What makes Pretty Lights so pretty? It’s their vintage style matched with their technological experimentation. It’s their unbridled enthusiasm and their dance floor sensibility. It’s their capacity to attract candy ravers and Haight Ashbury hippies alike. It’s their humility offstage and their dominance onstage.
Producer Derek Vincent Smith is a Colorado native and one-half of the Pretty Lights crew. We chatted with him last week on his pristine tour bus (aptly named “Big Red”) as he prepared for his sold-out show at The Independent in San Francisco.
Out: Did you have a show last night? Derek Vincent Smith: Yeah, in Los Angeles.
That’s a long distance. Yeah, normally, but being on the bus and having a driver has been not too bad. I just go to bed in the back and wake up in the next city.
What’s been the longest travel you’ve made so far? Last night. To be honest, I’m getting more sleep on tour than I have ever before. Usually we fly in and rent a car.
This is your first time in a tour bus? Yeah.
That’s exciting! Derek. I know! I’m loving in!
That’s legit. It makes me feel fucking big time.
I wanted to first ask how you would classify your genre of music? I hear people literally give paragraphs to define their genre. Honestly, I’ve been trying to figure that out. I used to make my own flyers a lot and no one would know of the music so under the words "Pretty Lights" I would put all the genre names that I thought summed it up. It was something like: electro-organic-emo-tronic-2-step-hyphy-hip-hop-party-rock. I thought I had coined the term “party rock” at the time, but I’ve heard it a lot more. But still that is pretty vague. The more genres you try and put in it, it’s almost harder to get a definition from that. Really, as a producer and an electronic musician, my aim is to make hot beats…whether that’s an electro track or a hip-hop track or a dubstep track. What I have been saying lately is: electronic-hip-hop-soul. The whole soulful, makes you feel something vibe is the common thread throughout the music, whether that’s a hip-hop song or a house beat. That’s how I say it right now.
This coming weekend is the first ever OUT in Atlantic City weekend sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment. Visitors to the famed East Coast gambling mecca will be able to rub shoulders with celebs like Lance Bass, Amanda Lepore, Cazwell, and the cast of the L Word while taking advantage of all Atlantic City has to offer and indulging in special gay-themed parties, brunches, and outings.
We chatted with Jennifer Weissman, Regional Vice President of Marketing for Harrah's Atlantic City Operations to find out why Harrah's -- which is the first and only gaming entertainment company to achieve a perfect score (two times in fact) on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index -- and Atlantic City are the perfect combo for a weekend away.
Out: From your perfect score on the HRC's Corporate Equality Index to being the only gaming entertainment company to endorse the Employment Non-Discrimination Act on a federal level, Harrah’s seems to really value its relationship with the gay community. Jennifer Weissman: Our corporate culture is one that is very impressive when it comes to being inclusive. We truly believe that our business is better when we have a diverse group of people working towards common goals. We believe in order to do that, we have to be inclusive of all communities. And similar to the entertainment we provide, we strive to provide a diverse employee workforce.
Hape Kerkeling is a gay German comedian whose first book, I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago (Free Press) was a huge best-seller in Germany when it came out in 2006. Last month, he released a Borat-like film in which his alter ego, Horst Schlämmer, a bumbling small-town newspaper editor, announces his candidacy for Chancellor. (Kerkeling has long been known for his costumes: in 1991 he dressed up as Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and almost talked his way into a state dinner.) The fictional Schlämmer polled 18% among non-fictional Germans for the election, to be held on September 27.
Out Editor-at-Large Bruce Shenitz grabbed a brief kaffeeklatsch with the genial German in New York’s Lincoln Center on the first day of his 10-day American book tour:
Out: When I finished reading your account of your trek on the pilgrimage to the Spanish shrine of St. James, I thought “Wait, remind me why he did this self-described couch potato do this crazy trip?” Hape Kerkeling: [Laughs] I started the pilgrimage simply because I had a gall bladder removal and a hearing loss. And after that I decided not to go on just a normal vacation but to do something different, because I thought I should meditate about what happened. So I decided to do the pilgrimage, to walk alone these 630 kilometers (390 miles). In a way I wanted to find out what my relation is to God, and during the way I thought it’s not only about finding out what my relationship to God is, but first of all, my attitude towards myself.
Meet Louise Bagan & Aisha Stuart, aka Addictive, a smokin’ hot pop duo from East London. They made it big in the UK last year with their debut single, and now they’re ready to invade the States. We caught up with the Louise half of Addictive while the group was in NYC promoting their new single, “Domino Effect.”
