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The scene is immediately jarring: A global icon, whose career has been closely documented by cameras, sometimes against her will, and whose art has frequently centered on the violence of paparazzi culture, submitting herself to the same technology that's made â and challenged â her for the past 10 years. She calls for her longtime manager, Bobby Campbell, to play a song off her sixth studio album, and asks him to turn it up: "Louder, please." Amidst a flurry of wild animal noises, references to partying in "BC" and fierce house beats, Gaga warns listeners to "battle for your life" on the track, as she mouths each lyric to herself. It's the only song played all day, and she requests for it to be queued back to back.
In control of all of the cameras is Belgian artist Frederik Heyman, who needs every inch of her body 3D-scanned in order to later create a computer-generated Gaga avatar in various digitally constructed environments. This multimedia cover shoot is in conversation with the visual language being honed by Gaga and her team for her new album, Chromatica, out April 10. It's named after a world "that celebrates all things" â where, according to Gaga, "No one thing is greater than the other." On set, Gaga works from this same headspace, treating everyone in the room as a collaborator, especially when it comes to styling. She specifically rejects wearing head-to-toe designer clothing, instead opening up conversation for "a more fucked-up" fashion direction. "It doesn't need to go together, it just needs to be upsetting," she says, pointing lovingly to a pair of flame-printed panties.
 All clothing and accessories: Balenciaga
When Heyman describes his plan to depict the pop star as a contrasting half-human / half-android figure, Gaga, ever the artist in control of her nuanced brand and vision, quickly challenges the intent behind this idea. "I don't like futurism for the sake of it," she respectfully asserts more than once. Gaga is also fixated on a much deeper truth at the heart of Chromatica's ethos. "A robot puts me above people," she muses. "Do you think a robot me is better than a human me?"
WHEN WE MEET AGAIN at Gaga's Los Angeles house the next day, her hair is dyed hot pink, and she's wearing a matching magenta shirt pierced with dozens of safety pins, fishnet stockings, underwear and massive black Demonia platforms. She walks into her private at-home recording studio â whiskey in hand â and informs me that somebody else had been using the space, so she'll need a few minutes to reset her sound system. Expertly navigating an intimidating maze of knobs and plugs, Gaga preps the room to play her new, unreleased music. This is the same studio where she completed Chromatica, and, she tells me, it once belonged to experimental rock musician Frank Zappa. Gaga's been living in Zappa's former LA home while her Malibu spot is under repair for damage caused by the California fires. She hasn't been back since leaving.
"This isn't Joanne," Gaga jokes up front, previewing new material that stands in contrast to her stripped-down fifth studio album, which saw her venture into folksy Americana influences Ă la "Million Reasons." Gaga then cues up the first song she wrote for Chromatica: lead single "Stupid Love," a relentless, driving disco-pop tune that revels in the joyful foolishness of loving someone. "I want your stupid love," she repeats passionately on the chorus â a similar sentiment to 2009's "Bad Romance," only Gaga's outlook now is much healthier and more independent. "Nobody's gonna heal me if I don't open the door," she sings, later doubling down: "Now it's time to free me from the shame."
When Gaga plays her new music inside the studio, she blows out of her seat and dances wall to wall as if performing for an arena of thousands, only she's just a few feet from me. Even a private show from Gaga somehow feels massive. Working through the "Stupid Love" music video's choreography, she holds direct eye contact â pointing and lip-syncing â before swiftly spinning around and watching her reflection in the recording booth window. By the end of each track, she's completely out of breath. It's immediately clear that these songs are something of an antidepressant for Gaga â the lyrics and melodies have temporarily relieved her from excruciating pain and the trappings of fame, as she's previously tweeted about.
Gaga is well aware that "Stupid Love" leaked in January, long before she'd even filmed its video or planned for anyone to hear it. She jokes that when hackers typically find her material, they'll leak their favorite, which validated her decision to make the track open the Chromatica era. Many fans figured she'd rush it out, but Gaga wasn't interested in releasing anything half-baked. "There was a minute where me and my manager, Bobby, were talking, 'Do we change the single?' We'd just spent months and months developing this video and choreography. And I said, 'Nope!' You know why? Because the song, when it's mixed, mastered and finished with the visuals, and everything I have to say about it â when all those things come together at once, that will be the art piece I'm making. Not a leak."
As expected, Gaga's final "art piece" is wildly ambitious, with an iPhone-shot music video that saw 50 dancers film for two days straight in the hot, dry California desert. In it, her "Kindness Punks" â dressed in that same bubblegum-pink shade Gaga wears in her studio â rush to break up a fight between different tribes segmented by colors. Gaga presents as a warrior leader, with the Chromatica symbol on her forehead like a third eye and accessories that resemble armor, from a massively spiked belt to a full-face shield. In addition to the "Kindness Punks," of which Gaga is a member, there are the "Freedom Fighters" in blue, "Junkyard Scavengers" in black, "Government Officials" in red, "Eco Warriors" in green and "Cyber Kids" in yellow. By the end, they all ultimately find mutual peace and dance together as a full spectrum.
This experience, Gaga says, further proved her newfound appreciation for the power of nature over technology. Prior to filming, Gaga rehearsed for three days and her dancers immediately followed with five of their own. Her longtime choreographer, Richard Jackson, who's responsible for movement in everything from "Telephone" to "Applause," had the challenge of creating and teaching dances that would last the duration of "Stupid Love" without stopping. Gaga gushes, "I want you to imagine people dancing for eight to 10 hours straight. I watched them work so hard â the blood and sweat. Scrapes from dancing in the desert or getting poked in the eye from a stud that knocked them in the face. They're breathing in sand, they can't see. The conditions alone were ridiculous."
 After extensive rehearsal, a drone was finally used to film the scene on-site, though it didn't have nearly the same drive as Gaga and her dancers. "The damn thing lasts three-and-a-half minutes" before dying, Gaga laughs. "I was like, 'Oh, are you tired? Was that choreography too hard for you?' And I had another epiphany: I said, 'I can't even rely on this drone to capture this shot for me. But these dancers behind me? Their bodies are killing them, they all feel like fainting. That is more powerful than anything. The human spirit is remarkable.' I told the dancers before we left for the desert, 'This might be the hardest thing you've ever done, and if it's not, I did it wrong. But you can do it, and when you look back on this time, you'll remember how strong you are.'"
WHILE RECORDING Chromatica, Gaga says she often "couldn't get off the couch" because her head-to-toe body pain was so extreme. But BloodPopŽ, the hit producer whom Gaga describes as the "center" of her new album, would consistently empower her to push forward and create. "He'd be like, 'Come on, let's go. We're going to make music.' And I'd be maybe crying or venting about something that was happening in my life over some pain or depression I was feeling." Together, they co-wrote songs that temporarily brought Gaga joy. "I'd start out the day so down and I'd end up dancing, looking in the mirror, practicing my moves, singing along," she says. "Every day was an enlightening experience, but it had to happen every day."
Gaga was 19 years old when she was raped repeatedly by an unnamed man she knew in the entertainment industry â an incident she openly discussed during aOprah's 2020 Vision tour. The musician developed PTSD as a result, exacerbated by her decision not to seek treatment early on. "I did not have a therapist," Gaga told Oprah in January. "I did not have a psychiatrist. I did not have a doctor help me through it. I just all of a sudden became a star and was traveling the world, going from hotel room to garage to limo to stage. And I never dealt with it." Instead, Gaga said she "used to cut" herself as a means to cope with everything that triggered her pain. "I have scars," she told Oprah.
