Exclusive: Interview with Laura Pieri

Words by Marios Stamos

Halloween has always been about transformation and trying on different identities. But São Paulo-born, New York-based pop artist Laura Pieri is doing something far more subversive. She reclaims the women that history tried to silence by calling them monsters.

Her new series is much more than corporate-mandated seasonal content that’s trying to capitalise on Halloween. It’s an artistic statement about the archetypes society uses to control women who refuse to shrink themselves. Too emotional? You’re hysterical. Too sexual? You’re dangerous. Pieri is taking those labels and wearing them like armour.

The Kiss of the Vampire Is Eternal 

The series launched this week with Pieri’s haunting reinterpretation of Lady Gaga’s “Marry the Night,” and the choice feels intentional on multiple levels. Gaga herself has spent her career embodying the “too much” woman, the artist who refuses to dim her theatricality or apologise for her intensity. By covering this particular song through a vampire lens, Pieri celebrates the women who transform their supposed wickedness into power.

“The vampire made perfect sense with ‘Marry the Night’: the kiss of the vampire is eternal, it’s a kind of marriage,” Pieri shares. “Lady Gaga has always lived in that fantasy; she’s a vampire woman, powerful and unafraid of the dark. In my version, I wanted to strip the song down, bring a bit of my Brazilian identity — that raw, live texture — to let the darkness sound human, to make it feel alive.”

Laura Pieri is More Than A Singer 

But Pieri isn’t stopping at covers. She’s launched a Substack where she’s writing fiction for each character she embodies, starting with “The Vampire, The Bride of Gravenholt.” It’s a transmedia approach that feels more like performance art from someone who truly loves creating than traditional music promotion. Each archetype gets a song, a visual, and a story. Each woman gets to speak for herself instead of being spoken about. Each woman gets to control the narrative and her life. 

Throughout October, two more characters will come to life, each representing a different “monstrous” woman society tried to bury. The series culminates on 31 October with an original song, marking a bold new chapter in her artistic journey. 

From Survival to Celebration

This project arrives on the heels of *Frankie (ON THE DANCEFLOOR)*, Pieri’s club-ready reimagining of her 2024 EP *Frankie*. That earlier work dealt with survival. The dancefloor version transformed that survival into celebration. Now, with her Halloween series, she’s pushing even further into exploring how women turn their wounds into weapons, their supposed flaws into superpowers.

What Sets Laura Pieri’s Project Apart From the Rest 

You’ve probably heard about method acting before, and that’s exactly the commitment that Laura Pieri brings to her art. She builds and weaves entire worlds around them, immersing herself in every visual and narrative element. 

In a pop landscape often criticised for playing it safe, Pieri’s Halloween series asks uncomfortable questions: Why are powerful women still called difficult? Why does female intensity still get pathologised as madness? Why do women get chastised for the same behaviours men get applauded for? Why do we keep telling the same stories about women who dare to want too much?

By embodying these archetypes rather than running from them, Pieri changes the narrative. Maybe what society has labelled as a monster was never the problem. Maybe the real horror is how we treat women who refuse to be anything less than fully, unapologetically themselves.

Curious to learn more about the artist turning Halloween into a feminist art form, we caught up with Laura Pieri to talk about her inspirations, her evolution, and what’s next in her ever-expanding world. 

For those who may be discovering your music for the first time, what would you say are the key moments of your artistic journey so far?

I think every artist has a few “becoming” moments, times when you lose and find yourself all at once. For me, one was when I left Brazil and started building my life and career in the US. Another was when I first decided to quit my career, and almost in the same breath decided not to. Lastly, I’d say it was when I released Frankie, which was the first time I stopped trying to be “perfect” and instead built a world that reflected the truth of my feelings: the beautiful, the monstrous, and the broken. Since then, everything I’ve done has been about exploring those contradictions.

Could you tell us a little about your songwriting process? Has it changed at all since you first started writing?

I mean, that’s a hard one because it’s always changing, but I think the current transformation I’m on is that I trust myself more now. I used to write, trying to make something good. Now I write, trying to make something true. My songs usually start as fragments in my journal—lines, conversations, dreams—and then I’ll sit at the piano or loop a vocal idea until the emotion feels embodied. I treat writing like sculpting: there’s something living inside the clay, and my job is just to find it.

The production of your songs feels magnetic. Having collaborated with such talented producers, have you ever considered producing music yourself?

