I confess to being a little bit apprehensive.
I don’t know if it’s the purple hair or the in-your-face Alpha Girl image that Venus XTC portrays, but either way I’ve no idea how this one might play out. Having one or two stock questions to use as crutches though – it helps. And when I dive in with the usual what-inspired-you line, I’m relieved to be met with enthusiasm and a note that’s appealingly down to earth.
“It started with piano when I was five years old actually,” Venus replies when I ask about her first encounter with a different instrument – the guitar, that tool which seems permanently clamped to her waist. “And before I was a teenager I’d played ten different instruments including Violin, Cello and Flute. Guitar came later when I was thirteen and really got into Rock Music. Joan Jett, Lita Ford and Richie Sambora inspired me to pick up the guitar and to this day are my guitar heroes. And yes, of course it was love at first sight.”
Slide through her Twitter feed and you might have a job squaring what you see with a pre-teen musician working away at violin and cello. But the brash, bold out-there character we see before us today has always been there.
“Yeah, I’d say pretty much,” she agrees. “I’ve always been a rebel and a ‘’Rocknrolla’’ though I must say it takes courage to really be yourself in a world where everyone is telling you to shut up, move along and be like everyone else, so sometimes it’s not easy. However, I think the only way life is worth living is if I live it on my own terms and being myself 100% of the time. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
It’s those terms that lie behind the concept of Alpha Girl – a title that’s not just her latest single but a status Venus inhabits comfortably:
“It’s often said that men and women are equal in today’s world – but in practice that’s often not the case, so this song is all about the glammed up girl power of strong, powerful and confident women standing together and living up to their full potential and power. I noticed how the term Alpha Girl was often used derogatorily, so I decided to spin my own take on it – an intensely positive one as is obvious to anyone who has heard the song.”
Intense is right. Venus is a musician who has inserted herself into her genre: there’s the personality and there’s the sound, and both are intertwined. Not surprising of someone who never takes her foot off the gas.
“I dedicate pretty much all my time to music. You could say I live, breathe and eat music. That sounds cliché, but when you’re doing what you love more than anything in the world, why would you do it any less than always? I only take time out from music for my work as a model which you could say is my day job at the moment, but otherwise it’s music music music every hour of the day and night.”
Pretty cool day job. Presumably then, Venus doesn’t envy those in the nine-to-five set?
“To be honest: no, absolutely not. I’ve never liked society’s standard of normal and I could never live a nine to five lifestyle, it would go against my rebellious and free spirit nature. So no, no envy.”
Here is a musician – and not just a musician, but a craftsperson – who’s found her niche. But there’s more to this game than picking a genre and running with it.
“Make real good music,” she says when I ask what advice she’d offer an up and comer in her industry. “Create a unique sound, don’t follow fashions or trends – create them! Never be afraid to be fully and totally yourself, whatever that means. Oh, and never give up, no matter what.”
And the Venus XTC trend is what represents her proudest achievement to date.
“Together with my producer Lex Mars, I have created a new genre and a unique sound – we call it Glam-Pop and Electro-Rock and it’s a combination of all the music I love most – mainstream pop, 80s glam and electronic/synth music – with my own twist and edge, and a whole lotta heart. I’m proud to have created something that is uniquely mine and that is true to me one hundred percent.”
How many times have we heard it? If your heart’s not in it, don’t bother. Perhaps it’s obvious, then, that when I ask Venus for her definition of success she goes straight for the love of her life.
“Doing what you love most and do best – in my case music – and sharing it with the world. I think that every person who dares to live up to their full potential is a talisman for dreamers everywhere, because it shows that everything is possible if you truly dare to live the dream.”
My thanks to Venus for her time. I’m listening to Alpha Girl as I transcribe this interview and I recommend that you do too. That’s all.
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