New Katy's Interview for The Daily Telegraph

CK: Katy, is it hard maintaining high-profile relationships with high-profile men?

KP: (Sighs) I think it can be for a modern woman. I always thought you could have a relationship and success.

For a modern woman it’s important to be supported and that there is equality in every aspect. And it’s not two halves that make a whole. It’s two wholes that make a whole.

CK: Does the time involved in touring inevitably take its toll?

KP: Touring is important to me. It’s like a big IOU to my fans because I know they are the reason I exist … I’ve always been ambitious since I was nine years old. That was never going to change. I’ve always stuck to my guns. If I’m going to continue to be who I was born to be and, if there is no accepting of me, you aren’t allowed to be a part of me. I’m not saying I’ll always be on tour but it’s my life.

CK: What kind of responsibility do you feel towards your fans?

KP: I just want people to feel they can be themselves and they don’t need any kind of accessory to make them them. That’s why, when I did Part Of Me, it was important to me to keep in some of the more unflattering shots in the film to show that, at the end of the day, I’m just a normal girl with a big dream. And I worked hard to achieve it. I wanted them to know they don’t have to be born into something or born with something. They don’t need to have a material position to make them them. A lot of times people’s perception of me is that I’m perfect from the moment I walk out the door. That’s not the case. I think my peers might be a little scared of that. (Laughs)

CK: You’ve always been known for having a certain amount of swagger. Did you always know you were going to be successful?

KP: Yes, I always knew it, it was blind ambition. This is what I am doing. Nothing and no one is going to get in my way. I’ve always had that mindset. My creative faucet doesn’t stop. I like putting all the things, all the lessons I have learned, and all the things I’m inspired by into songs.

CK: Are you still religious?

KP: I haven’t turned away from everything I learned when I was growing up. My moral compass is still intact. I try to make decisions with integrity and respect. People always used to ask how do you go from a gospel record to I Kissed A Girl? But I’ve always been an open person. Even in my faith growing up I would always ask questions. I was never narrow minded. The landscape then was black and white and then I found the colour. It was a metamorphosis but I’m still an insect of sorts. (Smiles)

CK: You’ve had some tough times in your relationships. Are you thinking about children and motherhood at all these days?

KP: I’m still growing up, I’m still learning about myself. When I become a mother I just want to become a mother and be dedicated to that.

CK: When you were married to Russell Brand, did the fact that he is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict create something of a divide between you given that you like to party?

KP: No, not really. I love to go out, celebrate, have a cocktail or two or three but only when it’s appropriate. If I’m on tour I have a responsibility to my fans to behave. People are always looking for answers to pin those things down. But my attitude is: “Only forward, never back.”

CK: Have you spoken to Brand at all since your divorce?

KP: He hasn’t spoken to me since he texted me saying he was filing for divorce. I don’t want to talk about him — my songs will say what I need to say.

CK: You seem to have rebounded very strongly from heartbreak over the last several years. Are you stronger than ever?

KP: I’m one of those people that likes to be fearless. We bungee-jumped in New Zealand on one tour. We go to water-parks and do things like that because I have a little fearless invincibility streak in me. I don’t like to live in fear because that traps you and your voices. Fear is a control tactic in the world that is negative and depressing and I don’t want to be associated with it.

CK: Having been burned in the past by romantic failure, do you have any trepidations when it comes to falling in love again?

KP: No, absolutely not. I’m excited by whatever it brings. I’m excited by my own evolution.

I don’t want to end up bittersweet. I have to evolve, I have to continue to push people’s perceptions of me. As an artist I like to do that, keep people on the edge of their seats.

CK: Do you still have the cat that you and Russell Brand called Rusty as an amalgamation of your names?

KP: I still have the cat. But I’ve changed her name to Monkey.

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