 After years of having avoided processing her rape, Gaga's body finally said "enough" in 2013. Little Monsters will recall a video capturing the exact moment Gaga's hip broke while she was performing "ScheiĂe" in Montreal during her Born This Way tour. She let out a bloodcurdling shrill, slowly lowered herself to the ground and somehow still mustered the strength to complete the song's difficult choreography. All remaining tour dates were then cancelled, while Gaga privately recovered. In 2017, Gaga was diagnosed with a condition called fibromyalgia, which leaves her with chronic full-body pain as a trauma response, recreating the illness she says she felt after being raped. "The debate around fibromyalgia, we could have it for hours," Gaga says, matter-of-factly. "Some people believe in it, some people don't. Essentially it's neuropathic pain: My brain gets stressed, my body hurts." For the past few years, Gaga has been rightfully angry at having limited solutions for living comfortably with the pain. "[I'm] angry at my body, angry at my condition, angry that when I'm stressed my body hurts," she says.
"I know what it's like to be in pain. And I know what it's like to also not let it ruin your life."
She describes something called "radical acceptance" as a means for getting her through this dark period, "where you have to 'radically accept' that you're not going to feel well every day, maybe a little bit. Some days are way worse, some days aren't. But you know what I can do? I can go, 'Well, my hands work; my arms work; my legs work, even though they are sore; my back works; my brain works; my heart works; I'm taking breaths, my lungs work.' You can just be grateful for what you can do."
Chromatica can be seen as a reflection of this radical acceptance; it's an album Gaga describes as "dancing through her pain." Featuring explosive anthems that brim with euphoric synth-pop climaxes (way bigger than The Fame), its lyrics nevertheless reflect Gaga's more somber, personal experiences. "It's a smack across the face throughout the album," Gaga says of its celebratory sound. "We don't stop being that happy. You will hear the pain in my voice and in some of the lyrics, but it always celebrates."
Still, Gaga acknowledges the idiocy of unwavering happiness (and the fact that pop, and the mainstream music market at large, is often designed to sell that lie). "Give me a break, [happiness is] not that simple," Gaga says. "I have clinical depression. There's something going on in my brain where the dopamine and serotonin are not firing the same way, and I can't get there. If someone says, 'Come on, just be happy,' I'm like, 'You fucking be happy.'"
With Chromatica, however, Gaga wants to put forth an ideology that suggests it's possible to feel joy even at the same time as you're experiencing sorrow â like putting a happiness filter on life. "I will do whatever it takes to make the world dance and smile," she says. "I want to put out a record that forces people to rejoice even in their saddest moments. And by the way, I'm not standing over here with a flag going, 'I'm all healed, everything's perfect.' It's not; it's a fight all the time. I still work on myself constantly. I have bad days, I have good days. Yeah, I live in Chromatica, it took a minute to get here, but that doesn't mean I don't remember what happened. So if you're in pain and listening to this music, just know that I know what it's like to be in pain. And I know what it's like to also not let it ruin your life."
OF COURSE, you could say Gaga's music has been "making the world dance and smile" since day one. Often, the exuberance she makes people feel is rooted in her embrace of inclusivity and equality â steady themes throughout Gaga's career, from her early opposition to the US military's discriminatory "don't ask, don't tell" law (repealed in 2010) to her LGBTQ epic, Born This Way, released in 2011. "No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgender life," she sings on the title track, which ultimately inspired the creation of her Born This Way Foundation "for a kinder, braver world." But another recurring motif has always been a fixation on the future. In the Nick Knight-directed music video for Born This Way's title track, Gaga births a new, "infinite" race that "bears no prejudice, no judgment, but boundless freedom." As the character "Mother Monster," she's soaked in extraterrestrial pregnancy slime, living on G.O.A.T. (a "Government-Owned Alien Territory" in space), and describing the "mitosis of the future" in relation to her fantasy anti-hate militia.
Nearly a decade later, Gaga now says "we're living in the future," which is why Chromatica â as a concept â feels like the result of every seed initially planted on that intergalactic G.O.A.T. In her studio, Gaga clarifies her updated stance on futurism, and the reasons she wanted to question it on set. "I've been obsessed with the future for so long, going, What's next?" she says. "And then I turned back and looked at my life. I unpacked all the things I've learned that have helped me and that have hurt me, and that taught me infinitely more. Now, [the past] informs my work. It's like I was blocked because I was so obsessed with what was next, what was coming, what does it mean to go forward, that I didn't realize I was already in the future. And where we are, where we stand in the present, is powerful."
 Today, Gaga says she lives in Chromatica, which, unlike G.O.A.T., isn't a fictional location at all. "It's a perspective," Gaga corrects, pointing to her heart. "It's right here. I might sound silly, but I'm on it right now â I'm not on another planet. If you see and listen to Chromatica, and you want to live there, too, you're invited. But I do want to be clear that it's not a fantasy." Gaga earnestly explains that it's as if she "deleted Earth" and "replaced it with Chromatica" in her mind, making this abstract, arguably absurd process seem realistic. Admittedly, I want to be in Chromatica with Gaga, too. Maybe I am?
She came up with the name alongside BloodPopŽ, who previously worked with Gaga on Joanne, as well as with artists like Justin Bieber, Grimes and Madonna, among others. Together, they felt Chromatica represented, in its simplest form, "a spectrum of people" that "all shared the same perspective" and always believed in "kindness over war." But Gaga wanted its ethos to dig even deeper. "It became not just about saying all people are included (all colors, all races, all ethnicities, all gender identities, all sexual identities, all religious identities)," she says. "It's saying there are more colors and more kinds than we could possibly fathom. We're all so different and that's the perspective."
But Gaga reiterates that Chromatica is not "this imaginary fairy-tale happy land where everything's perfect," and understands the inevitability of darkness co-existing with the light. "In order to understand love, you have to understand that there's hate," she says, in another parallel to G.O.A.T. and her "Born This Way" video when Mother Monster questions, "How can I protect something so good without evil?" Much as Gaga continues to reconcile these opposing forces on Chromatica, she also needed to wrestle with this duality in her own life and face her preexisting trauma head-on, which she says is the "bravest step you can take as a human."
Referencing close friends who have struggled with finding healthy ways to work through their own pain, Gaga explains what made her realize just how difficult it is to honestly process your past. "I can't tell you who, but I've met people who have said to me, while sucking down bottles and bottles of wine and doing drugs, 'I will never do what you did. I will never take care of my heart and my emotions the way that you have.' And it really made me think about what a step it was for me in my life to decide to get healthy mentally."
Gaga continues, "I want my legacy to be the most beautiful diary that I ever could've made. And diaries are meant to be true. I think when we start lying to ourselves in our diaries, we start to create secrets within ourselves that don't help us. I like to look myself squarely in the eye now."
WHEN GAGA LOOKS BACKÂ on the evolution of her music career, she sees a clear development of influences. She starts by referencing her rape as a life-altering experience that set the tone for how she created art as a young adult. Not long after, she "went on tours and became very traumatized by the pace of fame and everything I had to do â what was required of me physically and mentally changed the way I wrote. Relationships, family, friends, isolation, traveling all the time, no sleep." Through it all â the inevitable extreme highs and lows of a superstar who's been built up and torn down by the public â Gaga says she doesn't regret anything she's ever made.
I was like, 'I'm going to die soon, so I better say something important.' Now I listen to it and know that I'm going to live."
