“This really is a Little Monsters press conference,” Lady Gaga said in response to the very first question a fan asked her at Spotify’s recent event for top listeners celebrating Gaga’s new album Mayhem.
Spotify gathered 200 of her top fans — and crucially, locked up their phones — at Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse on Feb. 27 for a listening party, in which Mayhem played in its entirety and Gaga herself took to the floor to dance with fans. Then, those same fans gathered for a mock press conference, hosted by Benny Drama. That first question was if Gaga had seen Azealia Banks’s comments about her song “Disease” — the answer: yes — and was one of many questions about deep Gaga lore. These fans covered everything from the alleged “Telephone pt. 2” to what Gaga may have whispered in Ariana Grande’s ear at the VMAs.
As one person put it on Reddit, “the whole conference was basically Gaga talking about and answering questions on Little Monsters’ conspiracy theories.” And Gaga was game for all of it, clad in black velvet buttoned up to her throat and ready for anything fans might throw at her — and what they often brought to her (alongside the funny conspiracies) were thoughtful, probing questions about how she makes her art. To see a pop artist at her level, an eternal A-lister whose music and aesthetic has influenced both her contemporaries and a new generation of artists, sit down with fans to hear their largely un-vetted questions about her past and future, her music and the mayhem around it… well, it felt kind of radical.
It reminded me that fandom in this brutal internet era can still be fun and supportive and good. It also reminded me of what fans and artists gain when these big names open themselves up to being asked (by fans and by journalists) about their work and persona, and yes, sometimes their personal life. Listening to Gaga’s press conference helps fans understand Mayhem better — it provides context and shape, and also puts some amount of narrative control back in Gaga’s hands.
The event also felt important to the idea of fandom at its purest — real people, in real life, talking to an artist face to face and having to own the questions they ask them. Anonymity often leads to toxicity on the internet, fans competing with other fans in weird, useless contests between artists. The atmosphere at Greenpoint Terminal was, in contrast, closer to euphoria. A raw kind of excitement at gathering with strangers who you feel bonded with because of a shared passion for the music and the person who created it.
“Events like this are the once-in-a-lifetime moments we strive to give fans. Lady Gaga was a no-brainer to partner with. She has a deep connection with her fandom — they know and understand each other, which is why we could create a space where they could have open conversations without restrictions,” Monica Damashek, head of artist & label partnerships at Spotify, tells Teen Vogue. “That’s what made this event so successful. As viewers will see, Little Monsters got to ask the questions that have been burning on the internet for years, and Gaga didn’t hold back.”
The platform has pulled off similar fan-focused gatherings for Tate McRae, The Weeknd, and Kelsea Ballerini. It’s all about, as Damashek says, “unforgettable moments of connection, both in person and online.”
At the Spotify event, Gaga was admittedly in a fairly controlled setting of super fans without access to their phones, but she’s also embarked on a rare press tour for this album, talking to a dozen or so journalists about the work and life that went into Mayhem. That all takes a sort of bravery on the part of the artist, to open yourself repeatedly to the fact that you might be misunderstood, that people might ask inappropriate (or even just hard) questions, that you might say something you didn’t mean to in a way that doesn’t feel true to who you are (or that you might inadvertently expose something of yourself that is so true there’s a pain in it). A risk that’s so clearly worth it.
Lady Gaga has always been a figure of mystery, of high art and collage and camp and playing with the illusions you might have about her or pop stars in general. It’s refreshing to see some of the curtain pulled back, so that fans and artists might see each other a bit more clearly.
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Originally posted from “teenVOGUE” by P. CLAIRE DODSON
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