NEW YORK — For its May 2016 cover story, OUT magazine talked with critically acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter Troye Sivan. The nearly 21-year-old child actor turned YouTube star, now one of music’s hottest up and coming artist, spoke with Shana Naomi Krochmal about his personal journey through music, his YouTube coming out story, and the mutually supportive relationship he has established with his fan base. Sivan talks about his debut, dreamy electro-pop album, Blue Neighbourhood, and what he hopes to accomplish with his life-inspired music. Sivan opens up about how it feels to be honest as an artist and expressing his authentic self through his work.
Excerpts from Troye Sivan’s OUT cover story include:
On his sexuality:
“Fun. Is that weird? Fun is how I feel. Fun is kissing boys and kissing girls sometimes. I can do whatever I want, and no one will bat an eyelid.”
On his relationship status:
“I feel like I share everything about myself, like everything. That’s the one thing – I should keep something to myself.”
On relationships:
Relationships are “so weird,” and breakups are “the worst thing in the world. You care so much for that person and you become best friends, and then it seems so abrasive to me that people break up. That concept. The whole idea of it. As someone who is just starting to venture into romantic endeavors, that’s been a very strange thing I never thought about before. People get hurt, and that’s something I’m learning.”
On his performances and loyal fans:
“I’ve been looking at people’s faces a lot more during a show, and it’s been getting me insane amounts of joy. I see kids closing their eyes and singing the lyrics, and I see kids with huge smiles on their faces, or I see kids that are on a date. I see kids who are proud of themselves and proud of me, and it just really makes me happy.
On his track ‘Heaven’ from his debut album, Blue Neighbourhood, about being gay in a religious upbringing:
“Writing that song was very therapeutic to me at the time. It was me thinking about how hard I try to be a good person and then feeling like, before I even opened my eyes as a little baby – because I think I was born gay – I was a sinner. All of those are very standard, but very confusing and hurtful conversations that you have to have with yourself as an LGBTQ person. Those kinds of songs mean a lot to me”
On performing ‘Heaven’ for his LGBTQ fans:
At a live show, Sivan asked, “Who’s LGBTQ up in here?” Half the audience put their hands up, smiles on their faces, and when he hits the chorus – “if I’m losing a piece of me, maybe I don’t want heaven” – he couldn’t believe how loud it got. “That moment where you take on that responsibility and feel that empowerment, seeing that in a physical form looking back at me, singing those lyrics back at me was…It was a life-changing moment.”
Check out our Troye Sivan Blue Neighbourhood album review here.
Read the full Troye Sivan interview now at:
http://www.out.com/music/2016/3/29/troye-sivan-first-youtube-now-world
