Before the German singer-songwriter Kim Petras' star began to rise, she was repeatedly told by record companies that as a transgender artist, she would always be ‘niche’. But rather than be pigeonholed, Petras flouted the conventional route to fame by launching her own label in 2016 — BunHead Records — and self-releasing her debut single, I Don’t Want It at All, the following year.

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Taking matters into her own hands gave the 27-year-old the freedom to work on more experimental projects, such as her second studio album Turn Off the Light — a horror-inspired mixtape full of spooky high-octane club hits released in October 2019, just in time for Halloween. The move critically and commercially paid off, too. Petras has 3.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify; a dedicated fandom known as ‘Bunheads’; a world tour (until February 2020) to accompany Clarity, the debut album she released in June 2019; and a song on the upcoming soundtrack of Charlie’s Angels.

Petras’s story began long before she made it as a musician in Los Angeles, where she now resides. Growing up in Cologne, Germany, it was heavy hitters such as Madonna and Gwen Stefani who fuelled her dreams of becoming a pop star. However, after appearing on German television at the age of 13, Petras found a different kind of fame as an advocate for the rights of transgender children. While she’s honoured to have been given a platform as a transgender artist, she says she’s now ready to make that part of her identity a “footnote” in her bigger story.

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As she kicks off The Clarity Tour, Vogue sits down with Petras to talk about being an independent artist, the pressures of being a role model and improving transgender representation in the entertainment industry.

You release your music under your own label, BunHead Records. What are the biggest pros and cons of being an independent musician?

Everything I earn, I put right back into my music videos, tours, stage outfits. It’s been a slow build, but it’s paid off for me because now I’m performing sell-out shows in the US. I’m playing at O2 Shepherd’s Bush [Empire in London] on this tour, which is the biggest venue I’ve ever done. I have much to learn, but [I’ve] seen so many different sides to the industry, I’ve become a much better performer and songwriter.

The coolest thing is that I get to come up with everything myself. I just sketched all my tour looks, came up with all my music video [concepts], all the songwriters I work with are usually good friends of mine. It’s very organic and I have a group of creative people around me that I trust and rely on. I feel in charge of my own destiny, which is a great feeling.

You’ve said that pop music is about escape, but aren’t songs such as Icy and All I Do Is Cry on the Clarity album more about confronting emotions?

I needed to make Clarity [because] I was a little burned with [presenting] this huge superhero version of myself. I wanted to have a couple of songs that represent how I feel underneath, as a human. I felt alone, and I wanted my friends to know that I’m not always confident and that everybody goes through this type of shit. [Those songs] exposed a big part of me.

Kim Petras photographed on her current Clarity Tour in Seattle, Washington, October 2019. © Jake Hanson: @trulybogus

Were you nervous to expose yourself like that, especially when it’s such a departure from your earlier work?

I was nervous, especially with the first single, Broken. It’s such a bummer compared to my other songs and I was definitely nervous about what my fans were going to think. I was worried they were going to hate me for making a slow song. Thank God they didn’t. It’s one where fans come up to me and say, ‘This song helped me get through this break up,’ and that’s rewarding.

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What is it about your music that resonates so deeply with pop fans today?

It’s because I’m not scared of [pop music]. For me, guilty pleasures don’t exist — I’ve always loved listening to pop music, it’s extravagant and puts you into a little pop bubble. Listening to music helped me to escape; it made me feel like I could forget about my problems for a couple of minutes. Now I want to do the same thing for other people, and I feel like I am.

There has been a shift towards better representation in the entertainment industry in recent years. What has been your experience?

It’s definitely a different landscape in pop now. There are big rulebreakers succeeding on their own terms. Lizzo immediately comes to mind — she’s been at it for years and now is breaking through. It used to depend on big record labels deciding who can be a pop star. I had very bad luck and was repeatedly told I couldn’t be a pop star because of my gender identity — that’s why I was a songwriter for other people at first. Now I’m doing it myself — I built a fanbase by performing in just about every gay club. I feel like there are no rules right now, especially in the age of streaming.

Do you feel pressure to be a role model within the LGBTQ+ community?

My whole life I’ve been told that being a trans artist was always going to be niche and that no one was going to relate to me. It still feels like a dream that I have this platform and I feel honoured and happy that I get to spread awareness about being transgender. But it’s a footnote; people love my music and that’s why they listen to me.

A lot of people want me to be a lot of things because it’s the first time there’s been a transgender pop star who’s doing her own thing. A lot of people want me to be a perfect human, but in my music I’m not, which is why my fans relate to me. I don’t write about being transgender, I write about being a mess, relationships not going right, human emotions and things that everyone can relate to. Nobody can make everybody happy, there’s always going to be people left disappointed or let down, and I’ve learned to accept that.

You're delighting your fans with your second studio album, Turn Off the Light. What do you think it is about Halloween that resonates so deeply with the LGBTQ+ community?

I’ve always been obsessed with Halloween, it’s my favourite time of year. People relate to horror movies because they’re about outsiders. The LGBTQ+ community — we just love thrilling, exciting movies.

Kim Petras photographed on her current Clarity Tour in Seattle, Washington, October 2019. © Jake Hanson: @trulybogus

Did any horror movies directly inspire your new tracks for Turn Off the Light?

Dario Argento’s Suspiria and It Follows [by David Robert Mitchell].

Who are your main style influences?

I’m interested in fashion designers and watch interviews with them all the time. Martin Margiela, John Galliano, old-school Gianni Versace and 1990s Mugler is the stuff I spend the most time researching. And I love golden-age Hollywood stars like Veronica Lake, Tippi Hedren, Audrey [Hepburn] and Grace Kelly. I get a lot of inspiration from old movies; I just watched An American in Paris for the first time and the fashion in it is amazing. Then, of course, Debbie Harry and Madonna — 1980s to 1990s eras especially.

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Marc Jacobs was the first big designer to invite me to a show, and [NYFW SS19 was my] first fashion week. His husband [Charly Defrancesco] is a big fan and during Pride we all had dinner together. The shows when Marc was at Louis Vuitton were a dream; the one with all the nurses [SS08] and his [Takashi] Murakami and Stephen Sprouse collaborations.

What lessons have you learned from touring that will help you on The Clarity Tour?

Being on stage, meeting my fans; that's the fun part. Everything around it is the difficult part. I’m a perfectionist, so I was definitely hard on myself if I didn’t hit the right note. But I’ve learned to have more fun, and not let little details get in the way.

Kim Petras The Clarity Tour ends on 11 February 2020 at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London.

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