who are suffering the worst from the issues around obesity and the government and the media are brow- beating them for their size. I think there should be a massive working class fat uprising! We can sit on David Cameron and smother him to death! I mean, why aren’t they taxing, I don’t know – they don’t have foie gras pasties, do they? I’d like it to hit rich people in their pockets as well!
You’ve been on plenty of food programmes, but I don’t know what the Amy Lamé signature dish was, and what occasion does it provide for? Ooooh, well now you’re talking my language! Hahaha! Well you know, I grew up in America, in New Jersey in a family that’s half- Irish and
half-Italian, so if we weren’t
eating pasta, we were eating
potatoes and if we weren’t eating
potatoes, we were
eating pasta, which has obviously given me the beautiful figure that I have
today, hahaha! But I’d say my signature dish is something that my mom always made, it’s like the ultimate comfort dish, you know – in the States they’d call it Eggplant Parmesan, but over here you’d call it Aubergine Parmesan. Layers of grilled aubergine with cheese and my homemade tomato sauce, lots more cheese on top so it’s got crunchy and burnt bits round the edges, and you know, it’s even better the day after the day after.
I read a quote from you that said, “in America everyone has to be a winner, but in England you can be a loser and everyone loves you more”, which is so truly funny and a real Morrissey-esque mentality, but when you were in America, did you feel like there was somewhere else that would suit your personality better? Well I was never an Anglophile, you know, it’s a curious word that – Anglophile - but I grew up in such a small town; I don’t know if you’ve
ever seen Jersey Shore on TV, or any of those programmes like Sopranos, but that’s exactly where I grew up, in New Jersey. It’s a very insular kind of place. Te only thing I can compare it to is that being from New Jersey’s sorta like being from a combination of Liverpool and Essex! You get the girls with the big hair and the fingernails, high heels and fake tan, but you also get a very tribal, instinctive, almost inwardly-looking society, you know, that protects its own and looks after its own. So when I discovered that there was this other world out there, and I’d discovered Te Smiths and Morrissey, the music meant so much to me that I decided my life’s ambition would be to get to the Hacienda in Manchester, you know!
You’ve got an intensely strong relationship with London – being mayoress of Camden for a year was fantastic – did you take any lessons from first ladies, or PM’s wives, or were you rewriting the rulebook? Well I feel like this is a role I’ve been preparing for my entire life, you know, standing around in high heels, wearing heavy costume jewellery and hair extensions – it completely comes naturally to me, hahaha! I finished my stint as mayoress last year and so it was a year’s appointment and I should say that it was completely voluntary and civic; the mayor was a friend of mine and we had a blast.
Tat’s more glamorous a district than, say, Great Yarmouth – I saw the other day that some woman in a quilted sweater had been made mayoress of Great Yarmouth, or something… Ooh, I love a quilted sweater. Oh, I’ll have to check the charity shops down there! I’m sure there’ll be a plethora of quilted sweaters from when the old ladies have popped their clogs, hahaha!
A couple of weeks ago, North Carolina took America back a couple of steps, and then Obama dragged the country hurtling back with his positive support of gay marriage. I wondered how you felt having your relationship decisions in the hands of the government? Well I think over here we take for granted in the UK that our society
here is so advanced when it comes to equality for LGBT people and it just brings it into sharp relief what happened in North Carolina, or what’s happening in the Middle East with gay men being hung. I think what Obama did was amazing ‘cause he’s the first president to personally acknowledge that gay marriage should happen.
He’s just the coolest, isn’t he? Te fact that he sung Sweet Home Chicago is just brilliant too… Oh, I know, and I think he looks like a butch lesbian anyway, so I love him even more for that!
Now Amy, when I think of you, the words fingers and pies jump immediately to mind – - Do they?! Haha… Tat’s nice.
Haha, yes, because you have your fingers in so many pies and you’re devoted to them as well, like Duckie you’ve put on for like, seventeen years now. Is each aspect of your career like a baby of yours? Are you devoted to each one for the foreseeable future? Yeah, well Duckie’s definitely my baby, but it’s a teenager now! I’m definitely addicted to experience, for better or worse, so I kinda like get interested in stuff, then immediately want to do it, so I guess with that whole fingers in pies thing, some things work and some things don’t, but yeah, I just love experience.
We usually ask everyone at the end of the interview, when you come to Norwich, what do you want from us as a crowd, but you’ve already stated that you want presents and cards...! What else could make your experience perfect when you come? What’s also interesting is the guy that runs the Arts Centre is a massive Morrissey fan and I found out that there’s this whole Morrissey sub- culture in Norwich that I never knew about! But I’m really disappointed actually because I wanted to go to Delia Smith’s restaurant, and it’s closed on the Tursday and Friday night is the show, so I want Delia to bring me one of these famous pies that they serve at Norwich football ground. I want a whole tray of them delivered to the dressing room door, please.
Emma Garwood
Amy Lamé brings her Unhappy Birthday to the Norwich Arts Centre on June 29th. For tickets, go to
www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk. Read the uncut version of this interview at
Outlineonline.co.uk
outlineonline.co.uk / June 2012 / 43
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64