Ihre Stimme bleibt im Ohr: Sängerin Laura Pergolizzi, kurz LP. Die US-Amerikanerin war lange Zeit als Songwriterin erfolgreich. Mit den Songs „Muddy Waters“ und „Lost On You“ startet sie selbst auf der Bühne durch. Ihre Deutschlandtour war ausverkauft, nun hat LP ihr Album „Lost On You“ veröffentlicht. Richtig gute Gründe, die Künstlerin zu treffen. Carina Matzky aus dem STRAIGHT Team hat das in Köln getan und mit ihr dann auch intensiv über Frauen, Lesbischsein und Trump gesprochen.
LP, her name stands for Laura Pergolizzi, already wrote songs for Rihanna, whistles and sings emotionally – and that quite successful. The tour was sold out in Germany. We want to get to know this woman. Carina Matzky from our STRAIGHT Team met the singer in Cologne for a coffee.
You got us amazed with your whistling. Tell us your secret, how do you do that?
I think that whistling is some kind of a lost art. When I was a little kid there was this happy guy who was cleaning our school each and every day. He was whistling like a bird, you should
have seen him, he was the cutest. I really liked him a lot, so I got inspired by him.
You´re really successful in the US already. You have written and produced songs for Beyoncé, Cher, Pink… just to name a few…
I am not that known in the US as I am on an indie-level. I am always kind of surprised when people know me. Europe are the guys who really discovered me as an artist.
Do you get a lot of love letters from german speaking countries?
I already get some fan mail here and there through my management, but most of them reach me on my social media channels. All these nice people saying sweet things to me is really astounding.
You´ve been in the business for 15 years as a songwriter. Now you took the jump onto the stage. What do you like better?
It was always my kind of hope to do both. I like taking a break from myself when writing songs for other people. I´m a songwriter first and foremost. I like to think. You know, The most important thing to me is the making of a song that connects with people. Of course you can connect as a vocalist as well.
But you always need a song first. I am very lucky to be doing this for living for more than ten years.
I didn´t really see this coming, so I was kind of surprised.
In a review about you in the ARD-Morgenmagazin you were described as unusal. Among other things, you swear and love women.
(Laughing!) That’s funny.
Is it important to you to be seen as a homosexual woman?
Well, it is important to not not be seen as a lesbian. But I don´t really want that to be my first or last thing anybody knows about me. That´s just a part of me. I don´t see any difference between any person… It just peeks people´s interest. It´s not important to prove myself as a lesbian. But nevertheless visibility is important. We are normal people just like anybody else. There´s so many things to be concerned about in this world. And who another person sleeps with shouldn´t be anybody else´s concern.
Do you like to go out in the lesbian scene?
You know, my girlfriend is a lesbian. It´s crazy. (laughing!) My life has been more about a music centered scene. To be honest, I hang out mostly with heterosexual people. But this is exactly what I was
talking about earlier: I just want everybody hanging out together. That moves me forward. I really like that.
But maybe sometimes you hang out with other lesbian people like Ellen DeGeneres or something?
Yeah, that would be cool. I think that Ellen is a perfect example for someone that has moved us so far along. Because she doesn´t push her gender and everybody knows she is gay. And all those people who have a problem with it, a lot of those people just watch her show every day and they love it. That´s like a victory. Someone being himself and just owning it. That is the kind of progress and strength that I strive for. She´s a beautiful example.
Have you always liked women?
I have been with men back in the days. You know, I find men attractive I just don´t prefer them. Men are lovely; women ruin my life (laughing!).
Tell us something about your outing.
In that certain time of my life I knew something was up but I couldn´t really wrap my head around it. I couldn´t really grasp it and when the first woman got close to me it was like “ah, okay… now I know”. I
understood a lot about myself after that.
Which character from L word made your heart run faster?
Oh, Carmen definitely was my favorite.
What´s your favorite type of women?
Sweet. And beautiful. And funny.
You have Italian roots and live in the US. What´s home for you?
Emotionally I feel most at home with my girlfriend and my dog. They make me fall in love each and every time I see them. Geographically it is definitely LA. When I moved to LA so many good things happened to me. I connected to myself and every part of my being. Musically I just found my muse in LA, on the West Coast. I really love it there. I´d really love to live in Europe for a while, I just don´t know where yet. My particular version of being a woman would have been stamped out in many countries. I am always very aware of all the benefits which come along with living in an open and democratic country. Not a lot of people have these rights. It´s a beautiful thing to be able to find
yourself completely and I wish it for everyone. This shouldn´t be a privilege, but unfortunately it still is.
What´s your opinion on the election result in your Homeland USA?
To be honest, Mr. Trump scares me and it scares me who he is appointing as his vice president. Actually they all scare me. I just hope they´ll do the right thing. There is so many hate speeches going on with him and he doesn´t even apologize for anything. Sometimes I think “maybe we should give this guy a chance”. But on a human level and looking at what he stands for I don´t agree with him.
Do you think that his election will have an effect on the LGBT community?
I think so, yes. But I am just crossing my fingers like anybody else does.
Last question: You have a ship tattooed on your chest What does that ship mean to you?
It means accepting that life is a journey. It´s not about becoming something and then being completed. It is about evolving and developing over and over again.
Headerfoto von Michael Comte
