Kylie Minogue Interviewed for Perfect Issue 5.
Kylie Minogue photographed by Willy Vanderperre and styled by Katie Grand for Perfect Issue 5.
The following Zoom call happened at 8pm London time one Friday evening in mid-June. Kylie Minogue was in New York, promoting her surprise international smash hit ‘Padam Padam’, by now a legitimate phenomenon. The song was enjoying its second week in the British Top Ten, a further notch on her immaculate bedpost of pop history, anointing Kylie as one of less than a handful of women to score consecutive Top Tens across five decades.
Kylie is a clock by which we have learned to set ourselves. The day feels brighter when she lands in it. Punctilious to the last, she arrived promptly on a window of the laptop, looking radiantly dazzling right on the dot of her allotted time. She was in chipper form: funny, humble, quizzical, looking pleasingly ever so slightly baffled by the drama currently surrounding her.
As an artist, Kylie isn’t the sort to dream up intense analytical theories as to why what happens to her happens. But when the little hand of her pop clock strikes gold, she knows precisely how to chime with it. Just prior to her arrival, a blank screen had appeared with one word splashed across it: Padam. Given the current ubiquity of a word that, five minutes before Kylie Minogue stole it from Edith Piaf (baton passed one icon to the next), for the first single of her 16th album, Tension, meant absolutely nothing to nobody, it feels righteous to declare that a new era of Kylie-inflected Padamdemonium is now pleasingly upon us.
You’ve just come up as ‘Padam’.
(Laughing) Oh, for the longest time it was ‘wine o’clock’, because I was doing promo for [her range of] wine. Then I went to do the first promo for this record and said, ‘You know what? That’s probably not appropriate.’ So, Padam. Brilliant.
You described the current mania around ‘Padam Padam’ at the Perfect shoot as being a bit like being in the middle of a pop tsunami. Is that how it feels?
Yeah, but I’m really conscious of it and I can only grasp it so much. But I’m so delighted.
Why has it worked?
Trust me, I’ve been trying to break it all down. And if we knew, then we’d be doing it all the time. I just have a different sense of joy with it, I suppose. It’s very reminiscent of 2001 when ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ happened, in that it’s just swirling and happening, the song itself, the imagery around it. But I know deep within myself, in this very quiet place, what I’ve done to get here. So it’s different to a self-celebration. It’s a quiet ‘aah.’ It’s a little exhalation.
That ‘little exhalation’ is very you. It’s never been about being the Big I Am.
No. I never have that. Even when something’s a huge success, it exists in a moment. You’ve still got to deal with the minutiae of life, find where you fit in and where this great moment fits into the wider world. Along with that little exhalation, there’s a sense of celebration: with fans, with part-time fans, with people who just take an interest or take note – you know, I’ve been around a long time – and this one is very unique and it may never happen to me again.
When it happens, people really like it happening, they delight in your success.
Yeah, somehow it translates. And I will never figure out why. I try to. But in a way there’s kind of no need to. It’s a beautiful thing, so welcome it, celebrate it.
You’re in New York for Pride, right? I don’t want to just take what you do as a gay thing, but…
Oh, take it. Have it. Everyone should take it for how it works for them. Within the first week of ‘Padam’ being out, it was so surreal. There were drag acts in days. Hours. The gays took it and ran with it. And now everyone else is catching up. As ever.
The Edith Piaf detail does give it an especial note of camp.
It’d be good for you to speak to the songwriters about where all that came from. I’ve not actually met them in person. I emailed them before it came out. I didn’t know that it was going to be a rocket-ship, or whatever, but I did want to say, just before it all kicks off that I am really, really happy with it. We’ve now reconnected and said we should say ‘cheers’ at some point when we’re all in the same room. Because I don’t even know if they knew about [Piaf’s] ‘Padam’. Did they read it somewhere? In the process of making an album, there’s time in the studio and time writing. The song search and lyric search, the search for finding what the record is just doesn’t leave my head for that entire period. I love it. It can be frustrating, of course, but I just love it. Jamie [Nelson, her A&R] will send a track, every now and then, and say, ‘Hey, what do you think of this?’ He’ll never give much away, which I think is good. That song came through when I was in Miami, sitting in a make-up chair, probably wishing I was somewhere else and… ‘Padam Padam’. I got straight back to Jamie and said, ‘I love it.’ Once I put my vocals on it, I started to think not only do I love this but it’s almost a custom fit for me. I was really thrilled.
