Lady Gaga threw some epic shade at Mike Pence at one of her shows at her Las Vegas residency Enigma, calling him the worst representation of a Christian.
The current Vice President of the USA, Mike Pence has been critcised by activists and LGBT+ advocates for defending his wife’s job at the Immanuel Christian School in Virginia, a school which does not allow LGBT+ people to work for it on the basis of religion.
On Sunday’s performance, he found himself at the end of Lady Gaga’s wrath, with the “Born This Way” singer calling him the “worst representation of what it means to be a Christian.”
To a cheering crowd, Lady Gaga took a moment to get political saying “to Mike Pence, who thinks it’s acceptable that his wife works at a school that bans LGBTQ — you’re wrong … You say we should not discriminate against Christianity. You are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian.”
“I am a Christian woman,” Gaga added, “and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice and everybody is welcome. So you can take all that disgrace, Mr. Pence, and you can look yourself in the mirror and you’ll find it right there.”
The 4th version of this movie is all very up to date but how does Lady Gaga shape up in the ultimate diva battle against her predecessor’s madams Streisand and Garland?
Nutshell – A well-trodden story of a male superstar whose career is on the skids who falls for a nobody whose star then goes stratospheric. 1937/1954 and then 1976 this exact story has been filmed all very successfully with the first two focusing on movie stars and the last one moving it to the music industry so as Barbra Streisand can belt out her top three hit ‘Evergreen’. The success of the 2018 film depends on the talent on show namely Bradley Cooper… fucking hot as hell and Gaga who is the current queen of our gay stratosphere plus the quality of the songs. With ‘Shallow’ now atop the singles chart and the album alongside it, we very definitely have all three massive ticks in the movies credit column. Yep, this is good stuff indeed.
Running Time – 136 Minutes – Cert 15. This is a long drawn out affair maybe some of the middle songs could have been ditched.
The Gay UK Factor –Lady Gaga‘s first full length starring roll including over a dozen new great anthems what could be queerer than that? Well just to make sure that plenty of pink pounds get handed over the cinema counter we get hunky Bradley Cooper topless too for many of the scenes – maybe the first movie ever where you will wank and lip sync at the same time.
Cast – Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice Clay, David Chappelle and far too briefly, Alec Baldwin.
Key Player – Although this is Bradley’s directing debut and he co-wrote it and starred in it as well as singing adequately many of the songs the movie always comes to life most when her ladyship is on the screen. This is a one-woman show. She is completely stunning and steals every single scene she is in and others sag without her regal presence. Never has a movie been so aptly titled… maybe a Megastar is born here certainly a new triple threat at least.
Budget – $60 Million and its already made twice that back in just America alone – a bonafide hit plus CD sales, massive DVD sales, merchandise and with touring conglomerate Live Nation finance here this probably even a tour and stage show. This will run and run.
Best Bit – 0.44 mins; The first time Bradley forces Gaga onto a stage in front of her first big audience is a real showstopper and it’s the fantastic big new number one hit ‘Shallow’ she sings and sings fucking well.
Worst Bit – 1.25 mins; When Gaga makes it big and starts performing her own music we get a disappointing run of three sub-Ariana Grande type rejected album tracks when the film is crying out for another ‘Poker Face’ or ‘Bad Romance’. This section of the movie is as about as limp and as unfortunate as your cock after 10 pints when Tom Daley out of the blue offers you a booty call.
Little Secret – Bradley Cooper sang and recorded some scenes live from the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury in 2017 immediately before he introduced the booked act Kris Kristofferson who was the male lead of the 1976 A Star Is Born opposite Streisand. This reboot was planned by Clint Eastwood in 2011 starring Beyonce until she became pregnant then it was Rihanna, Shakira & Selena Gomez; male leads were those well-known singing talents Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio & Tom Cruise. Not only does Bradley write, direct and star in the film but one of his kids appears and the dog is his own hound, Charlie.
Further Viewing – A Star Is Born 1-3, and musicals like Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, The Greatest Showman, La La Land, Bohemian Rhapsody etc plus Moulin Rouge, My Fair Lady, The Bodyguard, Strictly Ballroom and every romantic musical back to The Golddiggers Of 1933 belting out the ‘Lullaby Of Broadway’.
