Paul Teutul Jr. News
Lady Gaga says pop culture is art, and she embraced it thoroughly when writing her hit album “The Fame,” which was released in 2008.
Since “The Fame” hit shelves, this embracing of pop culture helped Lady Gaga to much worldwide “fame.” And for her newest album “Born This Way,” LG involved another part of popular culture into her fame: the custom motorcycle scene.
The Born This Way album cover features a custom chopper morphed with Lady Gaga, which has caused a sensation for the critics and also some of the most iconic chopper builders. One custom motorcycle builder, Paul Teutul Jr. of Paul Jr. Designs, recently weighed in on the Lady Gaga’s cover art.
Paul Jr., who hails from Orange County Choppers and is a celebrity due to Discovery’s “American Choppers: Senior Vs. Junior,” which returns April 25, spoke to MTV news about the Born This Way album cover.
Here’s what Paul Teutul Jr. had to say:
Paul Teutul Jr. says: “This chopper is very, kind of, uh, interesting. They kind of melted the motor around and stuff so it’s hard to even see what they have … they almost did a ribcage, kinda see-through in the tank. But none of it feels really smooth.
“The bike that it emulates the most is that ‘Easy Rider’ bike … it has that king and queen seat, it’s got the old-school exhaust, but I can’t really tell what kind of bike it is.”
“Looking at it, I would’ve made it more of an integration of her into the bike. It would be more seamless. In other words, it would be her and the bike morphed,” he said. “If you’re Born This Way, then it almost has to look kind of mermaid-ish, in the sense that there’s this fusion between the actual mechanical aspect and the human perspective. … It’s a little cut-and-paste looking. I would’ve done something even integrated throughout the bike that would’ve been more ‘Lady Gaga.’
“How awesome would it have been if her entire body, like, her feet actually became the axle rod for the rear tire, and her body actually formed the entire bike? I mean, it could’ve been a more flowing, freakier look,” he continued. “And that’s what we do at Paul Jr. Designs. Our full integration isn’t ‘put a sticker on it.’ Our full integration is we make that bike what the theme is intended to be. It’s about pulling off the theme front-to-back.”
So Paul Jr.’s idea: work with Lady Gaga if she’s interested on a real motorcycle that would embody the Lady Gaga feel.
Paul Teutul Jr. tells MTV News: “I would get inside her head on the whole project, and really be able to pull off what it is, creatively, that she would want integrated into the bike.
“And for this tour, she could come out onstage and it could be a whole theatrical thing that ties around the actual album cover. I think it would be a great fit and we’re both young and creative. It would be a great collaboration for sure.”
For lovers of PJD’s work, this would be an interesting build…
