Chatting with Kylie Minogue – HuffPost 3.24.14

Mike Ragogna: Hey Kylie, how are you today?

Kylie Minogue: I’m a little husky… I’ve got the promo-cold. I’m doing too much to get stopped by a cold, but it is me, it’s not an imposter.

MR: And as fate would have it, I’ll bet you have a gig tonight.

KM: [laughs] Not tonight, but I have a Voice episode taping on the weekend. But I do have a flight to Australia, so that’ll make me stop for a little bit.

MR: Kylie, hope you feel better soon. Okay, you have a new album, Kiss Me Once. It’s been a little less than four years since the last one.

KM: Yeah, which people think is a long time, but I’ve pretty much not stopped since then. There’s always such excitement around a new album though. I can do other projects like Anti Tour or the Abbey Road Sessions album, but a new album is great because there’s so cmuch excitement.

MR: Yeah, you are super busy with Abbey Road.

KM: Yeah, I did that a couple of years ago, but it’s been four years since a new album.

MR: What went into this album creatively that was different from Aphrodite?

KM: I want to say there was more American influence because I was in America, but I was also working with people who are not American. Sia [Furler] is the executive producer and I’m completely mad about her. She’s it. But I did work with people like Pharrell and some great people whose songs didn’t end up on the album and I thank them for being part of the journey that is making an album. Aside from them I worked with Cutfather who are Danish, MNEK who is very British, it was really varied, so I’m only saying “American” because now that I’m managed by Rock Nation I spend a lot of time in LA, but I’m working with global producers, yeah.

MR: Nice. What is it like hanging with the Rock Nation folks?

KM: It’s cool. It’s a fast ride, I’ll tell you that much. They’re a very dynamic company. For me it was quite a big change. I set myself up for that, it’s what I wanted. It was quite thrilling, different, not without its challenges for sure because having such a big life change is going to have its challenges, but I’m really enjoying being in the Rock Nation family.

MR: Nice. When you listened back to this latest album, what did you think? How did it differ from listening to your other projects?

KM: Well I haven’t been through childbirth, so I don’t know, but at when you’re making an album you think, “I can’t go through this again, it’s too much.” So I listened to this album thinking, “Wow, I really know the sacrifices I made for this album,” I’m very aware of the work I did for it above and beyond just the physical outlet of doing it, but then if I think back to Aphrodite I was pretty immersed in that as well, same as the next. Each time you’re really trying to do it. But the difference with this album is I’d had my epiphany prior to making this album, I knew that I needed a new landscape, twenty five years of being used to one way of doing my business and being managed and then changing and not knowing where I was going, I was kind of in the wilderness a little bit, but as I listen to it I’m proud. I really am. Because I know it was an achievement for me and I’m in a brave new world. I mean, I didn’t launch myself out into space but in my world it was a big change.

MR: You sound like you’re really glowing about it.

KM: Thanks.

MR: You have been designated as one of the great women in music. VH1 did it officially.

KM: I don’t think of myself that way. In some ways, there’s still some naiveté to me. On the other hand, there’s somewhere that I think I know the business really well, but in the middle is where I find myself and when people remind me that that’s what I’ve achieved it’s amazing to me, because I’m still thinking about what I have yet to achieve.

MR: There you go, do you have a plan for the next few years?

KM: From here it’s all about Kiss Me Once, it’s all about getting on the road and connecting with friends around the world. The ultimate part of what I do is about the live performance. Beyond that I’d always love the opportunity to do some acting, because that was a nice right hand turn from being Kylie, being someone else. I’m still Kylie when I walk down the street, so to be acting in a role as someone else is exciting, it’s terrifying, but it’s also liberating. But for the moment I’m looking forward to bringing these songs to life on the road, giving them visuals, and giving myself over to the album.

MR: Nice. By the way, one of the contributors to The Huffington Post said about “Into The Blue–”

KM: Oh my god, [it] gave me the best review, with humor, I loved it! It was fantastic! Thank you a million times.

MR: [laughs] It wasn’t me, but we’ll put this in the piece so the person who wrote it can see it. But I just wanted to say that “Into The Blue” is an awesome single. It’s amazing. How do you explain your still being very relevant within pop after all these years?