There’s a thing that happens to you in front of a microphone, which also happens in front of a camera, where you channel a very distinct character. There is a very specific thing that audiences want from you.
I understand what you’re saying. It’s hard to quantify or verbalise. Everyone’s got their metier that makes you you, that thing you do that somehow makes you more than the sum of your parts. There is a kind of… God, I wish I could find a word apart from this, but there is a kind of magic to it. It feels like a cop-out word. But it’s mysterious. This is totally not a scientific thing. You can’t really grasp it, either. You’re aware of it. Look, people will be trying to work out how ‘a moment’ happens for ever more.
I arrived on set just as you’d started shooting. This is a photographer you’ve never worked with before and obviously Willy is brilliant, but you don’t know him and even in the first few frames there’s a trust that emerges.
He’s a lovely energy, which does make a world of difference. You hope for trust. Often, it’s a case of feel the fear and do it anyway. I was in a little bodysuit and I said to Katie, ‘How does this happen?’ If I put on paper what I was going to wear, that was not it. It takes gumption. Also, faith in other people. They can see something I can’t see. And it doesn’t always work. Ninety-nine of those shots could have not been great. One shot might work, and that’s the one. It’s the same with songs. I’m going to do things that feel ridiculous, that sound ridiculous, that don’t feel like they are for me. But for better or for worse, as you know, I will give it my best. There’s a comradeship with all of it. It involves a bit of bravery, maybe a bit of stupidity. You weren’t at the second shoot in Paris.
I was getting snapshots from Katie’s phone during the day. There was definitely something a little witchy happening, just to continue the magic idea.
I mean, I can be a bit Rick Owens for a day. You have got to let the process happen. While there is a certain vanity to the whole thing, I think you’ve got to let it go. Sometimes I just pretend it’s not happening, if I think it’s got a chance. If it’s not happening, I’ve got enough years under the belt now to go, no. That’s something that has changed. Bravery, stupidity, belief, trust or all of the above can get you so far, but sometimes it’s just a no, let’s move on.
There is something very artful about the presence of Zhong Lin on set, her sensitivity is unmistakable.
Absolutely that. These are times when you know. Both days were so completely gorgeous, in completely different ways. To work with both was an absolute pleasure. I know Willy’s work. I’ve seen his name countless times. To meet him and then for him to be delightful and for that set to be so lovely to walk into, on that extraordinarily beautiful London day, was special. With Lin, completely different. Loved it. Did I think I would be in full latex with a long black wig on and no make-up? Nothing – nothing! – to hide behind? With those photographers that are, as you said, respectful, it becomes like a little romance. That’s unsaid. It’s the same with a writer or a producer. It’s a tiny little love story, just for that time together. That’s a really nice place to be.
The other crucial component here is Katie. It was so gorgeous to see you working together. One of the first things she ever told me was that she’d styled the jacket for your first DeConstruction album. I love those pictures, in the Paul Smith men’s suit and the glasses.
I didn’t realise it was her first commercial job. I had no idea. She said that the first cheque she ever got for styling was from me. I was like, God, let’s take a moment here. Everything that’s happened since? Well done you. These details are just not a given. They all add to the picture. They become the story, this frisson, the magic, this thing that you were talking about that’s dancing around us all, joyfully, when we’re trying to make something good.
Do you have memories of that shoot?
I know that it was in Los Angeles in a car park. I know that we had next to no budget for anything. Let’s just put the glasses on. None of it was as considered as things might be now and that is super fun. Katie and Rankin were not much younger than I was. We were all so young then. There was a sum total of five of us there, hungry. Obviously, there was amazing daylight. It’s LA.
The wider point is that there is a crossover that can happen between art and fashion and nobody sits in the middle of that Venn diagram better than the pop star. You can be the conduit between two worlds, somebody we can take a leap of faith with.
Yes. And I love it. I remember there was a period where it was used as a detraction, as a negative against me: ‘Oh, she’s just being manipulated.’ No. I love being malleable. I started as an actor. Every song you do is different. I love to morph and play. You don’t need me to come out as the person who staggers out of bed every morning. That’s not what… Well, that’s certainly not what my lane of pop is. Or what many lanes of great pop are. It’s part of the expression. We know that when it’s done right, which takes timing and…
And care?
Yeah. A shoot can fall apart if that harmony doesn’t exist. I think if there’s that word, tension, in a story, in a song, then that can help, as well. Where’s the rub and where’s the release?
