Sunday, July 1, 2012

Exclusive Interview: Taylor Momsen of the Pretty Reckless Talks Marilyn Manson, ‘Hit Me like a Man,’ and Joss Whedon!


Taylor Momsen and The Pretty Reckless have catapulted into the musical spotlight thanks to major tours with Evanescence, Guns n' Roses and Marilyn Manson. The band is currently promoting its new EP, "Hit Me Like A Man," and is hard at work in the studio recording the upcoming full length album. Momsen recently phoned in to talk about the band's EP, musical guilty pleasures, and what her three favorite moments in music are thus far.

The Pretty Reckless was a part of three major tours with Evanescence, Guns n' Roses and Marilyn Manson. What did you learn, personally, from touring with these three big names? 
That you have to kick ass live (laughs). We're so fortunate to tour with three great bands like that. I'm a fan of all of them. If you go up against Manson and his audience you definitely have to prove something and compete because he's so amazing at it. All of them were great experiences and very awesome.

I had the chance to see you live with Evanescence and then again with Marilyn Manson, both in Milwaukee (WI). Even in the short time between tours you could see the band coming into its own. At what point during the touring did you realize that you guys were huge rock stars?
(laughs) I don't think anyone thinks of us that way; we've been consistently on the road touring since Warped Tour 2010. Just playing every night definitely helps. Hopefully we're getting better. Otherwise, what are we doing? (laughs)


The band's new EP, "Hit Me Like A Man," came out recently. The sound is more of a bluesy rock than the pop rock one found on "Light Me Up." How would you describe the difference between albums? 
That's one of my favorite things about songwriting; there are no limitations to it. I don't like to define our music or put limitations on it - it's rock. Every song has its own thing, even on the first record. With "Hit Me Like A Man," we put out an EP to give fans a taste of the new record and how it's evolving. And even for us, we had been touring for so long with "Light Me Up" so the songs were like new songs… I think… I'm sorry, I'm kind of scatterbrained right now. I'm currently in the process of working on the new record; I'm actually at the studio right now. It's definitely moving along; it's evolving right now but I'm not sure in what direction. I think the goal is to constantly be adventurous of what you're doing. And that's going to show in the new material that we're working on - it's very adventurous.

When will the full length album come out?
That is a good question. (laughs) We're aiming for some time early next year but you know how some things go.


How is being famous in music different than being famous on television?
I don't really look at it that way. I try not to focus on fame; I don't even really know what it means exactly because it's so fleeting. The goal is to never be famous. The goal is to be successful and have longevity in what you do. Switching the public's perception and view of me was, and still is, kind of a challenge to get them to see me outside of a character that I played on TV for so long. Seeing me as something different and not that character… I'm actually not that character and am a very different person. For me, music is so much of an honest art form. It hasn't really changed much; rather it's more just my schedule and my life are different.

That was part one of my interview with Taylor Momsen. Stay tuned for part two, which includes Momsen's top three favorite moments in music and her musical guilty pleasures.

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