采访/ Chris Poppy
翻译/ 田原义
(English Version: See Below)
尽管《Frank Sinatra》并不是Miss Kittin的唯一代表作，然而却是这首歌成就了她在电子音乐领域里那一席特殊的位置。此事对于Miss Kittin而言莫过于是一个天大的讽刺，原因在于Frank Sinatra之流的流行明星正是Miss Kittin本人刻意与之划清界线的一类人。却因为这首意在反讽的歌，Miss Kittin本人也被卷进了音乐界的名利场之中。然而主流市场的成功并没有使得Miss Kittin向商业低头，反倒是她特立独行的姿态以及音乐品味使她更显得卓越不群。Miss Kittin的全新专辑《Calling From The Stars》将于本月稍后推出。值此之际，Miss Kittin与IndieRay追溯往昔，并调侃名利是非。
问：在电子音乐领域里，你是一位标志性的人物：一位成功的音乐人，然而你的成功却不是通过创作商业化的音乐而取得的。可以谈谈你是如何成就为今天的你吗？
答：这要感谢我的直觉。不论怎样，我总是可以知道有哪些是对我有益的，又有哪些可以驱使着我，这一切完全不是什么商业化的运作模式。天真的无知也是要算在其中。上周末，我和The Hacker也谈了这个问题，谈到了我们那时候是多么的天真，我们对身边所发生的事情毫无概念，当时的我们仅仅是享受时光而已。如今，世道大不相同了，每一个小小的成功背后都有着一个很庞大的经纪团队在操作…那时候我们可是事必亲躬，现在看来就像是疯了，但是我们从中学到的都是无价之宝，那段经历也使得我们可以更加脚踏实地。为此我们十分自豪。
问：你的很多中国歌迷都是通过选用在电影《Party Monster》里面的一首《Frank Sinatra》而认识你的。那首歌的灵感来自何处？又想表达些什么呢？
答：当时我们在一家朋友开的唱片店，唱片店的楼上就是那个朋友的录音室。刚巧我们那时候遇见了Gigolo Records的创始人DJ Hell，他说我们应该发些作品给他，于是我们就写了那首歌。那首歌的歌词纯粹是在搞笑。那个时候我们痴迷非法的派对，比如在树林里的派对，很是有趣。我们想，那些在VIP区域里消费Coke的人觉得他们那样才是真正的酷吗？那些人对我们的派对一无所知。我们也从来没有兴趣像他们那样，并且反对他们的保守。居然是这首歌成就了我们在音乐工业里的位置，多么讽刺啊…好像我们屌它一样！
问：你对比如说像Frank Sinatra这样在美国流行文化中符号性人物有何看法？你是否有意让自己有别于主流文化？
答：在我的那首歌里之所以用到了Frank Sinatra，是因为他的名字跟歌词中的“area”一词押韵。他既是一个传奇，也是一个混蛋。我写这首歌的时候以为他已经死了，事实上一年之后他才死…
问：在电影里，那首歌其实是用来讽刺Club Kids的肤浅，你本人又是如何评价那些Club Kids的呢？
答：我从来没有看过这部电影，所以不知道这部电影是关于些什么。这首歌曾被用到各种不同的场合，比如时装表演等等…人们如何使用我的歌曲不是我的责任，人们如何评论我的歌曲也不是我的责任。但是有一个很大的误会就是人们以为我是那种追逐名利的人。我不是。不然的话，我完全可以像你前面提到的那样去走商业化的路线。
问：你觉得当今的派对人群和九十年代的Club Kids之间有什么区别？
答：移动电话，互联网，社交网络，以及一个图像占据主导地位的世界。而在九十年代，正是这些东西驱使着我们的叛逆，我们选择在仓库里开非法派对，而不是去夜店。我们穿着军服，听着音乐，从没想过去跟DJ要签名照。现在呢，在你DJ的时候总是少不了有人拿着手机在不到十厘米的范围内对着你的脸拍照，然后上传到脸书上去！现在人人都能当DJ，当制作人。他们在Beatport上面发了一张EP之后就指望着能坐上私人飞机…当然也不是所有的孩子都是这副德行，毕竟还有少数不这样的。在你结束了四个多小时的表演之后由于拒绝了一个孩子的合影请求而被他扁也绝不罕见。靠！我爱我的工作，我爱音乐，我是来做音乐的。站在DJ台的后面我会竭尽全力的做好演出，但是在派对结束之后，店铺就关张了！
问：入行至今，你在音乐圈已经混迹了将近二十个年头，这期间，音乐工业的发展可以称为是戏剧化的。你是如何应对变化，并调整自己的音乐的呢？
答：我总是坚持去听各种声音。关键是既要置身其中，又要超然其外。我会去看现场演出，不当DJ的时候也参加派对去听别人的音乐，但是音乐之外我也有自己的社交生活，而且朋友都不是音乐圈里的人。我和现实生活是有着联系的。混夜店并不是真正的生活。我的灵感来自夜店之外。我认为DJ应该多这样做，因为他们演出的太多太经常，他们的Sets已经没什么可以表达的了。
问：现在你更多是以Miss Kittin的身份出现，但之前却是以Miss Kittin & The Hacker的这样一个二人组的形式示人。前后两者之间有什么区别？
答：Miss Kittin and The Hacker是两个人的合作。我们两个人的世界融汇在了一起，就像兄妹一样。Miss Kittin则只是我自己一个人。仅此而已。
问：你最新的歌曲《Bassline》明显有别于你早先的作品，这首歌是否也预示了新专辑《Calling From The Stars》的风格呢？
答：这仅仅是专辑中最明显的一支单曲而已。鉴于新专辑会是一部双张专辑，其中还有纯电子的一部分，所以在你下结论之前，必须听完每一首歌曲才行。
问：你在《Bassline》这首歌的音乐录影带中的造型很可能是展示了目前为止你最性感的那一面。然而，你也曾说过有时候可能要连续表演五个小时之久，在那样的情况下穿着高跟鞋还把自己打扮的非常性感是很不现实的。是是否认为自己是一位女权主义者？你又是如何看待社会上关于性别分工的陈词滥调的呢？
答：穿高跟鞋连续做五个小时的DJ表演的情况我们可以稍后再谈。我是从来不穿高跟鞋的，因为高跟鞋很不舒服！在巴黎，我一向步行，我也跳舞，但是我只穿平底鞋。这个和女权主义没有任何关系。你有没有意识到，在这个世上做男人依然是更有优越感的不是吗？你觉得女人在世界上大多数的国家里依然被困在厨房里带孩子伺候男人是正常的吗？你觉得同样的工作，女人得到的薪水要比男人的低是正常的吗？你觉得走在大街上被男人骚扰甚至强暴时正常的吗？得了吧。正因如此，作为一位来自拥有自言论自由的国家的女艺术家，我很自豪可以做我所做的事情，并且可以坚持为妇女、同性恋者、以及每一个人争取平等的权利。
1 You are an iconic figure in the electronic music scene: a successful musician, yet not taking the commercial approach. How did you become who you are as today?