Out: So how did the two of you come together? Louise Bagan: I’ve know Aisha since I was about nine, to be honest. We lived in the same area in London. My aunt used to live next door to her, so she used to hang around with my cousins and stuff. We started singing together about five years ago though. Being from East London, everybody knows everyone. She’s so close to home, and I knew she was a singer, and we were booked to do the same shows. About five years ago I was at an open mic spot in London, which was a live band kind of thing. I was up singing, and Aisha was on the corner of the stage, and we sang together. We tore the house down, and we kind of started singing from then, writing together and performing it, kind of growing. And we really gelled. It wasn’t like a thing where we said, “Let’s be in a group,” because initially if it were a group, it would probably have been more. We worked well as just us two. That’s how it started really, it just kind of fell into place.
The stars aligned… Yeah, very organic.
How did you come up with the name for the group? Aisha came up with the name. We want our music to be addictive, we want to be addictive -- without sounding cliché! It’s also feminine, it’s girly. It’s something that people remember.
Who gives you the “domino effect?” I can’t say no names now! Um, that new guy from Twilight.
Robert Pattinson? Yeah, I’m definitely falling over him!
Deborah Cox’s unwavering support for the gays isn’t anything new. Now, though, she’s also turning her attention to the earth. The big-voiced belter known for her hit “Absolutely Not” was crowned “National Green With Pride Ambassador” for L.A. Pride, which is launching an eco-friendly approach to this year’s June 13-14 festivities in West Hollywood.
Out spoke with the R&B diva -- and longtime LGBT-rights supporter -- about going green, her three (!) upcoming albums, and what everyone’s wondering lately: Can Whitney Houston really make a comeback?
Out: You’re killing two birds with one stone here, supporting the gays and a green initiative. Have you cared about earth issues for as long as you’ve cared about gay ones? Deborah Cox: Yeah, I was an early supporter of bringing your own shopping bags to certain supermarkets. Living in California for a while, [and then] moving here to Florida, I was subconsciously living green again -- walking to certain stores, or whatever. I guess the reason I really decided to come on board as a national ambassador specifically for Green With Pride is because I work out, I go to gyms -- with [my] kids, we drink a lot of water, and we have sippy cups and bottles -- so when [I heard] about these water bottles that have their own filtration system [Clear2Go is the presenting sponsor for L.A. Pride], I was like, “That’s really brilliant.” It really completely cuts down on cost and on the amount of plastic that you use. I just fell in love with the whole idea, and I decided to help bring it to the forefront. I think everyone should have one.
LaKisha Jones is best known for her stint on the sixth season of American Idol. After coming in fourth place, Jones toured with the rest of the AI top ten and starred on Broadway in The Color Purple. Now the singer is back with a brand new album, So Glad I'm Me, which hits stores today.
Fresh off a performance at famed NYC gay hotspot Splash, Jones chatted with Out about getting down with go-go boys, whether or not America is ready for a gay Idol, and how she really feels about Simon Cowell.
Out: You had your big splash performance last Tuesday – did the boys worship you?
LaKisha Jones: I had such a good time. Singing, partying -- trust me if I could have had a drink [Jones is pregnant] I would have had four or five. Such a good time!
How is it different performing in a club packed full of sweaty gay men versus a mainly straight venue? You know what? It’s one of those things where I couldn’t even tell! I was just listening to the music and having a good time. I couldn’t even tell there were no women in the room.
And then I had two dancers come up with me on “Let’s Go Celebrate.”
Kelly Orr (center left, in pink), 22, and Matt Moody (center right), 26, named their addictive new pop band Teen Hearts as a shout-out to kids at shows who show the love with that particular emo gesture. "We're all about love," Matt says, "and making shapes with your hands."
The band's self-produced debut, The Heart Beat, is out today on iTunes. It starts off with the poppy, peppy "Hands in the Air," a catchy clap-along, and finishes with a cover of Ace of Base's "The Sign." We grabbed coffee with the boys in Los Angeles to talk about their hardcore roots, quizzing their audiences on who's queer, and how they hooked up with Jeffree Star.
Out.com: You're also in a hardcore band, Mikoto, together. How did you get from that to Teen Hearts? Kelly: People say that I have a 14-year-old girl's musical sense. And I wanted to do something that gave Matt the opportunity to do more than in our hardcore band. I saw so much potential in his singing voice. I'm the lower voice -- Matt: I'm the one that goes ridiculously high. Kelly: I'm just using him for his voice.