Tension is a very un-Kylie title for an album.
I’m so relieved that people have adopted it. Oh, it’s the Tension era. We had the internal discussion about whether it gives the wrong message and so far, you know, it hasn’t. On a video there’s even more that has to come together. The song has to match. I remember saying this with ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head.’ You just knew. Everything was in harmony. We were looking back at one of the monitors and someone said ‘(Gasps) It looks like a campaign!’ and we all turned around and said, ‘(Gasps) It does!’ There was one moment on the ‘Padam’ video, in the car yard, where I’d just made some stuff up, some moves – I love a prop, me – and I just felt that that was a good take. Quick, quick, let’s do another. You can sense the energy happening.
What’s the best dress you’ve ever owned?
Oh my God! I don’t know, is the honest answer. I would probably go for some slippy, nothing dress that’s part of my thoughtful packing and going to take up the smallest space. What can I just throw on?
Is there a pair of shoes that you’d never throw out?
Well, you should see my storage.
I’d love to.
All of my shoes from the Nineties? And I know we say it a lot, but oh, those times! When I know I would have really saved up for a pair of Manolos. Or when Jimmy Choo was still over in Battersea and I’d go over to his place to pick shoes or work on designs or whatever. And we’d go out and wear those shoes all the time. I’m so light on my feet, like literally, that it takes a lot for that to show on the sole of a shoe. My shoes from then I just love. You were out a lot, you did a lot of things and you had a lot of love.
Those shoes are definitely going to have the imprint of the floor from Riki Tik.
I mean, that was a real point in time for me. I could afford them. You’d go out trawling for stuff yourself and throw something on. These are very hard questions, all of a sudden.
Is there a picture of you that reflects more of you than any other? What’s the one that really sees deep into your soul?
I’m thinking of some pictures from my childhood. I consider myself to have been a pretty shy child. I wasn’t in school a lot. I was in performances. And I’ll see some of those pictures and think, that is a window to something. Those pictures can make you feel like you remember a time perhaps more than you do. That’s so special. One of my favourites, I must have been about 10 and I’m wearing a wraparound skirt that my grandma would’ve made for me. I wasn’t allowed platforms, even if I wanted them. A wraparound skirt, a tie-dye T-shirt and a hat that had two holes cut in because a friend of the family said it had been on a horse. I would say the antithesis of my pop output is that tie-dye, essential oils, earthy side of me that really needs nourishing in my downtime.
Is there one particular piece of fashion that exists in the world that you’d love to get your hands on? Does that urge still exist?
It does. I’ll instantly snapshot it and forget about it. It exists on my phone. I think it’s in my brain and it’s not, it’s in my hand-held brain. There’s always something. Can you imagine owning something that Cher had worn? Or Marilyn? I mean, Kim Kardashian had that moment and I hope she enjoyed every single second of it. Remember when Kate Moss wore the little Bowie suit? Those moments are incredible. You’ve struck upon something amazing here. Let’s just put it out there. Let’s contact the Prince estate and tell them, hey, we’re both about the same size – could I possibly borrow something?
I could see you in the pink Controversy trench coat.
You know it. I’m manifesting. Something came up the other day on socials. It must’ve been one of his first TV performances. The presenter says, “This is the first video you’ve made – how old are you?” and he says, ‘Nineteen.’ Nineteen! And he refused to sign to a record company because they wouldn’t let him produce himself. When I was 13 or 14, obsessed, he was just my absolute teenage idol. I have referenced Sheila E. The one-legged catsuit has already happened. But an actual Prince outfit? I would die to have some kind of communion with him in that moment. Anyway, that’s a great idea, so thanks.
Have a ball in New York. Go slay the gays.
That’s going to happen tonight, at 1am. I’m playing Horse Meat Disco. Then tomorrow I have a couple of weeks off. I’m off to have a sleep now, play there later and then, poof, I’ll disappear for a couple of weeks, restore, revive and reboot. Now’s the time. I have every bit of desire to do it. This record’s a crystallisation of everything for me.
The planets are in tandem. The clock’s struck Kylie hour. Bingo.
Thank you. That’s the other thing. The diamond on the cover of the album had to be there. Tension is there. It takes all that pressure to create a jewel. We’ve had the pressure. Now I just want to shine for a little bit, try and refract light as far and wide as possible.
Kylie Minogue interviewed by Paul Flynn for Perfect Issue 5.
