TALLINN: If her catchy ‘Bubblegoth’ music is winning fans worldwide, pop star Kerli chalks it up to her revolt against the hard grind of life as her native Estonia shook off its Soviet legacy.
“I knew in my heart there was this crazy big world out there, but I hadn't seen it,” said the diminutive 27-year-old with waist-length platinum hair.
"We had the blocks from Soviet times, next to the woods. You had the beauty of nature, and then you had these blocks where everyone's apartment was the same," she told AFP in an interview via Skype.
"It was creepy in a way," she said. "I didn't know any artists, or anyone who would challenge the way of existence."
But Kerli Koiv, who goes by her first name has come a long way from Elva, population 5,600, where she was born four years before Estonia regained independence in 1991.
Now living in Los Angeles, she has won wider recognition than any other Estonian pop star.
Her buoyant electronica and quirky costumes, reminiscent of Iceland's Bjork grabbed attention in dance music circles with her 2008 debut album, ‘Love Is Dead’.
‘Bubblegoth’ was born a melange of bubble gum girliness and gothic edge, partly inspired by ‘anime’, the Japanese style of animation with sexy heroines in fantastic settings.
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