Esthero & Co. - Vancouver, B.C. 2005. The Pink Pirate by Jamal Steeles Honest, Unique and thoughtful are just a few of the words used to describe Toronto's very own, Esthero. I was able to catch up with the Canadian songstress better known as the Pink Pirate. Are you currently in the studio working on anything new? I am. I can’t really talk too much about it, other than I am falling in love with music again. It’s not that I fell out of love with it, but I have been re-inspired and falling in love again. What brings you to the city of Vancouver? I am in Vancouver to work with Chin Injeti (Bass is Base), and I also happen to be here at the same time as Maestro Fresh-Wes’ birthday bash, which is the 'cherry' on top of the cake. What made you want to start doing a lot more collaborations on your recent albums as compared to your previous ones? Well in the beginning I didn’t really know anybody (laughing), my first album was very insular, and on the second album I felt like I needed more people. I was out there a lot and met all these people and had the opportunity to work with them; I became friends with people like Sean Lennon and Andre 3000 and I knew I had to work with these individuals so I took advantage of the opportunity. The whole process took around seven years, but they wanted to be part of it. What are some of your influences? I really don’t know... It’s one thing to say who you love and who you’re a fan of. Then there is the reality of what influences you, because it’s not always what you like. Like I really love Nina Simone, Billy holiday, Marvin Gaye, and Prince, I can say those are my influences, but the reality is that I was a chick who grew up in high school listening to underground weird shit. The first 13 years of my life were spent in a small town listening to a lot of Top 40 music that I fucking hated at the time, there was a lot of Bengals, Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, etc and it’s funny ‘cause now I hear it sometimes in my music, and I love it. But that’s the funny thing about influences, you gotta be honest about what influences you, ‘cause those are two different things. Are you honoured when someone like Farnsworth Bentley says you have the most beautiful voice ever? It’s pretty awesome! Every once in a while it’s awesome to be me, a couple weeks ago I met someone and they said “Hey your Esthero! That’s awesome” and I was like “Yeah it fucking is!” What makes that even more special is that Bentley was a fan of mine before we even met and then we became friends, and then he still goes on to say that I am one of his favourite singers and he means it! and I respect him as an artist too, so it’s fantastic. It’s funny ‘cause when you friends with someone when they make music, you're kinda scared, wishing “please be good, you're my friend” and he is! Bentley was a fan and became my friend and now I am his friend and a fan of his as well. Do you think your hard upbringing affected your music? Would it be a lot different if you had grown up in a different city? It was a very tortured cliché of a kid, I was 16 in faux cafes, writing lyrics out and so dark. I think what formulated me musically and what I owe it most to was coming to Toronto at a young age. Especially now that I live in the U.S. I have to speak specifically about something most people don’t usually talk about; I could have never been a white woman growing up in L.A. or N.Y. or anywhere in America and made the record that I made. It’s because of my city, that I love, that is so multicultural, that is so accepting and integrated, that I was introduced and welcomed to such great shit. When you go to America you realize it’s not like that, it’s still a strange place, it’s still segregated, I wouldn’t be allowed to learn about country, dancehall, soca, and other types of music all on the same block. I would have never been as musically diverse, and my palette would not be nearly as wide if I was not Canadian. What do you want people to hear in your music? Authenticity, genuinity. I think that’s all that matter. I want people to hear my music and believe it. Authenticity is #1, I want people to be like “Oh that bitch is serious, she means that shit, she really means it!” (laughing). Anything else you’d like to tell your fans? I love you! And I am grateful to be self-indulgent for a living.
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