Tags : None

From: jools (Original Message) Sent: 30/05/2003 05:06
FEASTING ON k.d.
k.d. lang oozes scorpionic sensuality, inspires longing and lust in her listeners and has even ushered in a new generation of vegetarians. With the release of All You Can Eat, the three-time Grammy Award-winner is once again taking to stages across America. And she's certain not to disappoint. Her new cd serves up a full dish of her trademark lush, languid melodies and exposes some seriously carnal desires. with songs like "Sex" and "Get Some," one thing's for sure: k.d.lang is beyond navel-gazing. The editors of CURVE Magazine recently spoke with the sultry chanteuse about fashion, her new album and her first kiss. By Zelie Pollon with Katie Sanborn Brown
CURVE: How has fame affected your style and choice of clothes?
kd: It's overwhelming and permeates every aspect of your life. It's hard for me to be objective... obviously there's more opportunity, there's more money, there's better photographers, there's better stylists (laughs), there's better shopping. There's more opportunity.
That's not where my interests lie now. I think after Ingenue I was pretty interested in that because I had never ventured down that avenue before. Now I'm mixing it up more than ever. But I wouldn't say I have a really firm grip on my style yet. I don't like to limit myself in any direction, whether it's second-hand clothes or designer clothes. I like to be able to have the option of dressing exactly as I feel.
CURVE: How does your new album reflect your current outlook, style-wise and other?
kd: This new album, really, and where my head's at and where my emotions are at right now is very "street" and very loose; I would think, more like I am every day. I haven't started touring yet, so I don't know if that's actually going to stick. 'Cause usually touring kind of sifts out something from it. I don't know where that direction's going to take me. The orange construction worker thing [was] very proletarian. I call it pop-aganda. I don't know how or why, but I'll just think and think and I'll all of a sudden have this idea, and that's what I want to wear. It's not as contrived as one would maybe think.
CURVE: Is there a song that you think os most indicative of who you are?
kd: No, because to me there's no separation between the songs. To me they're all just pieces of my personality, pieces of my emotional self. They're inseparable to me. Whereas they may be ten songs to the listener, it's really eight to twelve months of my life put on vinyl.
CURVE: You've said about your current album that it's very straightforward, but, when I listened to it, I thought it was sardonic. I read some of the songs like "Get Some" as a jab toward entertainment circles. You speak of wanting to be the queen of popularity - but you are!
kd: I think there's always irony in my songs. Since the very beginning of k.d. lang and the Reclines there's always been irony. There's irony in "Miss Chatelaine," there's irony in "Outside Myself." I mean, ironic sense of humour and sarcasm is part of who I am and a part of my sense of humour. It's very self-imposing. "If I Were You" is a very omni-you. Yes, it's me looking in the mirror making fun of who I've become; it's me looking at people who are more famous or less famous, going, "God if I was, like, less famous, I could, like, you know, go to the clubs and just hang out." Or, "If I were more famous, I could fly to Spain for the weekend." It doesn't matter where it is - it's always present.
CURVE: What else do you crave at this point?
kd: I crave right now, and this may seem over-obvious, but I crave the stage. I crave doing what I do best, and that's singing in front of an audience. All the rest is really promotion for touring. Even making records, especially the interview part, the celebrity part. I'm really craving the balance and getting down to the music and getting bonded with my band and having that feeling every night.
CURVE: Do you equally like creation of the music and performing?
kd: They're very very different things. It's kind of the difference between cooking and eating. There's a certain Zen to both of them. The studio is very introspective and microscopic and a very long process. The stage is more outward, more extroverted, more immediate gratification, more gypsy nomad kind of feel, more romantic. It's a very different side of my personality.
CURVE: Is music for you very spiritual and a meditative experience?
kd: The answer is yes, one hundred precent. Where it comes from, I don't know. That's kind of intrinsic. It's something I was born feeling. I get a lot of my spirituality from music and from nature and friends. To me, God is the existence of love and nature. Music is definitely a part of that. I feel very connected to my spiritual self when I'm creating music.
CURVE: What's your sense of what's happening in the United States with the religious right, from a Canadian's perspective?
kd: I think it's just more exacerbated by the power of communication. I think it's always been there. I think it's a matter of people feeling pressured that their own sense of selves and their own culture are being threatened by all the other cultures out there. We're feeling threatened, they're feeling threatened. Black people are feeling threatened. I think it's a very volatile time. And people are feeling very insecure about maintaining some sense of self.
