Glitter, Angel Wings and Cocaine: Diving Into The Gospel According to Meg Smith
Blasphemy, Jesus Christ in a mini skirt, what does it all mean? Pop singer Meg Smith knows and is here to share The Gospel According to Meg Smith. Her latest album is a remarkable body of work that knows no boundaries and bares all.
PHOTOS BY EMILY ENTZ
Within this album, Smith uses religion as a metaphor, calling herself a combination of Hannah Montana and Mary Magdalene. Between religious iconography and upbeat pop, this title truly hits the nail on the head.
When asked about her creative direction within this new era of music, she tells Pleaser, “I first started playing around with religion as a metaphor in my music with ‘jesus christ in a mini skirt.’ Without thinking about it, I realized a lot of the music I was writing had religious imagery in it. Suddenly, I had a collection of songs that all fit within this world.”
And not only is Smith incorporating religious imagery in her music, but in her outfits and visuals as well. The signature Meg Smith look is as follows: pink eyebrows, blue eyeshadow, sparkly pink lipstick, angel wings and an extra sparkly outfit to match. Of course, you can’t forget the halo.
“When it came to the visuals for this project, I wanted to use religious iconography in a way that still felt very playful,” she said. “I was on Pinterest looking at bedazzled hot pink crosses and pastel statues of the Virgin Mary. I first wore angel wings and a halo on stage in Chicago opening up for Baby Queen, and the photos looked so cool after that I just felt the whole picture come together in my mind.”
This led us to wonder what her original glamorous looks were inspired by. As a fan of highly curated glamour and whimsy herself, Smith says, “I definitely take a lot of inspiration from movies. My favorite thing in the world is going to the movie theater. I grew up on a lot of classic movies with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers. Movies like White Christmas, Holiday Inn and Singin’ in the Rain.”
After a successful touring period supporting MisterWives and Zolita, we were thrilled to hear about her experience and the lessons learned throughout. Smith’s performance on stage is just a fraction of the hard work she’s doing behind the scenes.
“Touring is really fun, and also so challenging. I’d be sitting in the van bedazzling CDs to sell at the show, then hot gluing little sparkly crosses to my outfits and spending an hour on makeup each night,” she said.
“I’m the kind of person who if one thing is out of place, I can get really overwhelmed really fast. But on tour, you need to roll with the punches because so much is out of your control and you’re running on such little sleep. But, it was so rewarding to talk to all the fans each night and hear how my music has impacted them. Especially being on tour with Zolita, because she creates such a safe space for the queer community in each city she plays. Growing up, I didn’t see many queer/bisexual female pop musicians, so it was really special to be welcomed into these spaces with open arms.”
PHOTOS BY EMILY ENTZ
Diving further into the album, singles like “cupids on cocaine” and “you fake your british accent” piqued my interest. After Smith shared online that “you fake your british accent” was based on real events, we had to learn more.
“I randomly matched with a girl on Bumble BFF, and when we met up to get coffee she was like, ‘Wait, did you date my old roommate?’ Turns out, it was the same guy and she had heard him talk about me in the past. She was the one who told me his normal voice didn’t sound British at all. She even met the rest of his family and said none of them have accents! It was crazy.”
After this unique experience, the title “cupids on cocaine” only made more sense. On the origin of the track, Smith shared, “I came up with the title for the song first. The thought of Cupid being addicted to coke sort of made me laugh, but I liked the idea of writing a more serious song within this concept. When it comes to my sexuality and being bisexual, love has always been confusing to me. I’ve dated a lot of men who made me feel really bad about myself, but I convinced myself that the anxiety I felt was butterflies. I’ve had a lot of crushes on girls over the years that I would bury deep down and feel ashamed around.”
Millions can relate to the topics within Smith’s music, and she has carefully crafted a community of love and understanding. So, what happens when she steps outside of her community and is faced with men in the music industry as a queer woman?
“There have been a lot of moments in my career where I’m literally sitting at a table of all men, or mostly men, and trying to explain my music to them. I’ve been in a lot of situations where men assume I don’t write my own songs or come up with my own marketing ideas. There’s just an underlying assumption that I must have a team of men behind me making decisions.
At my live shows, I often have men come up to me and just start giving me unsolicited career advice. It’s so patronizing. I think a lot of people assume I just hop on stage, sing a few silly songs and that’s all I do. Not like I’m coming up with each song concept, helping produce the songs, coming up with the marketing and content strategies and way more.”
As Smith continues to stand her ground and show those who have doubted her that she is perfectly capable of doing everything on her own, her music grows with her and is proof of her capabilities. The Gospel According to Meg Smith is a triumph, and this is surely not the last time you’ll be hearing her name.
