Words by Samantha Harman
Instagram: @princesssuperstar
Discover Brighton chats to Princess Superstar ahead of her Brighton Pride appearance on Sunday, August 4th at Preston Park.
Those of a certain age will remember electro house hit, ‘Perfect’ (Exceeder) by Princess Superstar, from when it was originally released in 2005. Fast forward to 2023, and the iconic dance track was featured in one of the party scenes in ‘Saltburn’, the celebrated film by Emerald Fennell. Thanks to this inclusion, ‘Perfect’ (Exceeder) went viral overnight, receiving great acclaim both from listeners who knew it and those discovering the track for the first time. Princess Superstar currently has 4.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and deservedly so in our option. She will be performing at Brighton Pride in the dance tent on Sunday August 4th and our editor interviewed her from her current home in LA to see how she feels about becoming an ‘overnight’ success… again.
How did the Saltburn thing come about? I received an email asking for my permission for ‘Perfect’ (Exceeder) to be included in the film. I didn’t think much of it at the time, I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever…’ Then obviously my track went viral and I became a household name again 18 years after my original success, it’s amazing!
What did you think of Saltburn? I think it’s a challenging movie to watch and is obviously beautifully shot cinematically and all of the performances are wonderful.
What have you been doing in the years where you (by your own admission) weren’t famous? So I became a mum, I have an amazing daughter who is really proud of my achievements and I have still been writing music, it’s as though I was priming myself for being famous again, who knows!
Why weren’t you in the original ‘Perfect (Exceeder)’ music video? They thought I was too ugly! Joke… Exceeder was a mashup and someone took my a cappella and sent it to the record label, who then made that video with those three women without my consent. Even though I had signed a contract saying I had creative control over the music video. It was hard because that’s my voice, but no one recognised me as I wasn’t in the video. Everyone knows my face now though as I have a decent following on TIKTOK and Instagram. All my fans have been so supportive and interested in my new success.
Are you looking forward to performing at Brighton Pride? I am so excited! It’s such an honour to be asked and I am fully supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. Brighton is an amazing place and I’m looking forward to spending some time there!
Image by: Joseph Cultice
