Ava Max, tomorrow is another day

This article is published in issue 50 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until 12 December 2022

List of necessary things that make a singer today a pop star:
1. A catchphrase song that enters the Spotify viral chart and from there takes the charts all over the world.
2. A record-confession on the end of a great love.
3. The frequent and bold changes of look, which only a pop star can afford.

Ava Maxborn Amanda Ava Koci 28 years ago, has just returned to platinum blonde, yesterday she sported a very coppery brown, the day before yesterday a fiery red, tomorrow who knows, maybe the unforgettable again half helmet (short hair on one side and long hair on the other). Even if you may not (re)know it, there is an absolute certainty that you have listened the single that, in 2018, consecrated her as the new Lady Gaga, Sweet But Psychoon gas lighting and the way some men make women think they are crazy or psychopathic.
In the Milan offices of Warner, which distributes in Italy his second album Diamonds & Dancefloors, on the relationship with the ex “that drained me emotionally”, Ava Max looks more like the actress Anya Taylor-Joy. She’s a hot but sweet little fellow, wearing a little black dress and not afraid to share her pain.

Was it a toxic relationship?
“I wouldn’t call it that. It’s that at a certain point we were no longer a first person plural and it was heartbreaking for me: one still wanted to work on it, try to save the couple, the other didn’t; one wanted to fight, the other wanted to give up. Piece of the disc One of Us it’s just about that. In reality, the whole album is the anatomy of a breakup, and of a broken heart that slowly mends itself and becomes stronger. In Million Dollar Baby in fact I sing: “I broke the chains, I turned fire into rain”, to remind myself that, even if I felt oppressed by sadness, then I freed myself and became myself again. You can overcome and achieve anything when you put your mind to it».

Did it come natural for you to translate suffering into music?
“Yup. I started from Diamonds & Dancefloors, which gives the album its title, more or less at the end of the first wave of covid. At the beginning of the pandemic, I really couldn’t write, I was blocked”.

Did the breakup unlock her?
«It has distorted my perception of everything, it has even distorted my relationship with hair. And it felt like the only thing I could write about. In a year and a half the album was ready».

And is she ready to fall in love again? Maybe it already is?
“I’m single at the moment and I’m looking for someone who’s incredibly nice and funny, who doesn’t stand upright and think they’re better than me.”

Do you want children?
“Five, maybe more. I want to have my own and adopt some».

Does he come from a large family?
«No, there are four of us: me, my mother, my father and my brother. My parents are of Albanian origin: they fled the war, they lived in a church in Paris for a year until they managed to go to America, to Wisconsin, without money, without knowing the language, without anything. I was born there, in Milwaukee, but I grew up in Virginia.”

Childhood memories?
“The woods, the piano and Whitney Houston. I discovered music very early, basically it’s in my blood: dad is a pianist, mom is a lyric soprano, her voice can break windows, and I used to sing with her all the time, in the basement we did karaoke and sang I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)».

What was her hair like as a child?
«Curly and voluminous».

When did she go from the basement to a real stage?
«At the age of nine I began to participate in singing competitions and everyone asked me: “You trained a lot, didn’t you?”. Answer: no! At one, after I performed Alicia Keys’ Fallin’, a judge freaked out and at that moment I thought, “If she’s reacting like this I must be good. It’s time to continue.” I exhausted all the contests they organized in my area, like Radio Disney. I also took part in Talent Rock in Florida, which is a huge competition with thousands of people. At 14 my parents sold their house and we moved to California – there was no more racing for me on the east coast. However, Los Angeles was not exactly what we hoped for and in the end we returned to South Carolina. School also went badly in LA: it seemed that no one wanted to take care of a little girl who had just arrived and so my mother decided to let me study at home. Even in middle school in Virginia, I had problems.”

What kind of problems?
“I was bullied. One day she asked me to meet in the bathroom to talk and when I introduced myself she stuck my head down the toilet. I yelled, I was shocked and kept yelling in the corridor, and for that I was expelled. I then went to a private Christian school. When I think about it, I get chills. Despite everything, I was a good student, but I always told my teachers – especially the science teacher – that I would become a singer and go to California. In fact, I returned to Los Angeles at the age of 17 with my brother».

Is it true that he lived on $20 a week working at Hollister and at a hair straightening stand in a mall?
“It’s been hard and I’ve made so many sacrifices… To get into music you need to have connections, it’s really rare that someone says to you: ‘Hey, you sing amazing, you deserve a contract'”.

How did she get those leads?
“Attending bootcamps, where, after I wrote a song that worked, they asked me to write another hundred.”

And then came the hit Sweet But Psycho.
“It turned my life upside down: first I was in the studio all day recording, suddenly I started traveling the world, just me who had never left the United States!”.

Had she never been to Albania?
«No, although I feel Albanian. I still have relatives there: they are affectionate, generous, talkative and cook a lot».

What relationship does it have with fame?
“I don’t like. I hate cameras, I hate spotlights: even on stage I don’t want lights, I prefer to stay in the shadows and in the dark to feel at one with my fans».

You wouldn’t think… Do you like yourself?
«I’m a bit hard on myself, yet I can’t train consistently and eat what I want: only when I understand that I’m exaggerating, I go back in line for a moment and prefer fish, vegetables… and I avoid the waffle I just had . You see, the point is one: I’m not capable of doing the same things every day. It’s why I change my hair color based on my mood and I don’t have a good relationship with social networks».

You explain.
“I know it’s good to have to post regularly, especially to keep in touch with my followers, but it’s just repetitiveness that isn’t my strong suit. There’s another thing I don’t appreciate about social media: one day they give space to an important topic and the next day it’s already forgotten. We should always talk about certain issues, and not once a year: this applies, for example, to environmental awareness. One should also not believe a priori what one reads: in fact I try to find out if it’s all true, dig into it, investigate further».

What would you like to learn more about now?
“The acting. I’m thinking of becoming an actress, slowly, in small steps. I’m not ready yet.”

His favorite movies?
«Those of the nineties: Young witches, pulp Fiction And Cruel Intentions – First rule don’t fall in love».

The last series you watched?
“The crazy first season of The White Lotus».

Next hair color?
“Who knows. Tomorrow is another day”.

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