The topic of ARTPOP comes up, specifically Gaga's contentious 2019 tweet, "I don't remember ARTPOP," which sent fans into an absolute frenzy in defense of her underrated, critically slammed 2013 effort. As it turns out, Gaga does, in fact, recall her sometimes controversial third album. "I think it's funny that I'm not allowed to have a sense of humor," she says. "The internet is essentially a big joke, but if I tell one everyone freaks out. I don't regret my art, and I wouldn't suggest anyone do." Though ARTPOP couldn't possibly compare to the colossal success of Gaga's first two albums, it's certainly her most experimental to date. (Justice for "Sexxx Dreams," the hit single that never was.) "I look back at ARTPOP and look at music today, and I see a lot of things that were very..." Gaga pauses to find the right word. "Futuristic. Or they were ahead of their time, and I'm okay with saying that."
There was a period where Gaga says she was more "introspective" and therefore wanted to make music for herself, starting with ARTPOP and then with Joanne. Both albums were polarizing, vastly different projects for longtime fans to initially digest, but they froze an honest moment in time for an artist being pulled in two directions: by the immense pressures of fame, as well as her own need for self-fulfillment. "Joanne was exactly what I wanted to do," Gaga affirms. "The way I wanted to do it, the way I wanted it to sound, and so was ARTPOP â everything about it. Every album has been exactly what I wanted to make at that time. It's just there was a period where I think I forgot about where I was, and maybe that's why it's been so important for me with Chromatica to reestablish where I am for myself. So that here can mean something very powerful."
While creating Chromatica, Gaga says she reconnected with the way she believes music moves through her, like a messenger for some higher spirit. She believes in God, having grown up Catholic, but says God is "too big" for her to fully understand. According to Gaga, ideas for songs on Chromatica came to her by "opening the portal to the other realm and listening to God," which is why it all sounds so positive. "That's what the other realm was telling me to create," she says. "I might, to some people, sound like I have a perspective on life that's eccentric, but I actually don't think that my talent belongs to me." When Gaga was younger, she remembers hearing melodies in her head and "running to the piano." The portal has been with Gaga her entire life, only she forgot for a brief moment to listen.
One such message led Gaga to collaborate with a fellow female pop star, who has similarly experienced immense trauma while in the public eye. Their song together is a monster of a dance tune, but its message is about submitting yourself to devastation ("It's coming down on me, water like misery") â a flawless dance floor crier as a "celebration of all the tears," Gaga describes. "I sat with her and we talked about our lives. It's two women having a conversation about how to keep going and how to be grateful for what you do." Without being prompted, Gaga raises the inevitable criticism that celebrities face when they say "it's hard to be famous." She knows that "75% of the world rolls their eyes," but Gaga counters: "Yeah, you can be in a mansion, but you can still be six feet under in one."
Elsewhere in Chromatica, Gaga explores topics like her antipsychotic medication ("My biggest enemy is me, pop a 911") and the undeniable force of femininity ("I'm not nothing without a steady hand"), the latter of which acknowledges both her own strength as well as that of the community who has "cheer[ed] her on" and helped her "become a woman." Specifically, she calls out trans women and gay men for helping her cope with PTSD and move past any spirals associated with reliving her pain. "In 2020, what does it mean to be a free woman?" Gaga questions, prompting a song that answers this question and sees her challenging the need to be with a man â or anyone at all â in order to survive. "Can I feel free on my own? Do I need to be loved in order to feel like I've conquered it all?" Speaking to the track's origin, Gaga says, "It came from thinking on some days I was going to die. I was like, 'I'm going to die soon, so I better say something important.' Now I listen to it and know that I'm going to live."
IF CHROMATICA is a mindset where "kindness rules all," created as a gift "for the world," Gaga says it was crucial for the collaborative process to also mirror these values. Gaga flags the difficulty of consolidating more than two years of music-making with tons of different producers into one interview, and instead proposes that she create an Excel spreadsheet for me detailing exactly who worked on what. Above all, Gaga wants to talk at length about BloodPopŽ, her other "nucleus" on Chromatica. "We combined," she says of working with him on this project. "I'm overwhelmed by the amount of love he had to offer me. I could not have made this album without him. He was the world's most incredible alarm when the ambulance was coming."
All of the musicians involved â BURNS, Axwell, Rami Yacoub, Benjamin Rice, Tchami and more â would work on Chromatica as an equal group effort, which is rare considering how so many producers "can get very territorial" based on Gaga's previous experience. "It was a very fluid process with no ego," she says. "Every single thing you hear on Chromatica was passed around and things would get removed, changed or altered. Everyone here heard it or touched it." That's why songs like "Stupid Love" sound notably soulful and complex. "It's easy to go into a computer and find a cool loop, but the producers I work with don't work this way. When they're inspired, they embroider things."
 From start to finish, Chromatica is firmly rooted in classic house, with crisp, clubby dance breaks that all sound like they're competing with each other to be the biggest on the tracklist. Sonically, it's perhaps Gaga's most focused, consistent album to date, with all these producer contributions laddering up to the same fearless electronic tapestry, weaving in unruly breakbeat outros, emotional power-pop melodies that send a dopamine rush through the brain and tons of slick, shiny synths. You can weep to these songs just as much as you can sweat to them, and Gaga seems to be encouraging both at once.
Tensions can easily rise in-studio, but Gaga proudly attests that she experienced the opposite while recording Chromatica. "I think the only day me and BloodPopŽ ever had a fight was when I was trying to learn a jazz tune because I was going to see Tony [Bennett] really soon. He was like, 'We have to finish this!' and I was singing a Cole Porter record in the corner," she laughs. "And that wasn't even really a fight." Rather, BloodPopŽ was more focused on bringing people together through this process. "It was like some really talented, wonderful men all joined arms with BloodPopŽ in front of all of them and he was like, 'Do you remember how much you've changed the world? Do you know how much you have to offer people?' He reminded me that every day, no matter how hard it was."
And on Chromatica, what Gaga offers is openness, honesty and an affirmation of the human spirit â hers and the rest of the world's. "The human spirit is more fucking powerful than anything," she says. "I think Chromatica is the most honest thing I could've ever created, and I'll never forget making this record. It's been one of the most special and hard times in my life." As if to drive home her points at the end of our meeting, Gaga picks up a giant, green crystal on the coffee table, surrounded by speakers, microphones and mixers. "Do you know crystals have been around for billions of years?" she asks, smiling. "The past is incredible. Look what we've done without technology. Look how we've survived without it. Look how we've kept going." Certainly no drone could say the same.
This interview originally appeared on PAPER Magazine here.
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Join the discussion about this new cover on our forum here.
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Although Gaga has yet to promote the single with personal appearances and performances, the song has received major support from the radio, streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify, and also in the form of massive billboards around the world.
Can we get "Stupid Love" to #1? Stream the single, and we will find out!
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Watch GAGAVISION Episode 47 down below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9U1O1AFDYh/
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Read Lady Gaga's first interview about Chromatica below.
