Diversity Rules Magazine

Diversity Rules Magazine the way, the queer word just wouldn’t be in our mainstream vernacular as it is now. Intentional or not, I took a bullet for you guys. JRK: I love ‘80’s music. It has its own unique style and is becoming popular again. Why do you think this to be the case? JC: It’s interesting to me how 80’s music is now thought of as one specific sound when it was really so all over the map with many mu- sical influences from the 60’s and 70’s. Every era gets recycled eventually and then mutates or fuses into something new. 80’s music added something uniquely its own and you can hear traces of it all the time in current pop music, sometimes it’s lifted almost note for note. I’m very curious what’s go- ing to happen to pop music when the 2000’s are re-invented which they inevitably will be. It’s the first decade which brought abso- lutely nothing new to the table kind of like a giant recycling station. I am constantly being inspired by songs and singers but musically, conceptually and sty- listically, it’s a morgue out there. I keep wait- ing to hear something new. JRK: Tell me about your new CD “Pussycat Babylon.” How’d you pick the name? I love it. What is the “theme” of the CD? JC: I’m really an absurdist at heart and that imagery just resonated with me. I guess the un- derlying theme of the record is that it’s a dark and unfathomable world we live in. But it’s also very cartoon-like. And perhaps, probably, there are higher ideals at stake but we better be going out in one big Baliwood musical pro- duction before we are completely forgotten. I mean what else are we supposed to do here? JRK: Now that “Pussycat Babylon” is “out there” what’s coming next for Josie Cotton? Do you tour a lot to promote the CD? JC: Yes I’ve done a lot of shows behind this release and am appearing in Ibiza in August with one more re-mix and video coming. I’m also working on a new single for a European Five release with Loverush UK which I’m very excited about. I’m in the process of writing a book and there is a musical in the works so I’ve got my hands pretty full right now. JRK: Fans many times perceive the stage per- son to be the real person. Does the image you project in your music reflect who the real Josie Cotton is? What frustrates you most about the perceptions people have of you versus who you really are? JC: I see the world through so many lenses I should probably be in a psyche ward. I am at least as confused as anyone listening to my mu- sic. It’s always been that way for me, vocally and musically. I sometimes envy artists who are just one thing and stay that way for the duration. Joan Jett is a rock chick. Period. Sometimes I’m that, oth- er times I’m more French cabaret , or psycho-billy, slavic folk, electronica, cha-cha lounge etc. etc... It’s confusing to be me. I don’t recommend it. JRK: What is your favor- ite quote (or at least one of them) and why? lived out the end of his life. He said “Either this wallpaper goes or I do”. I actually stayed in that very hotel and sat at the desk he gazed at the roof tops of Paris from. It is decorated exactly the way it was then and I can tell you the wallpaper was not dreadful. Even in the face of death his irony and wit never faltered but he made sure he had an audience. I just love that. JRK: Any parting words, thoughts or advice you’d like to share with DR readers? JC: My advice would be to just to follow your own advice. Most people I know including my- self tend to give much better council to anyone other than themselves. It seems like a major design flaw, doesn’t it? www.josiecotton.com JC: That would have to be Oscar Wild’s dy- ing words in the hotel he

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