40 | OutBoise Magazine | NEWS
OutBoise.com | Issue 10.1 | August 2015
Why at this point in your career?
It’s time. It was time to make
a shift, to do something a little
different. I went through a lot
of changes last year. I ended
up leaving my first label (RCA
Records), and I had to change
management at the end of my
last album; it was just time for
something fresh. I just got off
the tour with Queen, which was
amazing for me and felt really
good, and it gave me a lot of confidence and it made me not so
scared about everything. It gave
me a sense of career security in a
way that I haven’t felt before.
What were you scared of? You’ve clearly
never had trouble being yourself.
Over the last five years, right after Idol, I
think there was a certain amount of overcompensation in certain ways. I was dressing really
outlandishly, and it was a lot of fun and it’s
definitely a part of who I am to wanna play
dress up, but I think it got to a point where I
was hiding behind it a bit. Behind all of that, all
of everything. It was like a preemptive defense
mechanism. It’s like the kid who goes to high
school dressed goth and he’s actually not into
the devil at all but doesn’t wanna be bothered
by anybody. (Laughs) I don’t think I realized
it at the time, but I can see this in hindsight
now. At the time I thought, “This is who I am;
this is what I do,” and now it just feels like I’m
in a new place in my life. I’ve grown up and
evolved and I’m in a new place, and the album
– the subject matter and the sound – reflect
that.