Discussing the albums concept with Zane Lowe on Beats1, Gaga said:
âThe symbol for Chromatica has a sine wave in it, which is the mathematical symbol for sound, and itâs from what all sound is made from, and, for me, sound is what healed me in my life period, and it healed me again making this record, and that is really what Chromatica is all about. Itâs about healing and itâs about bravery as well and itâs really like, when we talk about love I think itâs so important to include the fact that it requires a ton of bravery to love someone.â
âBloodPopÂŽÂ [who executive produced Chromatica with Lady Gaga] brought it up, and we talked about how Chromatica was essentially on its own when you first look at it, it seems to be about colors and all the different colors and also music is made of a chromatic scale, you know? So itâs all the colors, all the sounds, you know, so we, weâre talking about inclusivity and life and also a lot of what we see around us and what weâre experiencing is math, which is very much like music and and sound is math as well. So we talked about that, and then I sort of went back and I said, âOK, well, yeah, itâs inclusivity but it's really a way of thinking,â you know, it's not just, âOh, Chromatica, weâre being inclusive with all the colors, all the people,â and when I say, âAll the colors, all the people,â I mean way more than we could possibly fathomâ
âI think that weâre actually operating on a completely rudimentary level where we square things off into very simplified colors when actually weâre all extremely different in a vast variety of ways that stem from both, like, genetics as well as epigenetics, like, weâre all completely different and I thought OK, well maybe, Chromatica is a frame of mind. And that is my frame of mind, and I donât know that Iâve ever made an album that wasnât on Chromatica in some type of way, meaning like my frame of mind is always a part of my music, and this is just my way of kind of expressing, even in a both literal and abstract way, that, like, making music and putting it out into the world is my perspective on life, and itâs also my gift to the world in the best way that I can, and I think that everyone on any given day is doing the absolute best that they can do, and this is my perspective, and here it is, and itâs always been my perspective, but now I know that it was my perspective.â
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âWe are definitely dancing. I put all my heart, all my pain, all my messages from the other realm that I hear of, what they tell me to tell the world and I put it into music that I believe to be so fun and you know, energetically really pure.â and touched on how she hopes the world accepts it âI would like to put out music that a big chunk of the world will hear, and it will become a part of their daily lives and make them happy every single day."
Wrapping up the interview she talked about the involvement on LG6 saying:Â âYou know how producers are, if one guys working on it or one girls working on it, they donât want anyone else to work on it... these records got passed around to so many different people there were so many different iterations of these songs because we all wanted it to be perfect and literally nobody cared who put their fingerprints on it as long as it was the dopest thing we could give to the world and that it was meaningful, authentic and completely me."
And even debuted some new lyrics from LG6!Â
"Every single day, yeah, I dig a grave. Then I sit inside, wondering if Iâll behave.Â
Itâs a game I play. And I hate to say, youâre the worst thing and the best thing thatâs happened to me."Â
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A custom venue called Meridian Island Gardens was built for the occasion in Miami Beach: on the multi-levels building, AT&T hosted multiple interactive 5G experiences for fans including a 60 foot Monster Wall with over 25,000 combinations and exclusive angle Fan Cams.
After a relaxing morning with her new boyfriend, Lady Gaga walked the red carpet before her show.
The concert was live streamed on Twitter and it grossed $250.000 for the Born This Way Foundation with the hashtag #SuperSaturdayNight.
You can re-watch the event below or download it here.
Thanks to our friend GagaMediaArchives.com for the video and download link.
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Song of the Year - Always Remember Us This Way Best Song Written for Visual Media - I'll Never Love Again (Film Version)* Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media - A Star Is Born Soundtrack* Gaga didn't attend the ceremony this year, breakinga 5 year streak of performances, including last years energetic rendition of "Shallow".
During the pre-show, she took home two Grammy awards: Best Song Written for Visual Media for I'll Never Love Again (Film Version) and Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for A Star Is Born Soundtrack, making her the first artist of the 2020 decade to win a Grammy and first artist to win Best Song Written for Visual Media twice in a row.Â
These wins make her an 11 time GRAMMY Award Winner, following her 3 wins from last year with Shallow and Joanne.
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Struggles and Background:
Gaga began the session opening up about her struggles of being misunderstood in high school, revealing that this later lead her to create her On stage persona âLady Gaga".
Recalling her constant struggles with PTSD, and looking back at when she did not have any help, Gaga announced that going into this decade, she would like people to be more educated on what Fibromyalgia is. She would also like to help solve this mental health crisis together with the best doctors, researchers, professors and scientists, expressing her vision of erasing the stigma on mental illness.
PTSD and her past experience:
Psychotic episodes and disassociation was another mental health issue that Gaga encountered recently. Moreover, she revealed that nobody in the industry wanted to help her put the person who raped her in jail, and that she has chosen not to reveal who it was.
However, Gaga divulged that she still has an ongoing struggle of PTSD from this incident.
Lady Gaga's Medical Routine and LG6:
Oprah moved onto discussing Gaga's self-care routines, medication being one of them.
It was also disclosed that her doctor prescribes her to take an anti-psychotic medication to help her from spiraling out and from spasming in her sleep. She also discussed learning to radically accept her conditions and her pain in Dialectal Behavioral Therapy because of the pain she endures with Fibromyalgia.
Gaga goes on to say that she work outs, practices transcendental meditation, and practices spreading kindness and bravery through the Born This Way Foundation as part of her self-care routines.
To the great pleasure (and demand) of eager fans, Oprah asks when her creative process of creating LG6 happens in the midst of all the time she puts into working on herself constantly. Gaga reassures her that despite all the time she allocates to working on herself, she is indeed still working on music and has been in the creative process for years.
CBS Morning Special:
You can also re-watch the full event below:Â
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When asked about her thoughts about the movie, Patrizia replied that she didn't approve nor was asked about her opinion about the making.Â
Patrizia was tried and convicted of orchestrating her ex-husbandâs assassination on the steps of his office in 1995. She served 18 years before being let out of jail in 2016.
Read the full translation by us below:
Patrizia Reggiani, did you know that Ridley Scott is about to make a movie with Lady Gaga about your life? How do you feel that they're putting what's happened in a movie?
I want to disassociate myself from it because I have two daughters. I don't want them to see what happened and relive the situation about their father.
So you're not happy about this news, I suppose you read about it in the newspapers?
Absolutely not.
What are you most afraid of? The fact that your daughters will experience it again?
Yes, exactly.
What's your relationship with your daughters today?
It's nonexistent. They say I'm guilty because I wanted the inheritance.
You mean that famous contract that said that if something happened to your husband Maurizio Gucci, you'd get a huge amount of money? How much are we talking about?
Yes that one. I believe almost 1 million Swiss Francs.
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Later during the show, Italian producer and actress Tiziana Rocca shared her meeting with Lady Gaga in Las Vegas during her promotional tour for A Star is Born, saying how Gaga told her how much she loved Italians and how she still wants to prove to be a good actress even beyond music.
Ridley Scott's movie about Gucci doesn't have a release date yet. Ridley is famous for directing Alien, The Gladiator, Blade Runner, Hannibal and many more.
Watch the original interview by RAIÂ below.
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"You can change a person's attitude, mood, and day just by the way the way they feel through their hair."
"I was really nervous because I hadn't done a lot of makeup at the time. The kind of generosity he had as an artist was something I really identified with," Aspiras recalls with Billboard. "I didn't really show off my work and style but I really wanted to merge the two. I'm my own role model because we all strive to do better. In no way have I become a master of hair and I'm learning all the time, but I also have a lot to give back and have a lot of responsibility. This journey had really taught me to become a better person and artist."
Upon making the successful transition from San Francisco to Los Angeles as a celebrity hairstylist, Aspiras spent nearly four years working with Paris Hilton. He planned on taking a vacation after touring with Hilton -- until he received a call from agent Kent Belden of The Only Agency, who asked if he would like to work with Lady Gaga in 2009. "I had just seen her on stage during an award show, and she needed somebody for her tour," Aspiras continues.Â
"I said, 'Sure, why not, I would love to play with new hair.' I remember working for her the first night and she was so respectful of my ideas. I created one look for the Monster Ball tour, and before you know it, we were bouncing ideas off each other, creating every single look from there."
The duo has seen many wins during their career trajectories over the past decade.
"With Gaga and I, we respect each other's creative voices," he says. "And with that kind of respect coming from somebody you live for, you create that special bond, you never want to let that go. It brings out something really good in you. That's what friends do for each other."
 Tell us about the collaboration process between you and Lady Gaga.
