ozelot2001 e-mag . . . music-interviews: Gods of Blitz

Music-Interview: Princess Superstar

Interview mit Princess Superstar (aka Concetta Kirschner)
in Berlin am 08.08.2005

1. What is the concept behind the new album "My Machine"?

The concept of my new album, “My Machine” is this:
In the future everybody gets one clone, so that they are more productive; but the superstar character finds an illegal way to make 10 000 clones, so that she can be the only celebrity on the planet. And then there are lots of little sub concepts and all sorts of other things going on, but that is the main story.

2. Why did you decide to make a concept album?

I decided to do a concept record because, well ...I have been working on it for quite some time actually. I started writing it right around the time when I was recording my 3rd album: “Last of the Great 20th Century Composers”. I started making a futuristic concept album, but I was ... no, no, I can’t do this, its to hard, I can't do it and so I put it away. Then I recorded that album and then I recorded another record, and then after I recorded my last record, I was sort of going through a writer’s block.
I didn’t really know what I was going to do...also around that time I started Dj’ing a lot in the clubs and everything just sort of came to me. Oh yeah, I got to just pick up my concept record again and the script I had started writing, And just go for it and do it. I really had to get out of myself. I really had to stop being afraid to do a concept album, because I knew that it just totally could fall on its ass, people are not doing that ... I was just ...I have to do this.... It was my passion.

3. Why did you name the album "My Machine”?

I named the album after one of my favorite songs that I recorded, called “My Machine”. I had actually written the song about three years ago and I did it with “Jacques Lu Cont”, who is a genius. Basically, that song kind of sums up for me the whole feeling of the album, just emotionally ... but I also named the album that, because of a lot of different reasons. For instance there is this celebrity machine, that it could refer to, but it also refers to how I feel in our current climate: everybody is totally attached to something like a cell phone or e-mail or pager, blackberry or whatever and it's all these things that are sort of like really important; I'm totally addicted to them myself, but I feel like it kind of takes all of us out of the present moment and does not allow us to truly connect with the people that are right in front of us.

4. How long did you work on my machine?

I was touring a lot and I was DJ'ing a lot and I’ve been working on it pretty much on the road, on airplanes, in hotel rooms and kind of where I could and I really recorded this all over the world, because that’s where I have just been. Finally I took about a month and a half in London to work with Arthur Baker, because I really wanted the Album to sound cohesive, like one whole idea, as opposed to a whole bunch of different little producers and different genres of music. I really homed in on it with Arthur.

5. What kind of different styles are mingled into the New Album "My Machine"?

I kind of like to call what I do currently, in my current phase, New Wave Hip Hop. Why I say that is because it is Hip Hop, 'cause I'm rapping, but it is more like dance music; but then there are elements of punk, too and then there is New York vibe and also like a Berlin vibe. I'm just melting all these different genres together, to make something new, I hope. That’s my musical taste. I love so many different kinds of music. In my CD player, there’ll be anything like from “Vitalic” to an old “De La Soul” record. I never really make distinctions... I'm just like...it is music. Unfortunately, in today’s world, everybody is like... this is there, this is there, and this is there and I've always been on the outside, on the outskirts of any sort of genre.

6. You were never “strictly Hip Hop”, but nevertheless once described as the “female Eminem”? However, your new album mixes up a lot of different musical influences and styles. How did this come about? Are you tired of Hip Hop?

I have to say that I think that in the last few years Hip Hop got a little close-minded in certain aspects. You definitively have people being innovative as far as like “Timberland” and “Missy” (Elliot), sometimes “The Neptune’s” with their NERD thing. Although even they are getting into their own little sort of box, I suppose. Maybe it's the fans? Sometimes Hip Hop fans can be very close-minded. It has to be a certain way, it has to be real and they get into that whole thing: I am a Hip Hop purist.
I love Hip Hop. It's in my heart. In the original days of Hip Hop, it was electro and it was experimentational and I just feel like maybe that is lost a little bit with all these people being so strict about what is Hop Hop. Like who cares. If it is good music, who cares. Experimentation, taking risks, being innovative, that is what I'm interested in.

