Star Apps: Berlin's Terri Nunn
Seminal new-wave band Berlin has returned to a more electronic sound on its latest release, "Animal," which the band is currently supporting on tour. Part '80s synthpop, part contemporary EDM, the record should appeal to nostalgia seekers and current club kids alike. The racy title track is as sultry as band classics "Sex (I'm a...)" and "Pleasure Victim." Vocalist Terri Nunn talks about the move back to electronica; the successes and failures of her platinum-selling, Oscar-winning band (for "Take My Breath Away" from "Top Gun"); her sex symbol status and posing for "Penthouse" at 16; why she won't work with women; and her favorite apps.
Berlin is touring Animal nationwide this spring.
(Credit: Mad Ink PR)
After releasing several rock records, you've returned to an electronic sound on "Animal." Why?
In January 2012, I started an electronically oriented radio show on KCSN, and that really opened my eyes and my ears to everything going on electronically. I knew a little bit about what was going on, but that forced me to listen to everything to program my show.
So many artists inspired me to no end, from Skrillex to Metric to Armin van Buuren. There was so much amazing, unique music going on, because EDM was taking it and sexing it up, and I really got excited.
I heard that a lot of these artists were using sounds that we started with: the Roland TR-808 drum machine and Prophet-5 synthesizer sounds. It was inspiring to me, because I thought Berlin, in its roots, was not far off from what's happening now, so I could create music that keeps the sound that we're known for and bring in more cutting-edge sounds that I like -- that we can introduce to fans, too.
Spice up your day with Berlin's "Animal" video.
Speaking of inspirations, you've done such amazing covers throughout your career, from Peter Gabriel's "Big Time" to an electronic version of "Somebody to Love" on the new album. Do you have any exciting covers planned?
A song that I love to sing and I always sing in sound check is Massive Attack's "Teardrop." So maybe that one.
Why did you go in a rock direction in the first place?
Because I never had. I had grown up listening to all types of music, from Bowie to T. Rex to Zeppelin to Fleetwood Mac to Heart. When Berlin happened, I was really lucky, because I was 18 when I met John Crawford, and that [new wave] sound was a really different sound that wasn't happening yet. Then it took off, so I never really got to explore the other side of music that I liked, which is the rock side. So I pushed Berlin to do that, and now I don't think that was the best idea.
John resisted it, and we eventually broke up because we couldn't agree on anything. Now I think he was right that going that far from what Berlin was by the third album was just alienating, where people were like, "What the f*ck is this? Is it rock or is it new wave?" So people got confused.
I didn't have the direction or a partner that wanted to do it, but I think in hindsight, to unify it the way Trent Reznor did with industrial, which utilized rock and electronic -- that would have worked well. But we didn't and then broke up in '86 or '87.
Do you still talk to John and the other original members?
Yeah, John and I started working again together in the early '90s to see if there was anything there. But I took over the name Berlin, and that really pissed him off, so we didn't talk again for seven years, until the VH1 "Bands Reunited" show. We hooked up again for that, and it was fantastic.
I love that guy. What we created then is still creating opportunities for me; it's given a college education to my kids. He is one of the greatest things that ever happened to me, so to be able to open that line of communication was huge. To be able to love him and thank him...as you get older, you realize how great things were. They may not have been exactly as you wanted, but still great. Anyway, he's out of music, but we talk and e-mail consistently. But yeah, Ric Olsen, David Diamond, all those guys.
You had a period of time when you collaborated with Billy Corgan. What was that experience like?
He is wonderful with women. He was great with me. My band, on the other hand, was completely alienated by him. When he was in a room with men, he was an alpha male, like, "You listen to me and do what I say." But there was plenty of teamwork and give and take with him. I always felt like an equal, but the guys were a different story.
Why haven't you ever had a woman in your band?
I really work well with men. I get told I'm a man in a woman's body. I love being a woman, the plumbing, the perks, everything except the clothes. I hate shopping.
