Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 510 i GAY TIMES

I, like many others, was shocked and saddened to learn of SOPHIE’s death when I woke up on the last Saturday morning of January. At the age of 34, the trailblazing Scottish musician was taken way before her time, but she leaves behind a golden legacy. She was an innovative and revolutionary force in modern pop who not only created boundary-pushing anthems with the likes of Madonna, Charli XCX, and Kim Petras, but was a pioneer in the true sense of the word through her own unparalleled bodies of work. She will truly be remembered as one of the greats. It’s artists like SOPHIE who showcase the very best of queer creativity. As LGBTQ+ people we like to challenge the status quo. It’s no coincidence that some of the greatest…

A ragtag group of creatives, MICHELLE are the new kids on the block. Hailing from New York City, this rising collective is making waves in their local community with their sleek synths and R&Binfused soft pop; it’s refreshing grounded music, and we can’t get enough. Sofia D’Angelo, Julian Kaufman, Charlie Kilgore, Layla Ku, Emma Lee and Jamee Lockard are burgeoning experimental artists behind the collective’s moniker. Known for their slick, colourful dream pop and hushed R&B-styled melodies, the youngsters (all under the age of 21), drum up their influences of New York’s 90s sound scene into their own sonic montage. Now with a debut album chalking up street cred and a new label deal under their belt, GAY TIMES caught up with the rising stars of the moment to find…

Good news Brits: the first season of Love, Victor is finally - we repeat, FINALLY - available to stream in the UK! Although the Love, Simon spin-off premiered in the United States in June last year – in which it became the number one most-watched drama on Hulu - it failed to find a home overseas. In February, however, the title arrived on Disney+ through Star; the sixth brand to launch on the service alongside Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, National Geographic and Disney. If you haven’t binged it yet, do it: Love, Victor is one of the most heart-warming teen dramas in recent memory, and honestly, the show most of us needed as LGBTQ+ youth. Set in the same world as Love, Simon - which made history as the first…

It’s an ordinary weekday, but for Claud Mintz it’s life-changing. In exactly 11 hours, their debut record, Super Monster, will be out in the world. They admit they’re feeling a little anxious, but excited more than anything. You might recognise the name Claud or seen their name scooped up with a collection of other Gen Z bedroom pop youthquakers (Girl in Red, Clairo, mxmtoon) plastered all over Tik Tok and social media, but this young artist has been in the game for a while. Working under the artistic pseudonym Toast, Claud had an EP and separate project blossoming in 2018. After receiving some friendly advice and encouragement from a friend, Claud left everything behind to chase the music. At first, college student Claud didn’t want to drop out, in fact,…

“I have always wanted to make music longer than I exist on this planet,” Lava La Rue tells GAY TIMES. “Do I think I’ve made something timeless yet? No. But, I feel like every time I drop a project I’m closer and closer.” In February, the West Londoner celebrated the release of their latest EP, Butter-Fly, a collection of queer anthems that continue to showcase Lava’s signature blend of poetic songwriting and psychedelic, genreless beats. Their most romantic work to date, Butter-Fly serves as an antithesis, of sorts, to this new generation of rising artists dominating the charts with heartbreak ballads. “When you go on TikTok, you can see a whole sad generation of Gen Z kids who listen to music about not wanting to be on the planet anymore,”…

“I didn’t grow up being able to see characters like Ryan Wilder exist on television,” says Javicia Leslie. “I didn’t get that representation.” The rising star is talking with GAY TIMES from Vancouver as she shoots the brand new season of Batwoman, in which she makes history as the first ever Black - and bisexual - iteration of the iconic title character. “There’s a million shows happening right now, but there are a group of people that feel represented because of the lead in our show,” she explains. “That’s what is important.” Following Ruby Rose’s controversial exit from the series, Javicia - known for her roles on The Family Business and God Friended Me - made her explosive debut on the franchise earlier this year as Ryan, a former convict…