CURVE: How are you maintaining your sense of self in the face of fame? Is fame how you imagined it?
kd: I don't think that anyone can ever imagine what it's like. And I don't think that any one person's experience with fame is the same. It's a fantastic thing and it's a horrendous thing. Things like the OJ trial made me so embarrassed to be famous. I mean, so embarrassed.
That's why my early interviews were so reactionary. I think that fame is a very, very superficial thing, but at the same time it's very flattering, it's very honourable and it facilitates what I do, which is singing. It's a bit of a catch-22 situation. To enable yourself to experience both to the fullest, it's a fine line you have to maintain.
CURVE: Can you go anywhere where people don't know you?
kd: To tell you the truth, that's in my own energy. That's in my own mind. I could go anywhere if my head was together about it, if I wasn't feeling like the Queen of Popularity or if I wasn't feeling like my career was over - the two extremes - I think it really stems from the energy you project. And how people approach you and react to you... I don't really walk down the street going, "God, I'm famous and people are recognising me." And I have gone through that period. Because when you first experience it, it permeates your consciousness and it's there and you think about it all the time. What's new for me now is that I've gotten used to it a bit. In Vancouver people are very, very cool with me. And being around my old friends who have known me for fifteen years has helped me a lot. Not ignoring the fact that I'm famous, but not making a real point of it - just accepting it for what it is.
CURVE: It sounded from some of the songs on your current album that your love life has improved. Is that true?
kd: My, my, um, no, my love life is just about the same as it's always been. But I guess I've matured with it. I think "I Want It All" kind of sums it up. I'm starting to accept my own limitations and the limitations of love and relationships, and understanding that it comes as a balance of hard work, pain, pleasure and greatness. I think I am happier and more at peace with myself than I am necessarily with another person, which makes in turn better relationship.
CURVE: I loved all of the innuendo on All You Can Eat. So, if you can have all you can eat, what's your favourite dish?
kd: I guess that depends on what I'm craving (laughs).
CURVE: So, these days?
kd: These days? Well, which direction do you want me to take it in? (coyly)
CURVE: Well, you know... (equally coy).
kd: Actually, you know what, I'm craving a bit of abstinence (laughs), and I'm craving a fast right now, and I'm craving to get on the road. I'm really craving to see the audiences. I'm craving to sing the songs. That sounds kind of corny, but that's the truth.
CURVE: Do you find it difficult to meet people when you're on the road or even when you're at home? I would think that being famous would make you very cautious.
kd: I'm very cautious of who I bring into my life. It really depends. I can be cold as ice, or I can be a really great person. It depends on how much energy I have. If my energy is depleted, I'm like the bitchiest bitch in the world. I can be both. I can be all things... I can be nice.
CURVE: She says in a resigned voice.
kd: I try to be nice to the people I meet. I try to remember how I was when I met Peggy Lee or somebody like that. I try to remember that people are there because of the music. Sometimes I think people are there because I'm famous, and that pisses me off. And I get grumpy. So, it's a matter of trying to just stay cool.
CURVE: So, what's the best line somebody has used to pick you up?
kd: People don't generally come on to me. Pick-up line? No, I honestly can't recall.
CURVE: They're afraid of you.
kd: Yeah.
CURVE: Is that kind of odd, though? I'm sure before you became famous you were on the receiving end of lines.
kd: Actually, ... before I was famous, I was really odd. So, when I was at the clubs and stuff, people would generally leave me alone, go like, "What is she about?" So, I've always kind of been an outsider in terms of a social setting. And if there was an interaction, it would be me coming on to somebody, probably.
CURVE: What's the best line you've used?
kd: I don't know if I have lines. It's more of a scorpionic dance.
CURVE: What were the circumstances around your first kiss with a woman?
kd: Um. Um. Well, I'm just hesitating because I hate dispersing information when it includes people that I'm not in control of whether they want the information dispersed or not. It was a married woman. I was thirteen. And um, we just kissed (laughs).
CURVE: Inside, outside?
kd: Inside, by the washer and drier. The drier was going and it was all warm, and that smell, and you know, very domestic (laughs).
CURVE: So did that start a trend?
kd: Oh, god, I hope not. I guess you could find a pattern in there somewhere. Scary cycle - pardon the pun.
