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It's finally time for a little vacation for Cara Zayn, “It's around three years overdue, I think” she laughs, adjusting her skirt as she takes a seat on a wicker chair located on the decking area of her villa here in Los Cabos, Mexico. It's late October and I've been given the opportunity to visit the industry titan during a break in her schedule before she heads out on her very first tour as she takes her latest project, 'Dirty Mouth inc.' on the road around the United States.
She places a wine glass onto a coaster that sits upon the table in front of her and crosses her legs as she gets herself comfortable, “It's a beautiful little place out here. I feel like I've stumbled upon a tiny slice of heaven.” she contemplates for a second before continuing her thoughts out loud, “I'm a little eager to buy a place out here, I'm just internally looking for a reason to justify it.” she giggles out loud before continuing her train of thought once more, “What's the point in having a holiday home if you don't take vacations?” she shakes her head slightly, “Maybe if I buy it, I'll be more inclined to take more time for myself.” she takes a sip of her wine before coming to a conclusion, “Fuck it, I'm buying it.” she laughs and settles the glass back onto the table.

A brief tour around the villa and she's not wrong about her tiny slice of heaven, she's accompanied by a group of around eight of her closest friends, tattooed men and women wandering between the ice cooler and the pool area jovially hanging out with one another and seemingly living the life of leisure. Anybody that can find themselves drinking in the sunshine at 11:30 in the morning is certainly living a life of leisure. But for Cara it's a very different situation, she may have a glass of wine in her hand before noon but even despite being on vacation, work is not very far from her mind. The regular phone call intervals and the laptop sat upon the kitchen counter evident that her work is never done. Indeed in conversation it becomes clear that she has her plate full right now and that is only likely to get more full as the new year arrives. But despite all of this, her mentality and mood is very much in vacation mode. Simply put. She's happy.

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It's been another busy year for you. It seems each time we return for an interview you have a whole bunch of successful new projects under your belt. What do you put this down to?

“It's great. It's like having a yearly catch-up. Maybe that's why I work so hard. I'd hate for you guys to show up for an interview and I've done less than the previous year. But in reality, I think I'm just a little hyper-active when it comes to doing things. My mind rarely shuts off, I'm constantly thinking of new things for me to do and keep myself busy. I think being my own boss too has a huge effect on how I work. For example, I know that from around February to April each year I'll be picking up a pretty great pay-check for my talk show (HBO's “AfterDark with Cara Zayn”) and after that? … Well there's nothing actually guaranteed. That's why I think it's good to have a wide range of skills and talents that can keep me busy. Last year, it was primarily songwriting and production which was a lot of fun and helped fill that void for a while and next year will hopefully bring something new to the table once again.”

One of your more recent ventures was the creation of 'Dirty Mouth INC'. How did that come to fruition?

“The Dirty Mouth girls is an idea that I had been working on for quite a while, a good couple of years in the process trying to figure out how things would work and be structured. Out of everything that I've had a hand in creating, Dirty Mouth has been a true labour of love for me. Living out in California has brought me friendships with some of the most insanely talented people and I had always wanted to put their skills to the forefront in some way. I've been best friends with those girls for a while now and I knew all about their jobs and their certain skills whether it be fire breathing, angle grinding or any of that crazy shit that they get up to and I wanted to get them all together and produce a show that was just pure one hundred percent entertainment. Their abilities are outstanding in my view and creating it I wasn't sure if it would be able to bring in a mass audience because it is very niche.

Some lucky fans have already experienced the live show when you announced four dates in California, Vegas, Chicago and New York. The reaction to the show was widely positive and you've recently announced the first official tour. How do you feel it's worked out so far?

“Honestly it has been a dream so far. For the promo shows to go down as well as they did and for the people that came out to the shows to get so into it was everything I could have wanted from the experience. I wasn't sure how it would have went down. There was a pretty good chance that we'd have had those four shows and put an end to it after that. There was never an expectation that this would be a major touring thing, it was a bunch of friends getting together and putting on a show. But it's success and buzz made it difficult to walk away after only four shows. We were all truly excited to take it on the road and if the mini promo tour was anything to go by, it's gonna be a crazy tour both onstage and offstage.
The personalities that we have on that tour bus is just like fire and gasoline, it was only for four shows but we did a cross country trip from California to Nevada to Chicago and then on to New York City. It was done by design, in order for us all to get used to spending time in each others company and it was a fucking riot. It was a lot of late nights and fuelled some crazy stories.

