“Boom” is an indie dance-pop
hipster's dream. “Brand New Bitch” is a mainstream dance-pop
clubgoer's dream. On the surface that seems like a bit of a leap.
It's actually more of a leap, because
the original of “Boom” wasn't a dance song; it was a really
down-tempo, jazzy lounge-y kind of song. I started as a songwriter in
the industry, and I wrote that record in Toronto on guitar. It's very
different from what I'm doing now, mainly because it was kind of the
beginning of my evolution, just kind of figuring stuff out. Then I
moved to LA and I started really getting into the electronic scene,
and I did a dubstep song early on, before Britney did dubstep
[laughs, seemingly unaware of "Freakshow"]. It was really cool, just a learning process for me, just
figuring out how to put my vibe and my kind of swag over what was
going on. So it was pretty natural. I mean I wrote “Boom”...it
came out in 2009, but I actually wrote it two years earlier, so for
me it's not such a big leap. I guess for people who hear both these
records, maybe it doesn't seem like it's that far away from each
other, but for me it's extremely far in the future.
Alanis Morissette started as a dance
artist in Canada then found her way to the rock confessionals that
you and I basically grew up on, and now you're kind of taking the
lyricism and storytelling and personal aspect of that kind of music
and bringing it back into dance. Can you talk a bit about your
influences and the musical style you're working with on the upcoming
album?
I mean, that's exactly it. I want to
bring the stories and the lyric perspective that I have and that I
love - in the great classic songs - and put it over up-tempo,
aggressive dance music. So that's sort of the challenge, and that's
what I was really aspiring to do with this record. The response to
“Brand New Bitch” has been good so far, and I think it's because
of just that: like, I'm not saying “Party!!! This is a dance beat
so let's just party and get fucked up!” I'm talking about a breakup
and a relationship and coming through that and coming from the other
end of that and feeling like a brand new bitch.
I'm American but have spent a bit of
time in the UK, but my readers come from literally all over the
world, and it often occurs to me that my pop experience and
understanding is quite different in some ways from that of, say, a
Canadian like yourself. As an international artist, what do you find
differs between the Canadian and American music scenes, and how does
it affect your career?
I think that it affects a new artist's
career less and less and less. When I was coming up, when I was 16,
people weren't doing, like, Youtube shit and getting signed to
fucking Usher, like Justin Bieber, you know what I mean? I think the
world has become much much smaller and I kind of feel like it doesn't
really matter where you are. But I felt when I was starting out that
I needed to be in the States, it was all about the States, so I moved
down here, got my record deal down here and started working. But in
terms of how I perceive pop music? I think in Canada the one form of
music that is really unknown and still is unknown – and I think
it's because of the fact that we don't really have ghettos, there's
not that hip-hop culture - is hip-hop music. So I don't really...
even though I rap in my songs, I would never come across as an emcee
or a hip-hop artist in that way. I flirt with hip-hop, but it's not
really the statement that I'm trying to make.
How about in terms of an artist's
career? I mean, is there a difference for opportunities in airplay
and stuff like that? The single seems to be making great waves in
Canada and here it's been more of a slow burn. Do you find your
reception is different?
In Canada it's a little bit more like
the UK in terms of radio - there's a lot of different things that are
allowed on the radio; it's not just the same three artists over and
over. It is a different landscape obviously, because in America you
compete with the world, right? So [Canada is] less competitive. But
I'm not sure why the record popped off so quickly in Canada. It
really should have taken them longer because I am a new artist there,
so it was kind of weird. I think it was the most added song, like
with Nicki Minaj's “Super Bass” that week, and it's been in the
top five, like, forever, so I think it was just one of those things
where luckily radio djs started to support it and requests started
coming in. But in America it's such a difficult landscape for a new
artist, so what I think is really cool is I kind of have this
ammunition internationally to bring to the States.
Tell me about the making of “Brand
New Bitch.” Who did you work with? How did it come about?
My publisher at Sony introduced me to a
really cool writer, Michel Zitron. He's from Sweden; a lot of the
producers I work with are from Europe, which is why I call it a
“global” pop record: I worked with people from all over the
world. So we just got into the studio one day and wrote the song –
it was really kind of quick and easy and immediately I felt like it
was something really special - I invited all my friends to the studio
and we were pumping it. Then I just felt like it needed a little bit
more of a dance vibe so I gave it to this amazing new producer named
J.O.B., who had just come out of the LA Riots recently and is just
now getting into more pop stuff.
What were you trying to accomplish
with the video, other than providing a pretty visual to support the
single? I mean, you could have done anything with it, so why did you
go the way you did?
