ðŸððð»ðŒâ âððâ â Paparazzi Activity #1
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in conversation with Spectrum; nostalgia, songwriting, and whatâs next
bitchinâ digital: 04.24.20
shot and styled by Eddie Lindsey   Itâs mid-afternoon when I arrive at Elysian Park. The sun has just begun to set on the horizon, painting the landscape in a soft light. Photographers like to call this time Golden Hour; the perfect time to shoot outdoors. Thatâs why Iâm here, after all, to shoot a friend. I arrive fifteen minutes early to set up, but, to my surprise, the subject is already sitting on a bench with a cup of iced coffee. And thatâs not the only surprise she has in store.
   My first reaction when I see Natalya Pendergast is to gasp. I blink, halfway convinced this is an illusion created by the setting sun. When we hug, I run my hands through her hair, just to make sure. No wig here, folks!
   If the fact that weâre not being mobbed for selfie requests says anything, Iâm not the only one whoâs having trouble recognizing her. See, I know Nat as a friend. However, to the general public, sheâs ð¢ð¹ð®ð¬ðœð»ðŸð¶, international singing sensation and otherworldly witch.
   âI know, I know! Holy shit, right?â She grins, indicating to her brightly-colored hair.
   Holy shit is absolutely right. Spectrumâs turquoise locks are famous the world over. The yellow, orange, and red ombre sheâs sporting now is an abrupt departure. When I asked what prompted the abrupt change, she tells me itâs exactly that; ð¬ð±ðªð·ð°ð®. Just the type of cryptic answer you would expect. So I prompt further. Is this a temporary thing, or will she go back to blue?
   âEventuallyâŠmaybe.â She shrugs. âFor now, itâs an experiment. Iâm evolving into something new.â
   This constant evolution has been part of the Spectrum mythos from the beginning. In her debut album, ðð· ðð¬ð®ðªð· ðžð¯ ð¢ðœðªð»ðŒ, the singer synthesized Lovecraftian imagery with deep space metaphors to turn herself into an otherworldly siren. ðð²ð¬ð»ðžð¯ð»ðªð¬ðœðŸð»ð®ðŒ, her second album, saw Spectrum take on more of an anti-heroine role in the form of a city-bound entity in pursuit of justice. But what can we expect from this new Spectrum? Is she building towards her highly-anticipated third album?
   âTo be honest, Iâm not sure who this new me is yet,â she tells me. âAll I know so far is sheâs bright, sunny⊠colorful. The rest Iâm still figuring out.â
   Looks like weâll have to wait on that answer yet. In the meantime, whoâs ready for a game of Song Association? We donât have much time, but, lucky for me, my guest already knows the rules. Her lips curl into a wicked smirk.
   âAlright,â Spectrum says, curling her fingers invitingly. "ðð»ð²ð·ð° ð²ðœ ðžð·."â« ð»ðžââðŒ: ð»ðððð, ð»ðððð - ðœððð ððŠð¥ ð¹ð ðª â«
Dance, dance, we're falling apart to half time
Dance, dance, and these are the lives you love to lead
ððªð·ð¬ð®, this is the way they'd love
If they knew how misery loved me
[ððð€ð¥ðð]   âWhat a perfect way to kick this off,â Spectrum smiles once sheâs finished singing. âðð»ðžð¶ ð€ð·ðð®ð» ðœð±ð® ððžð»ðŽ ð£ð»ð®ð® is a classic.â
   For those uninitiated, my friend here is referring to Fall Out Boyâs seminal second album, where ððªð·ð¬ð®, ððªð·ð¬ð® originally debuted. If you doubt itâs importance, Spectrum presents a very convincing argument.
   âIt was really formative for me. 2003 to, like, 2012 was like the golden age for emo music. That was the first genre I discovered for myself, and since it wasnât exactly playing on pop stations, I had to go out and find it myself. It was so much different than the bubblegum party tunes that were everywhere else in the early 2000s. Not shade to, I dunno, the Jonas Brothers - but that kind of music didnât appeal to me in the same way. Plus, Fall Out Boy had some of ðœð±ð® best lyrics. The way they were able to write puns into songs about such dark, complex thingsâŠGenius! I could probably go on for days about their instrumentation. Everyone else was using 808s, so live drums were a revelation. The odd time and key signatures you didnât really hear anywhere else - those guitar riffs! Not to mention the aesthetics.â She pauses the verbal avalanche to fan herself. Then she starts laughing, indicating to her current get-up. âClearly Iâm still a fan.ââ« ðâðŒâââ: ðŸðŠðð€ ððð ðððð¡ð€ - âððððð¥ð ð â«
Sir, he knows what to do in a ðœð»ð®ð·ð¬ð±
Ingenuitive and fluent in French, I meanâ
Hamilton!
