New Zealand’s Ladyhawke is ready to share her third album ‘Wild Things’. Fans have gotten a taste of the new record via the single ‘Love Song’ and Ladyhawke can’t wait for the new collection of songs.
OUTinPerth spoke to Pip Brown, aka Ladyhawke, about her new music, marriage equality and
Who did you make this new record with?
I worked with a producer from Chicago, Tommy English. He moved here to L.A. around the same time as me, and we made this record at his house. We started in March 2014 and finished around March 2015. It was a good process and a lot of fun. Tommy is a fun guy to work with and he’s such a talented and accomplished musician.
Do you like to take your time when making music?
I don’t like rushing. When I started working on ‘Wild Things’ it went quite quickly, but I had this whole other record that I worked on before that which I thought was going to be the third record, but I ended up not using any of it. It was way too dark, it ended up being something I toiled on, I had a whole record full of music but ultimately I just had to walk away from it.
As a New Zealander you’ve been able to marry your same sex partner, while here in Australia we’re still debating the issue during our federal election. Coming from a country with marriage equality, how do you look at nations like Australia which don’t recognise your union?
I think it’s shit for the gay community, it’s frustrating. We’ve had it in New Zealand for a while now, but even that took too long. I keep thinking, “it’s 2016, why is this still a thing?”
It’s a really hard thing to talk about, there are people who put religion into everything including politics and they just need to separate the two. If two people love one and another other, don’t deny them the right to be married. Its just not fair.
We have normal relationships, we do normal things, we are not freakish. Marriage is not a weird thing. I just don’t get it.
I hate that it’s still a debate, and something that the Australian LGBTI community are going through… the thought that it might not happen in Australia just makes me feel terrible.
You recorded a French version of your hit song ‘Paris is Burning’, can you speak French?
No, the producer of my second album (Pascal Gabriel) is French. I didn’t write the song with him, but I got him to translate all the lyrics for me and then I learned how to sing it phonetically. I really wanted to have a full version in French, I thought it would be cool. I’d love being in Paris and French people had been so supportive of my music. French people tell me I sound ‘cute’ singing it, and they also tell me I sound Spanish. I think they appreciated me making the effort though.
Early in your career you played at the legendary New York venue CBGBs. It’s no longer standing, what was it like?
That place was such a toilet, it was falling apart, the stage was crumbling away, but it was the most amazing time of my life. I couldn’t believe I was playing CBGBs. In the women’s toilets there were no doors, and no toilet seats. It was the epitome of a dive bar, it had writing all over the walls, some of it going back thirty or forty years. When I stood on stage though, all I could think was “Debbie Harry stood right here. Where I’m standing now. It was amazing!
Ladyhawke’s new album ‘Wild Things’ is out now. Head to the giveaways page for your chance to win a copy.
Check out ‘Love Song’ below.
