Is there any indie musician working today as consistently brilliant asPerfume Genius?
The result lends the record an audible heft, both in its sound and subject matter.
Its clever and cheeky and just the right amount of crypticso a little likeGlory,then.
Photo: Cody Critcheloe
I didnt want to serve, Hadreas says of the artwork.
Hadreas breaks into a wry smile.
I dont want to serve, but secretly thatisthe serve.
Photo: Courtesy of Matador Records
Do you know what I mean?
Somehow, I do.
Here,Voguespeaks to Perfume Genius about howGlorycame together.
Photo: Cody Critcheloe
I have to be very smooth-brained.
I need to empty my brain!
I have to become like a kid, before the world got to me, in a way.
And thats harder to do when youre in the middle of the self-consciousness of touring and promoting a record.
I think Im really bad at that.
I dont think you’re gonna wanna do that, actually.
But I think it helps to be more balanced and to give you perspective.
The musics only good when I can zoom out, and my instincts are not to zoom out.
I couldnt do that anymore, and then it became clear to me that Ishouldntdo that anymore.
I need to find a way to have balance in both of those things.
How did working like that change things for you?
I think when I did the dance piece and collaborated with Kate, I felt more like myself.
With the dance, I started doing so many things that I never would have done.
My idea of the most terrifying and horrifying thing I could do was an improv theater class or something.
Id have rather died than do that.
It made me feel like a little kid.
I had new ideas, I had new feelings.
And I think I should do everything like that honestly.
You have to tell them what it is, you have to show them.
You have to explain it or embody it.
And I think the dance has just helped me translate that better.
How did the character of Jason end up making a return to the Perfume Genius cinematic universe?
I wish he wasnt back, but I cant help how I am, I guess.
I still dont understand what Im getting from it.
Its not a collaboration with that kind of man.
Im not being met in the middle anywhere.
Am I just seeking validation from it?
Is it being able to enact a fantasy?
Does it have anything to do with them?
Part of me is like,whatever, its kind of fun.
Ive been programmed a certain way.
Why do I need to have guilt or shame around it?
Just engage with that in a healthy way.
But at least I know now just to have fun with it.
Its interesting what youre saying about taking things as they are.
Thats something I really want, so even if Im not feeling it, Im attempting to.
Its kind of heartbreaking though.
That we had an earthquake last night.
There were the fires [in Los Angeles, Hadreass hometown] recently.
But those things were just concepts to me and now theyre in my body.
Theyre not just ideas.
You think that youre going to be a one-off, a very interesting case.
And it also means its heartbreaking because all those universal things that everyone always says, theyre actually true.
Did you feel your sense of humor coming through more strongly on this record?
Theres less of an alter ego this time.
Be more like you are on Twitter!
Maybe once you start trying too hard to be funny, youre no longer funny.
Ill finish the meeting and be like, Great, thank you, Ill go do that!
Then I go do an interview where they want you to be really raw and poignant and heartfelt.
And Im like, okay.
The more I overthink this, the worse its going to be.
Its a weird job.
Some people are so good at it though.
Theyre really good at at least faking all of those things.
Tell me a little bit more about the visual world that you wanted to build around the record.
I mean, the hair is fake too, like everything.
Look, Im always dead serious about the music.
BeforeSet My Heart on Fire,I was exercising twice a day and I was not eating bread.
I was going hard.
Maybe everybody would like it more if I did, but I cant.
With Cody, I was like, I dont want to serve at all.
I dont want to serve, but secretly thatisthe serve, do you know what I mean?
It wasnt an aesthetic thing; it was, like, an energetic thing.
Same with the videos.
I still love how I look in the pictures, by the way.
Theres still a sense of humor to it and a wink.
All of these things existing at the same time is whats interesting to me.
I think you always want to make something that you would be really excited to watch.
And when I watch that video with me in it and all of a sudden Im screaming.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