7. What are the differences between My Machine and your previous 4 albums?

I think each of my albums are quite different from each other. This new album is definitive the most for the clubs. With the most dance elements. It has definately been influenced by all the Dj’ing, I've been doing. But on all my records, even from the very start, my first album, it has always been about experimentation and cutting up different types of genres of music, mashing them together with Hip Hop. I definitely have been doing mash-up shit since '95 ... So yeah, 10 years later I guess the world is ready for me. (laughs) But if they are not, like I say on my album, they will be in 2080. (laughs)

8. Tell us about the producers that worked on "My Machine", and how these co-operations came about?

I worked with a lot of producers on the album and I really wanted to capture a wide spectrum of people, making different kinds of music.
“Alexander Technique”, who is in my band and also my DJ partner, he is like best friends with “Junior Sanchez”.
I really credit Junior a lot for introducing me to most everybody, from “Armand (Van Helden)”, to even “Arthur Baker”, “Jacques Lu Cont”...
It was really through Junior ... and I worked a lot in Junior's studio...and what I was really interested in was; them giving me something different to what they normally do. For example “Todd Terry”, he is like a legend in House Music, and I wanted a Hip Hop beat from him and he was really excited, because he does not really do that. He made an amazing Hip Hop beat that became famous ... (laughs)
The song is called "Famous", it did not become famous; lets hope it does. And Armand made me some faux heavy metal. I don’t know, slash “B-52” type Song which is "I like it a Lot"; “Jacques Lu Cont” made me a sort of Hip Hop sort of electronic beat for “my machine”, and a really kind of rock song for "Artery", almost like indie rock. Then I did some production; “Alexander Technique” did some production, “Boris Dlugosch” did some production, and then these guys from New Jersey that no one has heard of, that are amazing, like “Malito”(“Maleet”), or “Chris Rubix” and also these guys from “MOTOR”, they have a record on Nova Mute and they are called “X-Lover”, too, and they are on Gigolo.

9. Give us an example of the different kinds of musical style that are mingled up, on the new album?

I like to challenge the people that I work with, because then they will challenge me. I never thought that I would do a song, like the one I did with “Armand (Van Helden)”, which is just some weird cock rock song (laughs). That just happened because the beat was so... the music was so weird and I thought about it.... The only way you could sing to that kind of music is to pretend that you are in a 70’s type rock band, doing a beer commercial. (laughs)

10. Tell us about your work ethics. What is it like to work in the studio, with you?

I definitively like to have fun and play around in the studio and I am definitively willing to suck. What I mean by that is ... I think that in order to make something great, you have to be willing to make a lot of mistakes; to sound like shit and embarrass yourself. When I first write a song, I will tell you right now that 3/4 of it is shit, it is horrible and I just take the little bit that is good and I rewrite it, and I rewrite it, and I rewrite it. Basically, I'm a workaholic, a little bit so... people have to be patient in the studio with me. (laughs) Although, I have to say that with Arthur (Baker)... he really was so great...
He be like reading his e-mail and I would be like cutting vocals and you'd think he didn't even pay attention, and he’d be reading his e-mail and I'd be cutting vocals.... “Jesus Christ”, why isn't he paying any attention to me. Do I have to be like super famous to get like even one ounce of attention, I'll be thinking this in my head and he'd look up from his e-mail and he'd be like: change this, change that, do that line over, drop that and re-cut. And I was like... o.k. and then he'd go back to his e-mail. It was so amazing, 'cause then the song would be like "boom", perfect and previously I would have had to tape stuff like 100's of times. I'm like a little bit of a perfectionist so I can drive people crazy, sorry. (laughs) Shout out to all my producers, I’m sorry. (laughs)

11. What was it like to work with the “legendary” Arthur Baker?

“Arthur (Baker)” has been in the business for 30 years and it shows, like I said, he’d be like on his pager or e-mail and you would think he wasn't even paying attention and then he would just point out 3 things and it would be like boom, perfect. You know what's funny about Arthur is that he is a father figure in as far as music goes. You know he is like the father of Electro... one of them, and he is such a genius. He is like an old school record guy. Everything about him; it's not like these kids that sit in their bedrooms with their computers and make music; although they are great to and many of them are on my record, but he is like the real deal. You know he knows what a song should be like and it was so fantastic to work with him
I hooked up with Arthur because... he did these parties in London called "Return to New York”. They were really super cool parties and you could really only think of it as a “mash up of like “Blondie” playing as well as like “ "Tiefschwarz" or “Stretch Armstrong” or something... he would have all these genres of music together. Really cool parties. He was working on an album and he asked me to rap on a song, and I was so nervous... oh my god, the legendary “Arthur Baker” and I like went to his house; I was so sick, I had like a cold and I was really trying to be cool and good and he was just like; do your thing. I worked really hard on my rap for him and I was so nervous; it's so funny now looking back ... he is like Arthur, he is my friend and he was like ...big Arthur for me. I was so nervous, “Arthur Baker”, the legend... I had like “Blue Monday” in my head the whole time. (laughs)

12. You worked together with Moby. How did this come about?

“Moby's” label got in touch with me, I guess, because the song was called a "Jam for the ladies and a Superstar", and I think some brilliant A&R guy was like: oh we should get Princess Superstar. “Moby” wanted me to just rap on there and so I did and they made a video that is cool.

