Yes I must be out of my scruples but wanted to make a Magic Moments entry. As this is part of my private New Years resolution. I want to put more interests and experiences on this blog. This also includes my experiences and also my theories about the paranormal. Now SIGHT I started my other blog connected to this one and will keep my group's activities on that one. So tune to what SIGHT's up to and what we are doing on that blog!
Well I wanted to highlight a new gay singer and he so very cute too! I love his music and WOW! he has such a dreamy voice. I wanted you to learn a little more about him from this interview he did in the "Windy City News"
Dated 12/2008
This year, Matt Alber released Hide Nothing on Tommy Boy's LGBT-focused imprint Silver Label. Here, the Kansas born musician blends classical influences with pop sensibilities. Songs like The Slow Club and Monarch have uplifting, heavenly choruses. End of the World—which has the most romantic gay video out there—can be heard in the films Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom and The New 20.
After tending to a washer that just exploded, this former Chanticleer singer talked with Windy City Times about his outstanding ethereal debut, what a romantic he is and how he ran into somebody from his past at a recent event in Los Angeles. Somehow, this self-confessed choir geek manages to chuckle or radiate a smile that can be felt through the phone. During our chat, Alber seemed amazed reflecting on his accomplishments, after all, he has made remarkable strides since moving to L.A. three years ago. It was no surprise that this handsome Cardinals fan is a joyous beam of light, just like his sensational music.
Windy City Times: You have starry-eyed and romantic themes throughout your album. Are you a romantic?
Matt Alber: Oh, I think that might be the first word to describe me. I tend to fall in love pretty quickly and pretty hard. I do like to be swept off my feet.
WCT: How much of your debut album, Hide Nothing, is autobiographical?
MA: It is 100-percent autobiographical. Every song came out of an experience or story that moved me or something that happened to me. The song Nonchalant, one I co-wrote with my friend Jeff Crerie, is about two people passing in the hallway, both trying to be nonchalant about their feelings. About a month later, my roommate became my husband. It makes me careful about what songs I write, just in case they come true.
WCT: So your song Field Trip Buddy, a universal queer tale of grade school crushes, is from experience?
MA: Not sure if you had that field trip as a kid—every year we did something like go see the Nutcracker. It was the one time I got to hold hands with another boy all day long. I looked forward to that. It was sort of like Christmas; that's what it felt like. I got a lot of responses from straight guys because they could identify with that. They had similar boy crushes as kids. I wasn't really counting on that and was expecting it to resonate just with the gay audience.
WCT: I've seen your phenomenal videos for Monarch and End of the World. You are quite a visual artist!
MA: I'm really happy to have made a video for End of the World. We just finished editing it; it is a dream come true having a team come along and say that they want to visualize this song. We decided to make it at a barbershop in my neighborhood. Jerry the barber has been cutting hair for 50 years. The piece is set it in the 1950's it is a romantic gay story in a masculine environment.
WCT: Who is that guy dipping you in the video?
MA: That is Zak Barnett, who is good friends with the video's director, Robin Scovill. Before accepting a project, Robin waits for something to grab him. He hadn't done a music video in awhile and I am so glad he said yes. Zak is a really awesome openly gay actor in L.A. Instead of some supermodel next to me, we had somebody I could have real chemistry with. The video is now on Logo and we are inviting MTV and VH1 to air it. I am hoping the video will bring forward some momentum on overturning these unfair laws.
WCT: How was it playing at the premiere party for the movie Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom?
MA: Oh my God, that was amazing. They invited me because End of the World is featured in it. The event was at the Highlands Hollywood. I was waiting to go on, since I got there super-early. I was standing on the landing and pinching myself. Three years ago I moved to L.A. and didn't know anybody. Standing outside to play with a string quartet and grand piano was a little overwhelming. There was a guest there, Raven Symone. The last time I saw her was five years prior, when I was a contestant on Star Search and she was a celebrity judge. This was when I as trying to be the first openly gay country singer. Raven gave me a really bad score. [ Laughs ] So I found it amusing that I got to sing for her.
WCT: On your album Hide Nothing, you cover Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek. What sparked that?
MA: She's my hero. I love the way she writes and delivers music. It's so up my alley. In any mood, I can reach for her music and feel better. It's a tribute to her. The song's theme sort of ties in with hiding and not hiding. I hope she hears it someday, but I am kind of scared to death if she does. Covering somebody's work is dangerous territory. One day I would love to tour with her.
