PinkPantheress Says Going Viral Is 'Overwhelming,' Admits Attention Can Feel 'Terrifying'

PinkPantheress is opening up about fame and her career.

The “Stateside” superstar recently sat down for an interview with Clairo for Interview Magazine, out now.

During the conversation, she got candid about memes, being perceived too much online, making music, record labels, hiding herself and maintaining a mystique, and much more.

Keep reading to find out more…

On branding and her on-stage persona:

“That’s one of the reasons I’m so happy my stage name is not my real name. There needs to be some separation—that’s why I can go so hard with these music videos. Because in my head I’m like, well, this isn’t me on the regular, this is me playing into a character. I have to be Pink when I’m onstage dancing, otherwise I go crazy. I lose my sense of self.

On hiding herself early in her career:

“I never wanted to show my face because I didn’t want it to affect how my music was received. Not even because of pretty privilege. It was more like, ‘What if they don’t like how I look? What if they think it doesn’t match up with what they’re listening to?’ I think the way I look has actually affected people’s willingness to listen to me. It’s helped me a lot, but it’s maybe made people not want to listen to me as well. I’m way more outside now, I’m more open with my opinions, but there’s part of me that wishes I didn’t do a lot of these things. Maybe it would’ve stunted my career, but sometimes I value mystique over everything else. It’s really beautiful to be someone who hides and then appears when a musical moment happens. Like Kate Bush. She’s one of my inspos as well.”

On memes of herself:

“I’m also getting a weird fatigue from seeing myself online. When I have too many clips going viral at once, I get really in my head. Even if it’s great things, all the eyes on me can be really terrifying. I’m always on such high alert like, ‘Oh my god, what can I expect today?’ That’s been quite overwhelming.”

On being the first female British Producer of the Year winner at the BRITs:

“I’m shocked that I’m the first winner of this award. It does matter. I know it’s the BRITs, but I’m like, ‘Why hasn’t Claire [Clairo] been nominated? Why hasn’t Rosalía or Imogen Heap won this award yet?’ I keep thinking of all the women before me and I’m like, ‘Why am I the first one?’ But I’m grateful for it…”

On being a female producer:

“Even though there are a lot of front-facing female producers, I feel like a lot of people don’t even know what production is. Genuinely, people were commenting, ‘What does this mean?’ I’ve always been very open about the fact that my skill lies solely in production. If you listen to me expecting good vocals—that’s not what people listen to me for. So when I read people saying, ‘She can’t sing. Why are we even paying attention?’ I’m like, honey, that’s not why people are paying attention. With this award I’m just like, ‘Thank god I’m being recognized for the thing I actually do best.’”

For more, head to interviewmagazine.com.

Just recently, she went viral for a sound she made on the red carpet at the Grammys.