Marie Ulven is running behind schedule. Suddenly, the singer shows up on screen, in a deep emerald oversized hoodie, slouched forwards and nonchalantly munching on a chocolate bar; a Norwegian version of Kit Kat, she tells me. Sat in her Oslo apartment, the artist has been ploughing through back-to-back interviews, but remains unfazed. Before I can get a question in edgeways, Marie announces she’s having a great day and introduces me to her dog, who’s curled up behind her seat. Immediately after, the lofi pop creative swings her screen around to show me outside her apartment; a quaint shot of urban Oslo. As we dive into small talk about European weather and our favourite seasons, you almost wouldn’t think the 22-year-old was here to promote an album. But, with her…

Add spice and flare to your coffee table this Spring. Collaborating exclusively with Rizzoli, Francesco Ragazzi unveils his SS21 collection for Palm Angels with a limited-edition book zine. The zine invites some of today’s most experimental image-makers to be part of the project, with David Sims, Rosie Marks, Lea Colombo, Enzo Ragazzini, Friedrich Kunath, Javier Jaén, Javier Calleja and Thrush Holmes all contributing to the book. Themes of escapism and fantasy weave themselves throughout the zine and manifest in the collection itself. Ragazzi playfully creates his own fantastical multiverse for the new collection resulting in a bookzine that can be treasured, and placed on a bookshelf forever; a tactile object that serves as a reminder and time capsule of what has been lost with the pandemic. Whilst bringing home the…

With a staggering 6.69 million subscribers on YouTube, Brad Mondo has become a staple for many during our lockdown lives. From his popular Mondo Makeovers with famous faces to hilarious hacks and tricky tips (such as using a fork to style your hair), Brad has taken the recipe for a successful social media career and added something that a lot of digital personalities rarely encapsulate. Honesty. I sit down with Brad on a windy evening in London as he pops up on my screen from New York City looking even more polished and exquisite as he does on our smartphones. “You know I miss travelling… I’ve got to get to London at some point but I’ve been in such a lucky position during the pandemic,” he starts. “I miss regular…

It’s almost been 26 years since Gwen Stefani conquered the industry as part of No Doubt with their acclaimed third studio album, Tragic Kingdom, which subsequently became one of the biggest-selling albums in history. Since then, the icon has cemented her place as one of the most influential acts in pop with a string of timeless anthems such as Let Me Blow Ya Mind (with Eve), What You Waiting For?, Rich Girl, Cool, The Sweet Escape and Hollaback Girl; the latter of which historically became the first single to top one million digital downloads. Despite her continued success (she just scored two country number ones in the US and won the latest season of The Voice), Gwen is using her new era to remind audiences that she’s still here, and…

The brainchild of Xoey Fourr, WIMP has morphed from a popular London club night into a modelling agency that prioritises trans+ talent. The idea came to Xoey after she grew tired of trans and non-binary models not being paid for their time, or receiving the same support and opportunity as their heterosexual, cisgender contemporaries. “There’s still so much work to do for us to do but I know if there were more queer and trans+ positive representation when I was growing up, I would have likely come out to live my truth a lot sooner and with confidence knowing there were others like me,” Xoey tells GAY TIMES. “By creating WIMP I hope to create a service to provide opportunities for our talent to be this change in the world…

“I resonate more with the criticism that I broke it like a pussy, not that I broke it.” In a mastered sense of self-awareness, Phoebe Bridgers is flippant and quick-witted with her comebacks. Recalling her most controversial moment yet, the LA-based singer-songwriter admits she has learned to acclimatise to absurdist episodes of virality. Still, despite her online domination, Phoebe remains relatively detached from it all. Now, away from internet clamour, the artist is taking some time for herself. Dressed down in an oversized hoodie and washedout grey dad cap, the artist seems miles away from last week’s media storm; both literally and figuratively. “I’m doing good. I just got back from New York. We’re in the midst of an increasingly normalised, deadly pandemic. So, there are parts of that that…

Singaporean photographer Hidhir Badaruddin introduces the first installment of Younglawa, an ongoing photo series which challenges the stereotypes of Asian male identity Badaruddin grew up with. Instead of “being passive, emasculated, lacking sex appeal and a voice”, the men captured through his lense celebrate youth, tenderness and a playful energy. “I wanted to create a platform for people that look like me to be represented in a way that I haven’t seen before,” he says. “There is a great diversity within the Asian community, but you wouldn’t know that looking at mainstream media. At the same time, I wanted to explore the different faces of masculinity within the Asian community.” The name Younglawa is a play on words between English and Malay sounding like ‘Yang Lawa’, which translates to ‘someone…