[ððð€ð¥ðð]   âOh, wow, outing myself as a former emo kid, and now this? Weâre two for two!â Spectrum laughs. âThough I guess it shouldnât come as a surprise that I was a theatre kid. I mean, look at me! You know how happy I was when they released this theatrical recording? I really hope this sets a trend and makes Broadway productions more accessible.â She shakes her head at herself. âBut, really, I canât rap. And definitely not like Daveed Diggs. There are probably only a handful of people on Earth who can do what he can. Have you listened to his work with clipping.?â When I tell her no, my friend looks devastated. âYou gotta!â She insists. âTheir latest album, ððµðžðžð ðžð¯ ðœð±ð® ððªð·ð° - itâs a concept album based around horror movies, but it also speaks to our current socio-political climate. Itâs honestly a work of genius.â Her next words are delivered directly to the camera. âMr. Diggs, if you ever need a soprano vocalist on a project - Iâm available.â
â« ð»âðŒðžðð: ð»ð£ðððð€ - ðœðððð¥ðšð ð ð ððð â«
It's only me who wants to wrap around your ðð»ð®ðªð¶ðŒ
And have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Dreams of loneliness
Like a heartbeat drives you mad
[ððð€ð¥ðð]   Listening to an artist on the radio is a completely different experience compared to hearing them sing live. A good performer will make you feel like youâre the only person in a packed auditorium - or, in my case, a public park. Chills donât even begin to cover it. (Sorry, Z.)
   Spectrum coos when sheâs finished singing, eyes closed and a hand over her heart. âOne of my favorite songs of all time,â she tells me. âð¡ðŸð¶ðžðŸð»ðŒ really is one of the greatest albums thatâs ever been made. You canât believe how excited I was when I was given the chance to cover it. Plus, I got to make some amazing friends out of it. Not a bad deal.â
   Sheâs talking about her duet with British alt-pop band Some Serious Side-Effects at the 2017 American Music Awards. I know Iâm not the only one who remembers that performance - Spectrumâs first at an awards show. No doubt Laurence Wickersham, lead singer of 3SE, has a hard time forgetting the time they shared on stage. The world watched as the woman before me was able to completely disarm a seasoned performer with a single flick of her wrist. That moment cemented Spectrum as one of the top live acts of our time.
   When I ask her about it, she just laughs. âYou mean Laurieâs ð¯ðªð·ðœðªðŒðœð²ð¬ doubletake?â She shakes her head. âWhat can I say? I never miss a chance to place someone under my thrall.ââ« ððžððŒ: ðŸðð ð€ð¥ð€ ð ð ð¹ðð§ðð£ððª ð»ð£ðð§ð - ð»ððð¥ð âðð ðð ð£ âðŠð¥ðð â«
But if you let me be your skyline, Iâll let you be the ððªð¿ð®
That reduces me to rubble, but looked safe from far away
[ððð€ð¥ðð]   âOkay, I need to make a confession,â Spectrum tells me, wincing extra hard. âI actually wasnât a fan of this album when it first came out. Death Cab has always been one of my favorite bands, since high school, actually. Theyâre right up there with Fall Out Boy for formative artists - like, they were one of the first bands I really followed, album to album. But then ðð²ð·ðœðŒðŸð°ð² was so different from the rest of their stuff.â ðð²ð·ðœðŒðŸð°ð² was Death Cabâs eighth album, released in 2015 in the wake of lead singer Ben Gibbardâs divorce from Zoey Deschanel. âThe albumâs a lot more, I dunno, lowkey. But Iâve been listening to it a lot more recently. I feel like I finally get it.â
â« ð¹ðððŒ: ððšððð - ððð¥ð¥ðð ð»ð£ððð ð â«
Was it the ð«ðµðŸð® night, gone fragile?
Was it about the men, in wonder steady going under?
Was it the light ways, so frightening?
