Perdita
09-03-2009, 08:07
Thecocknbullkid - what a name! - has the best popstar biography ever. Allow us to quote the first three sentences: "Thecocknbullkid is Anita Blay. The cocknbullkid is one word with no apostrophes. Thecocknbullkid thinks the Sugababes were never the same when Mutya left." After reading that, and hearing her terrific new single 'I'm Not Sorry', we really had no choice but to give her a call. If you're a Lady GaGa fan, however, you might want to look away now.
Why do you call yourself "Thecocknbullkid"?
"Initially I just liked the way it sounded - it gave me aural satisfaction. Then I liked the idea of calling myself a bulls**tter, it's all a bit tongue-in-cheek."
How do people tend to react to your name?
"Lots of people think it's a really stupid name, which is fair enough because it is quite a stupid name. I get a lot of raised eyebrows from taxi drivers. They're like 'What do you do then?' so I say, 'I sing'. Then they say, 'What's your name?' and I tell them and they're like 'Oh'. It either leads to a line of really interesting conversation or it just kills the conversation dead."
How would you describe your music?
"It's pop music. I'm aware it's got lots of different strands to it, but I don't really want to put myself into a sub-genre. I don't like calling myself "electropop" or anything like that. I like to refer to my music with a broad umbrella term."
What do you write about?
"I often write about things that I don't like confronting in real life - things that are painful to deal with, the inadequacies I feel as a person. I don't know if everyone's a self-loather, but I know that I am from time to time. It's not the easiest thing to talk about but I find it therapeutic to write about it. All my little neuroses and inadequacies become, well, kind of OK if I'm able to make something of them."
What's the single, 'I'm Not Sorry', about?
"Well, in the past I've been a bit of a b**ch and hurt people and then not really felt much guilt about it. That's quite a perverse thing to feel, isn't it? I think at some point in their life most people have felt like that. They just don't like to confront those ugly things about themselves. It's an example of something I don't really want to talk about so I put in a song."
How's work going on your album?
"I'm nearly there, but with albums you never know when it's finished. We're just about to start re-recording everything and that will probably take a few weeks. I'm expecting to release it some time in the Autumn and there should be a couple more singles before then. I'm literally just about to sign my record deal which is very exciting."
You've said on your blog that you don't like "aspirational pop music". What do you mean by that term?
"I don't like music that takes super-glossy, impossibly attractive girls and guys and says we should all aspire to be like them. It's completely false and I'd like to think we're intelligent enough to know that's not what music should be about. I think music should be about telling your story, whatever that may be, and nobody's story is about being perfect. I like something honest and a bit more raw."
What do you think of Lady GaGa? She's many things, but you couldn't accuse her of being raw.
"I'm not a fan of Lady GaGa. She's the figurehead of this really bland American pop music that's coming out at the minute. She's not my cup of tea at all. I like artists who have something to say and I don't really think she's saying anything. What is she saying? She looks good. That's it."
Which artists do you admire?
"Um... obviously all the ones from years ago like David Bowie, Bjork and Kate Bush. I love Madonna too because she doesn't bow down and try to be a people pleaser."
Where should Madonna go next?
"Madonna from '83 to '99 was amazing. Now, you know, it's not really happening, but every dog has its day. She's a machine and she's never going to stop. I think she's got this fight in her and no matter how s**t her music is or how many people are telling her to put it away, she's going to keep going. I admire her for carrying on. She wouldn't be Madonna if she listened to people and she wouldn't be Madonna if she put it away. Even in her wrongness she's brilliant."
You've said that you shaved her head to make yourself look less conventionally pretty. What sort of statement are you trying to make with your look?
"It was a statement in that I got a bit sick of trying to look a certain way. I'm aware that I wouldn't fit very well into Girls Aloud or The Saturdays and I'm intentionally trying to cultivate a look apart from them - I'm meant to look like an anti-popstar. I think that's the only way people will understand my music, because the subject matter of my songs isn't exactly Girls Aloud fodder. Whether I put on five stone or lose five stone, grow long hair or white myself up, the whole point is I'm trying to look like the opposite of Cheryl Cole. I think I'm doing it very well so far!"