Well I first started to get with the
director, Hannah Lux Davis...there were a lot of females associated
with my project in general, like from my band to my A&R to the
mentors I've had along the way. So for that reason, we sort of
gravitated towards telling a story from a female perspective. In the
treatment it's kind of like I'm being “created,” which for me was
a metaphor for a lot of artists in the music industry. I rebel
against the creation and I go against my creator, who to me
symbolizes that sort of L.A. Reid-type person who takes people and
morphs them into pop stars, you know what I mean? [I laugh, hard.] So that's what it
really was about: taking over from the machine and being your own
artist. The title “Brand New Bitch” sort of summarizes that idea
really well.
Perhaps this is inevitable in
post-Gaga pop music, but the video has drawn a lot of comparisons to
the work of Lady Gaga, which draws reactions accordingly depending on
one's opinion of her – if they like her, they tend to like your new
direction, and if they don't, you're a sellout. Is this all going to
be rendered moot when the album arrives, or is this an issue you
expect you'll be dealing with for some time?
Well first of all, I love her, so it's
not like being compared to... I don't want to call anybody out, but
it's not like being compared to Rebecca Black, so, it's cool. There's
a lot of differences between me and Gaga, and yeah, definitely when
you get to hear the second single, with what I'm about to roll out
next, it'll be more clear. But yeah, I mean... [suddenly
amused] the weird thing is that the comparisons seem to be
about the way that I look more than anything, which is very
strange to me, because...obviously, I'm brown...
Have you seen the video for “Yoü And I?” It has a similar thing with the operating table and...I mean,
there's a reason people are comparing the two, but if you haven't
seen it it must have been coincidental.
I only saw a snippet of it, I only saw
her walking through a desert...so I should probably see the whole
video.
Sort of a pet topic of mine is the
issue of Asians in pop music, particularly how few there seem to be.
I was SO excited when I discovered you, a legit pop singer of Asian
descent, and your entire career is a big win in my mind. But I live
in a country that is not exactly known for its hospitality towards
brown people, and a pop scene that wants its Gomezes and Lopezes
looking like Bollywood icons and increasingly pushes black singers
toward the enclosed realm of R&B.
Well I'm not sure that America isn't
kind to non-white people; I mean, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson,
Prince, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé are the biggest stars we
ever had.
I was referring more to how we're
kicking them out of Arizona, and such.
You mean in politics. [Sounding
annoyed] I think art is the great uniter, you know? My brother works
abroad and travels all over the world, and the thing that he said is
“Everything is different – the food that you eat, the way that
people look, the way that people dress, the culture, the way they
dance, everything – but the only similar thing is pop music.” You
get into a cab in any foreign country and you hear the same three
songs playing over and over, so it's sort of like this universal
subconsciousness of music. You could say 'you have to be beautiful to
be a pop star' but then look at Adele: not that she's not beautiful
but in that conventional way. I just think if your shit's hot, your
shit's hot. I mean, maybe I'm an idealist but I don't think anybody
cares.
You and Doctor Rosen Rosen made some
great music on Girls: Volume 1. “Sex-Ed” should be a textbook
example on how to invoke Madonna without ripping off
Madonna.
[Laughs]
The part that clinches it for me is the segment, with you
chanting over a suddenly and decisively modern percussion beat in the
midst of an otherwise 80s throwback. “Boom” also sounded exotic
and had a sort of 60s James Bond vibe, but something about it was
unequivocally modern. How do you do that?
I'm a great lover of music. I love pop
music and I listen to all types of it, whether it's like power punk
in the '90s or Tracy Chapman or Missy Elliott, or fucking Madonna,
and it kind of shows when I make music because it just all kinda
comes out.
What's on the horizon? When do we
get to hear this album?
Well the second single [“Stand Behind
the Music”] I believe is about to drop next week in Canada, which
means we'll put out a viral online for it, and then I'm doing a
bunch of club dates. We just played the Perez Hilton show, which was
awesome.
I saw that; it looked great! How did
that come about?
Perez, basically. He's been so
supportive and it's awesome. I was just honored to be on a bill with
Mary J. Blige; she's the most incredible performer I've ever seen.
Last question: brand new chick or
brand new bitch?
[Quickly] Brand new bitch!
"Brand New Bitch" is available now on iTunes. You can also pick up "Boom" and her funky, fascinating self-titled debut album. Doctor Rosen Rosen's EP Girls: Volume 1, which includes "Sex-Ed" featuring Anjulie, is available free at his website.
"Brand New Bitch" is available now on iTunes. You can also pick up "Boom" and her funky, fascinating self-titled debut album. Doctor Rosen Rosen's EP Girls: Volume 1, which includes "Sex-Ed" featuring Anjulie, is available free at his website.
