Interviews/BlackBook Magazine

*Main article: BlackBook Magazine*

## 2010

* Blog
* Physical Magazine

 **Interviewer** | Nicholas Remsen

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Under the roaring traffic of the Manhattan Bridge, Natalia Kills, dressed in bikini bottoms and a fur bomber jacket, straddles a matte-black Harley Davidson SuperLow. The sun is moments from setting and Dumbo is *freezing*, but the petite 24-year-old musician looks right at home commandeering a whole lot of horsepower. “I’ve been fascinated by motorbikes for a long time,” she says in her hybridized British-American accent.

Kills, who has been compared to Lady Gaga, makes electro-dance anthems laced with cool English lyricism. But despite her mainstream appeal, she says her music comes from a personal place. “When I write, I don’t think about how a song will sound on the radio,” she says. “I just love making songs—I’ve made hundreds of them.” A sampling of these tracks will be heard when Kills (who also co-directs her music videos, styles her backup dancers, and shoots her own dramatic web series, *Love, Kills xx*) releases her debut album, *Perfectionist*, in March.

En route to Terminal 5, where she will soon slay the crowd before headliner Robyn takes the stage, Kills’ thoughts shift back to fast vehicles. “Consider the culture here,” she says, pointing to a passing Range Rover. “Look at that thing! You guys are obsessed with four-by-four, people-carrying cars! I love New York.

*Photo by Brooke Nipar. Styling by Shibon Kennedy.*

 **Interviewer** | Nicholas Remsen

### Transcript

Dance-pop pistol **Natalia Kills** gets her motor running on the dead-sexy Harley-Davidson SuperLow.

Under the roaring traffic of the Manhattan Bridge, Natalia Kills, dressed in bikini bottoms and a fur bomber jacket, straddles a matte-black Harley Davidson SuperLow. The sun is moments from setting and Dumbo is *freezing*, but the petite 24-year-old musician looks right at home commandeering a whole lot of horsepower. “I’ve been fascinated by motorbikes for a long time,” she says in her hybridized British-American accent.

Kills, who has been compared to Lady Gaga, makes electro-dance anthems laced with cool English lyricism. But despite her mainstream appeal, she says her music comes from a personal place. “When I write, I don’t think about how a song will sound on the radio,” she says. “I just love making songs—I’ve made hundreds of them.” A sampling of these tracks will be heard when Kills (who also co-directs her music videos, styles her backup dancers, and shoots her own dramatic web series, *Love, Kills xx*) releases her debut album, *Perfectionist*, in March.

En route to Terminal 5, where she will soon slay the crowd before headliner Robyn takes the stage, Kills’ thoughts shift back to fast vehicles. “Consider the culture here,” she says, pointing to a passing Range Rover. “Look at that thing! You guys are *obsessed* with four-by-four, people-carrying cars! I love New York."

## 2011

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There’s something deliciously illicit about Natalia Kills. Even if the English singer’s name didn’t evoke a villainess from some outtake of *The Avengers*, one gets the impression the lass would be just as comfortable running a con or plotting a heist, as she is pulling a Machiavelli on the pop world. Then there’s that whole murderous girl thing she’s got goin’ on; an explicit lethality which can be found in both the sound of her single “My Boyfriend,” and the visions of her *Love Kills xx* video series, in addition to the very name itself. On the terrace of South Beach’s Catalina Hotel on Thursday night, just hours before Kills took her stand at Mansion, it was all I could do to not ask her if she’d like to go knock off a bank.

But Kills is far too single-mindedly determined to be sidetracked by something that could keep her outta circulation for even a couple moments, let alone a few years. See, that might foil her plans for world domination. And make no mistake, this unequivocal young lady is definitely going global—or else.

While where Kills is going may be clear, it’s a lot harder to pinpoint where she’s come from. Born to a Jamaican father and a Uruguayan mother, and raised primarily in the Gunshine State (Miami and Jacksonville), she’s spent the last couple of years lighting fires around LA. Her “wish,” though, is to move to the Big Bad Apple, and soon. “There isn’t anything wrong with Los Angeles,” she says. “It’s just time for New York.” Perhaps she simply needs a bigger city to core?

When prompted, Kills calls herself “English.” Noting her heritage, however, she may just as well claim citizenry of the wild world she seems so keen to conquer. Like many a bright mind, Kills is the kinda Benetton kid Tibor Kalman undoubtedly had in his head when he created the incomparable *Colors*. A cross-pollination of creed and culture as compelling as it is adroit. Otherwise known as: our future.

In other words, Kills has got it goin’ on, even if her Wiki page has it all wrong. She does NOT share a name with her mother, nor has she been in a succession of British soap operas. Kills isn’t from Persia either, though she “has great respect” for the people and the place.

The last time Kills hit South Beach, she opened for Robyn at The Fillmore. This time, as mentoined, she soloed at Mansion, one of the most renowned dance emporiums on The Strip. Prior to that, there was a mad two nights in New York, where she pulled off appearances at both the Standard and Bowery hotels, as well as an exclusive on the 48th floor of the Atlas. By the time you read this, Kills will be in arenas opening for Katy Perry before she crosses back over the pond to retake the continent.

Face to face, Kills is forthright, forthcoming and utterly assured. Yes, “My Boyfriend” is about a real someone. No, she didn’t kill him. She is “grateful” though that their six-year relationship turned out so badly. Otherwise, her album “would be all rainbows, and who the hell wants to hear that?” Kills is also extremely grateful to French director Guillaume Doubet, the *Love Kills* accomplice who taught her the tricks of the the cinematic trade and gave her the opportunity to be on both sides of the camera. “I learned so much shooting that series,” she says. “Mostly, I learned that I could direct too. I just had to do it.”

Forget for a minute Nike’s now-overexposed slogan, because before there was such a thing as kicks campaigns, there were people for whom “just do it” was simply who and what they were. Count Natalia Kills among that worthy roster. Or else.

*Photo by Jeffrey Delannoy.*