KM: Because I’m curious, because I love being part of what’s around me, because I work with great people who have their ear to the ground, and I’ll try a little bit of everything. I tried so many different styles of song and recording for this album as I usually do, but I think I even did more on this album, and you just keep going until you strike gold, and that happened with “Into The Blue,” with an American Writer and another producer Kelly Sheehan and Mike Del Rio. I was recording some other songs with Kelly Sheehan that day in Los Angeles and she said, “Oh, I want to play you this other song,” and it was “Into The Blue” and I said, “Love it, let’s do it today.” As I was midway through singing it in the vocal room I said, “This really feels like me. It feels natural and it feels exciting and there’s a tingle about this.” I don’t know, I guess when you feel that you hope that it is relevant. I can talk about “relevant” meaning different things as well. Is it relevant in the context of what sound is happening right now? Yes, I think it is because there’s a melancholy and yet it’s hopeful. Is it relevant lyrically to what’s happening in my life right now? absolutely. So all I can say is, “we tried.” I think you can find the magic when you have that relevance that you don’t lose sight of who you are, and that was very noticeable with this album as well because like I said, I’m curious. I’ll try just about anything even if I’m not sure that it’s me. I’ll say, “Well, you never know, let’s give it a try.” But I think something like “Into The Blue” just feels right, and what more can we ask for? And the response has been fantastic, so I’m happy.

MR: You do sound happy, Kylie! You’ve been very empowering to a lot of people, like the gay community and those surviving breast cancer. Do you feel that part of it is from being yourself and not falling into the pop icon problem of taking your own press seriously?

KM: Probably. People have known me for a long, long, time… since I was a teenager, and as a teenager you’re still not really sure who you are, so people have been with me through ups and downs and they know that I can play the role of a star and yes, it’s part of my life, but I’m still a normal girl, I think. At least as normal as I can be in this world. I’m just trying to get by, myself. People can relate to that. You want to present the dream, for sure. You know I’m doing The Voice in the UK and Australia and I see myself back on the show… I think I’m a good audience member because I just get into it. There are times where yes I’m the star attraction on stage, but I love being in the audience as well. That’s still very fun. That was the long away around the question, sorry.

MR: No, not to worry, it was great. What’s beautiful about what you just said is that being on The Voice you’re not only a coach or a judge, but you’re also in that mentor position.

KM: Yeah, and it’s been a great experience. Again, anyone who’s been on that show will tell you it’s full-on, it’s intense, but it’s forced me to do things that I normally wouldn’t do, but that’s what this past year and a half have been for me, going, “You know what? I’ve had lots of experiences in my life, I haven’t had that one!” I’ve been scared of doing something like The Voice and I said to myself, “Come on, it’s scary doing just about everything. Making a record, going on tour, putting yourself out there, putting yourself out there to be judged, just getting by, so do it!” It’s been a great experience. I haven’t reached the end of either show, but I love my co-coaches. In England I have will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones and Ricky Wilson, in Australia I managed to get will.i.am to come with me and I have Joel Madden and Ricky Martin. So I kind of feel like I’ve got two bands right now.

MR: Beautiful. What advice do you have for new artists?

KM: We’ve got weeks and weeks of shows to give that advice, so it’s kind of hard to pu tinto a neat sentence, but I would say be true to yourself. Sometimes finding who you are can take a while, so listen to the opinions of people you respect because lots of people have a lot to say and sometimes they have no manners, no dignity and no place to be saying what they’re saying. So try and stay humble, stay true and keep dreaming. Keep going. If you’re a performer you’re compelled to do it, so hopefully you can find the right avenue to express yourself. It doesn’t work for everyone. Just having seen people come through on The Voice, it’s not everyone’s path. It wasn’t my path, it wasn’t Sir Tom Jones’ path, it wasn’t will.i.am’s path or Ricky Wilson’s path. We all did it differently. For some people it works through these shows. You’ve just got to keep going.

MR: Beautiful. You mentioned Pharrell before. When Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” got lucky, you must have been happy that.

KM: Oh yeah, it’s been Pharrell’s year, but he’s always had it. I just presented with him at the Brits and I’m thrilled that I have one of his songs on my album. Absolutely thrilled.

MR: And his new album is out as well. When you listened back to that track, I bet you were thinking, “talk about timing!”

KM: [laughs] Yeah, I got lucky.

MR: Thanks so much, Kylie. All the best with the new album.

KM: Thank you!

Transcribed By Galen Hawthorne