WCT: How was debuting your song Beotia at the Gay Games in Chicago in 2006?
MA: It was a little while ago, but you can never forget singing in a stadium with a bunch of incredible athletes. I can close my eyes and see myself on the stage with the torch. I hope they invite me back.
WCT: What can you tell me about your remake of Star of Wonder by The Roches?
MA: My label asked me if I wanted to record a Christmas song. I was thinking through what I wanted to do, I just kind of racked my brain. I love the Roches. I can't help fall in love with their sound. So I decided upon Star of Wonder and Googled it, hoping maybe I will find the chords. Terre Roche—who wrote the song—published the music on her Web site, saying this song belongs to us all. It was a sign. I tried to take it to a bit of a newer direction with the idea of looking off to something and wondering if it is calling you. All proceeds go to L.A. Youth Network, which provides group homes and emergency shelter to homeless ( mostly ) gay teens in L.A. They don't have room for all of them and are trying to build more homes and a high school. These kids are getting left behind. As a teenager who was tossed out of his house for being gay, I identify with these survivors.
WCT: What can we expect from you in the near future?
MA: Currently I am putting together a tour of colleges and universities. I am working with some agencies, trying to give concerts and round table discussions covering what is like being an adult, a responsible, gay social person in this new era. Nobody talked about this at my school. I would have loved to have had somebody to discuss this. I am looking to working with choirs at these colleges, hoping to invite a local choir to be part of my concert each evening.
Alber's debut, Hide Nothing, is out now on the Silver Label imprint of Tommy Boy Records. For more on Matt Alber, please visit www.mattalber.com .
Here is his new video called "End of the World" And wow, please watch this and listen to the song. It had me crying all the way throgh as it is so beautiful and it is set in the 1950's But the song also proves that even if you may even think love is dead, that if the both of you really want it, you two can get back on the ride and take another plunge! This is the most beautiful gay romantic song and video I have seen in along time. Click or copy the link here, as it is too new to be put on You Tube.
http://www.logoonline.com/video/?id=1600759&vid=325675
Here is a couple more of his songs:
This one is called "Monarch"
And this one is called "The Slow Club"
So check hin out and his music. He is a truly good artist with a beautiful haunting voice! Plus like I said, he is easy on the eyes...what a cutie!
Well I wanted to highlight a new gay singer and he so very cute too! I love his music and WOW! he has such a dreamy voice. I wanted you to learn a little more about him from this interview he did in the "Windy City News"
Dated 12/2008
This year, Matt Alber released Hide Nothing on Tommy Boy's LGBT-focused imprint Silver Label. Here, the Kansas born musician blends classical influences with pop sensibilities. Songs like The Slow Club and Monarch have uplifting, heavenly choruses. End of the World—which has the most romantic gay video out there—can be heard in the films Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom and The New 20.
After tending to a washer that just exploded, this former Chanticleer singer talked with Windy City Times about his outstanding ethereal debut, what a romantic he is and how he ran into somebody from his past at a recent event in Los Angeles. Somehow, this self-confessed choir geek manages to chuckle or radiate a smile that can be felt through the phone. During our chat, Alber seemed amazed reflecting on his accomplishments, after all, he has made remarkable strides since moving to L.A. three years ago. It was no surprise that this handsome Cardinals fan is a joyous beam of light, just like his sensational music.
Windy City Times: You have starry-eyed and romantic themes throughout your album. Are you a romantic?
Matt Alber: Oh, I think that might be the first word to describe me. I tend to fall in love pretty quickly and pretty hard. I do like to be swept off my feet.
WCT: How much of your debut album, Hide Nothing, is autobiographical?
MA: It is 100-percent autobiographical. Every song came out of an experience or story that moved me or something that happened to me. The song Nonchalant, one I co-wrote with my friend Jeff Crerie, is about two people passing in the hallway, both trying to be nonchalant about their feelings. About a month later, my roommate became my husband. It makes me careful about what songs I write, just in case they come true.
WCT: So your song Field Trip Buddy, a universal queer tale of grade school crushes, is from experience?
MA: Not sure if you had that field trip as a kid—every year we did something like go see the Nutcracker. It was the one time I got to hold hands with another boy all day long. I looked forward to that. It was sort of like Christmas; that's what it felt like. I got a lot of responses from straight guys because they could identify with that. They had similar boy crushes as kids. I wasn't really counting on that and was expecting it to resonate just with the gay audience.
WCT: I've seen your phenomenal videos for Monarch and End of the World. You are quite a visual artist!
