Avril Lavigne Hates Britney Spears
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Would you laugh if
someone told you modern rock radio's next star hails from
But hold your laughter because Avril Lavigne is about to defiantly kick down rock 'n' roll's doors and announce her arrival at the big party.
Not bad for a 17-year-old who went from being a high school student 10510s1822k in a small town, to signing a major label with Arista Records, to writing and recording a debut album all in the span of a year and a half.
"I'm so glad it's done. I'm so glad," says Lavigne. "I've definitely grown a lot in that whole period - especially as a person."
The long road
Lavigne has managed to traverse in an alarmingly short period of time is the
stuff of dreams. After sending around a videotape of herself
singing and performing, Lavigne got a reply from Nettwerk Records, expressing
an interest in working a demo deal with her. It was the ticket out of
small-town
Sounds simple enough, except the fates had something different in mind for Lavigne.
"One day, someone from Arista came by the studio and heard me and wanted to bring "LA" Reid (president of Arista) to come hear me," she continues. "I sang a couple of songs for him and he wanted to sign me right away. I wasn't even shopping for a deal! That doesn't happen very often. I mean, sometimes bands take 10 years to get a deal! So I was very, very, very lucky."
What had Reid and the rest of the Arista label all excited about, is Lavigne's fresh blend of spunky edginess and naive charm. And a voice that is equal parts Natalie Imbruglia and Lisa Loeb's poppy, sweetness and Alanis Morissette and Courtney Love's poignantly venomous, biting petulance. All rolled into a dirty blonde, blue-eyed, skater punk princess package that's sure to have the boys want her and the girls want to be her. It's suggested that one day Lavigne might have to deal with the pressures of being a role model for young girls just like her.
"It won't really make me change," she says. "I'm not worried about what other people say. I'm just going to be myself. I'm not going to try to pretend I'm someone else. I'm not a bad person. I like to have fun and I like to be myself. Hopefully, people will see that."
Just don't expect her to be another Britney Spears. "I mean, the way she dresses - would you walk around the street in a fuckin' bra?" she asks rhetorically. "I'm not trying to dis anyone, but with me, the clothes I wear onstage are the clothes I would wear to school or go shopping. I'm not gonna go up onstage and dress different. Britney Spears goes up onstage and dresses like a showgirl. She's not being herself up there because she's dancing like a ho. Is she ho? She says she's a virgin. Y'know, it's just not clicking. She's doing one thing and saying another thing, y'know? It's definitely not what I'm going to do."
So while Lavinge ponders her upcoming success, she remains grounded. With a level of maturity that belies her teenage years, she is about to face the inevitable maelstrom that comes with the release of her debut album. A collection of punky, but poppy rock 'n' roll songs delivered with a voice that can be precious and tender one minute and acerbic the next, Let Go has a chance to win fans over from all kinds of music tastes. It's an album that officially announces Avril Lavigne's arrival at the big dance. She's from Napanee, Ontario. Anyone laughing now?
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