CURVE: What would you wear on a first date?
kd: It would depend on who I was going on a date with. I would try very much to be comfortable. And I would probably try to dress down. Just like my favourite boots, my favourite jeans and my favourite fucked-up shirt.
CURVE: Can you describe your favourite or most unusual date?
kd: (a very long silence)
CURVE: There's got to be one.
kd: I hate to disappoint ya. (silence). Oh, god. I'm so sorry.
CURVE: How about your last date?
kd: My last date.....
CURVE: It must have been special or unusual in some way?
kd: (laughs) Well, any date is special.
CURVE: Pick a date, kd, any date.
kd: Let's just say, I'm happy when I get one (laughs).
CURVE: Any future plans to participate in the great lesbian baby boom?
kd: No. Not at all (laughing). I definitely have none of those maternal instincts that other women have.
CURVE: What plans do you have for after the tour?
kd: To be honest with you, I'm completely myopic. It's all about the next eight months. After that, I really don't know.
CURVE: Do you have any kind of rituals or outfits you wear for good luck, any superstitions before you get on the stage?
kd: Yes, I do. And those are yet to be developed.
CURVE: What were they like on the Ingenue tour?
kd: The Ingenue tour would always start with a long, hot shower and brushing my teeth for a very long time. I don't know why (laughing). But that's symbolic, I guess, of getting all those bad notes out of there. On the Ingenue tour I had a couple of outfits I liked to wear. It was like a uniform. It just felt really comfortable and safe. We had a band ritual, which was like some sort of weird, esoteric humming and goofing around. I'd fool around with the band a little, flirt, get a little sexual with the band, just flirting and talking dirty - getting that energy going. That's about it.
CURVE: Does everyone get along well?
kd: Yes, I have a fantastic band this year. I've always been really lucky with musicians. But this year is very different because Ben [Mink], for the first time in ten years, isn't coming. So that's a big separation for us. But he's had a baby girl, so he's going to be a good dad. I can't blame him for that.
CURVE: When you say there's so much you want to accomplish, are there any ideas that you have about that, even musically?
kd: Oh, yeah, every day I get an idea for the future, but those change. Really even up to the point of mixing my record. They're constantly changing. One day I'll be into opera, the next day I'll be into heavy metal. What comes out of that, I don't know.
CURVE: Do you take any responsibility for the rash of lesbian two-stepping that occurred?
kd: Um, I would suppose that I was a part of the wave, yeah.
CURVE: Do you two-step?
kd: Yes! I used to. I used to two-step with my friends down in Austin, Texas, all the time.
CURVE: In retrospect do you have a favourite album that you've done?
kd: I like to say that my favourite and my best one is yet to come. That will probably never be fulfilled. I like them all because they all represent lovers or friends. You can't say this friend is my best friend, because they all mean something to you, and they all represent a certain time in your life and are very, very important to you. It's like children. You can't say this one's the best.
CURVE: Do you still feel your lesbian fans put too much pressure on you - as though you owe them something?
kd: No, I think that's been alleviated a lot. I think that in the last four years there's been major changes in the gay community. With Melissa being out, ... a lot of people came out in the last three years. And that's really really taken the pressure off. And the lesbian community has even realized how diverse it is. I think people are just starting to realize that there's no way that one person can represent all of us, or all of anyone. I don't represent the whole lesbian community. I will proudly answer people's questions about what my opinion is on it, but I would really shy away from being a spokesman, especially politically, about the gay and lesbian community. Because I don't really know. I can't speak for everyone because it is so diverse.
CURVE: Do you hang out on the Internet?
kd: Occasionally, when I get the chance. I don't carry a computer around.
CURVE: What do you like about it?
kd: I like the anonymity that it provides me that I don't usually have. I like kind of eavesdropping, like, I kind of skirt what people are saying about me. It's kind of interesting. I mean, they're pretty hard on me. They're both full of praise and they're pretty hard on me. So it's interesting. I think people feel very free to say what they want to say on the Internet.
CURVE: Had you heard about the magazine's name change?
kd: No, actually, today was the very first day that I saw it had changed.
CURVE: Should we send you a subscription?
kd: Sure, yes! I like CURVE, that's cool. I never knew what DENEUVE meant. Of course, it's coming from someone who calls her albums Ingenue and "Miss Chatelaine." I like the word Deneuve, though.
CURVE: Well, I hope you like the word CURVE even better.
kd: Yeah, I like CURVE!