Lady Gaga is deep in the throes of celebrating her latest album drop.
On top of hosting and performing in season 50 of “Saturday Night Live,” Lady Gaga is also getting personal about her relationship with fiance Michael Polansky.
The singer recently sat down with David Marches of The New York Times to talk about the latest album; her romance with Polansky; and where she sees herself in the current world of music.
Returning to Her Pop Roots
When asked about her fear of going back to pop music after time away, Gaga was reminded of her start in the genre. The singer began her career on the Lower East Side in Manhattan at just 17 years old.
“That music came out of the culture of people that I was living with at the time. I was surrounded by musicians, photographers, club promoters, people that lived and breathed art. It was a community of support, and one of the reasons I was afraid was I was so far away now from that community,” Gaga says.
However, she was hesitant about going back to a pop-style because of how long she’d been away. Those concerns were quelled soon after.
“It also felt like maybe I would just be recycling something that I had done before,” she starts. “But ultimately I decided that I really wanted to do it and that this sonic style and aesthetic really did belong to me.”
Lady Gaga is also hyper aware of how ambitious her musical talents are.
“My sound is an amalgamation of the music that helped me fall in love with music. So it’s got classic rock in it, disco, electronic music, ’80s synth. It’s sort of like picking and choosing my favorite fragments of songs that I loved throughout my childhood,” Gaga says.
Women in the Music Industry are “Bridled”
Gaga also covers why she thinks women are being bridled (i.e. the headgear used to control a horse) in the music industry.
“Sometimes, in my records, I decided, OK, I’m going to make my version of a country record,” she begins. “But the way that I was bridled to think about women in music — they talk to you a lot about your look and what the aesthetic is for the album and the “brand” of music. That started to affect how I made music.”
Gaga goes on to talk about her start in the music business and how her initial years at Interscope contained conversations about her look on stage as in lieu of her actual talent.
“They introduce you to start thinking about it as a business as opposed to a performance,” Gaga said. “I wrestle with this, how to talk about it. Because I want to acknowledge all the blessings in my life while also speaking up for women in this industry.”
How she Knew her Fiance was the one
“From the moment that I met Michael, he had the most warm and kind disposition of maybe anyone that I had met in my whole life,” Gaga says when asked when she knew Michael was genuine. “Yes, he was impressive, but the thing I cared about the most was he wanted to know about my family.”
After pausing to shed some tears, she continues, putting it simply that Michael wanted to be her friend – not just a lover. “He didn’t want to do any of the things that the other people wanted to do. He wanted to take walks with me. He took me rock climbing,” she states. “I also have a pain condition, but he had this belief that I could get better, and he inspired me to have more hope about it. So, yeah, I guess I know Michael is genuine because he’s my friend.”
“I don’t think it should be transactional, but I was around a lot of that all the time,” Gaga tells the interviewer. “So it’s a big blessing that I met someone that was not like that. It’s a new world for me.”
Later on in a separate interview, Gaga says she met Michael during her 5 year period dealing with psychosis.
“…When I met Michael, I was in a much better place, but I remember him saying to me, pretty early on, ‘I know you could be a lot happier than you are,’” she remembers. “It was really hard for me to hear him say that because I didn’t want him to think that of me. I wanted him to think I was like this happy, totally together person.”
What it Takes to make Great Art
When asked about great artists suffering while in the process of creating – and being reminded of David Bowie’s biggest achievement in the album “Station to Station” that was fueled by his various drug addictions – Gaga lamented on the implications that comes with being an artist who admits to their shortcomings.
“I think that romanticizing sick artists perpetuates this thing that’s supernegative, especially for women. I want women to feel like they can be healthy and be happy, that we will celebrate them in their health,” Gaga hopes. “I feel grateful that I’m still here, because my life could have been very different. Over five years ago I was in a really dark place, and I wouldn’t say I made my best music during that time.”
The singer then thinks back to her past collaborator the late Tony Bennett, who passed on sage advice.
“Tony Bennett forged the trail that means the most to me. Tony always used to tell me, ‘Just stick with quality, kid,’” Gaga says.
“That made me feel so happy and safe: that if I leaned into my artistry, I didn’t have to be afraid. That’s a lot of what this album is for me. I just leaned into my musicianship. I told myself whatever happens over the next 20 years, 30 years of your career, you’re always going to be a musician, and you’re always going to be an artist, and you can always work at it.”
Gaga’s relationship with her art has changed over the 20 years she’s been active. Now she feels more in control of the narrative.
“…The place that I feel the most happy is working on my own art, and I love singing for people. The image piece of it, I prefer that more when it’s about artistry and not just about beauty,” Gaga states.
However, it wasn’t easy to stay on track when it came to her music. The artist would get too into creating her music.
“At a certain point, I just completely lost touch with reality. I was falling so deeply into the fantasy of my artwork and my stage persona that I lost touch. I wouldn’t say that falling deeper into a life of being a tortured character was good for anything,” she says.
“I think there are some people that really liked that side of me, but I didn’t like that side of me, and I was really unhappy, and I feel like I have myself in order now.”
Gaga would go on to note that it’s okay to get lost in making the art but it might not inherently be good.
On Dealing with Fibormyalgia, Being a Mom
Gaga would reference her fibromyalgia a couple of times throughout the chat. At her worst, she used to get pinched nerves all over her body. She currently says she has the condition under control but she still has pain flares.
“I’m definitely in a place where like, I’m in the place where like even today, if I went to the dance studio, I’d be fine,” she says confidently. “I’ve just gotten a lot healthier.”
One of Gaga’s latest goals is becoming a mom. She was wary at first but has since come around to the idea.
“I used to have a lot of apprehension about it,” Gaga states. “The thing that’s the most important to me is to not force my children to live a life that they are not choosing. So the more that we can give them space to discover who they are on their own, that’s the thing that I believe in the most.”
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Lady Gaga Opens Up About Her New Album ‘Mayhem,’ Music Evolution, and the Deep Emotional Bond with Her Fiancé