La Dolce Musto
The Village Voice * October 29, 2008
by Michael Musto

...Another reflecting-shade wearer, Lady Gaga is the new Roísín Murphy. She's the high-tech singer of "Just Dance" (off the CD The Fame), not to mention a downtown regular who played clubs and wrote for the Pussycat Dolls while aiming to change the world "one sequin at a time." She's doing just that. Last week alone, Gaga appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's show, clinched a song on Britney's CD, and, most impressively of all, got to talk to my own iconic self. Our chat went like so:

Me: "Congrats on your success, darling." Gaga: "Finally!" Me: "Huh? What are you, 21?" Gaga: "22. I've been doing this since I was little. I dropped out of college and at 18 lived on the Lower East Side and played every freakin' club. I had to hustle so hard." Me: "I'm still hustling. Were you disciplined way back then or did you party hardy?" Gaga: "I went through phases. There was a time where I'd do a lot of drugs and write music, and there were times when I locked myself in my studio and drank green tea." Me: "Blech! Give me heroin any time. Anyway, your fame obsession. Is it tongue-in-cheek or for real?" Gaga: "It's both. Sometimes I'm saying it's poisonous; sometimes I'm saying it's a dream. I was a 19-year-old trying to make music in an underground culture that thinks pop is lowbrow. So I ended up analyzing what we all have in common - that we're all pretty star-struck. What we have as downtown New Yorkers is a sense of inner fame and a passion about our art that makes us feel famous even without having it. No one knows who I am in certain parts of the world, but I get followed by cameras. Everyone wants to know who I am." Me: "Especially the gays. You worship us right back, don'tcha?" Gaga: "Of course. My gay fans are the reason I'm being played on the radio. . . . They're the reason for everything." Me: "You're welcome! Have you ever dabbled in lesbianism?" Gaga: "Of course! I don't have time to be straight every night. I don't have time to be anything every night. I'm a free spirit. I fall in love with people."...