Isabella Lovestory is a creation all her own. The Honduran-born artist who spent time in the United States and then Montreal growing up, has fashioned herself into a pop star of her own imagining. After initially idolising the likes of Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani, Lovestory has built her own image as an aesthetic-forward (have you heard “Fashion Freak” or “Kitten Heels”?), sexually empowered and femme-centric voice disrupting the often narrow sound of reggaeton with a dose of experimental pop.
Lovestory represents a banner under which supposed outsiders and outcasts have often rallied: her shows are a stomping ground for queer latine freaks and so-called weirdos, or frankly anyone in favour of the cuntier things in life. And it makes sense, as those are communities she herself is a part of.
“I’ve always been a part of this community and I’ve always wanted to speak up for people that don’t have a voice,” says Isabella, who has been given names like “bicon” and “Latina Gaga” by fans. “Especially being from Honduras, I think it’s super important to represent the community and let them know that we’re out here and you can do anything you set your mind to. Don’t let yourself be made to feel weird or that you’re not a part of this beautiful world.”
From her first song that she recorded inspired by her cat – she finds them elegant, mysterious, independent and slightly clumsy all at once – to some of her latest inspired by … well very important pussies, Lovestory’s tracks are about not taking themselves too seriously. But she’s also keen to offer new perspective without breaking it down for those who don’t get it: ”I don’t have time to explain myself, this life is too short,” she quips.
All this manifests itself in tracks that are as varied as the camp hysteria that is ‘Botoxxx’ and the flip of expectations that is the sapphic lust on ‘Gateo’. In that queer anthem, men become dogs and women become cats as Isabella raps lines like “Tu gata ya está harta de besarte / Por eso viene hacia mi to’as las tardes / Las dos nos ponemo’ a ronronear.” (Your cat is already sick of kissing you / That’s why she comes to see me every night / So we can both get to purring.) “In reggaeton, it’s always about putting the girl as the prop but in ‘Gateo’ I was saying ‘no, the props can have fun together and we don’t need you,’” Lovestory says.
Here, we talk to Isabella about the creation of Lovestory, how Tumblr rewired her brain, and building a fan base so supportive they’ll make her tour wardrobe.
Your career as a pop artist started as an art project. Can you talk to me about the specifics of that?
I was always more into visual art so I studied art when I went to university. I was doing pretty good, doing shows here and there. But the art world is so bleak. I didn’t want to be inside a gallery with white walls and fluorescent light. I wanted to make my art more accessible and music, to me, is the most accessible art form. I’m also multidisciplinary as an artist and, with being a pop star, you have all those things in one: music, fashion, art work, videos, editing.
I had this multimedia class where I was doing more video editing. I decided to do a music video for the class but I needed music to do it. So I started Isabella Lovestory as a pop star to unite all these mediums. But I realised I actually like music and I’m not bad at it. Plus I needed money.
Has that initial creation changed over time or is it now just a more complex version of what you started as?
I think it’s a more complex version for sure. It’s an evolution. That was an easy way for me to start because I didn’t have any rules. I had no music background so I just did whatever I wanted. Out of that came experimental music and things I wasn’t seeing being done in reggaeton particularly. I feel like having that sense of carelessness and freedom just made me have more fun with it and be fearless. And really it’s just been an evolution from that birth. I’ve learned the hard truths of the industry but I’m still trying to have fun.
How important was having reggaeton as a central component of the music even though you’re blending genres?
It was important to me because I grew up with reggaeton, being from Honduras. So it was my favourite music growing up and is such an integral part of my culture and who I am. Also, being in Canada I was like, everything there was so boring to me. I wanted to show people where I was from and what I am. Plus the reggaeton world is still run by very, very straight, almost white men. At least what we see, like Daddy Yankee and stuff like that, it’s a very male-dominated genre. So I wanted to put my voice in there. I thought it just needed to be experimented with.
How have you found the industry’s reception to that experimentation?
It’s been amazing! I feel like people who feel weird and outcast in their own countries feel connected to me. So I have a lot of young queer people, artsy queer people and queer people in general who come up to me at my shows and tell me that I represent them. They tell me they look up to me because I’m doing something they want to do. I love inspiring those kids, especially in the Latin communities which are still very restricted.
It makes me happy to know I’ve made a lot of kids feel represented and seen. Especially at my shows, seeing them calling me the Latina Gaga, I’m like, ‘Oh my god, yes.’ Of course at the same time there’s people that are like, ‘Who is this girl? What the fuck is she doing? She’s so weird.’ But I don’t care about being misunderstood, I just want to be me. Whoever likes it, likes it and whoever doesn’t can look away. I’ve tried to make myself understood and there’s still a misunderstanding, so why not just go the most eccentric route and do what you want.
"People need some manners. They need to learn how to have boundaries. I’m not saying I want to be groped by a million people and I want to be stalked"
You mentioned all of these outcasts and I know you were really into Tumblr growing up – it’s kind of interesting because Tumblr was always really great for those groups as well.
