WEEKEND MUSIC PT. 69: IN CONVERSATION WITH KING PRINCESS

WEEKEND MUSIC PT. 69: IN CONVERSATION WITH KING PRINCESS

Interview by Victoria Nussbaum
Image courtesy of Promotion-Werft

King Princess grew up in New York and has already left their mark on the music scene at just 26. In our conversation, Mikaela reflected on their early days in their father’s Williamsburg studio, their thoughts on the current political climate, and the art of feeling comfortable in discomfort.

Numéro Berlin: Hi King Princess. You recently released a new album that you recorded entirely in your father’s studio in Williamsburg, which he has owned since the 90s. What was it like growing up there? And how did your parents inspire or shape your creativity? If they did…

King Princess: They certainly did. Growing up there, I was really interested in being in the studio. All I cared about was just being around music from as early as I can remember. At the same time, my mom would always have instruments at her house, even though there wasn’t a recording studio. So both my parents definitely influenced me. There was no pressure, but they saw that I was interested and wanted to leave instruments around for me. I think the biggest thing for me was just watching people record their music and becoming obsessed with these older musicians. There were trunks, people sleeping on couches, rock bands recording — and I just wanted to hang out with them because I thought they were cool. Usually, they were really nice and let me hang out.

So you always hung out there as a child?

I feel like all I wanted to do was just sit on the couch and watch everybody.

That must have been an interesting childhood!

It was definitely at times very inappropriate, at times really fun and at times kind of depressing. My dad is a recording engineer. The way I’d describe it, it’s like, okay, you’re at the fucking Audi factory or the BMW factory. You have the people who design the car, that’s the producers. And the engineers are the people that actually go to the garage and build it. Like build it from the engineers, from their designs. So it’s actually a more blue collar profession than being a producer because you’re physically plugging everything in and patching, and it’s manual, and it’s intense. From my dad’s perspective, he was not involved in record label politics at all. He was a freelance studio owner. We would watch records that left the studio sound really amazing and then all of a sudden you’d fucking get the mixes back from the label and it would all be like, ugh, what happened? That’s the politics. So that was always informative. Yeah. Sorry, I’m rambling.

No, don’t worry at all, that’s what we’re here for, so…

I smoked a lot of weed this morning. We got weed last night, it was fabulous.

Perfect, then you’re in the mood to talk, I hope. Your new album is called “Girl Violence”. Do you want to emphasize that girls can be violent too or what’s the idea, the approach behind the title?

It just is facts that the emotional warfare that occurs between women is way more intense than anything a man could do. I’m not talking about cisgender women, I’m talking about all women. The emotional intelligence that is within us. As a non-binary person I’m also oftentimes an observer to womanhood and an observer to femininity and yet I have sapphic relationships. I would consider my relationships very sapphic. They have been beautiful and chaotic and hectic and at times dangerous and at times desolate. That’s my experience and I don’t think it’s just my experience.

So I was just like let’s put a name to it “Girl violence” and let’s talk about it, like why we are, in fact, so cuckoo bananas.

Yeah, whenever I hear straight women say, ‘Oh, I wish I could just date women, it’d be so much easier,’ I’m like, hmm, not so sure about that…

You’re like actually, by the way, it’s not and the other thing is, there’s so much talking. It’s two people in a relationship who understand queer theory and also what it’s like to live under a patriarchy. That is deeply intense and not easy. You can’t really get away with shit.

How do you mentally prepare for the launch of a new album?

I don’t know. If you figure it out, will you let me know? I don’t think I will figure it out. Because actually it’s so intense and mentally it’s always the most challenging part for me to prepare for putting out music. I feel good at the touring part, I’m good at making the music part, but the actual time in between when you’re emotionally getting ready to like give birth or whatever I’m struggle boss on that.

It’s very vulnerable as well.

I think it’s very vulnerable, I think it’s really hard, and I struggle with it. But once it’s out, then it’s kind of beautiful because it becomes the fans‘, like it changes ownership from yours to someone else’s, and that I think is really gorgeous because then you see people connecting and finding their own way through the album. And you can see what they relate to, and I think that’s beautiful. That’s the whole point.

We’re getting a little more political now. With everything that’s going on politically around the world, and especially in the US where you’re from, it feels really important to unite as a community and stand strong together. I was wondering how you think your music can be a tool for that?

Well, first of all, that’s a great question. You touched on something I’m really interested in, which is how we, as a community, can unify.

I think it’s really allowed for our crack stuff to slip through because while we’re fighting each other, there’s laws being passed actively in the U.S, that are abolishing rights that we have already decided on.

There is a greater enemy.

