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Outside the Lines: Elizabeth Ziff

At her birthday party in Manhattan a few months back, Elizabeth Ziff rolled onto the stage ready to rock. One loud, sweaty, joyful hour later, Ziff, her sister Amy and childhood best friend Alyson Palmer – better known as BETTY – capped off the rollicking lesbo-centric evening with a straight-from-the heart performance of the L Word theme song.

Even if you’re one of those people who love to hate on that song, you might think differently hearing it live. As Ziff throws back her head, her hair a curtain of flaming red and blond waves, that song is on fire. And so is Ziff. Onstage, she rocks – old school Janis Joplin redux. As she punctuates each of the infamous words of the chorus with a bigger and bigger grin, it’s clear that Elizabeth Ziff is having a blast.

Photo credit: Constance

She doesn’t give a damn what anybody thinks of the song – BETTY’s song – because she loves it and loves performing it. After 25 years as an independent musician, songwriter, out lesbian activist and, for the last few years, a composer and producer on The L Word, she deserves that. Ziff is a pioneer who’s reinvented herself to stay relevant in a new lesbian nation. She’s a survivor.

And not just in the business. What she later reveals to the smitten crowd that evening is that she’s also a breast cancer survivor. Last year just after The L Word’s fourth season ended, Ziff was diagnosed with interductal carcinoma, a form of breast cancer, after a mammogram.

After several surgeries, Ziff is cancer-free and ready to soar. Now in Los Angeles, where she’s getting ready for the final season of the show that changed her life, Ziff recently talked to AfterEllen.com for the first time about what’s up and what’s next.

Photo credit: Desdemona Burgin

AfterEllen.com: How did you end up on The L Word? Elizabeth Ziff: Sometime during the first season, my uncle introduced me to Ilene [Chaiken] and her ex, Miggi [Hood]. They knew about BETTY, but had never heard us perform. So we invited Ilene to host a benefit for lesbian breast cancer research benefits at a BETTY RULES show in Chicago. When Ilene heard us perform she was blown away and said, “I’d love to have your band on the show.”

AE: And that led to the theme song? EZ: After Season 1, Showtime wanted a real theme song, something that was character-driven and that you could sing to. So they put it out to like four or five bands, including us. We were really honored and worked on the lyrics and recorded the music live on my Pro-tools in my computer. We went back and forth on the lyrics with Ilene who made a few changes, but basically she loved it. And when she played it for the networks, they loved it too. We had no idea that it would be so controversial.

AE: The Showtime suits loved the “f—ing” line? EZ: Overall, they thought the song was very catchy. Anyway, it’s just a word. And it’s used in context. I mean, the show is about f—ing. It’s also about love, but it’s a lot about f—ing, so why not put it in there?

AE: How do you feel when people say they hate the song? EZ: Listen, I love that it’s been controversial. As an artist, I think it’s important to push the boundaries. So when something strikes a chord in people, then you’re doing something worthy. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a good chord or bad chord. As long as it’s not a hateful chord.

Like what happened with my sister.

Also, I have to say, so many people also love the song. When we play it in concert, every single person sings along to it. It’s crazy, and it’s fun.

AE: Some of what has been written about you has been hateful, and not just about the song. I mean, sorry to ask, but about you and Ilene? Were you … are you … ? EZ: I won’t talk about it.

AE: OK … um. EZ: I mean, what was the question?

AE: Don’t make me ask again. I’m not good at this. EZ: Linda, I don’t talk about Ilene like that. I don’t talk about her personal life. I’ll talk about sex, I’ll talk about anything that will empower women. But I don’t think it does anybody any good for me to talk about Ilene. And it’s not my place. And I don’t want to.

AE: Moving on, what was it that happened to your sister? EZ: Amy was on the show, on Season 3, the episode on the Olivia cruise. Among the writers, we decided that we wanted a woman of size to be in a scene, a sex scene. I told the other writers, “My sister’s a woman of size, she’s a feminist and she embraces who she is; I think she’ll do it.”

It took a lot for her to appear in that scene – a lot of guts. She’s not skinny, she’s not what you see on TV, she’s not what you see on The L Word. But she understood that we live in a culture that hates us and hates our bodies, so it was important for her to represent a whole lot of people who are underrepresented on television, in film – and in life.

But what people wrote about her was unforgivable. On one hand, you can’t believe how many women thanked her for doing it. She was like a folk hero. On the other, some women denigrated her. When I read it, I burst into tears. I thought, “Oh my God, say whatever you want about me. But don’t touch my f—ing family. It was very, very hurtful.”

