Of all the PC Music artists, GFOTY has easily always been the darkest, funniest and most chaotic. From pouring cava into both her eyes on stage to killing her love-rival with a poisoned frappuccino in order to win the heart of Chad, she acts out the frenzied dream sequences that exist deep within us all. This week GFOTY returns with the video for Boy Next Door, and a new EP which is released, out tomorrow. Having left PC Music to pursue pastures new, she’s working with producer Count Baldor and a host of other music talent, a lot of whom appear in her surreal new music video. I caught up with GFOTY over some deliciously soupy linguine and a mozzarella side-salad to discuss what 2019 has in-store for my favourite villainous pop star.
Hi GFOTY. Thanks for the pasta. So, I think everyone wants to know… who is the boy next door in Boy Next Door?
I think there’s a boy next door in all of us. A nice, beautiful guy who you fall really in love with and you know, you have a good run with him. A good run. But it never works out.
How long is a good run?
You want it to be a year. In your mind it’s forever. Technically it’s probably the first two hours.
Does he have to live next door?
No no, it’s a frame of mind. It would help if he lived next door though — the one that I wrote the song about didn’t.
Ok so you met this boy next door and then what happened?
He left. The boy next door always ends up leaving.
Why? Do they want to go out with a normal, pretty girl?
That’s it. And you’re not one. Or maybe they’re going away, they always go away. Basically there’s always a reason that it never works with the boy next door.
How long did it take you to write the song?
Probably about 24 hours, I’m a very quick songwriter. It was a quick storyline and then over time we built him out into a character, you meet him in the video.
Tell me about the boys in the video.
Well one of them is Count Baldor, the producer of the song. This is the first song we worked on together and then we ended up doing the whole EP. It was fantastic, you just wait to hear it. The rest of them are people I’m close to that I find very attractive. One in particular is called DJ Fingerblast and I pass my Jungle Egg to him in the video.
Who directed the video?
The director’s name is Daddy Devito. He’s a close friend of mine and we’ve known each other for a really long time. We usually make silly birthday songs for friends and brothers, but recently we decided to do something proper together and this is what came of it.
Describe the video in three words for people who can’t watch it because they’re not connected to the wifi on the tube for example?
Chaotic, loving, disaster.
It makes me think of if Tim and Eric remade Britney, Toxic.
Yeah I see that. Tim and Eric are a big influence. I love Tim… and I love… Eric.
No one loves Eric that much
No I do. He’s got a really nice face. He’s so big.
So were they a main inspiration?
At first we were thinking about them but as the video developed I think it became less and less about them as a reference. I’m very much in to the fact that I will never say that I’m inspired by any artist or TV show or anything. I don’t like being inspired by anything, that’s why I’m very uncultured in real life. I don’t read books. I don’t watch movies. I watch the same reruns of Nathan For You and Big Brother.
Yeah it feels much newer than Tim and Eric definitely. But you do have infomercials in there, can you tell me about some of the products.
So we are selling some GFOTY Deep Throat Lozenges, just to make it an easier ride. Basically you gargle it down and it opens up the throat. It’s like poppers. It probably has a tiny bit of ketamine in there. Then we have Man-aise, which is for if you’re banging someone and can’t cum. You just dip into your bedside table and grab a handful and splatter it.
Or if you cum too quickly.
Yeah that’s it. You can keep pumping away and then: into the bedside table and splatter.
I’ll take two jars. So what’s changed since your last track came out?
I’ve left the label [PC Music] and am reconnecting with my inner GFOTY. I’m doing stuff with loads of banging artists and producers who I would have felt too shy to record with before. It’s more challenging in some ways but it’s more fun for sure. It’s quite freeing to go independent.
Tell me about the upcoming EP
The EP’s called If You Think I’m a Bitch You Should Meet GFOTY. Great name. It’s much more anarchic than my music before, it’s much more me as a 14-year-old in Camden Town. There’s less branding and more truthfulness. The whole thing is a story about meeting a guy you really like, to hating him, to him finally coming off the pedestal you had him on in the first place. There’s a lot of angst and anger.
Is there advice in there?
I wouldn’t want to give advice but I think it’s relatable. I think the song Cool in particular says a lot; it’s about when you think of someone really highly and then see them for the punk they are.
How do you want people to feel after listening to the EP?
Empowered. In quite an evil way.
Thanks, I already do.
The upcoming EP ‘If You Think I’m A Bitch You Should Meet GFOTY’ is out on Friday 12 April. Follow @GFOTY for shows, updates and selfies.