Yes, there is a greater enemy. A big thing I think about is, what is it that makes it easy for us to unite? For me, when I think about what I love to do, it’s seeing live music, loving art, laughing, joking, being silly, you know? Partying. These are all unifiers we’ve used in our community throughout history to get through darkness. I hope that my music provides a space that’s safe to go and see live music and art, meet friends, dress up, feel good about yourself, maybe meet a date, feel less alone, rock out. That’s what I hope. I also throw parties, and I hope that that really encourages a kind of silliness and a space for people to just dress up and mess up. My music and my art are the far right’s nightmare. So I’d like to continue being their nightmare at every turn. I hope they’re deeply disturbed by me.

How do you feel this shift to the political right is influencing the cultural scene right now in general? And when it comes to censorship, do you think people are becoming quieter and more intimidated, or are they getting louder and more united? Do you have a sense of where things stand right now?

I think there’s a lot of disillusionment. We’ve become so used to physical violence and shootings that it just goes in one ear and out the other. We hear about multiple school shootings every week, and you become desensitized. The amount of violence and sheer chaos happening in this country – in my country, and I’m sure in yours too – is overwhelming. Maybe not the shootings, but I know there have been some really disturbing far-right political movements emerging here as well. I think the way my country has handled the genocide in Palestine is appalling.

My country as well.

I’m sure you have similar feelings about that. Yeah, I don’t know – there’s just so much information constantly coming at us now, with TikTok and the 24-hour news cycle. It’s hard to stay grounded or even know what to do. So I don’t think people are getting quiet because of censorship, although I do believe there’s already massive censorship starting to take place on social media for queer people. I’ve seen it firsthand on my own accounts.

In what sense?

I have been flagged for wearing makeup because I look like a boy. So when I wear makeup, it must be drag, right? I mean we’ve been in year-long fights with some of these apps trying to get my shit back just so I can promote my music. It’s beyond. It’s really nuts. And I don’t see that on other accounts. On straight people’s accounts. Like for example if I show cleavage… And that’s partially the app itself and that is partially homophobic people reporting shit. You know, but in summation, it is Project 2025.

That’s insane.

It’s time for us to just be making more shit, being louder, being more fucking ballsy and out and open.

Now that you already talked about drag a little bit. You once said in an interview „I’m not a woman, I’m a fucking drag queen“ and I was wondering what drag means to you today?

Drag has been a tool I’ve used on and off throughout my career – as a form of armor, self-discovery, and therapy. It’s been incredibly impactful for me to play with the form I was assigned at birth but don’t necessarily relate to. A lot of the parts of myself that are feminine feel like Mr. Potato Head – you put them on, take them off. As a non-binary person, exploring how I play with my flesh suit as a woman, as a man, and as everything in between has been necessary. Sometimes you just have to be in drag to do that: to embrace the silliness that femininity can be and to explore it openly. For someone who never felt like they were traditionally a woman, this can be incredibly freeing.

It’s just about performing femininity.

Which is how I feel anyway, so it might as well accentuate and be beautiful.

What role does gender play in your everyday life and how do you navigate a world that is designed for only two genders?

Gender plays a pretty large role in my everyday life because I’m so fickle with it. Even with what I wear, I get very nitpicky. What I wear really matters, because how I feel can change from day to day. That’s something I actually enjoy – if you can conquer it, it feels really special. But it’s not easy to conquer; it takes a lot of effort and work to make yourself feel okay, to feel comfortable in discomfort. So gender plays a big role in my life. I’m constantly navigating how I feel in a world designed for only two genders. Honestly, I kind of get the best of both worlds. I’d literally be using the men’s restroom all the time. You know what I mean? But sometimes I look like a little boy and get treated like one. Then I look like a really hot girl and get treated like that. Most of the time, I get treated like neither, and people are confused. There’s nothing anyone could say or do about my gender or sexuality that could make me feel bad about myself. That’s not my issue. I have a lot of issues, but my gender and sexuality aren’t among them. I’m not ashamed of who I am.

Yeah I think all of your fans know haha

I got way bigger fish to fry than being fucking gay and non-binary.

You are very comfortable with your sexuality and in your body now, so If you could speak to your younger queer self or to a queer kid out there right now, would you have something to say?

Yeah, I would, I’d piss myself off because I’d say, you’re really lonely right now, but being lonely is good because you’re going to figure out the things you’re interested in. And then I think I’d also say everything that you instinctually want to do is correct. Please continue doing it. Artistically, everything that is in your gut: trust it.

Great. That’s a nice ending. Thank you!

Thank you so much. Thanks for taking the time.