LGBTQ news and entertainment
New music from out singer/songwriter Jeb Havens:
Just in time for pride season… my brand new dance track “I Need Love”, released by Smilax Publishing.
The music video uses some footage we took while on the beautiful beaches of Cape Town. Hope you enjoy it.
Happy and safe pride, everyone!
Tegan and Sara, Canada’s identical lesbian pop duo, drop this single from their upcoming new album Love You To Death.
The song’s lyrics, “Boyfriend,” evolved from a real-life dating situation Sara had experienced.
From the Billboard review:
The track’s a stadium-shaking hand-clapper from the twin duo’s forthcoming album, Love You to Death. Sara Quin spoke to DJ Matt Wilkinson about the song, explaining the story behind the song: Quin was stuck in a love triangle with a woman who hadn’t dated another woman before and was still seeing a man at the same time.
“I think that’s pretty relatable,” Quin said of the song. “Obviously, being gay, there’s sort of a bit of a gender twist in the song and I get that that sometimes doesn’t seem immediately relatable to everybody, whether they’re straight or whatever. But this idea, you know, that we’ve all been in that situation where we really like someone and we want to make it official and they’re not ready, that’s what the song is about.”
I’m liking the 80s vibe of the electro-pop groove. Fun 🙂
The single is available now, and the full album drops June 3rd. Check it out on iTunes.
New music video from out musicians Eli Lieb and Steve Grand – “Look Away.”
Said Steve Grand of the collaboration:
“Eli is a real pro. It was a true pleasure working with someone who knows what they want creatively. Eli kept the process streamlined.Though we are in a similar line of work, our personalities are very different, which I think we really got to see throughout the day we shot the video. I’m an irreverent goofball and Eli is a more serious guy just really focused on his craft. I think it makes for an interesting collaboration.”
It’s interesting that Grand notes their different approaches. I was struck throughout the video by Lieb’s connection to the camera, eyes and heart open to the viewer. Grand, on the other hand, largely avoids directly looking into the camera, choosing to look away or down. The differences lead the viewer to a much for connected experience with Lieb.
The emotional break-up song is sparse on production which feels appropriate, but the powerful lyrics and Lieb’s devastatingly open relationship with the viewer makes for a winning combination.
It was only after I had watched the video that I found this statement from Lieb which underlines the connectedness of his performance:
“We filmed this the day after my boyfriend and I broke up, and the footage is so real and raw, that I struggled if I even felt comfortable putting it out. I wasn’t sure I wanted everyone to see the pain I was in. But then I realized that this pain came from love and is a part of life most people experience at some point – we’ve all been there. I hope it helps remind people that pain and love are so closely related to not forget how powerful love is.”
I’ve previously written about Eli Lieb here, here, here, here, and here.
Bitter-sweet music video from out country musician Brandon Stansell – “Dear John.”
The Los Angeles-based singer shares a sad breakup, but the story takes a turn making the song and video more impactful.
Aussie YouTube sensation Troye Sivan drops his new music video, “Youth,” from his album Blue Neighbourhood.
My first thought was perhaps the song would be a bit “young-ish” for me, but I like the medium vibe and the anthemic chorus.
Oh, and the pretty colors.
Via MTV:
The vid takes us inside a hazy, neon-washed house party where alcohol, sex, and tongue piercings are all the rage. But there are moments of quiet intimacy, too, and nods to… well… youth: light-up sneakers, Care Bears and blanket forts all make an appearance. It ultimately feels like a marriage of maturity and recklessness, as Troye sings about loving too hard and not really caring about the consequences.
Jeb Havens is an international recording artist and songwriter based in Los Angeles, and one of my favorite out musicians.
His music is a blend of catchy pop and raw emotional therapy. His YouTube channel, featuring his popular “Closet Covers” series has over 650,000 views, and captured the attention of Reddit, BuzzFeed, and the TV show “Right This Minute”.
 |
| Jeb Havens recording a session for his “Closet Covers” series |
Jeb’s new album, HOME BASE, produced by Grammy-winning producer Andy Zulla, is being released today and you can find it on all digital download vendors.