MA: I'm really happy to have made a video for End of the World. We just finished editing it; it is a dream come true having a team come along and say that they want to visualize this song. We decided to make it at a barbershop in my neighborhood. Jerry the barber has been cutting hair for 50 years. The piece is set it in the 1950's it is a romantic gay story in a masculine environment.
WCT: Who is that guy dipping you in the video?
MA: That is Zak Barnett, who is good friends with the video's director, Robin Scovill. Before accepting a project, Robin waits for something to grab him. He hadn't done a music video in awhile and I am so glad he said yes. Zak is a really awesome openly gay actor in L.A. Instead of some supermodel next to me, we had somebody I could have real chemistry with. The video is now on Logo and we are inviting MTV and VH1 to air it. I am hoping the video will bring forward some momentum on overturning these unfair laws.
WCT: How was it playing at the premiere party for the movie Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom?
MA: Oh my God, that was amazing. They invited me because End of the World is featured in it. The event was at the Highlands Hollywood. I was waiting to go on, since I got there super-early. I was standing on the landing and pinching myself. Three years ago I moved to L.A. and didn't know anybody. Standing outside to play with a string quartet and grand piano was a little overwhelming. There was a guest there, Raven Symone. The last time I saw her was five years prior, when I was a contestant on Star Search and she was a celebrity judge. This was when I as trying to be the first openly gay country singer. Raven gave me a really bad score. [ Laughs ] So I found it amusing that I got to sing for her.
WCT: On your album Hide Nothing, you cover Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek. What sparked that?
MA: She's my hero. I love the way she writes and delivers music. It's so up my alley. In any mood, I can reach for her music and feel better. It's a tribute to her. The song's theme sort of ties in with hiding and not hiding. I hope she hears it someday, but I am kind of scared to death if she does. Covering somebody's work is dangerous territory. One day I would love to tour with her.
WCT: How was debuting your song Beotia at the Gay Games in Chicago in 2006?
MA: It was a little while ago, but you can never forget singing in a stadium with a bunch of incredible athletes. I can close my eyes and see myself on the stage with the torch. I hope they invite me back.
WCT: What can you tell me about your remake of Star of Wonder by The Roches?
MA: My label asked me if I wanted to record a Christmas song. I was thinking through what I wanted to do, I just kind of racked my brain. I love the Roches. I can't help fall in love with their sound. So I decided upon Star of Wonder and Googled it, hoping maybe I will find the chords. Terre Roche—who wrote the song—published the music on her Web site, saying this song belongs to us all. It was a sign. I tried to take it to a bit of a newer direction with the idea of looking off to something and wondering if it is calling you. All proceeds go to L.A. Youth Network, which provides group homes and emergency shelter to homeless ( mostly ) gay teens in L.A. They don't have room for all of them and are trying to build more homes and a high school. These kids are getting left behind. As a teenager who was tossed out of his house for being gay, I identify with these survivors.
WCT: What can we expect from you in the near future?
MA: Currently I am putting together a tour of colleges and universities. I am working with some agencies, trying to give concerts and round table discussions covering what is like being an adult, a responsible, gay social person in this new era. Nobody talked about this at my school. I would have loved to have had somebody to discuss this. I am looking to working with choirs at these colleges, hoping to invite a local choir to be part of my concert each evening.
Alber's debut, Hide Nothing, is out now on the Silver Label imprint of Tommy Boy Records. For more on Matt Alber, please visit www.mattalber.com .
Here is his new video called "End of the World" And wow, please watch this and listen to the song. It had me crying all the way throgh as it is so beautiful and it is set in the 1950's But the song also proves that even if you may even think love is dead, that if the both of you really want it, you two can get back on the ride and take another plunge! This is the most beautiful gay romantic song and video I have seen in along time. Click or copy the link here, as it is too new to be put on You Tube.
http://www.logoonline.com/video/?id=1600759&vid=325675
Here is a couple more of his songs:
This one is called "Monarch"
And this one is called "The Slow Club"
So check hin out and his music. He is a truly good artist with a beautiful haunting voice! Plus like I said, he is easy on the eyes...what a cutie!
3 comments:
Wow he is cute! And pretty good music too. Will have to look up more about him.
You do know you can add him as a friend on myspace don't you? You totally should!
Just heard the song for the first time today, and read your interview. Beautiful song and wonderful interview! I agree, I was crying, as well. Keep up the good work and I'll be checking back on your paranormal posts as often as I can!
Health and happiness to you!
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