Time Out/Interview

===Interviewhttps://grimes-claireboucher.tumblr.com/post/45930473468/grimes-interview-posted-12-mar-2013===
GRIMES / INTERVIEW /POSTED: 12 MAR 2013
After the 2012 Claire Boucher had, it’s no wonder she’s decided to lock herself away on a secluded glacier in Canada. When you become one of the biggest breakout stars in music, things tend to go a bit crazy – as has happened for the Vancouver-born multi-instrumentalist, artist, singer and writer. Her third album, Visions, made her one of the most hyped global artists around, pouring attention on to her unique, provocative image as well as her synthed-out, fluoro’d-up pop. Now, after a year in the headlines, she’s locked herself away for a month to write a new record, with just the barest brushes with civilisation – like, say, a conversation with Time Out…
How’s the album coming along so far?
It’s coming along okay. There’s definitely a lot of… production. There’s a lot of stuff that I need to learn to make it as good as I want this record to be.
Are you working alone again?
I’ll never work with anyone else but this is the first record I’ve ever made with the expectation that anybody will actually hear it, so that’s definitely changed things a little bit.
Do you find yourself constrained by other people’s expectations now?
I think it’s more that I feel like people want a certain type of Grimes record but I’m just gonna make what I make. I can’t try to make something that other people like necessarily. If they like it, that’s great, but I can’t make something that I don’t feel good about.
It’s been a crazy year for you. Have you been able to enjoy it?
It’s definitely been a bit heavy work-wise. There were definitely some weird issues with some people I was working with who were like evil… and there was a point where I was losing my hair. I was taking red-eyes every night and doing press all day and I went like a 12-day period without sleeping. It got kind of dark.
Have things calmed down now? 
It’s a hectic job. I was booked on tours that were completely unnecessary. Like, every tour that I could possibly be booked on. There was a point where it was just stupid. I did five European tours last year. That’s ridiculous. In the future, I’ll be smarter…
How about with your aesthetic? Is that something that you’ve also felt pressure over or have you managed to maintain control of it?
No, that’s kind of my thing. I go to things a lot where I have to be styled but I definitely get to have an opinion. I just don’t like putting something out aesthetically that I don’t consider to be my own. Even if it’s just something I have to wear in photo shoots – if it’s not something that I’m not totally down with, it just feels awkward. For them, it’s like a cool picture but for me it’s my reputation. Obviously, a lot of people have input in what they want me to be wearing and doing and saying, and you always have to put your foot down on stuff.
Are you able to step back from some of that and to separate Grimes from the rest of your life?
I feel like it used to be the same but just by the nature of being a public person… like, the Grimes thing is kind of getting out of hand in the sense that I can’t control it – it’s getting too big. I can only say what I want to say, but journalists and other people can say stuff and that can become a fact about Grimes, regardless of whether or not I like it. It’s starting to feel more and more cartoonish. I just want to control it because it’s my art project.
Do you feel like people get Grimes?
I think most people don’t understand it. How could they? There’re a lot of layers to what it is that I’m doing. One of the things about what I’m doing is that I like when it can just masquerade as a regular pop thing. I like that it can be perceived like that. Everyone has a different opinion, like people tell me it’s too weird and that I’ve sold out and it’s like pop music, so I don’t even know really what people think. The general response is so broad that I can only conclude that most people are misinterpreting.
Going back to your aesthetic, you’ve borrowed from J-pop and K-pop influences quite a lot. Are you aware of Chinese popular culture?
I’m not super familiar with contemporary Chinese art, except for, like, academic art. It hasn’t really made its way over here, but I did grow up in Vancouver, so over 50 percent of my school was Mandarin and Cantonese. It’s a very Chinese city but I’ve never really seen any Chinese TV or music. I guess I should pay more attention to that.Category:Interview
Category:2013