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"THERE'S NO POINT BEING SOME VACUOUS POP STAR!"
Bright Light Bright Light talks pop music, politics, putting his causes on the line and, of course, swimwear! Interview by Marc Andrews.
Bright Light Bright Light is the pop star alias of Welsh musician Rod Thomas, nowadays a US resident. He’s been on the international LGBTIQ music scene for a decade, touring as a solo artist and as support alongside pop royalty like Elton John, Cher, Erasure, Ellie Goulding and Scissor Sisters. He also collaborated with Elton on his 2016 banger All In The Name and remixed Dannii’s All I Wanna Do.
Aside from using his music as a platform for equality, BLX2 has also fundraised for The Trevor Project, Ali Forney Center, HetrickMartin Institute, ACLU, and Elton John AIDS Foundation.
His fourth album, Fun City, boasts a Who’s Who of LGBTIQ collaborators including Erasure’s Andy Bell, Brendan MacLean, Caveboy and Jake Shears.
“Someone in the music industry once told me to stop bothering because I would never get anywhere,” BLX2 tells DNA, “and it made me do the exact opposite and I am now kind of where I want to be.”
DNA: Was most of your new album Fun City recorded prior to lockdown?
BLX2: It was. This album is really about the
LGBT+ community. The release schedule was tied to Pride festivals and LGBT+ outreach charities I work with, DJs, drag queens, local queer communities… none of that happened. It’s been disappointing but that’s not unusual for anyone this year.
It’s nice to have an album called Fun City to remind us we should still have fun!
Yeah. I feel it’s been a pretty bleak year and I’m trying to remind people to stay positive in the midst of the turmoil.
Is that why It’s Alright It’s Okay was chosen to launch the album?
It’s Alright It’s Okay was actually going to come out around World AIDS Day (December 1), but it’s an important song about our identity, queer identity and gender identity.
Is it also a nod to Whitney Houston’s It’s Not Right But It’s Ok, which was a huge gay anthem with the Thunderpuss 2000 remix back in 1999?
It’s a playful reference to a record I love and twisting that phrase so it becomes something a little more positive. That Whitney Houston remix feels like a slap in the cunt. There’s no way you can hear that and not be immediately fired up.
You also worked with Scissor Sisters’
Babydaddy on two songs.
When I wasn’t sure if I had an album or not, I played him the demos I had done so far and he loved them. It was after being in a room with him that I realised I did have the formation of a record.
Plus, with your duet with former Scissor Sisters’ frontman Jake Shears on Sensation, have you become the default Scissor Sister? On my last album [2016’s Choreography] I worked with all the Scissor Sisters so maybe I’m the Scissor Brother!
There’s also a hint of gay music legend Sylvester on Sensation, too.
That was the idea. This album is really about queer experience through history and very influenced by people like Sylvester, Bronski Beat, Bessie Smith, Hercules And Love Affair, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure – all of these artists that have dealt with dancing through pain in their songs. Sylvester is such an unsung hero of the queer world. Both me and Jake love Sylvester so much. I wanted to channel the euphoria of [Sylvester’s] You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) in a song that was a modern-day song about escaping hardship and celebrating yourself and your community. Jake inspired me so much when Scissor Sisters first came out because they were so out, so proud and so unashamedly who they were. They blew the doors open for anyone who was a young queer artist and we felt like we had a chance. There was nobody I felt was more poignant to have on that song about celebration than Jake.
Does it also say something about how far we’ve come? We have two gay men singing a gay love song and it’s hardly remarked upon. Yeah. It is a big change in culture. It’s unexpected but nice to be there at that point.
You’re on your fourth album now and been doing this for a decade. Do you wish the world had caught up with you a bit sooner?
I definitely feel the industry was not looking to champion a young, openly gay pop-making man when I did my first album. It would have been nice to have felt there was more of a queer champion in the industry back then.
Elton John took you under his wing early on, didn’t he?
He’s always giving advice and willing to help and do whatever he can. It’s amazing to have someone like that on your side. He doesn’t mince his words either. If he thinks a song is shit, he’ll tell you [laughs]. When he tells you he loves the new song, it makes you feel very proud that someone iconic likes it.
Troye Sivan told DNA that if you don’t have a big hit there is a feeling you haven’t yet made it. Do you feel that pressure?
It’s more so it opens doors that were closed to you. The flipside is the people who have worked with me are people who genuinely care what I do. I’ve remained friends with everyone I’ve worked with and I don’t know if many people could say that.
You also did This Is My House with Madonna’s ex-backing singers Niki Haris and Donna De Lory.
I have been a fan of Niki’s voice, not just from Madonna but from Snap!, and her solo stuff. The subject matter of that song – queer safe places – is quite topical.
It’s specifically about how the voting in the last four years has fractured families and safe places for LGBTIQ people. A friend of mine told me that his mother voted for Trump even though he’d told her she was voting against his human rights. It’s about how the ultimate >>
Elton doesn’t mince words. If he thinks a song is shit, he’ll tell you!
>> safe space, your parents’ house, doesn’t feel like home anymore, doesn’t feel safe.
Do you feel a responsibility to be a gay role model?
I feel every living person has a responsibility to talk about causes they care about and be responsible to their community and be aware of their community, especially if you have a public platform. There’s no point being some vacuous pop star who just sings about putting their hands up and ignores the plight of your fanbase. If you don’t care about the people following your music, stop selling it.
What are the causes close to your heart? LGBTIQ rights, human rights, anti-misogyny causes, anti-racist causes, AIDS, immigration – I’m a gay man who lives in a country where I didn’t grow up, so fighting against the stigma of immigration is important to me. All those causes are interlinked, too.
DNA launched in 2000; do you think there’s been a real change in pop music since then? There is definitely much more visibility. People still get pigeonholed as a gay artist, as opposed to an artist, but there is a lot more opportunity for people in the LGBTIQ world now to have an open and honest career in a way you couldn’t ten years ago. There’s a lot of shit queer people have to go through, but laughter, humour and joy are the weapons we have. Your video for I Used To Be Cool is a valentine to the speedo, which brings me to a popular DNA question: speedos or boardshorts? [Laughs] Somewhere in between. I like short shorts!
Sylvester is such an unsung hero of the queer world. I wanted to channel the euphoria of You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)…