HEARTCORE

 

[West Coast starts playing]

BR: Welcome to the New York times podcast, your deadly nightshade of music news and cultural disputation. I'm your host, Ben Rattler.

[First verse of WC]

BR: And you're hearing the contralto of Lana del Rey. That's West Coast, from her new record Ultraviolence. John Perrels is here to talk about Lana del Rey. Hi John.

JP: Hi Ben.

BR: You flew out to the epicentre of Del Reyitude recently.

JP: True.

BR: And you met Lana del Rey.

JP: I did, at her home. You know, I've met a bunch of pop stars over the years. There were no handlers, there were no publicists, y'know, nervously fluttering in the wings. Like, she opened the door, we walked in and did the interview.

BR: Well, now let's just talk about that for a second. Listeners may not know the extent to which she is a star because two or three years ago, when the first the first flurry of news and reaction to her was happening, she seemed for a moment like a flash in the pan.

JP: She almost got a backlash before there was a frontlash.

BR: Right. So a lot of people might not know at this point that she is actually a successful recording artist. Can you, kind of, quantify that?

JP: Well, she sold millions of copies worldwide of Born to Die, her first album, and the Paradise EP that was tacked onto it. Her first big video, Video Games, has something like 100 million views on just her site alone, which is a astonishing to me - somebody's clicking on that button a lot.

 

"I feel attracted to difficult men"

By Jennifer Wilton

 

Why did she cry during a concert? Who is the Guru, which she followed earlier in her life? Are tattooed bikers good men to start a family? A candid interview with the singer Lana Del Rey.

 

Lana Del Rey has often been called the following things: a figure of art, a YouTube phenomenon and a product of music managers. Three years ago, her song 'Video Games' and its video appeared and since then, there was hardly an element of her past which has not been commented on. From the beginning, Lana Del Rey was indeed a work of art, but not only in her carefully staged videos. Her enthusiasm was so great and soon were the attacks against her.

 

And so it has remained. She just released her new album "Ultraviolence", but most of the attention has been focused on a sentence from an interview with her - 'I wish I was dead already'. The focus has reduced recently, but Lana Del Rey claims she feels misunderstood; she later said that she just sometimes feel this way. And sometimes she does not. A little diva flat. [i have no idea what this could be]

 

The only thing about Lana Del Rey that is actually true is that she is not a diva nor an artifact, but a instead an extremely friendly, all-American girl. On the day of this interview, as she sits in a good mood on a sofa in Berlin Soho club, smoking and speaking enthusiastically of her last concert attendance (Courtney Love, Guns N 'Roses, The Who), she cannot be confused by Dränglern (the Willin , the hair, the concert!) [again, no idea about this bit], and she laughs constantly. Above it all, she acts very young. And very straightforward.

 

World on Sunday: Is June 29 a special day for you?

 

Lana Del Rey: No, not really, why?

 

World on Sunday: On this day, exactly three years ago, the video for "Video Games" was uploaded to YouTube. It almost made ​​you an overnight-superstar.

 

Lana Del Rey: That was June 29th? I had no idea. But that's great, I could celebrate.

 

World on Sunday: How would you describe the time since then, in three words?

 

Lana Del Rey: Heavy. Complex. Surprising. Especially the last one. I used to have the feeling that my life belongs to me - I was driving. The more famous I became, the more I became the co-driver who does not know what will happen next. And that's still the case today. Everyday there are things that make me ask 'why are things happening now?' It's become normal for me to expect the unexpected.

 

World on Sunday: Previously - albeit much smaller - you sung on stages and recorded albums for years on end. Was there little preparation for that?

 

Lana Del Rey: I was at a small independent label and then I did an album with a new producer, which was shelved for two and a half years. That was something else entirely. It really started when I signed with my current label and my song was on the radio. That was the big moment.

 

World on Sunday: When was the moment your turned into popstar Lana del Rey?

 

Lana Del Rey: I, myself, have always felt that I am Lana Del Rey. A person who is different, free, does what she wants to do. So I decided to change my name.

 

World on Sunday: You soon had a lot of speculation about whether this person was really "free" and, above all, who she was. The carefully staged singer - and the woman behind it, called Elizabeth Grant. And how one had become the other; the authenticity of it all.

 

Lana Del Rey: Firstly, there is no difference to Lizzy Grant. I have always been unconventional, even when I was much younger. I always wanted to direct my own life, build my own world. I took off early. And I was very grown up as I child, I think. I think this discussion of authenticity as a theme isn't interesting. Why is it relevant? I don't get dressed and present myself as somehow pretending to be someone else. I have always written my music myself. Finally, it's also true that I did everyday things in my life that interested no one.

