Our favourite Number One Popstar on life, death and Hilary Duff
This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…
Courtesy of @numberonepopstar
NAME KATE HOLLOWELL aka NUMBER ONE POPSTAR
AGE Forever 21.
LOCATION Hollywood, baby.
STAR SIGN Cancer Sun, Leo Moon (Roar).
PARTY TRICK & GO-TO CLUB DRINK I haven’t drunk in four years, so I guess my party trick is that I am more fun than everyone else but I’m sober.
Kate Hollowell, aka Number One Popstar, doesn’t mess about. Kicking off her career as a filmmaker/creative director, the musician has never been one to shy away from the big and bold projects that have declared her as, well, a number one popstar. “I decided to start this solo project when my punk band, Slut Island, could no longer perform live because of the pandemic. I started recording at home and the rest is pop history,” she explains. Her solo musical project has allowed Hollowell to make music for the masses, not take herself too seriously, and to always bring the party.
Hollowell’s newest single, Forever 21, is an ode to loving life and having fun, branching off of her desire to “bring joy to people, to make people want to dance and not be afraid of death.” The self-directed video, whilst fun yet mildly terrifying, is a shout out to everyone forgetting to live their lives, the zombification of small town jobs and a reminder to enjoy the little things. With some hyper-realistic make-up, sick and enviable dance moves, and an undeniably groovy synth, Forever 21 really does make you want to jump up out of your chair... for a number of reasons.
Bringing colour, eccentric outfits and upbeat tunes, Hollowell is sliding into her self-proclaimed title as a number one popstar. Her greatest ambition as an artist is more than just nabbing the top spot, though. She wants to “sign a record deal with a major label and then buy a Forever 21 store where only this song plays but we won’t let people buy any of the clothes.” Sounds great, no?
“I would explain my music first and foremost as the best worst music you’ll ever hear.”
Simran Johal: What are your biggest takeaways from the last year?
Number One Popstar: When you’re faced with adversity, it’s best to redirect that into your art. It’s the only way forward.
SJ: How will the next few months - returning back to some normality - affect you creatively?
NOP: I liked the challenge of having to make art with all these limitations because it made way for ingenuity and adaptation; opportunities to create things that are different out of necessity. The first way I shot the first music video I released, Psycho, was out of necessity. No one wanted to do a video back in May/June of 2020. Every single production was shut down. So just me and the DP drove to a quiet neighborhood far outside LA and shot that video in an hour. And to me, it’s still my favourite one. I captured something there that was a result of adaptation to the circumstances that I’ll never be able to get again in some ways.
SJ: If only one club can reopen, which one should it be?
NOP: Chuck E Cheese. Not sure if they have them in England, but here in the US they are intoxicating.
SJ: What were the inspirations for the Forever 21 video?
NOP: The inspiration came from wanting to be the exact opposite of 21. I wanted to explore what it would be like if you wake up one day, at the end of your life, and find yourself regretting all of your life decisions. What if you gave up on your dreams for a safer life?
SJ: Without giving any spoilers, the ending of the video is a surprise to say the least. Why did you want to end it like this?
NOP: For me, the surprise ending of the video is a way to say a lot very quickly. It’s the existential crisis we all find ourselves in. My hope is someone walks away thinking ‘wow, I should be happy with my life and where I am now, and only look ahead, because no one can predict the future so just go for your dreams’.
SJ: You directed the video yourself, right? Which director would you say played the biggest impact on the video?
NOP: Spike Jones has always made great music videos where you can’t turn away. I love one take feeling dance videos and that’s what I wanted to accomplish here.
SJ: Who/what have been your biggest dance inspirations?
NOP: Christopher Walken in the Weapon of Choice music video for Fatboy Slim (directed by Spike Jones) is certainly one of the best dance videos I’ve seen. I typically like people who have a unique way of dancing that is very much their own. The less classically trained the better.
SJ: Who would you most love to work with?
NOP: HILARY DUFF.
SJ: What advice would you give your younger self just starting out as an artist?
NOP: Care less and do more.
SJ: You’re in a club toilet, you hear a song and it makes you run to the dancefloor, what is it?
NOP: The single I just recorded with Hilary Duff called Club Toilet.
SJ: And finally, what are you most looking forward to this year?
NOP: Putting out an EP this summer and touring, A LOT. That’s what I miss most and can’t wait to do with this project. And of course, recording a single with Hilary Duff.