Jeb shares many of the songs from HOME BASE, and talks about the creative process involved in creating the new album.
Jeb will host and perform at a record release party at Rockwell in Los Angeles tonight. Plus, it’s his birthday, so much celebrating to do!
Find Jeb’s new album on iTunes here.
“Seriously, someone get this guy a record deal already.” –BuzzFeed
Check out my radio show interview with the talented (and easy on the eyes) Jeb Havens below.
You can find all my radio shows for The Randy Report by clicking here.
Congrats Ricky Martin for winning “Best Latin Pop Album” – ‘A Quien Quiera Escuchar – at the 2016 Grammy Awards!
#outartists #outmusicians
This Valentine’s Day finds out singer/songwriter Kenyth Mogan in a wistful mood with his new single, “It Was Love.”
Mogan talks on the inspiration for the song:
“It Was Love” is a very personal song for me.
I wrote the lyrics after finding a photo of me and my first boyfriend in high school. He passed a few years ago, and without even realizing it, all these memories and emotions came rushing back that I had to sit down and write. The lyrics just kind of poured out.
So much happens the first time you fall in love. Everything is new and exciting and in those moments, it’s perfect. But, things change and people grow apart, regardless of the promises we made. It’s no one’s fault. It just happens. I think a lot of people can relate too.
I previously wrote about Mogan last February when he shared his take on The Wizard of Oz and a Tin Man who couldn’t see love right in front of him.
Just got word that one of my favorite singer/songwriters, the very talented/handsome Jeb Havens, is releasing his new solo album, titled “Home Base,” on February 17th!
Los Angeles gets to share in the excitement with a release concert + birthday celebration at Rockwell on the date.
Look for an upcoming exclusive interview with Jeb on The Randy Report radio show, plus some early teases of some of the new songs from the CD.
I’ve previously written about Havens here and here and here.
Good Hump Day kind of news 🙂
 |
| Brandon Skeie releases his new single “So Bad” |
I really enjoyed talking with internet music sensation Brandon Skeie last night on my online radio show, The Randy Report.
Brandon Skeie (SHAY-AH) is an LA based singer-songwriter/artist with a strong presence among the industry’s creative community.
At the age of 22, Brandon Skeie has been featured in Billboard, Ryan Seacrest and MTV, over 3M SoundCloud plays, an active online fan base of 350K+ followers, a 15 week synch on E! and more.
After developing a huge following on his YouTube channel (almost 9 million views) including his spectacular cover versions of songs like Adele’s “Hello,” Brandon is poised for a strong 2016 with the release of original music, beginning with his new single “So Bad”.
I spoke with Brandon about his creative process in the recording studio, his amazing vocal range, and how he views being an out musician in today’s musical landscape.
I’m a fan of the new song, so I asked about where the inspiration for the song came from. Brandon’s response:
Basically, “So Bad” is based on a previous relationship of mine. I had met a person. It was actually my first love, which made it a little bit more interesting. I was deeply, deeply in love with this person, but around six, seven months into the relationship, it just became evident that love wasn’t enough.
We had many, many differences. We didn’t get along a lot of the time. It just created this feeling like, “Man, I just want you so bad all the time, but I can’t.” It’s just you falling so in love with somebody or the idea of somebody, and then you really get to know them, your personalities clash, and there’s nothing you can do, except for that feeling that lingers. Wanting somebody so bad, but knowing it’s not the right time or the right place.
That’s basically the full inspiration behind it. The same situation actually was going on with my co-writer Hillary Bernstein at the same time. Both of us were going through this really rough relationship period and just came up with this concept. It just flew out of us really quickly.
After listening to the show below, make sure you check out Brandon’s new single “So Bad” here.
You can follow Brandon on Instagram here, Facebook here, and Twitter here.
 |
| Brandon Skeie |