P!nk |
 |
|
Mon. October 06.2003 6:14 PM EDT |
||
Pink: Trouble Doll Gets Her Punk OnThe new Try This won't let her be m!ssundaztood. She hooks up with Rancid, records on the tour bus, and summons her inner Janis Joplin. by Brian Ives & C. Bottomley |
||||
|
||||
 |
Pink (Publicity) |
|
||
Pinks marketing people can't have it easy. When the singer emerged with 2000's Cant Take Me Home, the formula seemed perfect: a perky teen from Philly busting state-of-the-art R&B. But when it came time to make the follow-up, the
The match shouldnt have worked, but as the world knows, M!ssundaztood was massive, reinventing Pink as an irrepressible rebel with a flair for bubbly pop like Lets Get the Party Started. Then hopped-up ballads like Dont Let Me Get Me and Family Portrait proved she had the singing chops to relate her own insecurities in a way tweens, teens and adults could all relate to. The thrust of album III should have been a simple: reunite Pink with Perry and let the hits fly. Except the ever-feisty provocateur wanted to try something new. At a video shoot, she bumped into Tim Armstrong, leader of the L.A. punk revivalists Rancid; they started talking about material. Then she hit the road with the Transplants, Armstrongs side project with Blink-182s Travis Barker and singer Rob Ashton. Ultimately, the multi-platinum artist ended up recording her new Trouble in the back of a tour bus. The popster and the punk ended up making some great music. Trouble and its attendant Wild West video neatly play into Pinks mischievous streak, and its perkier than a close encounter with a cattle prod. Considering how the nations youth have seized on pogo-happy bands like Good Charlotte and Simple Plan, it looks like Pink has once again stayed ahead of anyone who wants to put her in a commercial box. Theres more of the spiky same on the album Try This, which features songs written with both Armstrong and Perry. On Unwind, Pink identifies with the reckless ways of fellow maverick Janis Joplin. On The Last to Know, she refuses to have sex on the first date. The prospective Romeo jilts her, but thats all right. She wasnt feeling him anyway. Irrepressible as ever, the 24-year-old singer was happy to explain to VH1 why Try This is a little bit GWAR, and a little bit Dolly Parton. She also spoke about horse-riding, 50s rock n roll, and her love of Concrete Blonde. VH1: How did you come up with the album title? Pink: I hate naming records. I was like, Okay, Ive got Cant Take Me Home, Ive got M!ssundaztood, Ive got Try This. There are so many reasons its provocative. Theres the stand up on your own two feet, do what you believe in, fight for what you want type of thing. Then theres the whole other part of it thats like, All right, yall want to do what Im doing? Try this! [Laughs.] [Watch Clip] vVH1: Was it more fun to make this album than the last? P: Every album Ive done has been a completely different experience. Cant Take Me Home was flying all over the country, showing up at a studio, shaking somebodys hand, and them showing you what song you are doing and asking if you want to write a line or do one of your own ad libs. Like, Well sneak one of your own things in there. And wheres the check? Nice meeting you! I was new and excitable, and I didnt want to work at McDonalds any more. With the second one, I was like, Im not singing to DATs any more. This is retarded. I had a band when I was 13 years old. I was doing all-ages clubs when I was 13. Why now that I have money behind me, do I have to sing to a DAT? Be real! [Watch Clip] VH1: How do you feel when you listen to Cant Take Me Home now? P: Like Im listening to a chipmunk! [Giggles] My voice was so much higher and untouched by cigarettes! That album didnt come out until I was 20, but some of those songs I did when I was 16 years old. Its a trip to listen to it. It feels like two lifetimes ago. VH1: M!ssundaztood also sounds like you were engaged with more personal subject matter. P: I made public all my demons, or most of them. Singing Family Portrait every night for two years was emotionally draining. I never got the chance to go on automatic pilot with that kind of material. I think everybody was concentrating on my pain, as I was. I let that happen, which was good, because 11 million of us got to share our pain together. With [Try This], I dont know. Its not a party record for sure. Theres still some venting going on, but its lighter lyrically. VH1: Were you surprised at M!ssundaztoods success? P: When I was making that record, I had the mentality of Dont challenge me. Its gonna be hot. Its what I have to do. Blah blah blah. When it came out and Lets Get the Party Started took off, I was like, I told you so! But I started getting surprised as it kept going and going and going and going. I was like, Wow! People really do get it. It was a really good feeling. VH1: You started working with Linda Perry on Try This. Did you intend to do the whole thing with her? P: I never had a plan. Every morning I woke up, I was scared, because I was like, What if I get to the studio and nothing happens? When our universes collided two years ago, the energy from it created a sh*t-storm. [Laughs.] And that was M!ssundaztood. This time around we were both kind of weary, but we made some great, great stuff. Then I met Tim Armstrong and new life