IN CONVERSATION WITH KIM PETRAS
interview by MAREK BARTEK
Grammy winner and slut pop queen Kim Petras has been making waves long before releasing her debut single I Don't Want It at All in 2017. In her native Germany, she first appeared on television at the age of 13 discussing her gender transition, ultimately receiving her gender-affirming surgery at the age of 16. Today, she is a celebrated artist with two studio albums, two mixtapes, one compilation album, one demo album, four extended plays, 22 singles, including 17 as featured artist, and eighteen promotional singles. Her two recently released songs Freak It and I Like Ur Look from her upcoming album mark a new era for Petras, taking full creative control of her work.
LISTEN TO FREAK IT AND I LIKE UR LOOK
The videos of your two latest projects Freak It and I Like Ur Look carry a sort of ownership revival. You’ve self-funded both of them and self-styled I Like Ur Look. Why was it important for you to take over these parts of production?
First of all, both of them were funded by me with the help of brands who want to help me be an artist. It just feels like a natural progression. I want to dip my toes into more parts of what I am doing. Writing and singing the songs, and performing them isn’t enough anymore, and the only person who understands my vision in the fullest sense is me. It feels fulfilling, even though it is triggered by not having any budget to do anything, and having to do everything myself, but it also feels like it’s meant to be. Sometimes the best things happen when you do it with your friends. I'm really grateful to have people that believe in me and work closely with me. It’s definitely a new era where I get to call all the shots, and I kicked out everyone who didn’t allow me to be myself.
Is this approach something you’d like to keep on doing?
I’d definitely like to keep on doing all the creative parts and I actually want to go deeper into it. I have had many conversations with my friends, who are amazing artists, amazing stylists and amazing creatives, so I’m learning a lot from them. I definitely want to keep doing it — not the self funding part though. I mean, that’s why I got signed to a label but it’s fine. Anything for my fans!
Freak It was shot on location during Paris Fashion Week. How did you experience filming in the crowd of people that weren't necessarily part of the crew?
It was so much fun! It was all my fans so that was amazing — except for one random straight guy who I pulled aside and made out with in the bathroom. It was really great to be with my French fans, they are the best. I would say I have the biggest fanbase in France, whenever I’m there I feel like a huge star. Everywhere else I’m a nobody, and I like it that way — except for New York, maybe. Whenever I am with my fans, I feel super safe and I just want to be close to them and experience everything with them as much as possible. I actually really go crazy and I think it’s fun that they really get to see me partying, and see that it’s not fake.
In I Like Ur Look you’ve turned into a stylist. What was the process like of finding and selecting these looks? Any recommendations for favourite shopping spots?
I’m an online shopper, I get extremely overwhelmed in shops and stores to be honest. Even as a kid, whenever I used to go to stores I would just shut down because there are too many choices.
Everything in this video is thrifted, none of it is new. All of it is re-bought fashion from the 2000’s. When I was a teenager figuring myself out, I was obsessed with Marc Jacobs, then at Louis Vuitton. I would go to sleep, wake up in the morning, and get inspired watching those shows, so with this video being about me making a dress to impress a guy I like — there was no other way to make it but to pull things from my favourite fashion shows.
Now that I was actually able to find the correct pieces and runway looks that I wanted, it was the perfect time to do it. The vision was so clear that I was limiting myself to fashion from only the period of one of my favourite collections, which really helped build the world we aimed to create. It was awesome and felt very natural that all the clothes were pre-loved. I really do care about that, and I don’t want to contribute to the production of new things these days.
We’ve seen some great finds from Louis Vuitton, to Blumarine or Marc Jacobs. Do you have a favourite look you wore in the video?
My favourite look is definitely the dress I wear when I’m looking in the vanity. It’s this really beautiful, floral, embroidered gold-leaf dress that’s super-duper tight with these golden heels. I definitely had to squeeze into it a little but that look has always been so romantic to me, and I have always wanted to get it and wear it, especially with those shoes.
Both videos are very much 2010’s inspired, what fascinates you about this particular aesthetic?
I definitely wasn’t consciously doing 2010’s inspired videos. What I try to do is to capture the vibe of the song, and a lot of the sonics of these songs and the album have been pulled from 2000s to 2010s music because it is generally dismissed as trashy. I am a defender of music that is often considered tacky, and I think a lot of music and the sounds from that time are just really, really good. I miss how unbothered that period of time was when it came to being cool. It’s in my DNA that I want to pull from all past eras and spin it. It becomes futuristic, and me.
The video of ‘I Like Ur Look’ ends with you typing out “do you know how people find out what they actually like or how I can get my own personality?” Do you have any words of advice for people who might be struggling with finding their own voice?
Absolutely! I struggle with this, too. I’m someone who reinvents themselves in life quite often, and I tend to go from one extreme to another. I feel like that is part me as an artist and part me as a person. I think it’s important to just take time for yourself and create your own little happy place, where nothing of current trends or what’s considered cool can invade your brain. What’s on your algorithm is probably on everyone else’s, and everything you see is what other people see, too. To me, that’s a meter — to say ‘Oh, if everyone is doing this, I want to go against it’.
But I’m also not saying that the attitude of anti-culture is how you should go about it, if that’s not you. If your personality is “I wear everything that everyone else thinks is cool”, that is totally valid but it all comes together in what movies you really love, what books you really like to read, what your friends are like, or what architecture you admire. Just building your personal interest and being like “Oh, this is something that is actually fun and natural to me” leads to being a more authentic person.
That’s my advice, but I also don’t have it all figured out. There are times when I am like a sponge taking in everything. I lose my way but I feel like with this whole upcoming album I actually reached the essence of me that was hard to get to. All the more why I’m extremely excited about it. These videos feel super different to me, and like a real pivotal point in my career. At the same time, it feels so natural and I’m so involved. I know the vision inside out.