Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 507 i GAY TIMES

It goes without saying that this isn’t the summer issue I thought we’d be putting out this year. When I first started speaking with Anne-Marie at the start of 2020 about shooting her first-ever GAY TIMES Magazine cover, it was initially for a very different themed issue entirely. At that point, no-one had yet fully grasped the extent to which this pandemic would affect our everyday lives. For us all, the lockdown hasn’t been easy, but it has been a vital measure to protect our family, friends, key workers, and care workers on the frontline, as well as ourselves, as world leaders, medical professionals and scientists grapple with this virus in search of a solution. Until that day, life as we know it will continue to be uncertain. But one…

“It’s important that people continue to put music out. It’s vital actually,” says Josef Salvat. We’re chatting with the Aussie superstar over Zoom (because that’s the new normal now) about his second studio album, Modern Anxiety, his first full-length project in four years. “I think if you want a big massive campaign and award show appearances, it’s right to delay your album. But that’s not my world, that’s not what I want.” While other artists have chosen to postpone their music due to the coronavirus, it wasn’t an option for Josef, especially with an album so aptly titled Modern Anxiety. The album - which was recorded before the pandemic - reflects on Josef’s experiences over the past four years, in which he moved to Berlin on a journey towards self-discovery…

Music is the ultimate form of escapism. Very little else takes you into worlds of your own in the same way. For queer people and the LGBTQ+ community at large, it has offered sanctuary over the decades. Our idols and anthems have created communion amongst us, whether the music has been used as protest, social acceptance, queer visibility or just downright pure entertainment. It has made us feel connected when we have felt alone. Music is part of the fabric of queerness and has been for centuries. It’s something that has remained at the forefront of GAY TIMES’s editorial mission; celebrating, supporting and applauding the queer pioneers of music who have faced adversity to overcome the greater challenges faced by LGBTQ+ artists. From British band Bronski Beat featuring on one…

Known for: Lose You To Love Me by (Selena Gomez), Make Me Feel (Janelle Monae), Believer (Imagine Dragons), Sorry (Justin Bieber), Cake By The Ocean (DNCE), Slumber Party (Britney Spears), Make Me Like You (Gwen Stefani), Genetics (Meghan Trainor), How Many Fucks (Erika Jayne) Ater fronting three albums with Semi Precious Weapons, the band who partied with Kate Moss and toured the world with Lady Gaga, queer artist Justin Tranter turned to songwriting, slowly becoming known as the go-to hitmaker for some of the biggest names in music. Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Janelle Monae - you name a pop star, and Justin’s probably written a song for them. There’s something joyfully subversive about a queer, gender nonconforming wordsmith being a major voice behind the…

It’s early March when Anne-Marie rocks up for her first GAY TIMES Magazine cover shoot, walking through the door of the studio in East London all smiles and looking relaxed in an oversized sweater. The shoot was originally planned for a later date, but was pulled up due to Anne-Marie having to fly to Australia the following week to promote her single Birthday. However, by the time the shoot day comes around, the world has started to fully grasp the seriousness of the pandemic and her entire promotional tour has been cancelled. It was suddenly dawning on everyone that we were mere days away from a completely new way of life. But Anne-Marie hasn’t used her time in lockdown since to take a break from the spotlight. She has been…

After generating hype in the industry with dance-pop number Nothing Matters, alt-R&B jam All That and self-love anthem Love Like This, ABISHA finally quenched our thirst for new music earlier this year with the release of her debut EP. Released to acclaim from critics, Scorpio continues to build on the London-based singersongwriter’s string of honest and autobiographical tracks, delivering one of the most authentic - and unabashedly queer - projects of 2020 in the process. “Scorpio as an EP really reflects me more than my previous music has, so it was exciting to put out a real introduction,” ABISHA tells us over the phone. “I've started to develop my sound a bit more and understand who I want to be as an artist.” Here, we catch up with the rising…

In March of this year, Matthew Walton, the chair of Pride in Hull, had to make the decision to cancel this year’s event. Like many event organisers, he had been monitoring the increasing threat of COVID-19 and he had hoped that it could be postponed. Yet, as the severity and long-term implications of the pandemic became apparent, cancelation became inevitable. “It’s always a difficult decision to cancel an event,” he says over the phone. “But we had an in-depth conversation with our board of trustees, talked through what all the options were and, ultimately, felt that we were in a good position of where we were in our planning process to be able to put a halt on preparations without leaving us out of pocket.” Pride in Hull is one…

When crowd-pleasing romcom Love, Simon hit cinema screens at the start of 2018, it was a massive moment not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but the entertainment industry as a whole. It was the first movie from a major Hollywood studio to focus on a gay teen romance, but perhaps more importantly, it showed young gay love to be just as desirable and attainable as everyone else’s love, an important message for queer teens who often feel that a ‘normal’ life isn’t written in the stars for them. Of course there was a coming out moment - and what a beautiful scene that was - but the overarching story was about Simon finding love, something (almost) every teenager wants to experience at high school. It was groundbreaking. So when the…

“Itend to work in isolation quite often with the creation of my art, so I’ve been able to cope with this well,” says Franz Sozny from his place in Los Angeles. During lockdown, the photographer, artist and musician conceptualised, shot and edited this self-portrait editorial spread out across these pages. Who said selfies couldn’t be avantgarde? The world quickly shut down earlier this year just as Franz was preparing to release his new music. Primarily an artist and photographer (who shot Dita Von Teese for one of the most spectacular GAY TIMES Magaizne covers ever produced last year), Franz put off creating music for years before finally starting to explore the artform. Franz’s latest project includes recent song Surrender Dorothy, bringing together influences as varied as the Wizard of Oz…