Absolutely! Were you on Tumblr?
I was! And looking at your visuals it does feel very child of Tumblr-esque. Do you make that mental connection?
Totally. I feel like Tumblr completely rewired my brain and how I work. I do a lot of research and a lot of collages and curation for my visuals. Tumblr was a very visual type of learning and you had so much freedom to look up whatever you wanted. I feel like that’s sort of missing now in the youth, they don’t go out and research it’s more of everything is fed to them. But researching, making mood boards and being a very visual person on the internet has definitely stuck with me from Tumblr.
Also that sense of community! You would connect first with the visuals of people and then you had that, ‘Oh my god we’re all weirdos. Let’s rule the internet.’ Also all my best friends I met from Tumblr.
But that extends to your collaborators also right? It’s not Tumblr but you met Chicken through the internet as well right?
Yeah, I met him through Instagram. I’m a very Internet girl. I feel like without it I don’t know what I would have done because I didn’t study music and I wasn’t a nepo baby. It really helped me to be this person. People still think I have millions of people making my art and like it’s just me and my little pencil. So the Internet has been a very good place to build fantasy and connect with people.
Is the visual always a part of a project from the inception for you?
Yeah, definitely. I think of the lyrics and the themes of the song visually before anything else. I love movies and cinema and I’m a very cinematic person so every song I want to be a little movie. My albums as well. Or maybe they are different rooms in a house. Maybe it’s because I have ADHD but this is how I think of things. Always visual, cinematic, with a lore and full of colour and fantasy. It just gives me freedom to do everything I want when I put all that abstract chaos into one thing.
You’ve mentioned how Isabella Lovestory is an exaggeration of your actual personality but also the purest expression and that reminds me a lot of how people refer to their drag personas.
Totally! It’s all cinematic, going out in the world in this fearless persona that you always wanted to be as a child. You go and you decorate it to the fullest and you feel so good in it. It’s not something you do every day because you don’t want to put on the wig and the makeup every day but it’s like a celebration or a ritual for your purest inner child. It’s something you sort of look up. I totally feel like I’m doing drag whenever I go on stage. I can be completely naked and I still feel like I’m doing drag – it’s about the philosophy.
Right before your first tour, you lost all of your luggage which had your wardrobe in it and your fans ended up sending in a bunch of stuff for you to wear. Did you ever imagine you would ever have that level of support from fans?
Oh my God, you have no idea. I was saying to myself this is so good for my movie or my autobiography but it was not good for me in real life. Like it’s so good for a tragic moment in a movie but horrible to experience. It was my first tour and I had done all the costumes myself, like sewing them myself. I had designed about 10 costumes – some of it was old looks I was remixing. I had it all in my luggage with a few really cute vintage stuff that I’ll never get back. And it all got stolen a day before my first show.
It felt like a fated event like karma was being put on me or lifted. It just felt like I had to find the lesson in it. Then all of these people just started sending me clothes and fans were making me clothes that they wanted to see me wear onstage. It just strengthened the community because they would come up after and introduce themselves. I also learned that like with any material loss you realise you don’t need it at the end. You can perform naked and just use your inner glam to do your thing.
I think that’s true but also you’re an artist with songs like ‘Fashion Freak’ and ‘Kitten Heels,’ so aesthetics definitely mean a lot.
Exactly! That’s it! What was crazy is that I was just like who am I any more? But I also have another song called ‘Exibisionista’ where I’m just covered in glitter and that’s my outfit.
What do you attribute that close connection with your fans to?
I think they see me as a friend, kind of. They get me and they see me as someone they are rooting for because they see themselves in me. They know that I’m not inaccessible. They see the freak and the weirdo in me and they want to help me. Maybe.
"You can perform naked and just use your inner glam to do your thing"
You’ve mentioned accessibility a few times but I’m curious do you ever feel like things are maybe a little too accessible.
People need some manners. They need to learn how to have boundaries. I’m not saying I want to be groped by a million people and I want to be stalked. There needs to be more respect from the stans with just how they are so entitled. I totally agree. I try not to go on Twitter because people are so entitled with their popstars. There needs to be that boundary and a respect for artists that I think is missing. They are just like “give me a song right now.” It’s hard.
I think the accessibility I’m talking about is more about being humble and grounded. I want to access people through my music and my performance instead of having to sit down and talk to them. Because I’m actually pretty introverted.
Has your career changed how introverted you are?
It has. I feel like I’m more introverted now. Since this is my job and I’m so exposed and I’m putting my heart out there, and being truly possessed on stage. It’s draining, so I feel like I don’t want to go to parties any more, I just want to sleep because I’m sleep deprived.
But it’s a little of both. I feel like I can handle social situations better if I have to. If I’m with my friends I’ll enjoy it and I’m super confident. But [my career] has made me appreciate my bed and my pets. I’ve seen a lot of people not take care of themselves and become a shell of a person and not make the best decisions. Especially artists.
