At Birmingham Pride, in between swigs of WKD Blue (stop it) we dodged flying plastic cups, whipping rainbow flags and Nadine Coyle’s bodice, and darted backstage to grab 30 seconds with one of our faves, Kim Petras!
Kim Petras is the effortlessly cool, mellifluously millennial pop poster girl who’s been making waves from Hanover to Harlem with her infectiously bouncy, unapologetically materialistic sound. It’s like Katy Perry meets Paris Hilton, with a generous slug of uber-cool PC music sensibility thrown in.
With her new single ‘Can’t Do Better’ out today, we chatted to Kim about the importance of pride, and what we can expect from her this year.
There are a lot of people who say we don’t need pride anymore because LGBT is really accepted now. What would you say to them about that?
Well it’s a day to celebrate how far we’ve come, and to celebrate our community, and I feel like we should have that. Just because gay marriage is legal now and we have lots of rights and stuff, we shouldn’t stop doing that.
The abortion bill just went through in Ireland…what are your thoughts on that?
Yeah, about time, Jesus! That should have happened ten years ago. More. Everybody should be completely in charge of what to do with their bodies. No-one should tell them shit about that. It’s kinda fucked up that it just happened.
You’re in the new H&M Pride campaign! Tell us about that.
They asked me to be in it and I was like ‘Hell yeah!’ I’m really excited, it’s for an amazing cause, it’s drawing attention to the LGBT community. There are some really cool people in it too. It’s a really cool thing that it’s their first pride collection, and I’m just happy to be part of it.
What do you think about people who say big brands cash in on pride?
Well I think it’s a really good thing to draw attention to the LGBT community in such a big way. H&M has so many stores all over the world. I feel like it’s spreading acceptance, that they’re making a collection dedicated to it. I think so much of the profits are going to LGBT charities. I think it’s a great thing that big companies are drawing attention to it. It goes both ways. But like you’ll always get into shit no matter what.
Tell us about your new music!
I have an album ready. I’ve done a couple of songs with SOPHIE, which I’m excited about. But first of all I want to drop the album. My new song ‘Can’t Do Better’ just came out. And ‘Heart To Break’ just went to radio in America, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m really excited, yay!
‘Can’t Do Better’ is out now. Follow Kim on Instagram @kimpetras