Care to share any of those stories with us?

“I think not. I'm sure if you have a word with some of the girls, they'd be happy to indulge you.”

And about a couple of those girls. It was noted by some adult publications that some people may have seen quite a lot of one or two of these girls before. Care to shed any light on that subject?

“It's not really a secret. Megan and Lily are also pornstars, I don't think it's something that they shy away from. I think for all of the girls, their skills as Fire Breathers, Angle Grinders, Aerialists and all of that can only really get them so far in terms of income. Like I said before, it's kind of a niche skill and market and they don't always have full schedules for that. I don't think it should come as a surprise to anybody that has seen the content of our first few shows. We play up to their sexuality a hell of a lot in the show and I think that just adds to that aspect of the show. It's certainly not something that they're ashamed of. I don't think it's as taboo a subject these days. They enjoy what they do and the lifestyle that they live because of that. And I mean have you seen some of their videos?

Is that a path that you've ever considered?

“It's something that's been offered to me twice before, once when I was nineteen and then again when I was twenty-one and had just started working for 'Songs to Love and Die By'. The first time around, I definitely gave it some serious thought at least as something to tie me over until I found something more substantial but in the end I decided not to pursue it. I think living in California and looking a certain way means that it's more likely to be something you're offered. Especially if you're viewing yourself as a model and trying to get into the modelling business like I was at the time. I'm honestly not sure what made me decide against it in the end, but I know it was something that I gave some serious thought to.





Obviously things worked out pretty well for you in the end. You've said in the past that you sort of stumbled into the music business. How did that all come about?

“It was never really my intention to become a part of the music business in any way shape or form. Like I have absolutely no right to be in this industry, I have like maybe five percent music ability. But I didn't quite know what I wanted to do with my life, modelling was something that I was seriously working on but financially it was a struggle. It was looking like a life of juggling a couple of serious jobs and doing modelling as an extra means of income. For a while I was working at night clubs and bars and waitressing and then occasionally getting signed to do modelling shoots. But it was so inconsistent that I gave up on that as a serious career path.
Then I applied for a PR job at 'Songs to Love and Die By' which I was pretty confident about because they were going to be hiring four people, I was lucky enough to get offered the job and then things started from there. My beginnings in the music industry was essentially running errands at the label for the artists. Then from there I just sort of kept asking Amy if there were any other jobs coming up at the label and I was just generally a bit of a pain in the ass for Amy. I was just constantly asking her questions and showing her that I wanted to do as much as I possibly could. I applied for the A+R vacancy and worked closely with the artists at the label, not so much running errands but arranging interviews and appearances and promotional things of that nature.
And then I just continually moved up the ladder. It seemed like each week I was being given more responsibility at the label and with Amy touring with her band around that time, she wasn't able to deal with as much day to day stuff anymore. She essentially told me a couple of months before she went on tour that she wanted me to just hang around her for a month and learn how to do everything that she does at the label which is what I did and then she basically trusted me to run the label for her.”

You eventually took over the label permanently and pushed it further into the mainstream. There was a time when it was considered the number one label to be signed to. What were your thoughts of this success?

“It was always my intention. The label was created as a lower level independent label but with a bit more power than most indie labels because of Amy's reputation in the industry. They already had a decent roster of upcoming bands and artists but when I took over, I made it clear that I wanted it to become a major label and compete with the likes of Studio60 and Freedom and all of those other major labels. It was great to see everything work out as well as I had hoped. Picking up the best label award was a highlight of that period of time.”

Many people were surprised when you sold the label, why did you make that decision?

“It was just a case of not having the time to put my best efforts into the label. I didn't want to hand the reigns over but still have my name on the door sort of thing. I was offered the talk show and all these other things that took up my time. I didn't really want to give it up but eventually I made the decision to sell up the label to Victoria Rios who I had trusted to take it onto the next level. But of course as time went by the industry had changed and the label kind of faded into obscurity. It's a shame but it does happen.”

Would you ever consider stepping into the record label world again?

“I definitely think that there's some unfinished business there. I've been offered 'Songs to Love and Die By' recently and again the timing is just not quite right for me at this moment. It's something that we're still talking about and if I can figure out a way to make it work then I definitely will. But it's not such an easy business, especially the way the industry is at the moment.”

