All clothes Taylor’s own<\/em><\/p>\nGood-girl-gone-bad, shock artist, temptress with a penchant for provocation, outspoken wild child or downright diva\u2026 You name it, Taylor Momsen has been labelled it. For a girl so often linked to controversy \u2013 whether it\u2019s naked stage antics, or that tampon string photo \u2013 the first thing that strikes me about the 21-year-old actress, model and band-leader (she fronts grunge ensemble The Pretty Reckless) is her raw honesty. \u201cI don\u2019t like to look at myself as a role model, because I\u2019m making mistakes all the time. I\u2019m crazy,\u201d the St Louis girl tells me. \u201cDon\u2019t imitate me kids, I\u2019m not a role model, I\u2019m just a kid in a band who\u2019s still figuring it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
As we speak, she\u2019s sitting on her tour bus somewhere on Veterans Memorial Highway, heading from Las Vegas to Denver. After spending almost three years honing the band\u2019s second album, Going to Hell, Momsen\u2019s \u201cnever-ending tour\u201d is very much in motion. She\u2019s used to it all, though: Momsen has been in the spotlight since the age of two, booked by Ford modelling agency for a few cutesy commercial gigs as a toddler, before her first major role in 2000\u2019s Jim Carrey vehicle The Grinch at five. Later, her part as good girl tunred bad Jenny Humphrey in Gossip Girl propelled her to fame.<\/p>\n
But child stardom and the cost of fame don\u2019t come cheap, she says. \u201cI don\u2019t have a lot of friends,\u201d admits Momsen, candidly. \u201cI\u2019m a very isolated person, not necessarily by choice, but I pick my friends very carefully. The cool thing about touring is that I live with all of them, I get to live on a bus with my makeshift, fucked-up family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now a seasoned crowd-teaser, Momsen sure knows how to work a room – whether it means flashing her duct-taped nipples or frolicking on stage in towering stripper heels. At least that was until \u2018Recklace unveiled the video for \u201cHeaven Knows\u201d – the album\u2019s lead single, which sees \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit\u201d riffs colliding with a darkly haunting Pink Floyd\u2019s The Wall-esque choir. The February-launched short saw Momsen ditch the dark warpaint and dungeon-wear for unabashed nudity. When the big \u201creveal\u201d comes, her privacy is protected by a bold black cross pointing downwards.<\/p>\n
In her debut filmmaking foray, visuals were handled by Momsen herself. \u201cI\u2019m always involved in the videos, I just finally got the credit for it this time,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI use religion as a metaphor a lot. It\u2019s in my common vernacular. I was raised Catholic, but it\u2019s a metaphor that\u2019s been used in rock \u2019n\u2019 roll for so long. Heaven, hell, good, evil \u2013 very simple concepts that I\u2019m expanding on. I\u2019m not a satanist though, I\u2019m more spiritual than religious. But if you\u2019re telling me I\u2019m doing something more controversial than Robert Plant, you\u2019re fucking crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The album\u2019s recording process was by no means plain sailing. \u201cWe went through a lot to make this record, a lot of tragedy and unpleasantness,\u201d she concedes. \u201cWe had the hurricane [Sandy] wipe out the studio, taking everything with it. I can\u2019t milk it too much, as a lot of people had it worse than us. But it took our guitars and all of our custom-built studio equipment. We were rolling really fast and it just shut everything down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, just as the band had regrouped, the wife of Going To Hell\u2019s producer Kato Khandwala passed away. \u201cShe was like a mother to everyone,\u201d Momsen says, glassy eyed. \u201cThe album is dedicated to her. I don\u2019t want to get too into it, but none of us are over that.\u201d Despite the deathly eye makeup, the scorned forward stares and the period play, Momsen is grounded, refreshingly honest and petal-like in her sensitivity. \u201cI write these songs for myself, because I like writing music,\u201d she reflects. \u201cWhen you start to see people connecting with it, that\u2019s the highest compliment you can get as a songwriter. The main thing was being honest, bare and exposed. The idea is that you come into this world with nothing but your soul, and leave with nothing but your soul. That\u2019s what\u2019s real to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Words:<\/strong> Brooke McCord<\/p>\nPhotographer:\u00a0<\/strong>PICZO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Child actress turned shake-up singer, Taylor Momsen, ain\u2019t trying to be nobody\u2019s role model<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":36620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3632,9419],"tags":[5408,6096],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Taylor](\"\/\/media.wonderlandmagazine.com\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Taylor-Momsen.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n