9 blasted off for planetChromaticalast year.
It was wildly confusing.
What a f—ed up time to drop a record.
DJ White Shadow discusses ‘ARTPOP: Act II.'.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
In the way that it gets pushed out, the numbers don’t always reflect how it went down.
That record was in upwards of 3 million in sales.
She was like, “I got the name for the next record.
I just got done three days ago!
That’s when we started working on it.
There were different people coming in and out…. we had many different versions.
“Applause” didn’t end up being the first single until way later.
What, specifically, were you referencing?
It was a moving target.
When “Applause” came out, it didn’t go to No.
1 right away; “Born This Way’ went to No.
1 right off the jump.
We were all kind of freaked out.
You said it left you with trauma.
I never wanted to make another record for the rest of my life once that was done.
It was so bad.
I look like I’m 150 years old.
I slept in Record Plant for a month.
What got you back into it?
I did some good stuff [with other artists] and whenA Star Is Borngot started, she called.
Mark Ronson is a friend of mine [but] I was happy to sit it out.
We talked all the time.
Yeah, of course!
I struggle with my identity as a forward-facing person sometimes.
I thought it’d be fun to make up a name and be a dick for minute.
How close did you actually get to releasing it back then?
I think we made enough to do two records.
It was probably on an idea list…. We probably talked about it.
We had enough records to do it.
I was happy to get that record out.
People assume it was a project ready to go.
Of the many songs that were discussed, do you have a favorite from theAct IIvault, then?
I hadn’t listened toARTPOPin three years before this all happened…
I listened to some of the tracks and honestly, it’s good stuff.
It still holds up.
[But] it’s not like, “This is a good song!
Let’s put it on the internet!”
You have to send it to the whole factory.
Sonically, are these songs in line with what we hear onARTPOP?
Yeah, very much.ARTPOPis kind of all over the place to begin with, so what really does fit?
They’re conceptually well thought out, cool ideas….
There were a lot of different sonic directions, so I don’t know what surprises people anymore.
Lyrically, what story did those songs tell?
It’s tough for me to talk about lyrics.
If her and I were sitting next to each other, I would totally talk about it.
But I don’t want to step on her like that.
I can tell you that they’re both good songs.
Thereisa song called “Onion Girl.”
So, she wanted to make changes!
At the end of the day, it’s her art.
It’s not up to me to say no.
I would never say no.
Let’s get this thing out the way she wants to get it together!
I see that happen 500 times, and you guys get to see it once.
That’s a microcosm of how albums work.
People still ask: Do you know if the long-rumored “Venus” music video actually happened?
I don’t know that!
When they shot that video for “G.U.Y.”
There’s a super possibility that it did, but I have no idea.
You’ve played snippets of “Tea” on the road.
I asked before I did that.
I reproduced part of it.
There were also rumors that Azealia Banks andRihannacollaborated on a song called “Ratchet.”
I don’t have it, if she did.
I remember hearing the Azealia Banks stuff, but I don’t have any of it either.
How quickly after that did your conversations with Gaga kick up again, relating to the potentialAct IIrelease?
She wasshooting [House of Gucci]when this happened.
At the beginning I was like, “Oh s—, look at this petition!”
And she was like, “Oh, cool.”
Neither one of us said anything for a couple of weeks.
After it took off she was like, “Holy f—, what is this!?”
Then we were both talking for a minute.
Did you talk with her about it after she got back from filming?
We haven’t yet.
I’m working on another crazy project right now.
I don’t know.
I always have an interest in working with her, and I won’t speakforher….
I think there’s an interest in doing stuff.
We work well together.
If we were to work together again, we would go over these old files.
Would we call itARTPOP: Act II?
I don’t know.
Whatever she wants to call it, that’s what we’ll call it.
If she does want to do something, she’ll be the first to say something.
If everybody keeps asking for it, maybe it’ll happen.
No, it wasn’t theChromaticademos.
We worked on some stuff.
We stated working on stuff beforeChromaticahappened and we didn’t finish it yet.
We’ll see what happens!
How did you feel when Gaga tweeted “I don’t rememberARTPOP” a few years ago?
That drove fans crazy!
Everybody gets analytical about every syllable!
You’re waiting on bated breath for stuff, I get it.
Take everything with a grain of salt.
People are filled with love and talent over here.
She’s smart and awesome about what she does, and cares deeply about everybody that cares about her!
When it’s time for something, it’ll be time for something.
She’s the captain of the ship.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