What do you think of the state of the industry at the moment?

“It's tough right now. But there has always been dips in momentum. I don't think there's as many stars today as there was maybe four years ago and I think there's a lack of uniqueness within the business. There's too many artists that sound the same and in some cases even look the same, it's tough too tell them apart. That's not to say that there's no real talent around because there's so many talented artists and groups and bands around which just makes it even harder to accept the situation that we're in right now. I think the industry will be alright, it just needs to find it's heart again and when it does, the good music will come back.”

You write songs for a few musicians now too, do you consider yourself part of the problem?

“In a way, maybe yeah. Because when I get a call from somebody's manager or producer asking me to come into the studio and write a song with somebody I'm usually given a run down of what they want from the song. I'm gonna be honest here. A lot of the time, it's the same vapid shit that we've all heard before. But I'm given a job and if that's what they want from their music then who am I to step on their toes artistically. It's a tricky situation. I will say that I'm a big supporter of musicians writing their own music, I prefer that. I think it brings a bit more heart to what they're singing if it's something that they believe in. It's a funny situation when you're asked to write a song about partying for an artist that isn't of legal age to drink.”

I can imagine it's a frustrating business to be a part of but the monetary situation must surely make up for it?

“Of course it does. I feel blessed to have the opportunities that I have. To have the ability to buy my parents home for them as well as my own. It's frustrating and there's a lot of work that goes into what I do but the lifestyle that I get to live as a result of that hard work is definitely something that helps make up for it all.”



And what about the intrusion on your personal life. You are technically a celebrity now. Is that a challenged?

“Sometimes it's difficult to deal with. I definitely don't have it half as bad as Izzy or Rum and Coke or any of those levels of superstars. So I can't really complain too much about that side of things. I try to make the most of it and have a little fun with it. But I can understand why some people go a little crazy at such a young age, it's a tough industry for anybody, let alone a kid.”

So lets intrude a little and talk about your personal life away from the camera's. What interests you?

“This is starting to feel a little like a first date. I'm not all that interesting. I love food, sports, music, films, books and TV shows. I like to go shopping and go to sporting events. I've been to a couple of UFC events this year and that's something that has completely taken over my interests in recent years. I like to go to the gym and I do yoga classes and kick-boxing classes. I like to go to the cinema and football games and basketball games. I like to do a little gaming whenever I have the time too but that's something that I just don't find enough time to do these days unfortunately. In my heart, I guess I can never escape the nerdy little gamer that I used to be.”

And what about your love life, we often hear rumours. But I think our readers would like something more substantial?

“I don't exactly have the greatest track record when it comes to relationships. I've had a couple serious relationships but since being in the business that I'm in, it's been very difficult to maintain a relationship beyond six months. My previous relationship was with Mariko and that lasted around three months. I think dating someone in the business is the hardest thing because you're rarely in the same place at the same time and that truly sucks. It occurred to me that if a relationship with that girl isn't able to work out then maybe serious relationships just aren't destined to work for me. At least not while this is what I do for a living.
I know some people will say, how about dating somebody not in the business but you have to realise that most people that we spend enough time with to form a connection with works in the industry. It's not easy at all and whenever I see stories of celebrities breaking up, I kind of understand it and the challenges that come with it. It's a tricky fucking thing, man. Love just ain't for me right now.”

So what is your current situation. I'm sure you're not struggling for potential suitors?

“Like I said, love just ain't for me right now. The past couple of years, I've been trying to find that balance between work, the lifestyle and relationships and I think something has to go from that equation and at this age, when things are going so well for me in a business sense. I just think that it's the relationship aspect that needs to be pushed away for a little while. I'm not saying I'm some lonely spinster. I just think, the life that I'm living right now, I'm better suited to casual sex. That's where my heads at at this moment, that's where my hearts at at this moment.”

And what do you hope the near future holds for you. What can we expect from the coming year?

“I'm hoping to tour a lot with my 'Dirty Mouth' girls. There's the return of AfterDark in February and I've been writing a TV drama series which will begin at some point in the new year. I've got some production and songwriting gigs lined-up in the new year too and a few other things that I think will be really interested. I don't quite know what to expect from the new year, but it's always a fun one.”