First Listen – Krista Papista – I Wish I Had Blue Eyes

 
Music

Having been fans of Krista Papista's discombobulating pop for a minute now, we jumped at the chance to premiere her new track I Wish I Had Blue Eyes. Kicking off with cavernous, slapping drums, the song quickly jettisons any normality with a series of unexpected left turns, piano breakdowns, primal yelps and gutteral muttering. Fans of Ariel Pink, Animal Collective or Geneva Jacuzzi should take note. Papista calls her sound Sordid Pop – we wanted to know why – 

How would you describe sordid pop?

Sordid pop is my way of describing my work's aesthetic. I've always had a fascination with elements that existed within pop culture but what I always appreciated was a bit of a twist, a provocation, a scandalous mystery to the story. See the work I produce is experimental pop music&videos that always have something a conservative person will interpret as vulgar, sordid or distasteful. 

Can you tell us about the video you've made to accompany the track?

The video portrays the relationship between me and a middle aged guy. We have fatherly relationship but REVERSED. I'm the father figure teaching the middle aged man how to perform masculine activities and rituals, therefore how to perform his masculinity. The main part of the video will be the Zeibekiko dance. Zeibekiko is a Greek folk dance performed only by men.
The video was directed by myself & blør with Korsshan Schlauer as our DOP.

Why do you wish you had blue eyes?

I don't –  Growing up in Cyprus I remember this ridiculous phase where everyone around me wanted blue eyes cause most kids had brown eyes. The title has a metaphorical meaning. It's kind of about being nostalgic about things that never happened. it's about desiring things you will never ever ever have, but the fantasy is still there, dominating your brain. 

A FEW WORDS ON THE TRACK

I consciously structured the song to sound like a horror film. The gibberish in the end perhaps illustrate an inability to express these horrendous emotions, an impotence to convey my message in a direct straightforward way as these feelings and notions come from a dark place in the brain/ heart – I enjoy going all the way with this horror notion.

the main feelings and themes that float in this track are:
paranoia
decadence 
nostalgia
the darkest side of the brain
pure raw misery
violence 
horniness 
sex
your worst thoughts 
your saddest thoughts 
reckless orgasms 
driving at night
childhood memories
apathetic pride
apathetic strength
reckless lovers
vulnerability
fragility 
night loners 
crying 50 year olds   

How important is the idea of examining gender roles in your art?

It happens organically, I don't even think about it so much but yeah my work often does play with the theatricality of gender roles. I guess if people still interpret my work as gender related then that means there's still a lot to be changed in the way people view human beings, we need to examine music / video/ performance in a light that is emancipated from all these pre conceived gender related connotations .   

How have you been approaching live performance? Have you been trying to subvert audiences expectations?

My shows are digital gigs. My screen with the videos I produce exclusively for the show and my amplifiers which I manipulate in a sonically pleasurous way are my band and I'm the singer. I'm playing live on the 16th of March at the waiting room, in stoke newighton! Yes I do like to subvert the audience expectations and I guess I'm doing it in post -modern way! 


Listen to more of Krista Papista over on her Soundcloud.