THE HOUND – INDI POPSTER.

LA pop star The Hound (known to his mum as John Constantine) is a dirty musical dog, unquestionably queer and totally humpable! By Marc Andrews.

DNA: Where does your woofy stage name come from?

The Hound: I was in a duo called Orchid And Hound and it felt natural to continue as a solo artist as The Hound. This was before Game Of Thrones, by the way.

How different is John to The Hound?

I don’t know her! [Laughs.] The only real difference is John’s favourite thing to do is watch Buffy with his cats, Taco and Sake. The Hound lives his best life on stage in platform shoes, mesh pants, a leather harness and a crown.

We love your racy video for Can’t Let You Go. Thanks, I’m very proud of it. Is it racy though? It’s probably some of the tamest visuals I’ve ever released. Had I known it would have caused so many issues I would’ve added a lot more to push it over the edge.

YouTube had issues with it. Why?

Once the views started growing it was placed under “age restriction”. YouTube said they didn’t find it appropriate for all audiences. Meanwhile, every straight pop artist can capitalise on their sexuality in their music videos. Where’s the age restriction on Kanye’s Fade or Tove Lo’s Disco Tits? I appealed the decision and they took the video completely offline. I got my fans to tweet and share the story. Eventually YouTube apologised and put the video back up. A few months passed and the video was hit with another age restriction. Now I’ve just accepted I have to do it every couple of months until YouTube decides to stop attacking the LGBTQ and POC [Person Of Colour] communities. You’ve put the sex back into homosex music. Discuss.

Straight men and women can sing about sex explicitly and that’s a beautiful thing. We deserve that, too. Sometimes I want to sing about what’s going on in the world, sometimes about love and loss, and sometime about a man going down on me and playing with my ass. Are there any similarities between you and Sam Smith?

We’re both gay and we both sing. Other than that, nothing.

As an openly gay artist what are the benefits and the downsides?

As a performer who plays in gay clubs, it’s great. The clubs in downtown LA have some of the coolest shit going on. Let’s be real, the LGBTQ community starts trends, breaks artists and we’re in every sector of the entertainment industry. There are still many downsides. The reason YouTube targeted my video is because there are two furry men kissing in it. You’re at a disadvantage from the beginning because the market still favours heterosexual musicians. Openly gay artists who have advertising dollars backing them still have a difficult time, so imagine what it’s like for the little guys.

What inspires you?

Failure, redemption and dark nights of the soul. I’m usually having an existential crisis.

Who’s your diva?

If I could book my own divas concert it would probably look something like this: Björk, Kate Bush, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Alanis Morissette, Kelly Clarkson, Barbra Streisand, Gwen Stefani, Beyonce and Dolly Parton… with a special appearance by Rufus Wainwright.

What issues are close to your heart? Visibility of marginalised groups. Without that, we won’t solve any other problems in the world. The more we learn about each other, the more understanding we will have.

Are you romantically attached?

I’m married to (artist/porn director) Jeremy Lucido… does that count?

Yes, it does, and are you an “open relationship” kind of guy?

We are open. Open relationships are fucking great. Are there bad ones? Of course, but anyone who is expecting perfection is going to be chasing that ideal forever.

What’s your workout regime?

Does being a bottom count?

What’s the one thing that might surprise people about you?

The first thing that comes to mind is I’ve never had a threesome, which seems to surprise a lot of people.

Sometimes I want to sing about what’s going on in the world, sometimes about love and loss, and sometime about a man playing with my ass. LEADER OF THE PACK (TOP) THE HOUND RUNS WILD ON STAGE IN LA. (ABOVE) MAKES BOOTY CALL FROM HOTEL!