ing it back . It was such a pleasure and a joy for me , and I wish we could do more of it .
IE : It ’ s cool to still be friends with all your exes , which I think I am . And I can ’ t imagine going back and following any old romantic threads . How about you ? BW : Yeah . I don ’ t know if I look back with regret . I think I am a romantic and a storyteller for a living , so that means that I write a lot of different versions of things in my head and sort of examine them and imagine what would have happened had they been different and how that would have played out . And I think I ’ m always sort of retelling different versions of it , just to see if I can find something new , creatively , out of it . And so it was interesting to see these people go through that , and I ’ d hear them say a little line when I ’ d be watching in the control room and think , “ I should write that down ! That ’ d be good in a song ! These people are really going through it , and I ’ m seeing so much inspiration , all in real-time !”
IE : Your album BIG ! Goes through a portal back to the past , too . It ’ s got an angular Duran Duran feel , and even your new artwork and merch line is very ‘ 80s-retro and Nagel-Print angular . All that ’ s missing is “ Axel ’ s Theme ” from Beverly Hills Cop . BW : Duran Duran is a perfect reference . And I worked hard to honor the ‘ 80s , both stylistically and musically , and Kenny Loggins was pretty much all I listened to making this record . I just think he ’ s one of the greatest songwriters of a generation – he was the voice of the ‘ 80s for me . The Top Gun soundtrack ! The Caddyshack soundtrack ! The Footloose soundtrack ! Oh . My God ! I have a Footloose tattoo ! And I really relate to that sort of cinematic , big , masculine – and because it was the ‘ 80s , a little coked out – high-energy music . And it feels like the music of my soul , you know ? So I made my album , and I listened back , and I was like , “ Whoa ! I made the choice , this very ‘ 80s , but am I also confident and also masculine enough to pull this off ?” So it actually taught me a ton about identity and my own sense of self , and the person that I really want to present and have people experience me . And to close the loop , with so much of that expression , the more and more I lean into it , and the more I try and find myself , the more I find Zak being like , “ This is so cool for you – you look like you , and it feels so good .” The encouragement that he gives me as I venture out into the boundaries of my gender and expression has been so limitless , and I ’ m always really blown away by that . And Yes , there were a lot of Nagel prints in my mood board for this album cycle .
IE : In some shots , you ’ re not wearing makeup , and others are almost Helmut Newton sleek . And you can be both simultaneously . BW : Exactly 100 %. That ’ s why I love acting . For me , music is how I get closer to the truth of who I really am , and what that looks like , and how that is expressed in art , and what I want to do with that – which is to ultimately make people feel more seen , less alone , or just safe in some kind of way . But then , in acting , you go , “ Oh , my God ,! I get to be somebody else ? How fun !!” I ’ m desperate to try something else on because I think I ’ m very versatile – maybe it ’ s the Libra in me – but I can do both , and I yearn for that experience to become other characters and express art . And to do art within that shell is so fun , and I ’ m desperate for more .
IE : The album ’ s flagship single “ Blow Out My Candle ” is totally vintage " Flashdance ,” though right ? In sound and video-clip concept ? BW : Absolutely ! So “ Flashdance ”! And so Kevin Bacon in Footloose – that kind of energy , like “ I just wanna dance !” He ’ s just a kid , and he just wants to dance , you know ? That ’ s kind of the vibe of a lot of this music . Or Rocky , running up the stairs . I just want to make encouraging music . Every time I write a song that ’ s sad or angry , I ’ m like , “ Cool . I obviously had to get this out . “ But I am gonna release stuff and share stuff with people that only adds to the positive vibration spectrum of the Universe , you know what I mean ? I just wanna lift people up , I wanna write songs that encourage me when I ’ m singing them onstage . I ’ m having a shitty day , my body hurts , and I don ’ t really
wanna be doing this right now . But I ’ m singing a song about “ Don ’ t stop running down that road ” and “ I ’ ll keep dancing ’ til I die ,” and I ’ m like , “ Oh yeah ! This is my dream , and I ’ m living it ! And I wanna be here !” And it ’ s just crazy that music can do that , so I really believe in the power of music .
IE : Going back to what you said about exploring past possible romantic outcomes in your show , like the movie Sliding Doors , this record sounds like an actual breakup album . But you didn ’ t break up ? BW : I love Sliding Doors ! That ’ s funny . I think most of this record is looking back at not only relationships , like emotional , romantic , and otherwise , relationships from even pre-Zak , in my youth , and sort of looking back with this age-old wisdom of a 31-year-old , and trying to pull it apart and really
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