Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Taylor Interviewed by "My Rock" Magazine (France)

This Interview was translated from French by the amazing TaylortheZombie ( @taylorzombiesky) 
who is also became one of our affiliates! 


            
The Pretty Reckless – Momsen uncensored

4 years after Light me up, Taylor Momsen open to us a wicked road to Hell.
The uncomplexed teen became an adult, at a point that her music is transform,
leaving the provocation to strong songs perfectly mastered.
You had doubt about the first record ? “Going to Hell” will prove you that no,
The Pretty Reckless is not just one night stand !

In 2012, you’ve been touring with Marilyn Manson, what memories do you keep from
this experiment ?

Oh I have so many that i don’t know where to start ! It was fantastic, so much
that every shows from this tour are inscribed in my memories. I had so much fun,
to be singing onstage or after watching Marilyn Manson himself.

We can imagine crazy afters…

Of course, it’s Marilyn Manson, the pope of the crazyness ! I really learn to
know him during the tour. And today he is a close friend. He is such a great guy,
far from what he shows to the world, and we try to keep in touch as much as we
can.

Even if he tried to strangle you during the Revolver Golden Gods awards ?

(laugh) Yes ! It was amazing to sing “The Dope Show” in a duet with him.
And despite what people says, being strangle by Marilyn Manson onstage was
totally insane…and really cool !

A little while after you collaborate with another big name in the rock of today,
Paul Barker.

I sing on the song “Victory” which is on his solo album “Fix This!!!” and also
on the documentary about Ministry. Paul wrote this song very undue, only
instrumental, and he was looking for someone to sing on it.
He contact my producer,Kato Kwandala, asking him to make me listen to the song.
I immediatly accept, I mean, How could i refuse ? I’m a huge fan of Ministry !

Start all over

Let’s talk about “Going To Hell”, the second album of the Pretty Reckless, tell
us how everything start…

We started the writing process just after our tour with Marilyn Manson,
summer 2012. I did’nt want to take a break, I had to use this energy I had
from the shows. This is at this time that most of the tracks from the album have
been wrote, in Hoboken, New Jersey. Everything was going pretty good…
before the hurricane Sandy came and destroy everything on its way !
The all studio have been destroy, we lost most of our stuffs, and also all the
recordings. We had to start all over again, somewhere else.

How did that made you feel ?

I was devastated. We had no more amp, no more guitars, and no more songs, a true
shock ! There was water everywhere in the studio, but not only as the hurricane
brought a lot of things, like trashes, signboards…it was a total chaos !
But this apocalypse have not been only a disaster, as right after we wrote the
song “Going To Hell”. Like what, sometimes, a light can come from darkness…
and trust me we had a lot of darkness during the recording ! The hurricane Sandy
was only the start point of the fall into Hell, hence the title of the album.
For exemple, a little bit after that, the wife of our producer brutaly died.
She was very close to each of us, she was really a part of the Pretty Reckless
family and her lost affect us a lot. This event inspired the song
“Fucked up World” because at this time we all had a hard time seeing good in
life…We were angry about the all world and, because of all those tragedies
around us, this rage came out from us, screaming like one being throught
our music. This is why this album take longer to be released, and why it is
way darker than the last one.

It is also more energetic…

Totally ! I explain that by the fact that we created the songs in a different
way than the first album. You need to understand that when we wrote
“light me up”, we didn’t gave a lot of shows. But this time, we came out from
2 years of touring. It’s been a crucial step, because we understood that our
music should be wrote in the perspective of the live version.
This scenic chemistry between us has changed all, push us to directly go to our
goal, replacing the arrangements with the energy of a true rock band who plays
together, in the same room. It helps define our sound, this is why Going to Hell
sound like the way that the Pretty Reckless really sounds onstage, which wasn’t
the case of Light me up, who was a little bit to produce.

Loud Amps

Light me up had a very prounonced grungy side, but Going to Hell got more variations,
it can go from heavy to gospel.

This wasn’t meant to. the only goal was to don’t have limit. thinking about it
I will even say that the songs made the process, a little bit like they was
talking throught us. No fences, no double-taughts and specially no glory dreams,
this is why there is not an evident single, because no song have been taught
for the industry of music. The only thought we had was to write good songs,
no matter what if they had a low tempo or if they were heavy.

There is actually a lot of heavy parts on the record, like Follow me down and
Going to Hell. Do you mean that you like the Rock’n'roll when it screams and
sweets ?