In a lot of ways, I appreciate men 'cause they're easy: what you see is what you get, and there are no games. If there's a problem, I like to deal with it and move on. Women just button up and hope it goes away, and you ask them what's wrong, and they say, "Nothing." That's exhausting to me. I've gotta ask, I've gotta cajole, I've gotta say it right, and I don't like working with that. So that's probably the biggest reason, 'cause I don't wanna deal with it. I like the simplicity, honesty, and straightforwardness of men.
Terri Nunn was expressing herself long before Madonna.
(Credit: Mad Ink PR)
From 1982's "Sex (I'm a...)" to 2012's "Animal" single, you've always put your sexuality out there. How did you become so comfortable expressing it?
I grew up in a household that was very progressive in some ways. My parents were open about talking about sex. It was considered a good thing. I always felt OK about asking questions about it. My father was a painter who painted nudes, among other things, and we had his artwork all over the house. The nudity was not a big deal, but the whole attitude was positive and open, so it helped me to be comfortable talking, writing, and singing about it.
"Sex (I'm a...)" was so transgressive for its time. Did it break down walls for women?
Yeah. One of my favorite things about the result of "Sex" is going to clubs and seeing women dance to it and sing those words to their men, because they felt it. I knew a lot of women felt that way, but I never heard it in a song. We talked about it as girls, but it wasn't a public forum yet, so that song opened it up. We were of the age, where all we talked about was wanting sex, getting sex, and losing sex, so I hoped that Berlin could make sex more easily talked about. I still think it's important to be open about sex, because as long as it's done in a loving way or at least a mutually respectful way, then it's fantastic. I hope it can be that way for everyone.
I read on your Wikipedia page that you posed nude in Penthouse when you were underage. Is that true?
I was at John Mayall's house. Earl Miller was there, and he was an ongoing photographer for Penthouse. He saw me and said, "I'd really like to shoot you in the style of David Hamilton," a famous European photographer at the time. He shot underage women in Europe with completely natural lighting, so it was sensual but not hypersexual. That's what Earl wanted to do. At that age -- I was 16 when I met him -- I didn't have much going on yet, so he thought, "That's perfect." I liked it and wanted to be sexy and hot.
Not only was I underage when I shot it, but I was underage when it came out. I wasn't 18 yet. They knew I was underage, and the owner Bob Guccione had my mother sign a contract, saying it was OK with her. She did, because she was OK with nudity. But it was still illegal, because that's child pornography. He wouldn't have survived the scrutiny of that, and I don't think the contract would have saved him.
I didn't want to talk about it, until recently, because it didn't seem to promote a serious artist image to me. But yeah, I did Penthouse; I loved it, it was fun, I felt sexy and hot, and it was for no other reason than to feel sexy and hot.
Are there any apps that you are equally passionate about?
People always seem to be passionate about their apps, and I just found this new one, and I love it. We'll be in a hotel on tour, and I'll just have an hour to eat. Either the hotel has ridiculous room service prices, or there's nothing around, and you don't know what to do. So I use Eat24, and it's changed my life. It gets where you are and lists everywhere that will deliver to you within 30 minutes. You pick which one you want and place your order from the app, and it's there in 30 minutes. It always works, and I just can't believe how great it is. It makes everything easier.
I use XClock a lot, because I need to know the time when I'm on the road and getting ready for the show. I need the clock up all the time, so XClock is great, 'cause it makes your phone a clock. It uses a lot of energy, but I love it. I love OverDrive, because it hooks me up with the libraries, and I can get anything downloaded into my phone or my Kindle for free. Of course Shazam -- I couldn't live without it. I like JotNot, because I can take a picture of anything and make a JPEG or Word file of anything. So if I don't have a fax machine, I just take pictures of it, and it turns it into a file. So it's like a fax, but you're using your camera. I even sprang for JotNot Pro, because it had a couple of extra features that I like. Google Maps -- just love it. I use it every day of my life. FileApp is great, because my iBooks only takes PDF files, so with FileApp, I can make anything into a Word document and store it in my phone. Then, of course, Amazon, eBay, PayPal, SiriusXM, Spotify, cMobile, and Craigslist.