13. What is so special about the lyrics on “My Machine”?

The thing I like the most about the lyrics is that I managed to tell the whole story in rhyme and that was really hard to do. I'm explaining so much stuff. At the very top of the album with the classroom, it's a classroom in the future and the children are all named for ad-slogans like: "Just do it" and "Coke is it". The reason why they are named for that... Corporations make deals with their parents to name their kids that way. In the future everybody uses telepathy to speak and ... so this class called ancient speaking class, because the kids are learning how to speak again; and then each kid has an assignment and the one that we focus in on is "Coke is it" and she does her ancient speaking report on her great, to the 50th power, grandmother, who is me in 2080. So this is all explained in the lyrics and it all rhymes and yeah, it took a long time to make and it takes you on this journey.... It is really impossible to say what all the lyrics are about, it's just like... you've got to listen to it, to figure it out.

14. Where do you get your inspirations to write music and lyrics?

I'm very much inspired by anything from like science fiction, like Phillip K. Dick to comedy that has like a political bend to it...like the “Simpsons” or “South Park” ... stuff like that I get influenced by; but then I get just as influenced by like trash TV and I'll watch some thing about like Paris Hilton or something and then I have to write about it. (laughs) Make fun of it. But I'm still watching.

15. What other projects are you currently working on?

I'm going to come out with, on the new “Dr. Octagon” record with cool Keith, which I'm really excited about, because Dr Octagon has been one of my most favorite album producers. That is really exciting but I'm not sure when that is coming out.
I have also done something with “Munk” on Gomma Records and I have some thing, a side project, called the “Diskokaines” and it's with a guy in Vienna.

16. What guest stars are on your new record?

I don't really have any Guest Stars. There is the Announcer and then there is the little girl on "Famous", but other than that, I play all the characters.
You know in a way I have collaborated with everybody whom I want to. I mean there are still a few left like: “Missy Elliot”, I'd like to do something with... and also, yeah, me, “Peaches” and “Miss Kitten” - my former super group. (laughs)

17. You are part of “djs are not rockstars”; tell us about your style?

I love DJ’ing so much; it's really like a new thing for me, more or less. I've been doing it for about 4 years and me and Alex, DJ the way I listen to music and how I try to make music, which is essentially... we mix all different kinds of stuff together. Everything from Classic Rock, like “Led Zeppelin”, to stuff like “M.I.A.” and “Vitalic” and stuff on" Gigolo, to old school Hip Hop “J.J.Fad” and “Salt'n'Pepa”. We just mix everything together and we make it like, one big dance party and people are going crazy, and it has been so wonderful to just travel the whole world, and also the different type’s of venue and stuff, that I was in. I was more sort of on the Hip Hop side and more and...no, I wouldn't say Pop but.... you know it wasn't in the dance scene, so that has been really, really cool. I love it.

18. Has DJ’ing influenced your musical choices as a recording artist?

The DJ'ing changed everything about the way I make music. This album... I wanted to make People dance with it, and so what I think I've made is a fun, dance, party record, disguised as.... no, no, wait... I made a deeply political record disguised as a fun dance party record. (laughs)
So, the Dj'ing totally influenced me and influenced with whom I wanted to work with and the sound and I think it is really cool because I mixed up again this sound, this dance sort of thing with Hip Hop and Rock. I am really excited about what I have done.

19. Tell us about “Bad Babysitter”; did the success surprise you?

The success of "Bad Babysitter totally surprised me, because it was already on my 4th album and all over sudden it was like an overnight success... Princess Superstar... I was like: that was a long 8-year overnight plan. And then on the other hand, it did not surprise me. Finally people are getting my music and I know that my time has come and that is cool. You know, it's all good.
I just do what I want to do, and I'm lucky enough that I work with a Label that lets me do that. I just feel free to experiment. I would never make a "Bad Babysitter Part 2". That is not interesting to me. My albums have always been about experimentation and stuff like that.