AE: My God – I’m so sorry. EZ: You know what was the worst part of that? Is that it came from other women, other lesbians. I’ve been part of this community since I started playing music as a 21-year-old. I’ve always been out as a lesbian. I have never been in the closet; it never even occurred to me. BETTY played for gay rights marches and AIDS benefits before it was fashionable. I mean, I’m not saying aren’t we so great. I’m saying we have always played for people that we loved. So this hatred, especially among each other, I just don’t believe in it.

AE: I hear you. So, tell me how you went from doing The L Word’s music to being a producer? EZ: I started as the show’s composer, and Ilene wanted me to use the music to represent the community. To show the musical diversity of our community, to let women use our voices on the show. So right from the start, working with the music supervisor, I tried to use a lot of lesbian musicians. Like Toshi Reagon. She’s an old friend, and I wanted her to do a song, “How Long,” that her mother wrote. That’s historic. And the Ditty Bops; I’ve known Amanda since she was 11 years old. The Cliks; I used them as an end song.

I also tried to reintroduce iconic musicians to a whole new audience. It’s cool: Even when people have no idea what they’re listening to – from Nona Hendryx singing a song written by lesbian icon Carole Pope of Rough Trade, to Sweet Honey doing a Ferron song to Joan Armatrading – they dig it.

I also oversaw the mixes of the shows, which is what a producer does, and I can write, so they made me a producer.

AE: I was surprised to see your writing credit on that hot show last season when Bette and Tina got back together at the club. EZ: I mean I’ve always written. I wrote, we wrote, BETTY RULES.

AE: Your rockumentary. I saw that. EZ: I know the craft. Think about it: Songwriting is storytelling. A good song has a beginning, middle and an end. So yeah, I’m a writer. I’m happy that my writing on the show has been really well-received, even by people who don’t like my music.

AE: Did you write the [episode about the] “Pink Ride,” last season’s episode about breast cancer? It was very moving. EZ: Angela Robinson actually wrote and directed that episode, but at the time, I was dealing with breast cancer. You knew that, right?

AE: Yeah. EZ: In 2007, I came home after the fourth season, and I was really tired after touring with BETTY and doing The L Word. I’m like a rock star, so I travel and stay up late and drink and party and stuff, but I was even more tired than usual. I went to the doctor and had a full physical and everything was fine. But I also needed a mammogram.

AE: What happened next? EZ: It was weird. I found out right around my birthday last year that I had breast cancer. So it was like my cancer birthday. We tried to have a birthday party, and I’m cutting the cake thinking, “cancer birthday.” I look over at my sister, and she’s so drunk because she’s freaked out and scared. Both of our parents died of cancer, so it was really deep.

AE: And now? EZ: I just got checked a few months ago, and I’m totally clean. My case was mild; I was really lucky. I had great care, and my sister was by my side the whole time I went through this.

AE: I’m glad. The L Word’s winding down. What are you going to do? EZ: What I’ve always done. I’ve never stopped doing BETTY, and we have a new album coming out, probably late September, early October. We think it’s going to be called Betty Bright and Dark, probably a double CD. We’ve been performing the new single, “Did You Tell Her.” We’re really excited about that.

AE: And your writing? EZ: I hope to sell a movie I wrote called The Bomb Squad. It’s about a group of girls in the late ’70s, two weeks before graduation from high school. It’s about their friendship with a twist. It’s got humor and pathos; that’s what I like.

AE: Anything else? EZ: Yeah, the Gloria Project. It’s an oral history, a collaboration with Gloria Steinem, who’s a good friend. I’m always surprised when we play at colleges and mention her and young women don’t know who she is. She’s a feminist figurehead, but unsung. No, not really unsung; she just needs to be fully sung. So we’re putting together her speeches and lectures and also having her comment on the state of feminism and humanism. We want it to be available to libraries and as a free iTunes download in March next year, for Gloria’s 75th birthday.

AE: That’s exciting. One last question. Can you give us an itty bitty hint of what’s going to happen on The L Word next season? EZ: No.

AE: Geez, Elizabeth – come on! Please, just a crumb? EZ: Hey girl, I’m sorry, but I really can’t say anything. I signed a confidentiality paper. I can’t even talk about it to people who are on the show!

For more on Elizabeth Ziff, visit her MySpace page. For more on writer Linda Villarosa, go to lindavillarosa.com.

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