Who musically is a fair comparison for this band? Matt: Aqua! Kelly: Fuck yeah. Matt: Like a hellogoodbye, a Cobra Starship, a Metro Station. What we're doing is a little like those bands, but nobody is pushing it this pop. We're not afraid to totally treat it like we are 14-year-old girls. Like, What about a light-up pink drum set? Even from a design aspect -- which is all Kelly -- our colors are teal and baby pink. We're not afraid to take it over the top. We covered Ace of Base. We both looove Wham! Kelly: Yeah. Matt: There will be a "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" cover. Kelly: It's undeniable. Snap those fingers!
You've already got a lot of passionate fans. Tell me about them. Matt: With bands that come from Disney, there's definitely this barrier between, They're my fans, and I'm this thing. Our fans bring us cupcakes and friendship bracelets. I'd rather have a million friends than a million fans. Kelly: A lot of our fans have no idea that Matt is gay. They'll ask us questions [on MySpace], and actually I've referred a couple kids to him. Matt: I've had quite a few kids message me and say, "I'm bisexual," or, "I'm gay. What did you do?" You don't want to say the wrong thing. I'm so far removed from when I came out -- I'm not entirely aware of what it's like for a 15-year-old kid right now. I know it's probably a little better than when I came out. I was 15. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't an after-school special like, "Oh, we love you!" It was like, "OK, I wondered why you were on the diving team."
Kelly, do your audiences assume you're gay, too? Matt: Everyone assumes that Kelly is gay. The Pope assumes that Kelly is gay. Kelly: I mean, look at me -- I wear a fucking fanny pack. We've done little tests on tour. We line up the whole band and say, "Who in this band is gay?" Matt: It's not even a, "hmm," it's a -- [pointing at Kelly] "Him!" Kelly: I don't care that people think that. Matt: Girls love that about you.
You're going out on tour with Jeffree Star. How did that happen? Kelly: I thought it was a big joke. We heard that Jeffree was starting his own record label, and apparently a ton of our fans went to his MySpace page and were like, "Sign Teen Hearts! Sign Teen Hearts!" And he IM'd me one day and was like, "Okay, I get the point. I love your band. Tell your fans to stop harassing me." We became really good friends. A lot of the new pictures on his MySpace, I took those photos. I legitimately love this kid. He rules. Matt: He's a really genuinely sweet dude.
On MySpace you list both Bill Cosby and the Golden Girls as major influences. If you had to choose between them -- Kelly: Bill Cosby. Matt: To what? Hang out with? Watch? Kelly: Bill Cosby. To hang out with, watch, marry -- Bill Cosby. Matt: I'm gonna go with the double G.
Rufus Wainwright barely escaped a torrential downpour as he performed a six-song set at Manhattan's City Hall Park on Saturday in support of the Recovery Project, a multiyear initiative developed by A&E network, government groups and non-profits to help raise awareness that addiction is treatable and recovery is possible.
After thousands of participants formed a human chain across the Brooklyn Bridge in a life-sized symbol of recovery, they headed over to a rally at the park, where Wainwright concluded the ceremony. He may have started his performance around 11:30 AM, but the crooner's vocals were as stellar as always. He opened with "Vibrate" (a song he wrote right before he headed to recovery), then played favorites "Beauty Mark" (for his mum), "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" (about finding optimism in the face of addiction), "Going to a Town," and "Matinee Idol," before closing the mini-concert with his gorgeous cover of "Hallelujah."
Out: How did you choose your set for this performance? Rufus Wainwright: Well, I wanted it to be on one hand touching but also uplifting, which is what today is about. It was almost like a hit of Cher: You have your light moments and your dark moments.
How long have you been in recovery? Well, I'm a firm believer in the anonymous bit. It doesn’t really matter how long you've been sober or how you got there. This event is about supporting health.
You've been writing your opera. What can we expect from it? It's being presented in July 2009 in Manchester, England. It's a big fashion spectacle with a high soprano role. It's called Prima Donna, and it's about a day in the life of an opera singer. That's very meta. Yeah, it is.
When Out compiled its list of the 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums of All Time, you submitted your top 10 choices and selected an album by opera singer Maria Callas as your number one pick. Why? On all fronts -- whether classical or pop -- she is considered one of the greatest singers of all time. She encapsulates the drama and emotion it takes to be gay, but she remained positive and hopeful, which is part of being gay too. She is a real warrior.
Are you working on a new album now as well? Well, I won't go into detail about it, but I'm always writing songs, especially with the political shift we're experiencing now. I have a lot of inspiration.
What did you think of the presidential debate Friday night? The poor candidates are debating every day, so I understand that nothing massive happened. I'm an Obama supporter, and I think he held his own. He expressed himself as open, hopeful, and negotiable to the world. He did a good job.
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