20. Your new single is called “Perfect”. What can you tell us about it?

The song "Perfect" is actually produced by the guy that produced "Bad Babysitter", “DJ Mighty Mi”, but it is cool, it is kind of different in that it is really kind of more dance, more disco, old school kind of… and it has really funny lyrics and really kind of comments on our obsession with plastic surgery and being perfect really. It is me really saying how perfect I am and the video shows me not really perfect at all. So in other words the video shows me like roller skating and doing tricks, and the camera will pan back and it is really like a body double and I'm sitting on the couch reading a trashy magazine, or like me waxing my legs with $100 bills and it is just kind of like; I take the piss out of myself, which is what I really like to do in my music and lyrics. I think not enough people in my position do that and they take everything so seriously.

21. You run your own record label, what can you tell us about them?

When I first started my own label and I called it "A Big Rich Major Label", because I was really taking the piss again out of myself. I was at my day job and I was really broke and it was just really funny to call people or other labels or distributors and be like: Hi, this is “Concetta” from " A Big Rich Major Label", and people would laugh and then they put me through, so you know it worked. (laughs)
And then I renamed it in 1999, because that was the first time that the Majors all sort of consolidated and they started merging with each other. “Warner” bought like all these other smaller labels and then all over sudden it was like: 3 conglomerates were controlling what we listened to, so I renamed my label "The Corrupt Conglomerate".

22. Tell us about your history and how you started making music?

I did not grow up making music. My parents were really, really into music. My parents were Hippies so they were always playing music really loud in the house. From “Pink Floyd” to “Led Zeppelin” to “Stevie Wonder”, stuff like that. When I went to college in New York, I started playing guitar and I never in a million years thought that I was going to do music. I thought that I was going to be an actress, or I don’t know... yeah, I wanted to be an actress. I just fell in love making music and I joined some bands... this was in the 90's - and then I started messing around with a four track... Actually it is funny, this particular machine happened to be... this singer named “Dallas”, who was in a Band with “James Murphy” from DFA... and that was how I really got my start, on this little 4 track, they left it in my house with my roommate. If it wasn't for that, I don’t even know if I would be here, because I just started messing around with samples and rapping and everything that was to become Princess Superstar.

23. You have been labeled in the press as the female Eminem; how do you feel about that?

When I started doing Hip Hop, I never went into it like... I'm white and I’m a girl and this is going to be hard. I was just like: I want to rap; I just want to do it. I didn’t care that there is no precedent or that I'm not from the ghetto, although I was born in the ghetto; lived there until I was three years old. (laughs) You know I didn't let anything stop me; it was not like it was super conscious. It was born out of: I love Hip Hop and I want to do it. So why can't I? That's it.

24. How do you approach your work; what is that you have to be good at to excel in your field?

You don't have to be good at particularly any one thing but you do have to have really good taste in music and know what works and what doesn't and yet again you have to be willing to take risks and fail and try different things and the other thing is, I practice. I'm not a person that can sit here and just like: yo, yo, yo and rhyme and make up a rhyme about you right now, I'm not. I could sit and write a really funny rhyme about you and give it to you tomorrow... but I practice, and same for Dj'ing. Anybody can do anything they want if they practice.... O.k. you need some talent, that is true, but I don’t know... I feel that most of it is just a lot of work and I have like this much talent, (makes a hand sign for a little) and this much work ethics (makes a hand sign for a lot).

25. How are you going to perform the album live?

I'm super excited about my live show. I'm working really, really hard to put that together, because I'm really sick of going to go see bands or live Hip Hop shows, where like... o.k. the band will like throw on a skinny tie and like have "moppy" hair and be like o.k. ... that is our show, and Hip Hop: ... o.k. we put on our backing track and be like: yo, yo, yo put your hands in the air... I'm over it.
I want to put on a show; I want to put on theater and some crazy thing that could become, possibly, like a cult performance piece. I've got live show visuals in the back; for example when I'm addressing my clone army, there will be like thousands of my face behind me and they are marching and stuff like that. I have a costumer who does stuff for the “Lion King” (Musical) on Broadway; I have a lighting designer, I have a director; I have a choreographer that works with "FisherSpooner” and props and.... yeah I have never been more excited in my life about doing a performance.

(interview by: K7! / 08.08.2005)