“I’m trying to be an icon - that’s my goal,” says Tiana Major9, the British singer-songwriter who’s quickly becoming one of the UK’s most exciting musical exports. The 25-year-old rising star is speaking from her East London home a week after our photoshoot with her as the next Elevate artist; a collaboration between GAY TIMES and Apple Music to spotlight and support emerging LGBTQ+ talent as they break through into the mainstream. And breaking through is exactly what Tiana is doing – in a big way. The Londoner has been cutting her teeth as a performer and a songwriter for a few years, putting in the graft that resulted in her being signed to the prestigious and legendary Motown Records in the US. Much like her name suggests (Major9 is…

Within every Black LGBTQ+ person is a deeply unique and personal story, one in which we grapple with our intersectionality, the complexities of race, sexuality and gender. In the case of Black men like myself, our deeply personal and unique experiences within the queer community are complicated by stereotypes, long-standing inequality and on-going racism. As we grapple with our own idiosyncrasies and intersectionality, I wanted to understand better, and from my peers, how they’re navigating what has become a particularly fraught moment. There is a long history of Black men stereotyped as aggressive, hypersexual, unemotional and violent - stereotypes rooted in racist characterisations employed to justify the enslavement and persecution of Black people. 1915’s Birth of Nation, which cemented Black men as the eternal sexual predator in the (white) public…

Reboots, remakes and reimaginings are all the rage right now. From the promising arrival of an utterly queer new Gossip Girl series to the lingering suspense of Disney’s next big LGBTQ+ move, representation on the small screen is having a big cultural moment. While there’s some scepticism around the reinventions of shows, recreations don’t have to mean a lack of nuance. If anything, a skilful mix of pastiche and originality could give way to some unexpected TV gems. In such a dreary time, nostalgia has become a soothing balm for our outward anxieties. Striking a balance between escapism and intrigue, this new wave of shows has built what I call a ‘spillover state’ for viewers; an experience of anemoia for viewers who have discovered a longingness for a cultural period…

You’re gonna find this hard to believe, but at one point in time, it was the norm for queer people to attend queer bars and fork out £10.75 for a single vodka and coke, before having their faces collide with a stranger’s sweaty armpit as a drag queen flips, kicks and splits on a nearby stage. No, we are not lying! Over the past year, however, that once-familiar stench of BO, spirits and desperation that dominated the dancefloor has come from [whispers] inside the house [ends whisper] as we’ve been sequestered in lockdown. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, drag entertainers have been forced to adapt their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent for virtual performances, from lipsync-athons to hosting and - depending on the queen - re-enactments of their most iconic…

Over the past 12 months we have seen so many highly talented queer creatives fall by the wayside as our Government continued to grossly overlook and ultimately fail our vibrant and vital creative industries. The struggle has been real, but queer creatives are made of harder stuff. From theatre and live music, to comedy and literature, we wanted to highlight the lockdown experiences of 21 LGBTQ+ creatives who faced great challenges but overcame them through their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent. We hope this list – made up of both familiar faces and hidden talents – shares a message of hope and inspiration to queer creatives everywhere. Benjamin Dean (He/Him) Celebrity Reporter and Author After releasing his debut book Me, My Dad and The End of The Rainbow in February,…

Enter the colourful, wild and glitterized imagination of Aadam Sheikh, a London based multimedia artist who uses his influences of theatre, Bollywood and pop culture to create the crazy world that he lives in through self-portraiture and collage. “I like to use my work to push the narratives of everything being a fantasy and that we can be the centre of our own universes if we just believe in the power of self-expression and style.” Pushing the idea of finding fantasy in everything, Aadam creates a ‘day in the life’ where he explores his daily quarantine lifestyle in his own universe of wonder and queer expression. “To me, I have used this time to reflect on my practice and realise what my aim is in my work – to have…