I look to her as an artist. So how we approach that is usually during meetings for a project. It's so important to listen to an artist, as she brings the inspiration out of you for her vision. I would need to create styles throughout [her shows]Â that contributed to her story. Sometimes I would recreate hairstyles on wigs so she can try out different hairstyles with different outfits. So I'm constantly [thinking of]Â new ideas I want to do with her in my studio.
What would you choose as the most memorable hairstyles you've created for Gaga over the years?
The most memorable moment was for the Venice Film Festival for A Star Is Born [last August]. I saw her step out of the hotel in her feathered dress and cried because it was so beautiful. There was a thunderstorm, I don't know what happened, but it was like a [Federico] Fellini movie scene! The next would have to be the [2017 Super Bowl halftime show] because it was monumental. It was such an important moment in her career so it had to be perfect! And her hair changed halfway. To watch it on playback was beautiful.Â
Another one was the [2012] Born This Way world tour. We became family on that tour, spending day and night together. I created so many styles for it. I never got bored while we toured around the world three times. When we did American Horror Story: Hotel [in 2015], [makeup artist] Kim Ayers and I had to come up with something like 70-90 different hairstyles [for the singer's Countess character]. We were on set sometimes from five in the morning to three in the morning. It was really, really hard but rewarding.
How would you describe her current hair aesthetic?Â
She is such a beautiful human being. Her aesthetic so far this year is something that reflects who we are now as artists. I can't speak for her, but I can say I'm a more comfortable stylist now because of her.
How do you decide when to use a wig versus her natural hair?
We don't decide. It depends based on the looks, style and color. And with things like hair extensions, people have realized they don't need to bleach their hair. If there is a time where I feel like it might damage her hair, I would suggest a wig, which looks just like her hair.Â
So how many wigs do you think you two have amassed together?
She has some, but I have all the wigs. I had archived them through the years. I would say there are about 5,000. There's also a collection you can see in Las Vegas, and a lot of them are in New York.
What does Lady Gaga like to listen to while getting ready?
When she first walks in, I would probably play some Don Henley because you're sitting for so long. I would also bring in some Ace of Base. I would love to play ARTPOP -- itâs my favorite album. I would also play jazz like Tony Bennett, of course. She actually played for me when I went to receive my [Hairstylist of the Year honor at the Daily Front Row Awards in March], and I cried. We have a great time in the trailer talking to each other. It really is like a family.
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You can read the full interview here.
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The party was announced early last week on Twitter and since then people started queuing up outside the store. Local news reported the huge crowd outside the mall on TV.
The first 50 Little Monsters to queue up had the chance to meet Gaga herself during the party.Â
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FAME: Glam Room Palette Number 1 is now available for purchase, along with the new Haus Laboratories Holiday Collection featuring new shades and a brand new sparkling lipstick on hauslabs.com or check your local Amazon.
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"I've discovered myself through makeup, that's what made me feel beautiful, that's what made me invent Lady Gaga. The idea is seeded in being kind to yourself using makeup. We want you to love yourself!" - Lady Gaga explains when asked about why she started Haus Laboratories, her makeup line.
NikkieTutorials brings out the first ever Haus Labs eyeshadow palette Glam Room No. 01. "Glam Room No. 01, what this means is there's going to be Glam Room 2, 3, 4, 5 6..." says Lady Gaga.Â
She says that the palette is inspired by her initial relationship with makeup and fame, back in the day when she used to be a burlesque dancer in New York City.Â
"We want to expand to be home, create a space that includes all." says Gaga. "And yes, there will be color!" she also adds. So, it is safe to say that we can expect vibrant colors in the near future of Haus Laboratories.Â
NikkieTutorials asks, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
"I want to make all kinds of different music. I want to do more movies. I want to have babies. I want to continue to build the behemoth that is Haus Laboratories" Gaga replies.
Lastly, NikkieTutorials asks Gaga the questions that all Little Monsters are dying to know, where is LG^?
"I'm gonna put out a record. Haus Laboratories is a colorful place. So is my music..."Â Gaga says without giving any details away.
Watch the FULL VIDEO down below:
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The breakdown of her nominations is as follows:
Song of the Year: Always Remember Us This Way Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: A Star Is Born Soundtrack Best Song Written for Visual Media: I'll Never Love Again (Film Version). Last year, Gaga won 3 Grammys out of her 5 nominations, two for the global hit "Shallow" and one for the piano version of the title track form her 2016 studio album Joanne. Due to the massive, sustained success of "A Star Is Born" ever since its theatrical release last year in October, the soundtrack is predicted to win big the night of the 2020 Grammy ceremony.Â
The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards will take place Monday, January 20th at the Staple Center in Los Angeles, hosted by Alicia Keys second year in a row. Check back again on the day of the ceremony for a live stream, and to find out how many trophies Gaga will end up taking home!
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Lady Gaga opened up about her partnership with Tudor in a new interview by the Telegraph.uk. Read an except from the interview below:
Two years ago, when Tudor announced Lady Gaga as its first official celebrity ambassador alongside David Beckham, some of the brand's die-hard fans expressed their reservations. The link between the then 91-year-old company and the outspoken artist and activist felt tenuous to them, but for Tudor the message was clear. Lady Gaga spoke with the Telegraph about her partnership with the brand and opened up about why she chose to be an ambassador for them which you can read below.
Tudor agreed to work with director Mark Romanek for its very first campaign with Gaga. The idea was to have the two sides of Gaga battle against each other in a piano duel.The result is a short film that she refers to as daring, celebrating her talent as a musician and relating it to Tudor's talent as a watchmaker. "Sometimes in this industry, people just want to use your face and your fame to sell a product, but that is not at all what this is," she says. Gaga likens it to her two different shows currently in Las Vegas, Enigma and Jazz & Piano. "It's like the Tudor commercial, showing two sides to me," she says. "I came to Vegas, and thought why only offer one part of what I do when I've been performing jazz music since I was a little girl? Why wouldn't I bring all of the weapons in my arsenal with me to tackle this town?"
"Style was almost like shedding a skin. I would dye my hair, or wear a wig, or change my clothes, and my style would just be completely different because I wanted to feel like a different person. "I'm more grown up now and my style has changed, but I still transform from day to day. There's a lot of pressure in the world to look a certain way and I think people try to keep up all the time. I'm not really into that. When I'm zigging, I like to zag later."Â [...] Tudor gave me a wide variety of watches for all sexual identities. I experiment with stacking them and wearing multiple watches together. It might seem silly to some, but I think it's quite fun and daring to wear several watches that all tell the same time at once."Â
"I reinvent myself because I like to," she says. "It challenges me. I've asked myself recently, 'Why do you always have to make something new? Why can't you just relax?' And the answer is, 'I don't know'. The reward is in the creative process - and that's also something that Tudor loves, being innovative and different but also honouring its heritage as a brand." Â Despite being fiercely proud of her music, Gaga insists that she would rather people remember her for speaking out. "I think that if you become a big star, you have a duty to use your voice for good, to inspire young people to be brave, to have a purpose in the world that goes beyond their beauty or being loved for having lots of [social media] followers," she says.
"If I'm not artistically fulfilled by a collaboration and I don't believe in what it stands for, then there's no point. Working with Tudor is working with people who don't try to change me to sell their product, which is unique. The brand is a rarity, a diamond."
Read the full interview here.
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Sources tell TMZ that Gaga left the Valentino Haut Couture dress behind after winning a Golden Globe as Best Actress for her role in A Star is Born. A maid at Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles found the dress in Gaga's hotel room last February and brought it to lost and found where it sat until the hotel gave it to her back. Now the maid is trying to put the dress on auction.
The dress came with a note from the maid:
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Law enforcement sources tell TMZ someone from Valentino made an incident report with Beverly Hills Police on Friday about the missing dress. We're told the issue is being worked out between the hotel and designer ... and the dress will likely get yanked from the auction block.