Exactly ! Isn’t it the exact meaning of Rock’n'roll after all ? I like when a
song is dirty, when we can feel the musicians sweeting on their instruments.
In those moments there is something almost incantational, the music possess you,
this is what I love and what push me to pervceive it ! And this world suck,
so let’s play with loud amps anyway.

This attitude is close to the ones of the rock divas, like Lita Fords and
Joan Jett, What do you think ?

Maybe, but I don’t like to reduce the music to the gender of the people making it
… If I had to look for a link, it’s more than like them, I like to enjoy life
to it’s maximum, because it is so short.

Maybe if it’s not your purpose, but you contribute putting girls on the same level
than boys in the rock world. It was in time ! Talking about that, since you
are a singer, did you notice a change in the way they look at you ?

I don’t know, because, actually, except for the shows I don’t have many occasions
to go out and meet new people, but it’s true that in general, they don’t really
talk to me, I might fright them, even if I swear that I’m a nice girl,
don’t be afraid of me boys ! (laugh)

At the release of Light me up, a lot of were sceptical about your new life as a
singer, but when we listen to this record, and see you onstage, we can only
think that you were born for this…

Thank you very much…It takes a lot of time, of energy and of shows to convaince
people, but I think the way they saw me is finally changing. I think that today
people who are looking for their shoot of rock’n'roll are not dissapointing
when they come see us onstage. On the other hand, the ones who hopes to see
the girl from “Gossip Girl” dancing will regret the money they spent. Music is
not just a hobby, it’s my all life and it will follow me to the end,
that’s why I quit acting, years ago. Shooting is over for me. I know you can
never say never, but today I spend my time in concert hall, and I think that’s
much more challenging. Being onstage is the best job in the world !
it’s a lot of work, like the fact that you fly 20 hours to give one little hour
of performing, but damn that’s fucking good !

a little bit Hippy

If at first the lyrics of the album are a little bit like “Live fast die young”,
but a depth listening let see themes much deeper than the ones in Light me up.

Yes, the writing of Going to Hell is much more mature. Don’t forget that I’m 20
today when at this time I was only 15. But you are right, there is really a
double meaning in this record, and the ones who wants to listen to it to enjoy
life don’t need to understand the lyrics. But it’s a little bad to stop there
because even if life is made to have fun, sometimes you have to look at the
things straight in the eyes and accept all the craps happening everyday but
no one representing the youngest feels like talking about that apparently. Even if
ignoring the truth is not going to make it diseppear anyway, it’s hypocrite when
you think about it. Poverty and violence are destroying lifes everyday and
ruining this world. The human being has to learn to be better, because right
know it is evil.

Those violence problems, you talk about them specially in the song “Why’d you
bring a shotgun to the party”.

That’s it, yeah. I had the idea of that song when I realise that everyday the
news talk about teenagers being shoot, who are litteraly killing each others.
It’s a real savagery for the young ones, I couldn’t keep watching the news
without talking about it.

The prohibiton of guns is a sensitive subjecy in the US, is this song a way to take a
part ?

I don’t know…It’s complicated…i watch what’s going on, but I bring no answer,
for the only good reason that I don’t have any. And I don’t want to be moralizing,
I just ask to the young ones to think and talk about it instead of shooting in the
head of the others, even if it’s hard for me to understand how a country can sell
guns to their citizen, legally.Peace and love, life is already short, so it
doesn’t mean anything to kill each others, that’s what I’d like to tell my fans
and the ones who read this.

Behind the black clothes and makeup, finally you are Hippy !

I’m maybe a little bit hippy yeah (laugh) after all John Lennon is one of
my heros ! Let’s say that some hippy quotes are very right, like don’t do to
the others what you don’t want them to do to you.

Let’s talk about the jacket of the album, which is surely going to shock religious
ones, you have paint on your naked body, a wicked version of the holy cross…

It’s a pretty simple but effective picture to describe the record and the fact
that we are all going to hell for our sins. After I don’t want to point with my
finger one specific religion, but more all the religions. I grew up in a
catholic environnement so I know all the references that’s why i like to wick them,
but the other religions are not better.
I think people are too serious about it, I mean, there is no Hell, no heaven, just
the notion of good and evil and its shades. It don’t worth all those wars…
I want to say to all those idiotics to open their eyes, because I don’t think that
under our feet there is a group of demons with cleft tails and horns who are
waiting for our judgements to tear us into pieces, even if this idea is pretty cool
(laugh). Don’t let them bamboozle you, everybody can create their own heaven,
and of course their own hell.

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