Saturday, July 17, 2010

Taylor Momsen: What you see isn't what you get

“I’m kind of a loner. I’m not a party girl or anything. I don’t like to leave my house if I don’t have to.”
- Taylor Momsen, on what she’s like away from the cameras and out of the spotlight.

“The record is full lots of innuendos and complexity. It’s very layered and there’s lots of things going on.”
- Taylor Momsen, on The Pretty Reckless’ new record.

“(Music) wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment idea. I have been perfecting my craft for a long time... I’ve been writing songs since I can remember.”

- Taylor Momsen, on her connection to music.

What you see is not what you get when it comes to Gossip Girl’s Taylor Momsen.

Despite consistently making headlines for scandalous remarks, being papped in gossip magazines right around the world and being bold enough to hit stages across the States wearing next to nothing, away from the spotlight Taylor Momsen’s really quite shy.

Chatting exclusively to NovaFM on the phone from her tour bus, Momsen admits to being a workaholic and explains that when she doesn’t have cameras pointing at her, she’s quite reserved and reclusive – a far cry from her troublesome Gossip Girl character Jenny Humphrey, and the badass rock goddess that we see on stage when Momsen performs with The Pretty Reckless.

“I work 90 per cent of the time and when I’m not working I’m writing. I don’t have a lot of friends. My band is my friend and I have three other friends – I have a very tight-knit circle,” she says.

“When I’m not with them I’m by myself, or working. I’m kind of a loner. I (originally) picked up writing because it became an outlet to survive, basically, because you have everyone attacking you all the time. I’m not a party girl or anything. I don’t like to leave my house if I don’t have to. I’m very, very shy and awkward. I’m almost painfully shy.”

This is hard to believe when you listen to The Pretty Reckless’ incredibly catchy debut single “Make Me Wanna Die.”

Check out the current clip for "Make Me Wanna Die"



Refreshingly dark and edgy, “Make Me Wanna Die” is a dramatic rock track that shows off Momsen’s sultry vocals and explores heavy issues like love, loss, hope and self-destruction. Impressively, Momsen writes all of her own music and this track arguably covers issues that go well beyond what most 16-year-olds experience.

“It’s (Make Me Wanna Die) is a tragic love song. It’s about not being able to live without a lover and having no reason to go on if they’re not in your life,” she says.

“I’ve lived a very adult life. I was modeling when I was one and a half and have been working professionally since then. I got into acting when I was two and I’ve been writing songs since I can remember. (Music) wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment idea – I have been perfecting my craft for a long time. Just because people didn’t know that side of me before (Gossip Girl) doesn’t mean it didn’t exist. “

Momsen sounds sincere as she insists that she doesn’t try to be controversial – yet juicy stories seem to surface almost daily about the young diva. They cover everything from Momsen’s fashion (her
stripper heels at Warped Tour), to her lifestyle choices( Momsen’s the proud owner of a knife collection) and her opinions of others (Momsen recently slagged off Miley Cyrus despite once competing with her for the role of Disney darling Hannah Montana).

Momsen says she steers clear of the tabloids and tries her best to ignore all of the gossip the media’s pushing. “I don’t read it. I don’t even own a computer. I do interviews for about 10 minutes and then I write songs and ignore the rest of the world,” she says, on the bus somewhere between Boston and Buffalo.

“People seem to be up in arms about how I dress. I’m just living my life. I am who I am and people like to talk about it.”

With less than six weeks until the unveiling of The Pretty Reckless’ debut record, the softly spoken singer gets very excited when asked about the direction the record will take. Momsen giggles as she tries to come up with an explanation for the album title.

“We decided to title the record Light Me Up because it was like starting a fire with our first record and it’s got a lot of double entendres to it. The record is full lots of innuendos and complexity. It’s very layered and there’s lots of things going on. It seemed like a fitting title.”

Momsen says the New York-based quartet’s invested a lot of time and effort into this album and she hopes it pays off. Writing, playing and performing music has been a lifelong dream which Momsen’s finally able to live out.

“I grew up listening to rock records. When I was four, I was listening to The Beatles and Zeppelin. I asked my Dad to take to me to a concert when I was 8 or 9 and we were right up in the mosh pit… It was a defining moment where I went ‘I want to be in a rock band’,” she says.

“We really focus on the music because that’s what we’re about. We really meticulously worked over every song and every inch of this album and hopefully everyone will be able to see how much were putting into it.”

source: novafm.com.au

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

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Claire said...

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