April 2005

By Lesley Goober

The biggest mystery about Avril Lavigne: How can one of the edgiest and most powerful voices booming out of everyone's iPod these days come from someone so incredibly tiny (5 feet 2, tops) and shy? Yep, that's right: The "always outspoken, bird-flipping singer is so quiet that her voice rarely elevates above a girlish whisper. At times, though, it's hard to determine if she's hiding behind her large black hooded sweatshirt because she's really timid--or because she simply can't be bothered interacting with people she doesn't know.

But 'after a little while, the sweatshirt comes off and she starts to open up. Dressed in a fitted, long-sleeved black tee shirt, jeans, and her ever-present black Converse sneakers, she sits sideways in her chair, her legs dangling over one side, and plays with her mane of long honey-blond hair. She suddenly looks less like a pop-rock sensation and more like a pretty teenage girl, gossiping with her best friend.

Not too long ago, 20-year-old Avril was just that: your average teenage girl. The daughter of a phone-company employee and a stay-at-home mom, Avril grew up in quaint, rural Napanee, Ontario, Canada, where she managed to beat the small-town boredom by doing two things: playing ice hockey with her older brother and singing her heart out around town. In 1999, at age 14, she won a radio contest to sing with fellow Canadian Shania Twain, and that exposure helped land her an Arista record deal at age 16.

Four years later, she's promoting her second chart-topping album, Under My Skin, which is a deeply personal CD. Lyrics such as "You were everything, everything that I wanted/We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it" and "Sit on the bed 'alone, staring at the phone/He wasn't what I wanted, what I thought, no/He wouldn't even open up the door" describe the heartbreaks she's endured over the years, but luckily all that's in the past now. After being linked to her former guitarist, Jesse Colburn, and her current guitarist, Evan Taubenfeld, she's reportedly found love with Sum 41 singer, Deryck Whibley (although she has never publicly admitted to being romantically involved with any of them). Listen in as Avril tells it like it is.

[COSMO] Would you say that most of your songs are about guys you've dated?

[Avril] Yeah, a lot of them. They're about what I'm experiencing with the whole dating thing, but I've really only dated two guys in the past four years. It's easiest to write songs when I'm either really in love or really mad at a guy. It's just always best when I'm feeling superemotional. When you fall in love, you have emotions going through your body, and the same thing happens when things are going badly with a guy. When I'm going through something that has a big impact on my life, it's much easier to sing.

[C] What's something that guys do that really pisses you off?

[A] It's the worst tiling when a guy is supposed to call you and he doesn't. Or when a guy hangs up the phone on you. But that doesn't happen if you're with someone respectful. I don't have that stuffgoing on in my life right now, but we've all experienced it. I actually had an ex-boyfriend tell me he was sorry after he heard one of my songs.

[C] "Don't Tell Me" is about kicking a guy out of bed who can't take no for an answer. "I'm gonna ask you to stop/ Thought I liked you a lot/But I'm really upset/Get out of my head/Get off of my bed." Have you done anything like that?

[A] Well, I've been really strong. I've had a guy ask me to come back to his room with him or whatever after the first night, and I was like "NOT'"

[C] What's your type?

[A] Boys with guitars ... they're really fucking hot. That rock kind of guy with skaterish punk style. I could never date a preppy guy with button-down shirts ... like most of the guys in L.A. And I like guys who are short and kind of small, because I'm short--although I did date one tall guy in high school-and older guys, about four or five years older, because girls are much more mature than guys are. Guys are babies, and I like to feel like I am being taken care of. But I'm not even looking anymore, so I don't really care.

[C] So you've found love?

[A] [Smiles] I don't talk about that kind of stuff.

[C] How do you manage to have a relationship when you're always on the road?

[A] If something is meant to be, it's gonna work. If two people believe in something really strongly, I think a long-distance relationship is easy. They just make the time to be together. And you have to remember that any relationship is going to be hard ... mostly because you're two different people and you have to figure stuffout.

[C] You are so independent. Do you tend to wear the pants in a relationship?

[A] Always! No, I want--I like--to be equal.

[C] What's the key to a successful relationship?

[A] Communication. To be completely, one hundred percent honest and to 'always be talking about whatever is on your mind. Even if you cheat, you should tell the other person. They deserve to know. I would never cheat, but if someone I was dating cheated on me, I'd want to know. I think I wound deserve to know. It shows where your relationship stands.

[C] Would you say you're less of a tomboy than you used to be?

[Graphic omitted][A] I've actually always been girlie, but now I'm more girlie--especially in terms of the amount of time it takes me to get ready in the morning and how much I like shopping and clothes now. Sometimes I dress up fancy.... I'll wear a dress if I'm going out somewhere.

[C] How else have you changed in the past few years?

[A] I've changed a lot and really matured. I've grown up and experienced so much. I've taken on more responsibility recently--I have my own house now in Toronto.

[C] Your latest album, Under My Skin, seems a little tougher, a little darker than Let Go. Is that a reflection of how you're feeling these days?

[A] Yeah. It's personal and deep ... that's what this record is to me. I was writing about what I was going through. And I wanted a rawer sound ... not as slick and not as pop as the first one.

[C] Is there any singer your age whom you like or respect?.

[A] No.

[C] Is it true you kicked some girl in a bar who called you a poseur because she said you were trying to be punk?

[A] Yeah ... I know that the best way to ever deal with anything is 'always just to walk away and ignore, it. But sometimes I have kind of a hard time.

[C] What's something mortifying that's happened to you lately?

[A] Yesterday I was shooting my video, and I was headbanging the whole time. My microphone went boom in nay lace, and I was like "Ahhh!" It threw me back, and I had this big bump on my nose. I have makeup over it, but it was all swollen up and it still hurts. It's going to bruise. It sucks that it happened in front of everyone, but at the same time, it was really funny. I want to use that footage for the video.

[C] You've been on the road for so long. Think you'll take some time off from music?

[A] I'm going to need a break soon. I've been going nonstop since I was 16 years old. I made my record, released it, and traveled the world. Then I made another record and released it, and now I'm touring. And I won't finish until the end of September or October. I'm a workaholic though.... I'll make another record right after [the tour ends].

[C] When was the moment you finally felt like you'd really made it as a singer?.

[A] Winning my first award, my MTV music award [for Best New Artist in 2002]. It was special because it was my first away, and because I had "always watched the award shows and seen people up there winning awards, and then I would go up to my bedroom and pretend I had won one. I 'always thought about what it would be like ... and then when I was walking up there to accept my first award, I was like Wow, I can't believe this is happening. That was definitely a highlight for me. But what's awesome is when I go on tour and see all the fans. It's like, All these people came to see me? That's cool to me.

5 Things You Never Knew About Avril

1 Worst Habit: "Sometimes I don't listen when people are talking to me. My brain just kind of shuts off."

2 Word She Overuses: "Fuck."

3 If She Wasn't A Rock Star, She'd Be: "A cop--I remember thinking it would be really cool to be one when I was younger."

4 Phobias: "Sharks ... and the dark. Sometimes I sleep with a light on."

5 Surprising Style Trick: A black Sharpie [marker]. "If I forget to paint my nails, I can always just [color them black] quickly with the Sharpie."