“I wanted this to be the follow-up single because it has such a strong message. “Everybody is so divided right now, and I hate it,” Ava says. Considering the current divisive nature of politics and the poisonous rhetoric perpetuated by some of the world’s most powerful governments, it’s a timely reminder to simply look out for one another. We should do our own thing.”īut the message extends beyond the school corridors. ![]() In general, I think society wants to put us in a format and I don’t think we should be fitting into it. ![]() I wanted the storyline to focus on all the outcasts and all that diversity to show that we are all one in unity. That’s where a lot of people get hurt from it all. “I actually filmed it in a school because of the bullying that goes on,” she says of the So Am I music video, which features a cast of diverse students. They then expelled me, so that wasn’t fun.” These days, however, she’s standing up to those bullies by empowering and inspiring today’s youth to be confident and proud of who they are. I was expelled from my seventh grade class because I stood up to a bully. “I was always being bullied through school. “I’m originally Albanian and so when I had to move to South Carolina, I felt like an outcast,” she says. That’s what we need right now.”įor Ava, her personal struggle with being considered an outsider came from moving around a lot during her childhood. I always say that I want to do a music video where we see every single flag and we embrace everybody. I love different cultures coming together. Also just people who are from different backgrounds. “I think in general the LGBTQ community is so inspiring. “They inspire me to release a song like this and to open up myself, and be vulnerable for myself,” she explains. We’re all different, we’re all beautiful in our own way and we’re going to do it our way.”īut her admiration of the LGBTQ community runs deeper. People who are always thinking about that stuff are not open-minded and this song is for them. There’s nothing wrong with any sexual orientation. “For me personally, everybody is unique and amazing. ![]() With that in mind, have messages from her queer fans influenced this song and its lyrics? “Oh a hundred percent,” she smiles. We’ve been known to be partial to a pop girl who owns that role with as much dedication as Ava has demonstrated, so it will come as little surprise that her gay following has soared following her chart success. With a bubbling beat, an airy chorus and lyrics like “it’s okay to be different, ‘cause baby, so am I,” it’s clearly going to resonate with the LGBTQ community. So while Sweet But Psycho is still riding high, Ava has served up its equally infectious follow-up So Am I. As the old adage goes, strike while the iron is still hot. But in this age of instant releases and streaming algorithms, any pop star worth their salt knows that you can’t dine out on one hit for too long. Sweet But Psycho has so far topped charts in 15 countries, and is quickly making waves in the US. When it blew up that’s when I was like, ‘Okay, this is actually real’ – especially when I heard it on the radio.” “So when I put Sweet But Psycho out, I wasn’t expecting anything. “It took so long and I was a little jaded in the industry and was like, ‘Ehh, it’s probably not going to happen,’” she admits. Having moved to Los Angeles aged 17 to pursue her dream of pop stardom, Ava had nearly resigned herself to the idea that her time to break through may have passed. “So when it happened it actually didn’t feel real because of that fact.” “I always joke that this was ten years of manifesting and working and wishing and just breathing it all in,” Ava says. Sweet But Psycho may have seemed like it came out of nowhere as it climbed charts across the globe towards the end of 2018, but in reality it was the culmination of years of studio sessions and single releases before it. His advice? “Work really hard, and you’ll get where you want to be.” She told the super producer of her aspirations. The story goes that at age 14, Ava had a chance encounter with Pharrell Williams at an airport. Especially when they gave me the award – it felt like I was living a dream.” It’s a dream Ava has been working away at for more than a decade. “When it stayed at No.1 for four weeks, I was freaking out. “It was really surreal at the time,” Ava tells us on set of her Gay Times shoot in central London. Sure we’ve had Ariana Grande’s brand of R&B-leaning earworms and Calvin Harris’ house-infused chart bangers over the past year, but Ava’s breakthrough hit was unapologetically, unashamedly, and unwaveringly sugary pop down to its calorific core. ![]() For pop purists out there, 2019 couldn’t have got off to a better start.įor pretty much the whole of January, Ava Max’s addictive anthem Sweet But Psycho ruled the No.1 spot on the UK’s Official Chart.
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