I like women too: Lady Gaga

Current pop sensation Lady Gaga gets candid about her attraction for women and drug abuse problem

Your music has a real wild, free streak. What inspires you?
My music is inspired by New York, lifestyle and pop culture. My album The Fame is an argument about fame culture and youth.

Tell us more about how your chart-hit Poker Face came about…
When I was with my old boyfriend I used to think about women sometimes. I wanted to hide it from him so I never told him. That was my poker face.

You did say that you like men who look like women, right?
I like women as well. I’ve had boyfriends with very long hair…

You’ve also had a drug abuse problem. Why is there always a connection between drugs and rock’n’roll artistes?
I think that a lot of artistes, especially from the 70s through to the 80s, were into it. That was a time for open drug and vanity obsession. It’s the nexus of glamour and creativity. I don’t think it has changed very much since then. You could say it’s creative history. Some of the greatest artistes have had experiences with drugs. Although I think that drug abuse is not the most important thing for an artiste, it’s intrinsic to rock’n’roll artistes.

People have compared your singing style to that of Freddy Mercury…
More than anything in body, the philosophy of theatrical pop theatre is similar. I was heavily rooted as a young person into theatre and I had a problem because the music industry thought I was too theatrical. Freddy, for me, represented a way to a true aesthetics and still maintaining a space in the pop world.

What about comparisons to Amy Winehouse and Christina Aguilera?
I don’t think comparison. I only focus on myself. I don’t even acknowledge them.

Where does your wacky sense of fashion come from?
My mother, New York, museums and avant-garde fashion. I simultaneously create my shows alongside the fashion and the music. It’s one complete vision symbiotically.