Gaydar Radio is back with more music for your ears! This week we’re being taken over by none other than Bright Light Bright Light!

Bright Light Bright Light started off touring with the likes of Ellie Goulding, Erasure and Scissor Sisters. Now a gay household name, Bright Light Bright Light has three studio albums (Make Me Believe In Hope, Life Is Easy, Choreography) and a whole lot of mixtapes! Find out more about this musical sensation below.

I remember falling in love with your music watching you playing support at my student’s union, now you’re a global sensation! What’s it been like getting to where you are today? What are you working on these days?

Well thank you! It’s been surreal, brilliant, extremely hard work, extremely fun … a roller coaster, really.

It’s been a massive learning curve, as I do most things myself. I manage myself and I run my own label, so constantly adapting to the ever-changing music industry feels like playing Mario Kart sometimes, but it’s a really great challenge that really sharpens your brain.

And along the way I’ve met, and worked with, some of my heroes – Elton John, Scissor Sisters, Erasure, John Grant, Alan Cumming, Hercules & Love Affair – people who shaped how I think about music. I never thought that could happen, and it’s been just incredible.

What is a typical weekend like for Bright Light Bright Light?

I have no idea, I haven’t had a typical weekend in so long!

Let’s start with if I’m not touring: Two weekends of the month I run my ‘Romy & Michele’s Saturday Afternoon Tea Dance’ party, first Saturdays at Club Cumming (Alan Cumming’s NYC bar) and third Saturdays at C’Mon Everybody in Brooklyn. So those weekends are super fun 5-hour DJ sets on the Saturday (3-8pm) and then usually a run around Greenpoint, catching up with friends and maybe a film or two.

Non-DJ weekends, I’ll be record shopping for more vinyl to play at the Tea Dance, and spending time outdoors to enjoy the city I live in and get inspiration for new music. Half the year though, I’m on tour so I’m usually in some random city en route to the next!

What style of music do you think is most popular in gay clubs?  How much does that change between a party in London and a party in NYC?

I think there’s been a real shift from people thinking about “gay clubs” to “gay parties / nights”, so I don’t even know what gay clubs play as standard these days. The cool thing about moving from London to NYC is seeing which songs go down better in each place depending on how big a hit they were in each place.

Like, if I play Deuce at my London Tea Dance, people lose their shit. Play it in NYC and you might see one ex-pat live their best life, but everyone else would be a bit confused.

I feel like both cities have parties that really celebrate local talent and culture (Sink The Pink, Debbie, Daddy Issues for example in London, and Carry Nation, HARDER, Mattachine and Messy in NYC to name just a few). Also there are so many different scenes in each of the cities.

Go to a gay bar in Brooklyn or East London and it’s likely to be a mix of Madonna, Whitney, throwback 80s/90s classics and joyous pop. In other parts of town you’d get more circuit music and commercial dance tracks as a “norm”, but then most places also have regular nights which change the music policy

I think the Divas still have a big presence in them all though, but that could just be my bias.

Before you were a legend, icon, star, who was your DJ Idol?

HAHAHA! I’m going to frame that sentence!!

Oh my god … Todd Terry (who actually did a remix for me, and I died and came back stronger) is a genius and really took my brain out of Wales and into a magic space. Armand Van Helden was another big one for me.

Frankie Knuckles is an absolute legend, and Masters At Work and all the various “Little” Louie Vega and Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez incarnations were so special. Particularly their NuYorican Soul project, which introduced me to some of my favourite tracks.

Let’s get a little cheeky… What music would you listen to with company… With the lights out?

Usually disco. Loleatta Holloway, Donna Summer, or maybe Pointer Sisters as they have something for every mood.

Where will we find Bright Light Bright Light over New Years?

I’ll be in New York I think. I’m not sure what’s happening just yet as I’ve been sorting out some live dates first, but we’ll see!

A few quick fire questions before we finish. Which track can you absolutely not miss from any DJ set?

Mariah Carey – Fantasy

Which track will you be starting off your next set with?

It’s my Tea Dance on Saturday 2nd, so I usually start off with something older and a little romantic, so I think this week maybe ‘Come To Me’ by France Joli.

 

 

Need someone to dance the weekend away with?  Join now and fill your weekend with Bright Light!

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