Was it the two wills? One mirror holding us dearer now
[ððð€ð¥ðð]   âThis song is really fresh on my mind because it was part of ððžð¿ð®ð» ððžð»ð·ð®ð» on my last tour,â Spectrum explains. I ask her to expand, and she does. âSo, everyone knows I got my start by posting covers to YouTube.â
   Her old channel, SpectrumMusic, is still available. Though a fair number of videos have since been hit with copyright strikes, the videos are still available if you know where to look. Tones are a dedicated bunch.
   âCovers are still very much a part of who I am. On tour, I keep a rotating list, so itâs different every night. ð£ðð²ð¬ð® was one of my favorites because I actually played guitar for it! My performances rely heavily on dance, so I donât get many chances to play, well, any kind of instrument. I actually wrote the cover arrangement for this song with Pedro, my touring guitarist whoâs been with me since the beginning. Heâs such a good friend, and an amazingly talented rhythm guitarist, and I wanted to give him the chance to show off. And then he pulled out one of the catchiest hooks Iâve ever heard! Seriously, I couldnât stop singing my little ending riff for weeks. I definitely want to keep it in the lineup for future tours.ââ« ðððð»: ð»ð ðð€ð'ð¥ ððð¥ð¥ðð£ - âðð£ðð€ð¥ððð ððð ð¥ðð âðŠðððð€ â«
And if I am cast out 'cause I wanted some more
And if this guy dances way too close to the shore
And if I could just push this door chalked on the wall
And if after the ð¿ðžð²ð there's somewhere else to fall
[ððð€ð¥ðð]   âOh, damn, I wish I could remember the lyrics in the original French. Theyâre so beautiful.â Spectrum stops to sigh. âNot that the English version isnât also wonderful. Iâm kind of in love with both. And Iâm definitely in love with Chris. Iâm so lucky to consider her a friend. What a tremendous talent - and such a beautiful soul too! Iâm a huge fan.â
   I am too. When I ask how they met, her eyes light up.
   âIt was at Out Magazineâs out100 party! We started talking about how exciting it was that there are so many emerging artists who openly identify as queer and we just really hit it of. Iâm not saying that there werenât always queer artists, of course - Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Freddie Mercury, ð£ð¬ð±ðªð²ðŽðžð¿ðŒðŽð. Itâs justâŠthe groundwork they laid is a large part of what allows us to be so visible now.â
   Here, here!â« ðððŸâðð: ððððð¥ð€ - ðŒðððð ðŸð ðŠððððð â«
You show the ðµð²ð°ð±ðœðŒ that stop me turn to stone
You shine it when I'm alone
And so I tell myself that I'll be strong
And dreaming when they're gone
[ððð€ð¥ðð]   Spectrumâs an artist whoâs known for her powerful belt, but few also remember her as a soprano. She showcases this part of her range now, hitting notes few other artists dream of with the ease of breathing.
   âSorry, that was probably obnoxious,â Spectrum chuckles. That last vocal run has gathered the attention of several other park goers. She blows kisses to them before continuing. âEllie Goulding was such an inspiration to me when I first started making my own music back in high school. ðð²ð°ð±ðœðŒ came out in, what, 2010? The way she layered vocals - I hadnât seen anyone do that outside of Bjork. ð wanted to do something like that.â She shakes her head at something far off. âYou know, one of my first videos on my old YouTube channel was actually a cover of ðð·ðµð ðšðžðŸ. It was really an experiment. The song has this really neat, kinda sparse instrumentation and I wanted to play around with that. So I DIY-ed the beat and did the rest a capella. Well, okay, I modulated one of the high tracks, but those notes were totally out of my range.â
   Considering the talent she displayed no less than five minutes ago, that seems hard to believe. âAlright,â I ask. âA contest between two of the biggest sopranos on the radio, you and Ariana Grande; whoâs winning?â
   âOh, Ari. No contest,â Spectrum says immediately. âI donât even have a whistle register.ââ« ððâðŸ: ðð ðŠð£ ðð ðð - ðŒðð¥ð ð ðð ðð â«
And you can tell everybody this is your ðŒðžð·ð°
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
[ððð€ð¥ðð]   Within seconds of starting, Spectrum jumps to her feet, urging me up too. She takes my hands in hers, spinning me around as she serenades me. The two of us sway to the melody and I even find myself singing along. How can you resist Elton John?