Lady Gaga's dress is a Valentino Haute Couture periwinkle blue gown, designed specifically for Lady Gaga with cascading silk faille and a 10-foot train -- an homage to the dress worn by Judy Garland in the 1954 version of "A Star is Born."
Gaga's dress should go up for sale on Halloween via Nate D. Sanders Auctions, and bidding opens at $8,000.
Source.
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"Don't worry I'm not going anywhere" she said after picking up a jacket from our beloved merchandising designer, Nico (@fkanico).
Then she added:Â
"Iâm making new music. Iâll be a whole new me, over and over. And Iâll be just like Tony Bennett, Iâll be on stage when Iâm 92."
 Lady Gaga has been teasing her new since the beginning of 2019 when she tweeted "Rumors Iâm pregnant? Yeah, I'm pregnant with #LG6.â in MarchÂ
Head Chief of Universal France confirmed last month that Lady Gaga's new album is expected next year.
In the meantime take a look at our new merchandising designer by Nico on our store: spaceneil.com
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"Shallow" has been nominated for "Best Collaboration". "A Star is Born" has been nominated for "Best Soundtrack". For the very first time, you can go on google.com to vote for your favorite artists. You can submit up to 30 points per day split among all your favorite stars.
The AMAs will take place on November 24 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and will be broadcast on ABC.
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"I love this episode for so many reasons, most of them Gaga. I loved working with her so much then, and now. I am so proud of where sheâs gone as an actress, but she always had chops, right from the minute she stepped on the set. She is a born actress. My favorite sequence in the episode was the vampire stalking with her and Matt Bomer, underneath the genius song âShe Wants Revenge.â Gagaâs idea, by the way. It was like making a ten-minute silent movie, all the shots were very planned and choreographed. I would do countless takes just to get the train of Gagaâs red dress to move right. We shot a huge chunk of it in The Hollywood Forever cemetery, and I remember Gaga and Matt and I went wondering between the takes looking at all the beautiful and haunting tombstones. And I loved that we used Nosferatu, one of my favorite movies. Gaga and Matt were so fearless about the sex and all the bloodletting, they were pros about it and perfectionists. I think I enjoyed this so much because Gaga cares about IT ALL. We spent hours on the looks, the backstory of The Countess. She threw a âgetting to know youâ party at her house in Malibu right before filming this episode and I remember Kathy Bates and I having a moment looking at each other like, âIs this really happening? Did she dye the pool blood red?â Gaga never disappoints. She is incapable of disappointing."
Discover Ryan Murphy's favorite episodes of American Horror Story here.
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While no release date has been set yet, Lahiri said that he is now waiting for the release of the two tracks to be green lit, and he hopes they are released by the end of the year. He recently celebrated 50 years in the industry as a composer, and is famous for popularising the use of synthesised disco music in Indian cinema.
The news of this collaboration broke just days after Gaga tweeted 'Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavnatu', a Sanskrit mantra and Hindu prayer. It translates to "May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all".
It is unclear whether these tracks are intended for Gaga's upcoming sixth album or not, but it looks like new music is definitely on the way. Read an excerpt from the interview with Bappi Lahiri below.
Speaking to the Mumbai Mirror, he said, "Yes, two duets, with her singing in English and me in Hindi in my inimitable style. We are now waiting for the release to be greenlit, hopefully by the year-end."
You can read the full article here.
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"This is kinda where it all starts for me. Before I make my mood boards, I like to actually hold and turn the pages of a book" Sarah Tanno reveals to Harper's Bazaar as she points to an image in the book Dior Backstage that served as an inspiration for Gaga's weapon-like Met Gala lashes.Â
The beauty room is extremely organized, covered in pictures of Gaga's most iconic looks and a mood board that spans the length of an entire wall.
"Even with Haus Laboratories before I create a collection, sometimes, I make a board to get me in the mood" Tanno adds.
She goes on to show the golden lashes that acted as a precursor to Gaga's custom Met look, although the real ones are displayed at Haus of Gaga Las Vegas, she says.
Sarah Tanno has previously won an Emmy for working on Lady Gaga's makeup for the 5th installment of the popular FX series, American Horror Story: Hotel.
"With Gaga, I get to work in different media for makeup, which I think a lot of people don't get to experience. I get to do TV, film and stage makeup, red carpet makeup, everything you can think of. I've learn so much through all of this, it is such a blessing" Tanno exclaims as she details her experience working with Gaga.
"Here I keep all the products that I am testing for Haus Laboratories" Tanno says as she promises to show what is in store for the brand to the interviewer and points to a set of drawers in her desk that contain lab samples and approved products for Haus Labs. She sits down, creates looks and sends pictures to Gaga as she tests out the products.
Tanno reveals that her favorite look that she has done on Gaga is the Super Bowl makeup as she opens up a drawer full of custom eye pieces that culminated in the final set of stickers used for the performance. "I was crying on the filed" Tanno says as she describes the unforgettable moment. Inside the same drawer, Tanno also shows the sticker eyebrows that Jackson Maine peels off Ally in A Star Is Born.
One of the coolest pieces she has in her beauty room has to be the makeup book that contains the pictures of each of Gaga's 68 original looks from Horror Story from different angles. She reveals that Gaga's makeup looks in Hotel progresses as her love interests change.Â
Working with Gaga, Sarah has also picked up some tips and tricks from the superstar when it comes to makeup. She reveals that using argan oil to remove heavy eye makeup is something she has learnt from Gaga.Â
Watch the interview down below:
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After Fortnite launched its record breaking Chapter 2, the mass amount of media coverage was enough to capture the attention of Lady Gaga, causing her to tweet.
Since her tweet, various popular Fortnite streamers, streaming platforms and other celebrity fans of the game have replied.
Fortniteâs most famous Streamer:
Discord:
Leading streaming platform:
But the most notable reply of all has to be that of Fortniteâs very own Worldwide Creative Director, Donald Mustard with a simple ask: âCall me.âÂ
A Lady Gaga X Fortnite collab could look anything like something as simple as a skin set of one of Gagaâs many iconic looks, or an in-game concert event. Both fans of Lady Gaga and Fortnite are already suspecting a collab between the two along the lines of Fortniteâs history making first ever virtual in game concert with Marshmello.
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In 2013 Lady Gaga released her collaboration with R. Kelly called "Do What You Want (With My Body)" as promo single from her album ARTPOP. The song was produced by DJ White Shadow and talks about how Gaga doesn't care about media trashing her body image publicly. Following its huge success after the release on iTunes, Lady Gaga announced that the song would have replaced Venus as second single. The music video with Kelly was shoot and directed by Terry Richardson, but it was never released after Robert's rape accusations.
Following the release of the Lifetime series Surviving R. Kelly, which documented the sexual abuse allegations against the singer, Gaga made a statement announcing that the song would be removed from streaming platforms from January 2019.
ARTPOP will be released again on November 11th without Do What You Want.
A version of the song featuring Christina Aguilera, released a few months after the original is still available on streaming services.
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A Star Is Born Soundtrack
Album of the Year Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media Always Remember Us This Way
Record of the Year Song of the Year Best Pop Solo Performance I'll Never Love Again
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Best Song Written for Visual Media Maybe It's Time
Best American Roots Performance Best American Roots Song Earlier, Billboard has announced a list of albums including Gaga & Cooper's Soundtrack Album as one of the leading contenders for an "Album of the Year" nomination at next year's Grammy ceremony. It is highly likely that we will see her name again in the select pool of nominees when they are officially announced on November 20th. Don't forget to check back again to find out Gaga's Grammys 2020 nominations.