came into it. VH1: You and Armstrong are an interesting combination. P: I wasnt even supposed to go there. I went to Transplants video shoot to pick up a friend on the way to a club. I went in for a second and Tim was like, Ive got some songs for you. I went to his house and heard some music that hed been working on - some from years ago and some from the day before. It clicked. I drove around with it, started thinking of melodies, wrote a lot of it in the bathtub, and then went out on tour with the Transplants. They hooked up the ProTools rig in the back of the bus, set up drums in the hallway, guitars in the back. I was like, Yay! Im doing something else now! VH1: What was it like living on a tour bus with those guys? P: [Laughs.] Ive always been a tomboy. Ive always hanged out with dudes, so it was like being at home. It was fun. If you [isolate] the vocals to Trouble, Oh My God or Save My life, all youd hear is the bus engine. Its so funny and terrible & and perfect! VH1: You literally recorded the album in the back of the bus? P: Three songs, yeah. We did it in two days, from Philly to New Jersey. It was an experience - one oclock in the morning running down the road, the microphone falling over every time we hit a bump & VH1: But the label must have been happy with the relationship you had formed with Linda Perry & P: Well, they werent at first. Everyone thought I was crazy two years ago! Lindas a one hit wonder. Im like, No shes not. Shes freakin talented. This girl rocks. Watch. Everyone thought, Youre smoking crack. And then look what it did! Now this year theyre like, Tim Armstrong? You guys are so different. Whats going through this girls head? But if theyre biting their nails this time, theyre doing it silently. Which was fun! [Laughs.] I kept screwing with them. Theyd ask, Hows the album doing? [Mimics talking into phone:] Ah, kinda GWAR meets Phantom of the Opera, a little Dolly Parton & its going really good! I said anything I could think of to scare the crap out of them. [Watch Clip] VH1: Tell me about Trouble. P: Trouble is just a badass, kick-ass, attitude song. Usually I write about one incident or one happening. But this is just a mixture of all kinds of stuff about being a badass, having fun, causing trouble. VH1: What about the video? P: It makes perfect sense that its the Wild West, because that represents trouble to me. If you dont like somebody, you shoot them or take their horse. There are a lot of metaphors in that video. When I ride in, the name of the town is Sharktown, population 96. I was signed in 96. The horses are tied up, and I free them. There are a lot of metaphors in there. And bar fighting was fun. Very fun. VH1: You did all your own stunts? P: I wish somebody had told me not to! I would have done it anyway! I used to work at horse farms when I was younger, believe it or not, but I havent ridden a horse in ten years. There is no workout you can ever do that gets you prepared to ride a horse. I pulled my thighs, I sprained my ankles, I ripped my shoulder, I did all kinds of stuff! Blisters in the form of fishnets on my feet! It was like 110 degrees, rattlesnake country, with 4 AM call times - yeah, it was good![Watch Clip] VH1: Talk about the song Unwind. Youre obviously a big Janis Joplin fan. P: I originally intended to write the song about her. Then I read the lyrics after I was done, and I was like, Wait a minute, this isnt about her. This is about me! VH1: But she died before you were born! P: I love the Big Bopper! My dad had that collection that you buy off infomercials of all the [oldies from the] 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. I used to rock out to those! [Sings:] Tears on my pillow & I love old songs! VH1: What about the 80s? P: In the 80s, my dad was listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival, Peter Paul & Mary, Bob Dylan, and John Denver. My moms listening to Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick. My brothers listening to Guns N Roses and Janis Joplin and 2 Live Crew and Beastie Boys. So were all over the place. My family is so different and dysfunctional - thats where my eclectic music taste comes from. Because they couldnt agree on that either! [Laughs.] VH1: What songs do you like to play on the tour bus before shows to get you riled up? P: See, Im the opposite! I play Jack Johnson. It calms me. Because Im a firecracker anyway. I look for anything that will calm my ass down. I do my makeup, light some candles and listen to Jack Johnson. I have a mix CD that I made with all the great songs on it, from Gorillaz to Guns N Roses to & oh God! [sings] Joey, baby & My favorite song! Concrete Blondes Joey! Thats what plays before I come onstage. I can listen downstairs and Ill hear everybody singing along to songs I wouldnt think theyd know. Its pretty fun. It gets the party started! [Makes silly face.] [Watch Clip] |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
 |
Pink Gets Gritty In 'F****** Perfect' Video: Watch Now |
|
Pink Offers Disclaimer For 'F****** Perfect' Video |
|
Pink Toasts AMA Crowd With 'Raise Your Glass' |
|
Pink Has 'Heartbreak Down' On New Track |
 |
 |
 |
|
Receive Free Music News Daily Via Email |
|
Receive Free Artist Updates Via Email for P!nk |
|
All news for P!nk |
|
Breaking Music News |
 |
Add VH1 News to My Yahoo |
|
