One of the most controversial, outrageous and culturally polarizing artists of his generation stood up and shared some of the very intimate moments of his life in full house auditorium on the second day of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
With a very relaxed posture and a witty, yet shy attitude, the four-time Grammy nominee and self proclaimed “God Of F***” starts his conversation with Tor by addressing a few important topics of today’s marketing scene: unpredictability and money.
“I don’t believe anybody in the media scene is doing anything for free. Everybody must pay for stuff in life. I need to buy cat-food for my cat, for instance.”
Marilyn Manson doesn’t necessarily want to have expensive cars or mundane luxury. The only aspect he really cares about since the beginning of his career is how he could get into somebody else’s persona while on stage. Yet, as controversial as both him as a persona and his music may be, Marilyn admitted his inspiration to become a rockstar was Jim Morrison and his Sign of the Times poetry book, covering all aspects of the social issues that affect the world we live in.
Before ever becoming a musician, it is true that MM knew exactly how he was going to look like as an artist: he had created a name and he knew how his outfits were going to be before writing his first single. “I don’t worry that my image will overshadow my music. I worry that my music will overshadow my image.“
As absurd as this may sound, many of the Doors fans might feel offended, however, Aldous Huxley was right when he mentioned that “successfully (whatever that may mean) or unsuccessfully, we all overact the part of our favourite character in fiction.” (The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell).
As the interview reached its peak, MM made the confession that he is awkward and shy, that he fears things and he overcomes them with his sarcasm. After all, I guess every era needs its antichrist, every era needs someone who can actually destroy the stream it swims in. Just like Dali or Hitler, Manson is the character who actually destroyed the very essence of what he was part of: rock music.
Marilyn also discussed the effect the 1999 Columbine massacre had on his career after it was wrongly reported that the killers were fans of his music. The greatest negative topics that arise nowadays in art and movements are guns and violence-related. MM has expressed most of these dark topics and learnt about why he wants to make new fans in 2015 from being a painter. “In total silence and isolation, just me and my paintbrush”.
As a personality who is involved in many artistic fields, MM ended his talk with a really inspiring piece of advice to the public: as David Bowie and the Beatles did, the only way to maintain one’s image is by NOT emptying the bucket of mystery. Well, the mystery that will still revolve around me intriguingly as a listener is that MM had no clue what the cover of a Charlie Hebdo magazine was when shown on the screen. I just have to hope he was locked in his studio being focused on his music when the three days of terror and shootings shook the world at the beginning of this year.
Alexandra Carlsson, from the 9th Annual Grey Music Seminar
Marilyn Manson in an interview with Tor Myhren, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of Grey Group.