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Haus Laboratories chose to aim far beyond the regular beauty consumer: "At Haus Beauty we say Beauty is how you see yourself." In the beauty video, we see Lady Gaga surrounded by the most peculiar and androgynous models, celebrating the diversity she always championed and supported since the early days of her career.Â
While promoting Gaga's beauty brand on social media, I noticed a very colorful Twitter user commenting under our posts. I surprisingly found out that it was in fact one of the beauty models featured in the Haus Laboratories commercial!
After a quick follow back, I began talking with Fish Fiorucci: the non-binary "golden" model. After telling me they've been a fan of my page for quite some time, we quickly agreed to meet in Milan for a private and intimate interview just a few weeks later.
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It's was a hot Sunday in Italy when I traveled from Rome to Milan to the photo studio where Fish was prepping for their upcoming fashion week. I stepped into a large private studio where the "golden" model was waiting for me on a cheetah print couch, next to two other artists, naked.
FISH: âThats luke and our producer. Weâre working on a big project. Our first together outside the US.â
After a few hand shakes and kisses, the two other artistâs gave Fish and I some alone time to speak about just how fabulous the shoot was.
Iâm now sitting next to Fish while theyâre smoking a blunt. The model would be totally naked if it wasn't for their black thong and a pair of 10-inch pleaser heels they through on specifically for this interview. I was still amazed by the size of the location and how filled it was by the many dresses floating from hangers with racks all over the room. I was in fashion heaven.Â
MATT:Â âWow it's a big production!â
FISH:Â âWe try not to find time for small ones. Go big or go home.â
I finally take my laptop out of my backpack and began writing the interview.Â
M:Â âSo, <<Fish>>, thatâs how I should refer to you as, right?â
F:Â âYes. My pronouns are they/them.â
Being non-binary must expose them to a lot of unwanted and awkward questions so I understood easily that it was in everyoneâs favor to respect Fish for who they are.
"Being non binary has given me the chance to feel comfortable in my own body."
M:Â âSo Fish ...what an honor is to interview you, thank you for having me, I know youâre very busy.â
F:Â âOf course, thank you for being a trusted source for Lady Gaga news! Iâve been following you for years now.â
I wasn't expecting that. After all these years, it still makes me happy when someone recognizes me for all the work Iâve done.
M:Â âYou are probably the most peculiar modelâs in the Haus Laboratories commercial. What does being non-binary mean to you?â
F:Â âBeing non binary has given me the chance to feel comfortable in my own body. A reason to quit asking myself why I dress and act the way I do.â
M:Â âHow do you act?â
F:Â âLike a fucking fa**ot! But that's just me. I never want to be called <<a man in heels>>. I just want to be recognized as an androgynous human and not so much male or female.â
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M:Â âYou're very direct.â
F:Â âWhat I don't like is how people censor my directness and silence my personality. I enjoy being blunt and I enjoy smoking them too.â
M:Â âIâm sure you went through a lot to get here."
F:Â âIt took around 10 years of manifesting and candle lightingsâ
Fish finally decides to get up and starts wandering around the room looking for clothes. They're very tall. Maybe twice my height. It's fun seeing them wander so light around the room even though they have heels as high as Gaga's. They must be a pro.Â
F:Â âWould it be alright if I change? I have a shoot after this and need a new outfit.â
M:Â "Yeah, no problem. You donât mind being naked in front of strangers?â
F:Â âNot at all! I like when people start questioning what kind of body parts I have. Iâve been banned many times on Instagram for posting naked photos of myself. But if I were a bigger celebrity, I'm sure It'd be alright. I actually have some old photos of myself naked, edited to look like Gaga's shoot with Eli Russell. Would you like to see them?â
They grab their purse from the couch and pick up the phone and start looking through their gallery.
"I was forced to act masculine at test shoots and meetings. It was a scary time."
F:Â âI was 18 at the time and was sexually harassed by this photographer.â
There is a slight silent moment. I'm surprised how they shouted it out so calmly.
M:Â â...do, you wanna talk about it?â
F:Â âItâs very common in this industry. It shouldnât have to be, but sadly there arenât enough rights in this industry to protect us from moments like this. I also think itâs great that my platform is growing now. I can speak about issues like this with no censorship. Iâve never been more encouraged to share my stories until now. Before it was a battle. The photos speak for themselves: my eyes are filled with sadness. I hated myself at that age. I was forced to act masculine at test shoots and meetings. It was a scary time. My innocence made it easier for people to take advantage of me. I know how to use my voice now. I just wish my agents taught me how to. This topic was just too taboo for them.â
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M:Â âI believe itâs still taboo for a lot of young kids who want to enter this world.â
F:Â âItâs all a huge battle. Battle for your life! See what I did there?â
At first I didnât get it, but then I remember the quote from the Haus Laboratories commercial. I wasn't really sure how to move forward about the last topic. I wasn't even expecting them to open up so much with me. Luckily, Fish was very joyful, and assured me everything was fine now.Â
M:Â âHow was shooting with Lady Gaga?â
F:Â "Who's Lady Gaga?"
I laugh.
F:Â âI thought this was a Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta fan interview!â
M:Â âThen how was being on the set with Stefani?â
F:Â âTo be quite honest, it was probably one of the best things Iâve ever experienced in my life. I felt like a star! And to be working closely with one of the biggest pop stars of our generation made it even more worthwhile. I finally felt like I was in the right place at the right time.â
M: âSo tell me more about the shooting day.âÂ
F:Â âI constantly found myself on set acting like a fool at times. I was just so starstruck. The cameraman would catch Gaga talking to me at times and when she would leave, Iâd say <<do you guys know that lady?>> and would walk away with the biggest smile on my face. It was non-stop hard work coming from everyone. The energy was so strong and powerful. We had so much fun shooting on set. It was such a privilege to be working with the same people who created Gaga.â
M:Â âI bet you had so much fun that day. Is it âeasyâ to work with her?â
F:Â âFashion isn't easy. Gaga isnât easy. Sheâs advanced. If you thought the challenges on American Next Top Model were hard, think again sweetie. We were there to serve and the people were left FILLED.â
M:Â âIt was hard, but it was worth it...?â
F:Â âFrom an artist point of view, I was blessed to be able to analyze every detail about the shoot. From the styling, casting and production, I left the shoot feeling inspired. From a model POV, it was a huge accomplishment. I like to consider myself more <<homemade>> than others, and getting this far was something I never imagined. I did it bitches.â
M: âThat sounds like a dream, I bet THAT was a real huge production! â
F:Â âThe biggest. If I wanted a donut, I got my donut.â
M: â ...and you also had Lady Gaga next to you. Do you remember anything funny from those days?â
F:Â âShe smelled like miu miu perfume.â
M:Â âIs it a bad thing?â
F:Â âI smell like miu miu perfume now. I had to buy it.â
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The other artistâs re-enter the studio. We talked so much that I almost forgot when they went out. They began unfolding dresses from a table near us, announcing that the other photographer would be coming and that we only had 10 minutes left.
"My plan is to advocate for mental health awareness while still being the queer genderless queen that I am."
