Changing His Image

Tricky is very aware of his image.

“People think I’m the dark prince or a psychopath,” he says. “People think my persona is that I hate [record] labels.”

He’s given them pretty good reason.

The mercurial British musician, who appears Friday at the Glass House in Pomona, emerged from Bristol’s trip-hop scene in the mid-1990s as a arrestingly inventive force with a colorfully tense blend of hip-hop, rock and electronica. But he seemed to sabotage his career at every turn.

In his first concert appearances, including an opening slot on P.J. Harvey’s 1995 tour, he ordered the lighting director to keep the stage totally dark during his performances. Forced into the light via a daytime slot on the 1996 Lollapalooza tour, he spent most of his stage time facing away from the audience.

And after seeming to be on the brink of a commercial breakthrough with his 1995 debut album, “Maxinquaye,” he followed with music that he himself acknowledged was deliberately off-putting. Needless to say, his relationship with his label at the time, Island Records, became strained.

“I’d turn on TV and see what [what music was successful] and think, ‘I don’t want nothing to do with these bands--don’t want to be on the same tours or radio,”’ he says.

But it’s quite a different Tricky explaining this today. The 32-year-old is cheery and upbeat with an eager-to-please bounce to his voice and manner.

He’s touring behind a new album, “Blowback,” that not only balances the dark emotional shades with focused yet colorful rock, but also features guest appearances by such radio-friendly figures as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alanis Morissette, Live’s Ed Kowalczyk and even Cyndi Lauper.

In concerts now he continues to show some stage fright, but has found a way to be comfortable with it, directing the music and sharing microphone time with Ambersunshower and reggae toaster Hawkman, who are also on the new album.

And he has happy relationships with not just one, but two record labels--Hollywood Records, which issued “Blowback” in the U.S. and most of the world, and indie Epitaph, which released the album in Europe.

“For me it was fabulous,” says Hollywood Records’ Rob Cavallo, who served as executive producer for several “Blowback” songs.

Cavallo says that his main input was suggesting that Tricky make the album with the musicians that had been in his live band, rather than his usual method of crafting the tracks largely alone and then having the band learn the parts later.

But Cavallo says Tricky was easy to work with throughout the project, and in fact it was the artist himself who brought the star guests on to the project, not the label.

And what brought about the changes in attitude? Tricky--whose real name is Adrian Thawes--says it was partly business.

He says his distant stance toward Island was a product of corporate changes that saw company founder Chris Blackwell, who had signed Tricky himself, leave in late 1997, followed in fairly short order by other people at the label with whom he’d had rewarding relations.

Now he’s managed by Blackwell and associate Chin-a, and feels as comfortable at Hollywood Records.

“Even though it’s part of Disney, the actual record company is very small,” Tricky says.

“It’s really cool. I haven’t had to think about one thing other than music.”

It’s also an environment in which his side projects are enriching, not distracting. He’s currently producing tracks for debut albums by Martina Topley Bird, featured singer on his early work, and Hawkman.

It was a medical revelation about two years ago, though, that made the biggest change in Tricky’s mindset.

“I had this thing called Candida--almost like too much yeast in the body,” Tricky says.

“I was constantly sick, and then I found out about it from a doctor. When I was sick and didn’t know it, I was drinking all the time and that made it worse.

“Now I can’t have sugar, bread, dairy, basically anything. I stopped drinking alcohol. The only thing I still do is smoke weed.”

In fact, the photo on the album cover, he explains, is of him blowing pot smoke into the mouth of a topless woman.

Remember, this is a release from a Disney company. But just as Tricky’s changing his image, his presence may help Hollywood Records change its image.

Since its early-’90s inception, the label has been unable to establish itself as a serious player in contemporary music.

“You can’t sign something you don’t believe in,” says Cavallo. “But the fact is that he comes with credibility to the press and is an avant-garde artist people put a lot of stock in and is very pure.

“It’s definitely good for the company that we’re associated with an artist like Tricky.”

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Tricky and Emiliana Torrini perform Friday at the Glass House, 200 W. 2nd St., Pomona. 8 p.m. $17.50 in advance. $20 at the door. (909) 469-5800.