I can say thanks to my intuition. Somehow I always knew what’s good for me, what drives me, and its surely not the commercial way. A big dose of innocence as well. We talked about it with The Hacker last weekend, how naive we were, we had no idea what was happening, we were just having a good time. Today, things would be much different, when you start to have a small success you have a a big entourage of managers etc… We did everything alone, which was crazy, but what we learnt is priceless and keeps you feet on the ground. We are very proud of that.
2 A lot of your Chinese fans got to know you from your song “Frank Sinatra” which appeared in “Party Monster”. How did you get the idea to write a song like that and what were you trying to say?
We were at a friend’s record store. He had his studio right above in the mezzanine. I just met DJ Hell who started Gigolo records, he said we should send him stuff so we wrote that song. The lyrics were a big joke. At this time we were into illegal parties, in the forest, it was amazing. We thought, people in VIPs and coke think it’s the ultimate cool? They don’t know how we party. We never wanted to be like them, we were against the establishment, and I still am. How ironic this song made us big in this business… We were taking a piss.
3 What do you think about those iconic figures in American popular culture such as Frank Sinatra, are you trying to distinct yourself from the mainstream?
Frank Sinatra was rhyming with “area” in the song, that’s the only reason why I say it. He was a legend, but a real asshole too. When I wrote the song I thought he was dead, but he died a year after… My icons are far away from that. If I ever had any…
4 That song was used in an ironic manner to criticise the shallow “club kids” in that film, what is your personal opinion about those club kids?
I never saw the film, I don’t know what it’s about. The song was used in many situations, fashion shows etc… I am not responsible for how my songs are used and what people are trying to say with it. But there’s a big misunderstanding when people think I am fascinated by fame. I am not. Otherwise I would have make a bigger carreer with a commercial approach as you said.
5 What do you think is the difference between the party crowd today and the club kids in the 90s?
Mobile phones, internet, social networks, and a world where image is dominant. In the 90′s, we were rebelling against that, we were going to illegal parties in warehouses, not in clubs, dressed in army clothes, listening to the music, and never ever thought about asking an autographs to Djs! Now you can’t DJ without having people taking pictures of you 10cm of your face with their mobile phone, posting it on Facebook! And now everybody can be a DJ or a producer. They release one EP on Beatport and expect to fly in private jets… Of course not all kids are like this, but it’s a minority. It’s not unusual to be attacked by a kid because you didn’t want to have a picture with him after playing a 4h set. What the fuck. But I love my work, I love music, and I am here to play music. I give my best behind the turntables but after my set, the shop is closed!
6 You have been around for almost 20 years, music has been through dramatic developments, how do you cope with the changes and adjust your own music?
I always keep my ears opened. The key is to be in and out of the scene. I go to gigs, I party sometimes when I am not DJing to listen to other people, but I also have a social life out of music with friends who are not in the scene. I am in touch with real life. Clubbing is not real life. I get my inspiration out of the clubs. And I think DJs should do that more because most of them play so much and so often, they don’t have anything to say in their sets.
7 Now you are known as Miss Kittin, but it was duo known as Miss Kittin& The Hacker before, what’s the difference between the two projects?
Miss Kittin and The Hacker is a duet. Our two universe melts. We are like brother and sister. Miss Kittin it’s me alone. That’s it.
8 Your latest song “Bassline” sounds different from your old songs, does this song foreshadow the sound of your new album “Calling From The Stars”?
It’s a just the obvious single of the album. As it’s a double album with a full electronic part, you will have to listen to everything before making up your mind.
9 In the MV of “Bassline” you probably presented the most sexy image of you so far, however, once your claimed that you can not imagine yourself wearing high heels and dressing sexy to perform for 5 hours or so. Do you consider yourself a feminist and what do you think about cliches about different gender roles in society?
Try to DJ and perform for 5h with heels and we will discuss later. I never wear heals because it hurts! I walk all the time in Paris, I dance, I can only wear flats. It has nothing to do with feminism. But I do think every woman is a feminist. Do you realize it’s still better to be a man in this world? Do you think it’s normal to see women still confined in kitchen with kids to serve men like it is in most countries around the world? Do you think it’s normal women are paid less than men for the same job? Do you think it’s normal to walk down the street and be annoyed or raped by men? Come on. That’s why, as an artist in a country where women have the freedom of speech, I can be proud to do what I do, and be able to stand for equality of rights, for all, women, gays, everybody.