Yes… Kind of! I’m really interested in production as storytelling. I think musically it’s so close to like… architecture. I really admire the people I work with, and it took them decades to be masters of their craft, so if I were to step into a role like that, even if just for myself, I have to factor in that it too would take decades at least! Conservatively! But personally, I really do want to learn more about production itself, especially as I continue moving into a space where world-building and sonics keep getting more and more intertwined.

Your songs, especially the new rendition of the Frankie EP, have this effect where they make you want to hit the dancefloor, yet the lyrics can carry a real darkness. How do you manage to strike that balance?

That duality is who I am. I grew up on pop music and literature as my vehicles for escape, and I have a special soft spot for the gothic period, so I really love to tackle both the theme of duality, of contradictions, of otherness and especially of the unknown. On the same wavelength, I think dance is one of the most indescribable ways to connect to our own selves in these moments of confusion, like it’s one of the purest forms of exorcism. We move to release. So when I write, I want people to feel free and seen, to sweat out what hurts, and especially to celebrate their darkness instead of hiding it.

You recently worked with ONE432 to create handmade and ethical clothing, with profits shared with the artisans to help fund their children’s education. How did that collaboration come about? How important are sustainability and ethical fashion to you personally, and do you see yourself pursuing more collaborations like this in the future?

ONE432 felt like the perfect partner because of their mission. Art should connect. Every piece is handmade, and the profits go directly back to the artisans and their families. I wore their designs and immediately felt that energy; it carried a story, not just a label. Sustainability, to me, is about respect—for craft, people, and time. I definitely plan to continue collaborations that align with that ethos.

When you were first starting, was there a goal or milestone that once felt almost out of reach, and now, looking back, you realise you’ve actually achieved it? How does it feel to see how far you’ve come? What’s the next milestone that excites you just as much as it scares you?

Honestly, like every new mountain we set out to climb, every summit feels out of reach. I used to dream of even seeing shows at NY venues, now I host my own events. All of it still humbles me. I’m proud that I’ve built something independent, brick by brick. The next milestone that scares me is taking it to the next level. I really want to tour, get the chance to meet and connect with people from all over, and meet the new me at the end of that road. Growth always asks for reinvention.

Have you read anything recently that really resonated with you or left a strong impression? Something that you’d want to share with your fans?

My reading list this year was stacked! For my Halloween project, I referenced Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés a lot, and it had been a couple of years since I read that, so the refresher was nice. It’s about reclaiming the wild, instinctive self that society tries to tame, especially in women. It’s poetic, psychological, and mythological. I think anyone who’s ever felt “too much” will find comfort and power in it.

In a past interview, you mentioned going through phases, like exclusively listening to Taylor Swift or SZA for a while. What are you listening to these days? What’s on repeat for you right now?

Right now, I’m oscillating between Miley Cyrus’ “Can’t Be Tamed,” Rihanna’s “Good Girl Gone Bad,” Naîka anything, and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano works. I’ve also been curating playlists for my next project, so I’m living somewhere between melancholy and euphoria.

You’ve described Halloween as the most honest time of the year, a day when we can be anyone and show the sides of ourselves that aren’t usually seen but still deserve love. Do you feel that this idea of revealing hidden selves has shaped your own journey of identity and self-acceptance, and does it flow into your art as well?

Completely. Halloween, for me, is much more about permission than pretending.  It’s the one night the world celebrates transformation instead of fearing it. I think that’s what being an artist is: living in transformation. I’ve learned to stop editing the parts of myself that don’t fit the mould. We are equally our mistakes as we are the things we do right. Arguably, we are all much more prone to our mistakes than otherwise, yet we pretend to be just light. I think it’s easy to hide your monsters because they’re parts of you that you fear and that make you run, but the monsters we fear are usually just our unloved selves asking to be seen, to be cared for, to be loved. You can tame your own monster, but not if you pretend it doesn’t exist. 

You’ve been dropping a few teasers for your next project, and it seems like it’s leading into a Halloween-themed era. What can you tell us about what’s coming?

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE. It’s … just a little sinful. Think medieval meets mystical. There’s a short story collection, an immersive event, and a new single that’s fun, cheeky and a little sexy. I can’t wait to invite everyone into this new world. 

Watch Laura Pieri’s “Marry the Night” cover

Photos by Ysa Lopez