 

World on Sunday: What about when it comes to the time when you were a semi-social worker?

 

Lana Del Rey: If you're really interested in an artist, you should probably search for the true story behind it. I was very shy at the beginning and I didn't want to give any interviews. Before I even gave the first interview, so many things had already been written and said about me that were simply not true. I had not said anything yet! That's why I wanted to write my new album. Then I truly show what has influenced me in my life and writing. Those who are interested in it can simply listen.

 

World on Sunday: We hear, for example, about a "Cult Leader", a guru, which you follow.

 

Lana Del Rey: I think searching for guidance is a constant theme in my life. I knew relatively early on who I was. But I did not know exactly what I wanted to do. And I was always looking for people who are like me. So, I went at the age of 18 to New York. I was looking for this cool artist group, but I didn't find it. But I found someone who was like me. It was very interesting for me, we had a special relationship. He had built up a group that followed him.

 

World on Sunday: That sounds more threatening.

 

Lana Del Rey: In the end, it wasn't right for me. However, I am a seeker. I love to have questions. I do not believe that 'Oh, if you let go of the question, the answers come naturally.' I think you only find something if you go off and search.

 

World on Sunday: Does this include going to a fortune teller?

 

Lana Del Rey: I went to a fortune teller before the tour last year because my friend was very ill at that time. We've been to several doctors, but to no avail. And then we went to a very famous fortune teller. She had an answer for him. She said to me that I should write four questions on a piece of paper and place the paper, before our conversation, under my pillow. She answered the questions, without seeing the paper.

 

World on Sunday: What kind of questions were they?

 

Lana Del Rey: They were very personal. One was about whether I should really get on with what I'm doing, or should I look for another job. She said she couldn't see. She said that bad things woukd happen to me, but in time, it would go back again to the right place for me.

 

World on Sunday: There's a video from a moment of the peak of your success; a concert in Dublin, where you sing "Video Games" and he crowd goes wild. You cried during it - why?

 

Lana Del Rey: I wasn't particularly comfortable on the tour at the time. I felt sick and I felt disconnected to my own music because everyonr came between me and my work. When everyone began to sing the words of "Video Games" - it was so loud I couldn't hear anything else - I was sad because I could not appreciate it. I felt connected with the audience, but not with my own music. It once meant a lot that I write songs for myself and at that moment, I had the feeling that I hadn't done that for ages.

 

World on Sunday: Do you think you've found this feeling again?

 

Lana Del Rey: Yes, when I met the musician Dan Auerbach, who I made ​​my new album with. He was interested in me and my music, and that meant that I found myself to be an interesting musician again. He gave me confidence.

 

World on Sunday: What song on your new album means most to you?

 

Lana Del Rey: "Cruel World". The song is like my life, the verse is very direct, the refrain is very dynamic, almost chaotic, but beautiful; it rises...and then it goes back to the second verse. It's exactly what it is. It's nice because it's easy.

 

World on Sunday: On your new album you sing lines like: "He hit me and it felt like a kiss" and "I fucked my way up to the top". Do you sing them because of your past, or are you just purposefully provactive, like in previous songs and videos?

 

Lana Del Rey: I understand now that lines such as these are provocative. But I did not really understand it earlier. I just wrote for me. Things written, without the idea that they'll become public. It wasn't a pop [song?] for me, but a document of my life. I had no influence and no voice, so I did not feel that I had to be a role model in any way.

 

World on Sunday: But now you are a world-famous star. Does that not bring responsibility with it?

 

Lana Del Rey: A little bit. I'm not going to change. But I understand the point.

 

World on Sunday: People almost always talk about the image of women that you present. What attracts you to the role of a submissive femme fatale?

 

Lana Del Rey: I never understood why it is not okay to be ambivalent. I mean, maybe I just don't know some things yet. In some cases, maybe I'm still not sure. I can only sing about my own experiences. Privately, I'm certainly not - if I want to get married, if I can find true love around; I do not know. [i'm not sure what this means -> Maybe she's not a femme fatale privately]

 

World on Sunday: Having a family?

 

Lana Del Rey: Yes, I'd love to have a family. That would be great.

 

World on Sunday: The men who show up in your videos again and again, the tattoed bikers, do not seem like the typical, reliable family men....

 

Lana Del Rey: Yes, I'm just a little...I have a slightly different taste. I feel attracted to people who are very confident and very creative in what they do, and these are then often ones that are special.

 

World on Sunday : Possibly those who are particularly difficult?

 

Lana Del Rey: Yes, that's right. Definitely. And that's where the trouble begins for me, I think. What I want and what is easy is never the same. What I want is someone who is dynamic and different - special. But, of course, it is easier to choose those who follow the straight path.