You don't expect the child of two pastors to consort with Russell Brand and sing songs about kissing girls (or do you?), but Katy Perry has turned her strait-laced upbringing on its head. As she prepares to host the MTV Europe Music awards for the second time this week, Perry tells TONY CLAYTON-LEAabout staying grounded in the glare of celebrity – which sometimes involves heeding mom's advice
ONE OF the many great things about pop music is that it occasionally throws up the most interesting characters. While it’s a given that all of us are in some way dysfunctional, it’s a safe bet to claim that pop stars are the oddest of humans. Odd, that is, and often quite good.
Take Katy Perry, for example.
The 25-year-old Perry is the second child of Christian evangelists with their own church. Her real surname is Hudson, but because it was too close to the actor Kate Hudson she decided to take her stage name from her uncle and aunt, Frank and Eleanor Perry, who together directed and wrote, among other curious, artfully serrated movies, The Swimmer(1968), Last Summer(1969), and Diary of a Mad Housewife(1970).
Hudson/Perry began singing in the family ministry at the age of nine, and continued for a further eight years, all the while listening solely to gospel and country music because her mother wouldn't allow her ears to be sullied by the secular variety. Following a series of false starts (Nashville, Christian music, a debut gospel-rock album, signing to Def Jam, recording an album that wasn't released, being dropped by Def Jam, signing to Columbia, recording an album that wasn't released, being dropped by Columbia, etc), Perry eventually came to notice about four years ago via her MySpace page and a song, Simple, which was included on the soundtrack to The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
From then on, it was relatively plain sailing, as it seemed Perry was intent on sticking up two fingers to her Christian evangelist background in her aims to be an outspoken pop star.
Songs such as Ur so Gayand I Kissed a Girlhave since catapulted Perry into an area occupied by tweenies, aware teens, discerning popticians and disgruntled parents. Still, call her an overnight success, and she'll laugh.
“My career was a work in progress, most definitely, for about five solid years, but from 17 to 23 I’d been in Hollywood trying hard to secure that record deal, and hold on to it. I sometimes whine and complain, but then I remember that other bands have been touring in vans for almost 10 years, and so I completely shut up.
“Coming from such a sheltered background, it was really interesting being out there on my own from the age of 17, because I had no real set of rules anymore. Once I left home, I could do what I wanted in my own time in my own way. I was a little green, I admit, but I learned so much, despite the fact that I went through quite a lot of ups and downs. I’m very happy I had to go through that, though, because I appreciated it, and didn’t take it for granted.”
Katy Perry loves being a pop star; it’s a state of reality far removed from the 16-year-old she was less than 10 years ago – a time in her life, she says, when the notion of success was a bit more handfed. She’s also very aware about the way the lifestyle attracts more flakes than to be found in a Kellogg’s factory.
“All my friends love that I’m a pop star, and when I say friends I mean friends – about five to eight of them. My mother taught me to differentiate between real friends and people who say they are. A lot of people come and go, and I don’t put much stock in that. I’m nice to the people involved and give respect where it’s due, but I’m not an idiot. I don’t try to MC Hammer all of my money away, or have an amount of people whose last names I don’t know. That’d be gross. Anyway, you’ve got to remember that I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I really remember the way the people who now invite me to their parties used to treat me.
“I have worked really hard to get here, and I feel I’ve paid my dues. So the label ‘pop star’ to me isn’t exactly a one-dimensional label. That’s changing, too. It’s good to see that there are visually unique female pop stars out there, who are recreating what pop is to the public. I’m hoping that I’m also a part of that.”
And the storms-in-tea-cups regarding some of her songs – does she view these as boring, or is it what good pop should be about some of the time?
“I’m telling stories, and with some I’m definitely not sugarcoating it. I guess I see life in a funny, sarcastic, dark perspective. To each their own. Some people love them, some people hate them, some people think I’m a joke, some people think I’m their favourite musician.
“Whatever the mindset, I’m not bothered – but only in that I just write songs for myself, and I hope that if I dig down deep enough and be honest with myself, then I can connect with someone out there, too. But they’re fun pop songs, and some are tongue-in-cheek. Yes, I know pop is viewed as ephemeral and transient, but it’s also quite important. Music is the soundtrack to our lives, it never goes away. Things change, but songs have life forever.”
Ticketreaders might be interested to know that the soundtrack to Katy's life when she was 16 included Queen's Killer Queen, Beach Boys' God Only Knows, Heart's Magic Men, and the soundtrack to The Virgin Suicides.
“Oh, that movie,” she sighs, “with its sad-emo romantic love. Everything is so intense when you’re 16, and love is, like, so important, times 10. When you grow up it changes. What do you think?”
Well, it isn't often that The Ticketis asked what it thinks, but we'll give it a go: you're never too old to have a happy childhood, I say.
“Oh, that’s adorable,” Perry says, with such pronounced affirmation that I actually think she means it. “I’m going to put that in my pocket and keep it forever.”
The MTV Music Awards take place in Berlin on Thursday