'I'm Not Sorry' by Thecocknbullkid is out now.
From DS
Why do you call yourself "Thecocknbullkid"?
"Initially I just liked the way it sounded - it gave me aural satisfaction. Then I liked the idea of calling myself a bulls**tter, it's all a bit tongue-in-cheek."
How do people tend to react to your name?
"Lots of people think it's a really stupid name, which is fair enough because it is quite a stupid name. I get a lot of raised eyebrows from taxi drivers. They're like 'What do you do then?' so I say, 'I sing'. Then they say, 'What's your name?' and I tell them and they're like 'Oh'. It either leads to a line of really interesting conversation or it just kills the conversation dead."
How would you describe your music?
"It's pop music. I'm aware it's got lots of different strands to it, but I don't really want to put myself into a sub-genre. I don't like calling myself "electropop" or anything like that. I like to refer to my music with a broad umbrella term."
What do you write about?
"I often write about things that I don't like confronting in real life - things that are painful to deal with, the inadequacies I feel as a person. I don't know if everyone's a self-loather, but I know that I am from time to time. It's not the easiest thing to talk about but I find it therapeutic to write about it. All my little neuroses and inadequacies become, well, kind of OK if I'm able to make something of them."
What's the single, 'I'm Not Sorry', about?
"Well, in the past I've been a bit of a b**ch and hurt people and then not really felt much guilt about it. That's quite a perverse thing to feel, isn't it? I think at some point in their life most people have felt like that. They just don't like to confront those ugly things about themselves. It's an example of something I don't really want to talk about so I put in a song."
How's work going on your album?
"I'm nearly there, but with albums you never know when it's finished. We're just about to start re-recording everything and that will probably take a few weeks. I'm expecting to release it some time in the Autumn and there should be a couple more singles before then. I'm literally just about to sign my record deal which is very exciting."
You've said on your blog that you don't like "aspirational pop music". What do you mean by that term?
"I don't like music that takes super-glossy, impossibly attractive girls and guys and says we should all aspire to be like them. It's completely false and I'd like to think we're intelligent enough to know that's not what music should be about. I think music should be about telling your story, whatever that may be, and nobody's story is about being perfect. I like something honest and a bit more raw."
What do you think of Lady GaGa? She's many things, but you couldn't accuse her of being raw.
"I'm not a fan of Lady GaGa. She's the figurehead of this really bland American pop music that's coming out at the minute. She's not my cup of tea at all. I like artists who have something to say and I don't really think she's saying anything. What is she saying? She looks good. That's it."
Which artists do you admire?
"Um... obviously all the ones from years ago like David Bowie, Bjork and Kate Bush. I love Madonna too because she doesn't bow down and try to be a people pleaser."
Where should Madonna go next?
"Madonna from '83 to '99 was amazing. Now, you know, it's not really happening, but every dog has its day. She's a machine and she's never going to stop. I think she's got this fight in her and no matter how s**t her music is or how many people are telling her to put it away, she's going to keep going. I admire her for carrying on. She wouldn't be Madonna if she listened to people and she wouldn't be Madonna if she put it away. Even in her wrongness she's brilliant."
You've said that you shaved her head to make yourself look less conventionally pretty. What sort of statement are you trying to make with your look?
"It was a statement in that I got a bit sick of trying to look a certain way. I'm aware that I wouldn't fit very well into Girls Aloud or The Saturdays and I'm intentionally trying to cultivate a look apart from them - I'm meant to look like an anti-popstar. I think that's the only way people will understand my music, because the subject matter of my songs isn't exactly Girls Aloud fodder. Whether I put on five stone or lose five stone, grow long hair or white myself up, the whole point is I'm trying to look like the opposite of Cheryl Cole. I think I'm doing it very well so far!"
'I'm Not Sorry' by Thecocknbullkid is out now.
From DS