E-Mail This Article to a Friend Mann power (continued)

Q: And yet you keep watching.

A: There was one character who was really intelligent and intriguing, but he got eliminated really early. He was the only one I cared about. There’s some good boxing, and there’s some boxing where I think, well, maybe I just don’t know that much, but it kind of looks like this guy’s punches are really wild, like maybe he’s not so good after all.

Q: It all looks kind of terrifying to me, but I’ve never boxed.

A: I think if you do it a little bit, it becomes a lot more clear. I used to just think it’s two jackasses hitting each other, and it was never something I was interested in watching. But once I started boxing, I started watching boxing bouts, just to try to learn and observe, and I do find that I get a lot more out of watching it now that I know what it’s about a little bit.

Q: How do you think your time in Boston affected you as a musician?

A: I thought Boston was just an amazing place to be as a musician. When I first got there, when I was first playing in bands there, there were a million places to play, and you could actually kind of scrape out a living just playing locally and opening for bigger bands that came through town and that kind of thing. There were a ton of places to play and a whole scene of musicians, and we’d play on bills together, and you’d see people regularly. It was like a very nice little community. I found it to be really an exciting time. And also Boston itself was very, very supportive of local musicians, and very excited when local musicians made it big. I don’t know what radio is like now, but stations would play demo tapes sometimes. ’Til Tuesday had a demo tape that got played a lot on the air. That was really something.

Q: Do you get back much?

A: No, just when I play shows, and then there’s not usually time to hang out. Every now and then I go see Mike Denneen at Q Division, and that’s kind of it. I know very few people in Boston anymore. I had a lot of friends move from Boston to LA. That’s one of the reasons I moved out here. I came out here, and I was here for about a month. Then I met [boyfriend] Michael [Penn], and he couldn’t really leave because he had a kid from his previous marriage, and I had a bunch of friends out here, so it seemed like an obvious move. And I think Boston then was undergoing a change. Also, if you’re not sort of actively playing in a band that’s making records and doing really well, there aren’t any ancillary opportunities [in Boston]. Los Angeles was good because there were more opportunities to meet people who then led me to getting a song in a TV show or that kind of thing, which is additional income and additional work and more opportunities.

Q: Do you have an iPod?

A: I do, but I never deal with it.

Q: I think a lot of people get so overwhelmed by them that they just don’t put anything on them.

A: Well, Michael had all the records on his computer, and then he’s out of town, and so it’s like, when you depend on someone else — "Fill my iPod for me, honey" — and they’re gone ... I mean, I do take it on the road. It just really depends. Sometimes when you’re playing music all day, your ears are too fatigued to really want to listen to music.

Q: Do you listen to yourself?

A: Only when I’m working. There’s always multiple mixes to listen to, or the third pass at mastering. Then when that’s done, I pretty much put it aside. I don’t want to get sick of it. It’s already a huge risk, getting sick of it, when you know you have to play all the stuff for the summer or the next six months.

Q: What’s next after this tour?

A: I think I’d like to work with [producer] Joe [Henry] again. I don’t know. I haven’t started writing songs. I don’t want to write songs and get excited about new songs that won’t see the light of day. I sort of want it to be really fresh, and written, like, not a million years before it gets recorded.

Q: I was going to ask you what you’re listening to these days, but then I read a quote where you said, "I always get asked what I’m listening to. Nothing, really."

A: Yeah, I’m really bad at listening to music and just tracking it. I think a lot of people have this problem, where there’s so much stuff out there, so I don’t even know where to start. But I did finally get two records: Ray LaMontagne, which seems obvious; I haven’t really listened to it so much yet. And then Joanna Newsom. Anyone with a harp singing about sprouts and beans, how can you go wrong?

Aimee Mann plays the Orpheum Theatre, in Boston, on June 9. Call (617) 679-0810. Tamara Wieder can be reached at twieder[a]phx.com