Joan Jett On Her 'Unvarnished' Reputation

As a wise man named Dave Grohl once said, "Joan Jett is the real deal. She is a real rock and roller." The founding member of the all-female '70s rock band The Runaways and longtime leader of her own band, The Blackhearts, recently released her first album of new material in almost a decade. Titled Unvarnished, the record is a reflection of Jett's recent life experiences -- dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in her town of Long Beach; moving past the deaths of her parents; and reflecting on the place of social media in today's society.

We talk with Jett in the Soundcheck studio about her latest album, blasting through rock and roll stereotypes as a young female artist, and why she roots for the Green Bay Packers. 

Interview highlights: 

On maintaining her privacy as a young artist: 

Whether you're a girl or a guy, really the focus should be the music. I remember when I was maybe 16, right when the Runaways started, and we were doing interviews. And the interviewers would start to talk about more salacious issues -- about what we might personally be into, or other things that didn't have to do with the music. And I realized at that moment, if I start to talk about anything but the music, if I answer that question, that's going to be all they're ever going to want to talk about. They'll never talk about the music. So I put these boundaries -- I don't talk about anything else. 

On the present-day media and pop culture interest in her band The Runaways: 

There'll always be questions about The Runaways. There's not a lot of press, not a lot of moving pictures on The Runaways. I think people are really curious about this band. To me, it was one of the most magical times in my life. Three and a half years of beauty, and grief and struggle and all the things that make being in a rock and roll band special. i think any band goes through trials and tribulations, personality issues -- that's normal. But for some reason, with The Runaways, I don't know if it's because we're girls, or whatever, people try to make more of it than what it is. 

On how songwriting has changed for her throughout her career: 

Maybe in my very early songwriting career, things seemed to come a little more... maybe because you were just starting and you were filled up to the top, so it was earlier to have things spill out. Later on, especially maybe about 10 years ago, I had this sense that I had writers' block. But really, I didn't have writers' block -- it's just a matter of remembering, you've gotta sit down and work at it, just like you would anything. If you have a verse and an idea, sit down and play that. If it's only 10 minutes, great. Come back to it the next day.