Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I think that there is a lot of power in a gay guy having a really (hopefully) successful music career while just being completely openly gay and honest and happy.
I think that the beauty of 'Spud' is that everyone can connect to the character of Spud in so many ways. It's about real experiences that happen to kids all the time.
I know who I am, and I know what my ambitions are. If one kid sees me on TV or sees me in a movie and relates, then I'm done. That's perfectly fine. That's enough for me.
In front of a big group of people, in front of cameras, to be in my body and be in that moment, I feel the way that I've always wanted to feel - like a real pop star who is not holding anything back.
I feel like part of getting better at writing is knowing where to find that inspiration. Right after something happens to me, the first thing I'll do is go write when those feelings are really, really fresh.
I think I have to be aware of how much power words can have. And it makes me consider everything that I say before I say it, because you can really help a lot of people, or you can really, really mess things up.
I think pop music is in such an exciting place right now, and I do kind of credit that to Lorde with 'Royals.' I think that song changed everything in the pop scene. All of the sudden, alternative pop music became pop music.
The only thing that really goes through my head when I'm picking out an outfit is, do I feel cool and cute. I try as much as I can to push out any worry about what anyone else is gonna think and just kinda focus on, do I think this is cool.
I think I realize now I was really, really scared to express myself through fashion or certain music or certain TV shows. I was petrified that anyone would ever think I was gay god forbid, and so, once I got over that I kind of could just let myself be.
When I made YouTube videos, I am the one who's uploading it, I'm the one who's editing it, so I'm very in control of what I'm sharing and not sharing. Whereas in music, it's a lot more of pouring my heart out and kind of just putting it out there for the best.
I watched pretty much every coming out video on YouTube that has ever been posted; I watched it in between 14 and a half and 15. Those coming out videos, and those people on YouTube, those brave, brave, brave people on YouTube, without them, I don't know where I'd be.
All my friends were doing just dumb stuff that kids do, like making out with people at parties and starting to date... I didn't know any gay people growing up or any queer people growing up, and so I just really felt alone and kind of lost, and I just wasn't experiencing life.
Ever since I was a little kid, I got bored, so I learned to sing, and I started singing lessons. And then anytime I was bored, I would start writing and start messing around on my computer, making beats. Then I got bored and started making YouTube videos; that changed my life in a big way.
I super strongly identify with marginalized communities. I'm not at all religious, but I feel super, super Jewish. I can't even describe the feeling, but it actually feels really similar to being gay, the kind of kinship that you feel with the LGBTQ people. That same sense of community is there with Judaism.
I talk about things in music that I would never talk about with my best friends, which I think seems like a weird thing, but my justification in my head as to why it's okay is because it's cryptic enough and there's enough meat around it to make it all okay and no one can really prove what any of the songs mean.
I was definitely scared of fashion growing up just because I didn't want people to think I was gay. But now that I'm out, I feel like it's such a personal journey for me that I'm going on every single day where I feel more and more confident and comfortable to wear the clothes that I want to wear, and to have the interest that I have, and to paint my nails if I want to.