Kim Petras makes electric dance-pop that will make you feel like you're on a crowded dance floor even in the midst of isolation.
An expert curator of image and imagination, Petras' music lives in a neon space of glamour and ecstasy that seems to exist just a few echelons above our own. At the same time, there's a distinct bittersweetness to her music, a pang just below the surface.
"Malibu" is about missing someone special, but it could also easily be about longing for another place, a vacationland that we of course can no longer visit during quarantine. We talked to Kim about her visions, her experiences as a pop star in and out of isolation, and about how she wants her music to be an escape to a more perfect world.
Stream "Malibu" now and read the interview below.
POPDUST: Your new song "Malibu" was described as "a glittering, sun-kissed bop with instrumental elementals and raw vocals that was inspired by the silver screen, Baywatch fantasy of Malibu." How would you describe it and the writing process in your own words?
KIM PETRAS: It's a song about the fantasy version of "Malibu" that I had when I was living in Germany, before I ever thought I'd see Malibu for real. I'm comparing that to love and someone that is unforgettable. It's really just a summery love song that's bright and fun. It really doesn't have that much to do with Malibu, honestly – it's all about the idea of it.
"Malibu" seems to be describing someone specific - is there someone this was written about? Or a time, experience, etc. you are talking about in the song?
It's more about the fantasy of Malibu and comparing that to love, but there is somebody that it was written about originally. I wrote the first version of "Malibu" three years ago, before I had released any songs. I've had the demo and the bare bones of it for quite a while, but we ended up changing the verses and redoing the song. At its core, it's really about my idea of what Malibu would be like and the feeling that the fantasy you see on TV and in movies gave me.
Your music is so joyful and high-energy (with a bit of bittersweetness in the lyrics). Is that how you feel most of the time or is that energy part of the performance?
I think I'm a very energetic person! I love to have fun. I've always had this energy in me, and music is really the place where I let it all out. I also have lazy days where I'm on the couch - I'm not energetic every day – but I think, generally, I'm pretty energetic and I'm a pretty happy person.
What would you say the "Kim Petras" experience is?
It's hyper-pop songs that relate to my life. It's looks and inspiration that I find and fuse into what I do. I'm a very visual person. Visuals really matter to me. I often write songs with the visual ideas already in my head. Most of all, though, I have always felt that pop saved me and made everything around me okay. It's why I fell in love with it and why I want to be that for other people. I could always forget about any sad feelings and lose myself in pop, so I really just make music that reflects what my dream life would be like. There are lots of elements that go into my music, and I feel like there are a million more sides to me, but the best way to really find out what it's like is to listen to it!
Has pop star life been different than you imagined when you were a kid? Better? More complicated?
It has been better! I love that I get to do this every single day. I really feel so blessed to be doing this. I think, as a kid, I was like "I wanna be a popstar." As I got older, though, I realized that no one was going to write songs for me, so I started writing my own songs and developed my own skills. That's when things started really happening for me. ToUntil this day, I'm really a songwriter first, a performer second, and a popstar third. The "job" part of it is what I love. I'm not doing this for fame, or to meet famous people and get photographed by paparazzi, I just really love the job of writing the songs. There's nothing that makes me feel happier than writing a good song and there's nothing better than putting on a show I feel amazing about. I'm just really so in love with the craft of it and the job itself and the creativity of it.
Do you feel your perception of the pop music industry has changed over the years, and has that influenced your music?
It has, for sure. There are lots of artists and industry people that are really great and really kind, but I've seen the inside and the ugliness of the industry as well. Some people can be nasty, but those are the people that don't really care about the music. It can be a place where everybody does whatever they can to get ahead of each other, but I don't want that kind of stuff around me and I don't want to have to deal with it. I'm on my own label, so I really don't have to worry about that at all. If you don't become a part of that world, then it really doesn't affect you.
How do you feel your sound has matured since your first hit "I Don't Want It At All"? Are there any genres you'd like to experiment with, or artists you'd want to collaborate with?
There are many genres I would love to experiment with. I don't see music in genres, personally. I take influences from everywhere. I do think, at the end of the day, my love for pop music is why I do this. Pop music right now is great because it can be anything. In terms of myself, I think I'm a much better writer and a much better singer now than I was two years ago because I've written hundreds and hundreds of songs and I've practiced. Really, though, I love all of my songs. I still love "I Don't Want It At All" and "Heart To Break" and "Icy" and Clarity. I feel like I have a pretty good process for deciding what songs I'm going to put out. I always ask myself if I will still like the songs in two years or ten years. So far, I think it has worked pretty well for me – at least I hope it has! I only want to put out the stuff that I really think is great.
How's your quarantine experience been? What have you been listening to, or doing to pass the time or stay sane?
In the beginning, my quarantine was very uninspiring. I felt very blegh, just like everybody else that's going through this. Now that I have adjusted, I'm starting to feel inspired again. I've been trying to keep up with my fans and check in on them. I've been playing Switch games with them, such as Mario Kart and Animal Crossing, and I've been on Twitter a lot talking to them – whenever they post about something, I'm there! I just really try to take care of my fans in any way that I can because I'm more worried about them than I am about myself. A lot of them are very young and it's hard to deal with the pressure of what's going on.
For me, I'm such a workaholic. It's hard for me to not constantly feel like I need to be doing something. I just try to remind myself that however I get through this quarantine is okay and that all that matters is I'm not having a horrible time. So, I'm just trying to hold myself accountable and take care of my mental health, even just by doing the little things that make me feel alive like putting on makeup. I'm very lucky, honestly. I have an apartment of my own that I usually live in, even though right now I'm with my best friend Aaron and we're just making songs and working on new music and watching movies. I'm watching movies I've never really had the chance to watch and I'm listening to music that I've always wanted to listen to. Now that I have some extra time, I'm looking at things from different corners of the world and feeling even more inspired.
If your music could have any effect on listeners, what would that be?
The ideal effect would be people's problems just falling off their shoulders for three minutes. That's always been my number one thing. I just want to make people feel happy and take their problems away from them. That's the power of pop music and that's what pop music has always done for me and millions of other people. That's why I love it. Music, in general, has that power which is incredible.
"Malibu" dropped just in time for summer, and can we expect any more new singles or music in the upcoming months?
Maybe! My main focus right now is "Malibu." I want to give it enough time to breathe, but it's definitely a possibility – I could drop another song any day now. You never know!