Beth Ditto: ‘The most radical thing you can do is be happy’

Beth Ditto has an overwhelming personality – an energy that floods every room. A laugh that is contagious. She is quick, witty and wise.

When she meets GLAMOUR, the singer is in good spirits. After nearly twelve years without releasing an album with Gossip, the family is back together: Ditto, Nathan Howdeshell and Hannah Blilie. The architect of this homecoming has been producer Rick Rubin, with whom the band have worked closely and formed a friendship on their fourth album, Music For Men.

The result of their latest stint of hard work is Real Power, a project recorded in the multiple Grammy winner’s home studio in Kauai, Hawaii. It’s an album that gathers all the musical essence of the band, its vibrant rhythms and its refreshing reinterpretation of genres. The lyrics have powerful vindictive messages, an unmistakable mark of the group, but also with a clear vocation to celebration.

It’s an ode to what really matters: the family you choose – because with them you can overcome any storm. Portland has become Beth’s home, where she always returns to land, where she is not a rock star or a muse for fashion labels. She’s just another neighbor to share a few beers with and set the world to rights.

An energetic activist for civil rights in general and LGBTQIA+ rights, Beth foresees difficult times ahead. But she won’t throw in the towel. Few people or artists could better deserve GLAMOUR Spain’s Women of the Year (WOTY) International Talent Award. She laughs shyly at such recognition, meeting it with humility and sincerity.

Pink cape dress, by Reparto.

Petrovsky & Ramone

GLAMOUR: I imagine the creative process with Nathan Howdeshell as talking to yourself. Is that how it feels?

Beth: Well, it’s more like speaking our own language. When you grow up with someone, you’ve known each other since you were little, you’ve listened to the same music and you’ve learned about music together, you just develop a common language. We never took lessons, never went to school, never went to college. When we were making music, we grew up with it and we created it that way. We had certain references or certain words that meant something to us, but nothing to others. That’s why working with Rick [Rubin] is so special, because he comes in and doesn’t take control of anything. He just lets us speak our language together. And then he tells us, ‘I like this idea or keep working on this’.

GLAMOUR: You are a motivating producer.