Dirtying Up The Airwaves

It was in March this year that Claire Boucher dropped her third record, Visions, inviting worldwide buzz and adoration around the moniker – or 'brand' as she likes to call it time and time again – Grimes. Visions offers a whirlwind of bass-heavy electro-pop numbers that are heightened by her high-pitched and, at times, child-like vocals. Along with her bizarre punk-Harajuku image, the year 2012 has seen the Canadian pop star recruit a cult-like following with the snap of a finger.

The most striking aspect of the 24-year-old is her outlandish artistic personality, as expressed through her image and style. Calling from Montreal while “chilling” at a friend's residence – she claims she has no home anymore – Boucher delves into the reasons why her art is predominantly influenced by Asian popular culture. “I think just from like when I was really young, I loved exposure to Asian popular culture, 'cause it was all cool, pretty girls – like the Japanese girls. And I was all like, 'Oh my God!' – like the Pokémon cards… everything I guess.”

The self-proclaimed nomad goes on to explain that while growing up in Vancouver, 50 per cent of the high school population was of Asian descent – mostly from Hong Kong, Japan and Korea – which she admits, rubbed off on her as an adolescent to a certain degree and has now, naturally, impacted her songwriting. Comparisons have also been made of Grimes' style of singing to that of K-pop/J-pop stars, which she freely admits being a huge fan of. “I feel like the kind of style of singing, like the really high-pitched vocals, I just love that style.”

An expert on the genre, Boucher lists – and gushes, “My favourite all time K-pop star is G-Dragon. He is kind of like the high guy in big band, you know? He's my favourite. I [also] really like F(x) and 2NE1 girl groups.” But what about PSY? Boucher later took to Twitter to express her love of PSY, tweeting that “PSY is the leader of surrealist yuppies everywhere.” Her fascination with Asian popular culture does not, however, begin and end with music. She makes sure to note that she also adores – and takes inspiration from – the arts and film, and specifically the Studio Ghibli films. “I mean, I really like the violent, female protagonistic girly-pop in all those [Hayao] Miyazaki movies and stuff like that. I like that Asian culture still really embraces the action in all the music videos. Like dance is a huge part of the kind of pop stars that you know.”

Her most recent film clip for Genesis – which features a brooding Boucher as a modern-day samurai, busting out violent dance moves in a deserted desert – sees the aforementioned action applied to her own art. This attitude plays a paramount role in the voice and personality of Grimes – brutal yet classy, dark yet bubble-gum. Much like her album-making process. To challenge her body and mind, Boucher approached the album-making process on Visions a little differently than your usual artist. Exiling herself for three weeks, she spent nine of those days without food, water or any sort of company. This, of course, led to a sort of manic and hypnotic output as heard on her third record.

“It was really fun actually. Well, I tried to do that but it was really good and really bad, I was having these insane mood swings like, 'This is the best thing I've ever done!' and then like an hour later, 'I hate it, this is horrible, I hate myself, everything it terrible.'”

Yet it seems to have paid off, as 4AD Records jumped on board with the release of the record, which later received much critical acclaim, The New York Times naming it “one of the most impressive albums of the year so far” around the time of its release. With the production of Visions accredited to Boucher, she lashed out on Twitter to those who assumed she needed help from male producers, further venting about women's role in the music industry. In a bitter tweet, she wrote: “(sic) I am a producer. I find it insulting when guys constantly ask to produce for me. I think I do my job fine, thanks.” When asked what pissed her off most about this scenario, she responded:

“It's the default assumption that women don't produce, and like, I was talking to my friend and he's like, 'Oh yeah, my professor teaches this and this' and I was like, 'Oh what does he think about this' and he's like, 'Oh, it's a girl' and I was like, 'Oh wow, I'm such an asshole' just default assuming the professor's male. And I think it's the same thing with production, and you just kind of default assume that it's a guy. And you know, I'm always like really impressed when I find out [it's a female], you know? I think it's just one of these things that people are conditioned to respond that way before they really realise things.”

Grimes will be making her first trip to Australia – i.e. “the furthest place” from home she can think of – in December for the Meredith Music festival and a number of sideshows. However, she points out a couple of obstacles that have come her way in the past that she wishes to overcome on her tour Down Under. “It's just hard for me as a performer definitely, getting the right [idea] of where I wanna be. It's just really a matter of getting the confidence – it's just the confident thing. Not worrying about what you're doing [on stage]; like you'll probably look stupid so just get over it, like you know what I mean? You're jumping around on stage, it's just the way it is, and it just took me a while to get comfortable with that. I think that's the biggest kinda thing to overcome in a live show.”

Though Boucher admits not having enough time off to properly work on the production side of her live show, she does, however, reveal some details of what to expect. “I don't have time off to actually work on [the live show], like actually, to work on the production that has more of a show, like would often have lights or something. [But] I'll be with two girls that are just awesome dancers. They, like, choreograph all their own stuff and everything. I want it to be kinda like a pop thing but also like a punk thing – I want to be a bit crazy and loud but there'll be choreographed dancing.”

LEARNING K-POP WITH GRIMES

Grimes loves her K-pop. If you follow the artist on Twitter you'll notice regular posts that lead to film clips and songs mostly from the artists below. K-pop is also a huge source of inspiration for the Canadian artist. So without further ado, introducing… Grimes' K-pop favourites.

F(X)
If you're looking for a dose of fun, bubble-gum pop, look no further, because girl group F(x) tick all those boxes. The five-piece are better known as the 'function girls' – their band name is a play on the mathematical notation for function. An amusing element in their songwriting is that they tend to sing their choruses in English, but their verses in Korean.
Tracks to listen to: Electric Shock and Hot Summer, the latter featuring a striped pink and black army tank in the film clip, which the girls dance around. How very K-pop!

G-DRAGON
Grimes has described G-Dragon (her favourite K-pop artist of them all!) as the “high guy in big band”. And if you're curious enough to wonder know why she's pinned that description on him, head along to YouTube to watch one of his many flamboyant film clips. There's no such thing as 'overdoing' it in G-Dragon's world – from flouro and patterned clothing (sometimes even worn at the same time) to obscure accessories, strobe and his variety of Lady Gaga-esque sunglasses. Sounds horrid, but the 25-year-old South Korean pulls it off with his enormous dose of swag.
Tracks to listen to: Crayon. The lyrics “Get your cray on/Why so serious?” will hook itself into your brain, and the colourful – almost blinding – film clip will keep you entertained 'til the final seconds.

2NE1
Pronounced 'Twenty One', 2NE1 is another K-pop girl group, however, they sell themselves with a little more edge and a punk attitude. They debuted in Japan in 2011 and have since taken the world by storm.
Tracks to listen to:  I Love You and I Am The Best.

Grimes will be playing the following shows:

Wednesday 5 & Thursday 6 December - Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Friday 7 December - Meredith Music Festival, Meredith VIC
Saturday 8 December - The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
Monday 10 & Tuesday 11 December - Oxford Art Factory, Sydney NSW