs. And you can always tell.

Jupiterian007: What do you think of the current "Diva" trend?

Meredith Brooks:I don't think much about it at all, to be honest. I don't really relate to that whole scene and I would be pretty freaked out if I got the title "Diva" tacked onto my name.

Jupiterian007: do you consider yourself a diva?

Meredith Brooks:Obviously not. Again, it's one of those words, what does it really mean? But, a diva in the sense of Bette Midler, that's an awesome sense of the word. She's very campy and doesn't take herself seriously. But, diva, used in the sense of someone who thinks they're all that and more is not something I would wanna be.

PURPLE_DYNASTY_16: sorry if this is silly but i've just got a small kitten yesterday.....my friend and i couldn't decide what to name it woud you please give me a name for a small female kitten?

Meredith Brooks:hmmmmmm. I would say, I think if you're patient enough, and hang out enough with her, she'll reveal her name to you.

NorthernLights91: If you had one free day where you could do anything you wanted, what would it be?

Meredith Brooks:I would want it to be spent with my best girlfriends and all of our mates. Hanging out, talking, listening to music, eating, laughing, comparing notes and then have a romantic, sensual evening with my boyfriend. And get to sleep before 2 a.m. for a change! (laughs) I want to thank everybody who came and hung out with me. I'm sitting in my house. The questions were great. You can write me at: www.meredithbrooks.com You can hear snippets of my album. Let me know what you think about it!