F:Â âBefore we wrap, ask me anything youâre dying to know.â
M:Â âHow would you describe Gaga to someone who canât afford to see her or might live too far?â
F:Â âSheâs genuine. Sheâs a fucking hard worker and has a deeper appreciation for art than many other musical artists. She is God. You know what, I may sound cheesy but her music and persona are the reason I'm still here today. I've dealt with depression at a very young age and spent most of my nights crying and listening to her. I became a victim of her mind controlling music at age 11 and promised to sell my soul one day in return for fame. Gaga is my religion.â
M:Â âBefore I go: what are you gonna do now with your life? Whatâs the plan?â
F:Â âItâs my goal to get famous before the year ends. I need everyone to know Fish before 2020 comes around. My plan is to advocate for mental health awareness while still being the queer genderless queen that I am. Iâm a runway model with a loud mouth.â
M:Â âIf you could speak to the world, what would you say?â
F:Â âTake My Picture, Hollywood! I Wanna Be a Star!â
The other photographer enters the studio. Everyone around me began running around meaning our time was coming to an end. As they began prepping dresses, getting make-up ready and adjusting lights I start packing my computer. It was almost time for me to catch my train. I hug Fish and thank them for their time. But before I go, I remembered a question I should have asked at the beginning of the day.
M:Â âHey Fish, can I ask your real name?â
F:Â âNoâ
They ran away with a smile on their face and began fitting for their next shoot. A model on the run.Â
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Interview by LadyGagaNow.
- 2,521 views
Lady Gagaâs speech at Haus Laboratories Launch Party. pic.twitter.com/hYCbarXpmV
â GAGAIMAGES (@gagaimages)Â September 17, 2019
In an exclusive launch event in Los Angeles, Lady Gaga made a speech about makeup, mental health and what the brand means to her. In addition, she announced three brand new products; Liquid Eye-Lie Her, Eye Armor Kit and the Armor Masque No.1.Â
Liquid Eye-Lie-Ner is described as a waterproof, matte black, flexible felt-tip eyeliner that brings any look to life. It is available for $20.Â
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Next up is the Eye Armor Kit, created in collaboration with Face Lace by Phyllis Cohen. Available for $35.
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The Armor Masque No.1 is also in collaboration with Face Lace by Phyllis Cohen. These reusable stickers bring next-level, professional artistry to any look instantly. Available for $25.Â
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Last week as the launch day approached, Lady Gaga announced the individual shades with a promotional clip posted on her social media, showing the CEO in a Versace ensemble, showing off the Haus-branded products:
 It was later accompanied by another promotional clip showing Gaga as the fierce boss of her own company, again, showing off and using the products of the first launch:
 She also gave her followers an insight into the Haus Laboratories warehouse where all the products were housed prior to the launch. Gaga teased the behind-the-scenes assembling of the boxes to be shipped, as well as a first look at the minimalistic, yet sophisticated packaging, assuring the customers that the products are indeed ready to be shipped globally:
First look: HAUS LABORATORIES packaging. pic.twitter.com/uWp5s4DC28
â GAGAIMAGES (@gagaimages)
- 1,333 views
"Even on vacation, her looks are stylish."
"Do you see this one?", he asks showing us his tattooed fingers. "In England, we call them 'jobstoppers', and when I heard that, I had my knuckles tattooed right away to be sure that I'll never get a banal clerical job!" We are sitting in front of the Belgian designer Tom Eerebout. His job is definitely not ordinary. He has been working for Lady Gaga for ten years. He is the one who decides what the pop star wears, from the city to the stage.
Eerebout has been living in London for years now, but he recently bought a house in Antwerp: "It's an investment, to be closer to my family and (as a plan B) for the Brexit. It is right behind the Central Station".
We ring the bell but we will not cross the main door.
"My husband is working and our three dogs are here", he says, taking us to a cafÊ just a few steps away.
He orders a Vedett beer (for him) and a cappuccino (for us).
The last time he came to Belgium was seven months ago to pay a quick visit to his family. When you work for a pop star (who has since become a movie star), the working days are long and the miles are numerous.
"Especially when we're on tour, it's intense: working 18 hours a day is the norm!"
This fall, he will continue working with Gaga as the pop star is set to return to Las Vegas for her residency at Park MGM.
"In Vegas, my working days start in the morning around 10 a.m and last until 3 a.m the next morning. But my biggest stress is FedEx! Even though you've found the greatest outfit and claimed the exclusivity from its creator, it is a disaster if the courier doesn't deliver it in time.â
 âFor the Venice Film Festival, Gaga had to wear a flamingo feather dress, but we were afraid the couriers wouldnât deliver it on time, leaving us high and dry. To avoid that, someone went to Italy by car with the dress. In the meantime, I was flying with $2 million worth of diamonds in my carry-on bag."
Eerebout recalls this story :
âIt happens often that we have to change Gaga during a regular flight. In this case, we ask to reserve the toilets and uncoil her dress with steam from the flight attendantsâ kettle".
The stylist has an almost ordinary look, but his sneakers and his shorts look like more a holiday-outfit than a cityâs.
"Usually, Iâm pretty dressed Ă la Keith Richards : Shirt, jeans and boots."
Itâs not for his looks that he is well known anyway, but for what he imagines for Lady Gaga, the Italian-American pop star who broke through with Poker Face in 2009 and recently won an Oscar for her role in A Star Is Born.
"All of her looks are absolutely stylish, even when sheâs out of her house to get in the car. Itâs a huge work, but my colleague Sandra Amador helps me a lot. For us, itâs almost a full time job."
"We donât shop in stores, because Gaga only wears clothes that have never been worn before. These last months, she has worn pieces from a Winter Collection which is only available today. We have to arrange directly with the fashion labels and the Couture houses. I am also often approached by designers who send me their sketches;  I like it a lot because it gives me the opportunity to know new names."
"As a Belgian, I also try to use a lot from Belgian Fashion. Recently, Gaga wore a Bare ring, the brand of a young jeweler from Antwerp Dries Criel" entrusts the stylist. "For big events Sandra and I are in charge to look up the outfits, but during quiter periods we simply send Gaga a large suitcase of clothes, with a PDF of all the looks. ... and when she goes on vacation, we send her Bikinis."
"As a stylist, we can obviously have our own sense of style, but first and foremost we have to listen to our clients" he says.
"The outfits need to look like theyâve been just take out from her closet. I donât have a recipe to capture Gagaâs style. There must always be a bit of madness."
"I am part of the âHaus of Gaga (the creative team around her). Just like me, most of the members have been working for her for years. We form a very big united family."
Throughout the interview, we are struck by his weird accent, summary of his journey. Born and raised in Bredene, on the Belgian coast he did some training in Bruges and then went at the Antwerp Academy, where he studied photography for several months.
âSchool was never my thing: I hate structures. When I stopped studying photography, I was lucky enough to find a job at American Apparel as a visual merchandiser. Responsible for the Benelux countries, I was often in Amsterdam".
After that he packed his bags and moved to Amsterdam, where he met Joost Vandebrug, a fashion and documentary photographer with whom he got married.
âJoost earned a contract with the prestigious agency âArt & Commerceâ for which he had to move to London. I followed him. However, I couldnât find a job. Then I met Nicola Formichetti, who was Gagaâs stylist at the time, and I became his assistant in March 2010. I didnât get paid that much, but I liked this job and I stayed. Four years later, when I had the opportunity to work for Kylie Minogue that I worshipped, I left Gaga before diving back inâ.
âWorking for Lady Gaga is my dream job: I work with pleasant people, I can unleash my creativity and it is different every single day. My dad had a hard time understanding that dressing up a celebrity could be a full-time job. For years, he pushed me into looking for a âreal jobâ, but everything changed during Lady Gagaâs concert at Antwerps Sportpaleis, in 2018, when she dedicated a song to me. Finally my family acknowledged the impact my job had. Throughout the years, Gaga became a very good friend. Look. I did this tattoo with herâ, he tells, showing us one of his âjobstoppersâ.
From October 17th, Lady Gaga will continue her Las Vegas residency âEnigmaâ at Park Theater.
Translated by LadyGagaNow.co
Source in French here.
- 3,670 views
