by Kenneth Morton

Jeffree Star (pictured here with his drummer Tommy) is not afraid to break down barriers, and has inspired many of his fans to pursue their own unique senses of individuality. With an upcoming album entitled Beauty Killer about to break out and incessant touring about to take place, Star is destined to be known for more than just a Myspace personality. We spoke with Jeffree Star at the Warped Tour Kick Off party to find out more about this compelling young artist…

You’ve done makeup for Paris Hilton and Kelly Osborne?
It was really fun, yeah. I was 18 – I lied about my age all the time. And I started doing makeup for a few celebrities and it really caught on – and everyone liked my skill. I made a great living before I started doing music.

Were you ever nervous when you started to work on like a Paris Hilton?
No. I feel like I was really jaded at a young age. I never really cared who anyone was. I was just there to do my job and have fun.

At which point did you decide you wanted to pursue music?
Just having my friends who do music around me all of the time – I have a lot of band friends. From watching so many live shows, I was like, “I should be in front of the camera instead of behind it.”

Have you ever received anything on Myspace from a fan that touched or inspired you?
A death threat – no, I’m just kidding. Honestly, I get thousands of emails everyday from people around the world that say that I inspire them to be themselves – to not care what anyone thinks. And I think that at the end of day, that’s all that it’s about. So many bands like this rock-star lifestyle – they like to party and get wasted and fuck groupies. I don’t care about any of that. I’m just here to have fun and live my life and if I inspire people along the way, then that’s amazing!

How do you approach people who have more unusual reactions towards you?
Honestly, nothing fazes me at this point. I get death threats all the time – like “If you play in my city, I’m gonna kill you.” But I’m still alive, I have a million fans and everything is going great with me. There’s always going to be haters when you’re doing something right. If people didn’t hate me, then I’d be worried.

What are you guys going to do to prepare to go on the first month of the Warped Tour? You were on like the first week last year…
Yeah, I honestly thought it was going to be really bad, but it’s not. We have an air-conditioned bus and 500 pounds of makeup – we’re great!

When is the full length CD coming out?
Hopefully, the end of July – tentatively. We have a lot of really cool guests on it, like Cobra Starship and the singer from Alkaline Trio – it’s really cool – and it’s really different from my old stuff. It’s like Britney Spears meets Slayer.

You have your own record label now?
It’s Popsicle Records through Warner Music Group. I was just tired of so many different record labels offering me shitty deals. And (Warner’s) gave me a deal of have my own label – to run it myself – I do all the work and hire people and it’s going great.

Are you going to be signing other bands to your label?
Yes, that’s the plan. I want to become an entrepreneur, like Pete Wendt. So right now I’m focusing on my CD; then I’ll focus on other people.

What are you looking for when you sign other bands?
A hit song.

I wanted to ask you about Proposition 8. What do you think kids could do with their anger for the passage of Prop 8?
I think that so many people are just afraid to just speak up. I’ve heard some celebrities like Kid Rock who say, “I’m a celebrity – I’m not suppose to have a voice.” It’s like, “Yeah, you are!” If you have a million people listening to what you have to say, then you should say something, because it does influence people. So I think talking more freely and not being afraid would help a lot.

You had a blog about Chris Brown and Rhianna. Tell me about that blog and what made you write that?
It just makes me so angry. I’m sure Rhianna is cool. But if you have a million people looking up to you, and if you make a shitty choice, people are going to judge you. And when you’re beaten by your boyfriend, and it’s on the news number one everywhere – and you get back with the guy who beat you and bit you and punched you in the face – it makes you seem like a big douche bag. And it just really angered me, so I asked people their stories – and there’s over 4,000 comments of women that are like, “I love my boyfriend, but he hits me.” And it’s like so fucking wake up! I guess I have such a strong personality – I would never let that happen. I would pull out my glock and go “Pop! Pop!”

Do you have any messages for your fans in the Los Angeles area?
Be ready, because ’09 is Jeffree Star’s year!

Jeffree Star links

Jeffree Star on Myspace: The Official Myspace Page for Miss Jeffree Star!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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