An Interview with Sky Ferreira

At the age of 22, Sky Ferreira seems to have experienced both the highs and lows of the music industry. If you believe the legend—or Wikipedia—she uploaded songs of herself on My Space as a young teen and practically bowed at the altar of producers Bloodshy and Avant, who took her on.

From there her story takes a bit of a turn, for there were album delays, record company disputes and the release of three EPs. Eventually, debut album “Night Time, Night Time” was released late last year. And it’s seriously good—displaying a cool mixture of dark pop that’s anchored by 80s styled instrumentation and dance beats.

Of course, there the other side for this LA born singer—a drug arrest, a tour with Miley Cyrus and a stint in the upcoming Eli Roth horror film “The Green Inferno”. For this Q&A she only chose to respond to the latter (albeit briefly).

But no biggie. During a short Asian tour (during which she played in both Tokyo and Hong Kong), she responded to the following queries….

Scott Murphy:  There were reportedly delays with your album. What happened and (aside from great songs), what did you feel was important to get right with the release?

Sky: It was a long process, yes haha. But really that was essentially it. Its not that we didn’t have great songs ready, I just really wanted to do my version of “Pop” and there were a lot a disagreements between my label and I on who I was supposed to be with this album. Eventually, we were able to see eye to eye and I felt like I was able to write songs that felt vulnerable and honest to myself – which was what I felt was important to get right.

I love “Omanko” and “Heavy Metal Heart”. What are your favorites on this release and why?

Sky: Thank you! Its really hard to choose. Honestly, I really love them all just because of how much effort went into each track. But I would definitely say playing “I Blame Myself” live is a really fun one.

Touring for the first time in Asia. Thoughts? Is this the start of a long relationship?

Sky: I’d say I’m going into it with an open mind because I honestly have no idea what to expect. I’ve heard great things and I did a few interviews with some really nice people so I’m definitely really excited! I hope so!

Appearing on stage makes you feel…..how?

Sky: Believe it or not I sometimes get a pretty good amount of stage fright before hand. But lately on this tour all the fans have been so welcoming and awesome. It’s been real easy to warm up quickly once you get things going, thanks to them.

Media attention makes you feel…how?

Sky: Gooooood… I guess? It comes with the job I guess. So you kinda have to get used to it. Sometimes I want my privacy just like anyone else, but I don’t mind it for the most part.

You’re appearing in “Green Inferno”. The trailer looks amazing! Talk about it.

Sky: It was a fun experience to be a part of. But that’s as much as I can say for now. Go see it and find out for yourself!

You appeared at a TMI benefit for the David Lynch Foundation. Did you meet him? And how has TMI helped you?

Sky: David Lynch has just been an instrumental part of my life and it was such a great experience playing that show in Brooklyn. It was a really awesome vibe playing a show so close to where I live. That also meant so much.

Your grandmother was Michael Jackson’s hairstylist. What do you recall and learn from Michael?

Sky: It’s kind of funny because I never fully realized how big he was exactly until I was about 13 years old. He was just always around in my childhood and I even had my birthdays at Neverland. He was my mentor. I remember one time–I was sitting in his movie theatre all by myself, which had a studio connected to it that I didn’t know about and Michael was in there at the time and walked out to see me sitting all by myself and he asked me to sing for him. I sang “Lucky” by Britney Spears–of all the songs you could sing to him haha. But he loved it and was always a big supporter of me.

Being a singer/songwriter today. What’s the goal? What’s the dream? What’s the reality?

Sky: I just love what I’m doing right now and I guess the idea is to just keep that up and to continue growing as a person and an artist. I want to continue writing and playing bigger shows and maybe one day have my own arena tour to headline! Who knows? I’m just loving the ride anyway.

Thank you for the music Sky! Great album!

Thank you for the love!