   âOne of these times, Iâm not going to say this is one of my favorite songs, I swear,â Spectrum promises as we return to our seats. âBut I grew up with this song. Literally! Long story short, my uncle works in sound design, so he outfitted our house with all kinds of speakers. Every night, my parents and I would pick a different CD - okay, Iâm old, so sometimes they were cassettes - and that would be the soundtrack for dinner. My parents were really anti-TV growing up. Anyway, this is pretty much the only album I picked.â
   She looks ready to move along when a sudden thought comes to her.
   âDid you know this song was actually written about another man?â She asks. I did not, but given the singer, Iâm unsurprised. âWell not a particular man. But Bernie Taupin, Eltonâs songwriter - you know, Jamie Bellâs character in ð¡ðžð¬ðŽð®ðœð¶ðªð·? - he knew Elton wasnât going to be singing about women any time soon. Of course, coming out wasnât exactly an option in the seventies either, so he made sure to use second person pronouns in this song.â
   Now, that sounds familiar. I ask her if that was part of her inspiration for ððð²ðœ ð¢ðœðªð°ð® ðð®ð¯ðœ and her smile glows. Her famous breakup song off her first album, which not only debuted at Number Three on the Billboard Charts (her highest debut to date), was also what allowed her to come out. Like ðšðžðŸð» ð¢ðžð·ð°, the song avoids gendered pronouns. However, Spectrum used the songâs music video to explicitly reveal that it was written about another woman.
   âWill the public ever learn who inspired ððð²ðœ ð¢ðœðªð°ð® ðð®ð¯ðœ?â I ask.
   âThatâs her decision to make,â Spectrum says with a shrug. âShe knows. Thatâs enough for me.ââ« âððð: ð¹ððððððð ððððð¥ð€ - ððð ðððððð â«
I look around and
Sin ðð²ðœð'ðŒ cold and empty
No one's around to judge me
I can't see clearly when you're gone
[ððð€ð¥ðð]   The words fall from her lips easily, like sheâs sung them a hundred times. Sure, weâve all been singing The Weekndâs latest hits on repeat recently, but this is different. Itâs like listening to a Shakespearean actor launch into their favorite monologue. Spectrumâs next words confirm my suspicion.
   âOkay, Iâm gonna let you in on a little secret here. Promise not to tell anyone?â she says, then flashes me one of her world famous winks. âRemember how I mentioned ððžð¿ð®ð» ððžð»ð·ð®ð» earlier? Well, letâs just say ð£ðð²ð¬ð® isnât the only song I know how to play on guitar.ââ« ð¹âðððŒâ(âðŒðžâð): ðððð£ð ðð£ððð¥ðŠð£ðð€ - ðð¡ððð¥ð£ðŠð â«
Wake up
Lose my ð«ð»ðžðŽð®ð· ð±ð®ðªð»ðœ
I will
Say no more
And walk away
[ððð€ð¥ðð]   âUgh, is it totally gauche to sing one of your own songs in these things?â Spectrum asks after finishing. Meanwhile, Iâm a little starstruck at hearing those infamous opening vocal runs. I shake my head and assure her itâs what most singers do for this challenge. âOh, good. I was trying to avoid it, but you got me with the last one. Should we start setting up for the shoot now?â
   âWhatâs the rush?â I ask. âItâs your song, why donât you tell us more about it?â
   Spectrum just shrugs. No doubt this is a question sheâs heard before plenty of times. After all, it was the title track off of her current album. âIt was a bit of a hard song for me to write,â she explains. âWhen I was working on this album, I was specifically asked to write a breakup song for it - probably because ððð²ðœ ð¢ðœðªð°ð® ðð®ð¯ðœ did so well. But my last breakup was in college, so I had to dig deep and face some pretty tough memories for that one. Or, well, it ððªðŒ my last breakup.â
   It isnât hard to guess where her thoughts went. Her split last month with supermodel Remington Devereaux has been all over the news. Only time will tell if Spectrumâs next album will include an allusion to this more recent breakup. No, really. I asked her point blank if we could expect any new music inspired by current events in her life, but she only gave me that devilish smile of hers.
   âShame you canât see through the fourth dimension, my friend,â she told me, sounding more like the ððµðð»ð²ðœð¬ð± ðð®ð²ðœð we all know and love. âThen you would already know the answer.â
   For now, Iâll take that as a ðð®ðŒ.
super huge shoutout to @ayzrules and @alexx for help with the coding, format, and characters + everyone in 'razzi for collaborating on the word selection!!!
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