A 22-year-old Australian pop singer is interviewed by Sir Elton in the June/July issue of Out magazine. The article is also available to peruse at Out.com. Below are some highlights:
Troye Sivan, who is gay, told Elton: ”Now the job is to make good music so that no one can put me in any sort of box.
”You’re a good example of that, where maybe it was a big deal for a second, but then you put out such good music that people just lived with it and dealt with it.”
The older performer agreed.
”I love being gay, and I wouldn’t want it any other way, but being gay doesn’t define me. It’s part of who I am, but that’s it.”
Both compared their respective coming out experiences: Elton came out publicly in a 1976 Rolling Stone interview after becoming an international star. ”It wasn’t like coming out for me — I was already out,” he said. ”But the public didn’t know. To be honest with you, it didn’t really affect anything.”
Sivan’s experience was different. He had come out to his friends and family already when he made a YouTube video titled ”Coming Out,” amidst a record label negotiation. ”I expected them to be like, ‘Oh, you know, we’re actually going to pass on this.’ But instead I woke up to a congratulations email from my label and ended up signing two weeks later. I felt like I got it out of the way, which I was happy about.”
Troye asked Elton if he still gets nervous about anything.
The 71-year-old responded: ”I get a bit nervous doing the first show of a tour, or with a new set list. I don’t rehearse very much, and I hate sitting around backstage. I get so wound up — I just want to go onstage. Once I’m on it, though, I’m all right. It’s the waiting around that I hate. But you know, if you don’t get a little nervous, you’re not a performer. Fear is a good thing. There always has to be fear — of making a new record, a new song, new appearances. That’s the challenge. If you have no fear and you get used to it, it’s called coasting. You don’t want to do that.”
Troye commented: ”I was kind of hoping you’d say, ‘No, I never get nervous anymore,’ so that I’d have that to look forward to.”
Elton admitted it’s ”bit a more nerve-wracking” if he’s solo stage.
That’s because ”If you play or sing a bad note, you’re completely naked. But I don’t get that nervous.”
