You couldn’t escape alt-rock darling Juliana Hatfield in the ’90s — her face adorned the covers of music and teen magazines, and her songs appeared on soundtracks for “Reality Bites” and “My So-Called Life.” But a misunderstood quote, a battle with severe depression and subsequent squabbles with record labels led the former Blake Babies frontwoman to consider permanently stowing her guitar and silencing her voice.

Hatfield chronicles those struggles in her new memoir, “When I Grow Up,” which goes along with her appropriately titled new album, How to Walk Away. It’s full of keen wit, effortless melody and a newfound maturity that makes one wonder why she considered hanging it up.

Why did you decide to write this book?
I just had a lifelong desire to write a book. I tried writing a novel about 10 years ago; I sat down to write, but I didn’t really have an idea for a story. I eventually figured out that the subject could be me, because I’m such a fascinating subject. The book started out as just a tour diary of a month-long tour I did about seven years ago, and eventually it became more of a memoir.

I like the way the book goes from the tour back in time to earlier in your life, discovering your way into music and to Berklee [College of Music in Boston] meeting up with your bandmates from Blake Babies. How did you decide to lay the book out in that order?
It was pretty random. I sold the book on the basis of that tour diary. … It was my editor’s idea … that I throw in some highlights from my career, and I just started looking back in my memory and drawing out random things that happened, from childhood through high school to college and beyond. It was really just things that … had meaning to me.

Did writing the book help you draw any conclusions about your life in music and where you were going?
One thing I learned … I realized how much I cared what other people thought of me, and it broke my heart. I was always trying to please people, and I wanted everyone to love me, and now I realize after writing the book I don’t need everyone to love me and that not everyone’s going to love me and my music and that’s OK. For the first time in my life I’m finally not trying to win anyone’s approval; for the first time I’m just doing music for my own satisfaction and for the pure love of it.

Hear Juliana Hatfield on Morning Sessions with the full interview and live performance this morning at 9 on 89.7 WTMD, public radio from Towson University. Visit wtmd.org

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