Any Good – A stunning directorial debut by Cooper and a film that will make Gaga into a movie legend… it could have been written for her if it wasn’t 81 years old. This just works from start to finish and the 98% new songs (Only ‘La Vie En Rose’ you will recognise) are mainly memorable and downloadable. Well acted, beautifully shot and with an earth-shattering finale and climatic number. Gaga may have just missed out on the Oscar for best song two years ago but she is now the bookies favourite for Feb 2019. This is a great original musical applied to one of the oldest and oft-repeated stories in cinema. Never mind ‘Born This Way’ it appears she was Born to act.
Rick Genest, AKA Zombie Boy’s death was an accident, not a suicide – his family and management insist.
(C) BIGSTOCK
Earlier this week the model Zombie Boy, who famously appeared in Lady Gaga’s 2011 hit, ‘Born This Way’ died at the age of 32. It was first reported that his death was by suicide, but his family has said that his death was actually accidental.
He was found dead at his home in Montreal after falling from a balcony at the back of his resident.
Genest’s manager Karim Leduc told PEOPLE, “For us, the family and close entourage, we feel there’s too many inconsistencies around his death to rule it as a suicide, and for people to jump to conclusions that rapidly was disappointing,
“The balcony from which he fell on the third floor was a very dangerous balcony,” Leduc added. “Just three weeks ago, I visited that balcony with him and was on it with him smoking a cigarette, as well. It’s a balcony that has very small rails/guards — an emergency/fire escape balcony – and he was leaning his back towards it like sitting on the ledge of the rail, and he fell from his backside onto the floor.”
There has been speculation that he jumped rather than fell but Leduc said that Genest had left no note and that he “actually made plans for a couple things that week.”
After the news of his death, Lady Gaga wrote a poignant tribute to Genest on Thursday and stated that he had taken his own life, “The suicide of friend Rick Genest, Zombie Boy is beyond devastating,” she tweeted. “We have to work harder to change the culture, bring Mental Health to the forefront and erase the stigma that we can’t talk about it.”
“If you’re suffering, call a friend or family today,” she added. “We must save each other.”
The suicide of friend Rick Genest, Zombie Boy is beyond devastating. We have to work harder to change the culture, bring Mental Health to the forefront and erase the stigma that we can’t talk about it. If you are suffering, call a friend or family today. We must save each other. pic.twitter.com/THz6x5JlpB
The model, Zombie Boy has died, from an apparent suicide at the age of 32.
(C) BIGSTOCK
Rick Genest, known professionally as Zombie Boy has died at the age of 32. He was found just days before what would have been his 33rd birthday.
Most notably he starred in Lady Gaga’s music video for the LGBT+ anthem, ‘Born This Way’ in 2011. He was found deceased at his home in Montreal, Canada.
It is believed that he committed suicide. There are no details at this time surrounding the cause of his death.
Lady Gaga was one of the first to pay tribute to the model. Taking to Twitter she wrote,
“The suicide of friend Rick Genest, Zombie Boy is beyond devastating. We have to work harder to change the culture, bring Mental Health to the forefront and erase the stigma that we can’t talk about it. If you are suffering, call a friend or family today. We must save each other”.
The suicide of friend Rick Genest, Zombie Boy is beyond devastating. We have to work harder to change the culture, bring Mental Health to the forefront and erase the stigma that we can’t talk about it. If you are suffering, call a friend or family today. We must save each other. pic.twitter.com/THz6x5JlpB
“Science tells us that it takes 21 days to form a habit, if you are suffering from Mental Health issue I beckon for today to be your first day or a continuation of the work you’ve been doing. Reach out if you’re in pain, and if you know someone who is, reach out to them too”.
Science tells us that it takes 21 days to form a habit, if you are suffering from Mental Health issue I beckon for today to be your first day or a continuation of the work you’ve been doing. Reach out if you’re in pain, and if you know someone who is, reach out to them too. pic.twitter.com/4pVR5xyoH6
Management for Rick posted a tribute on Facebook, saying they were “shocked and pained” by his death.
“Rico was loved by all those who had the chance to meet him and know him,” said the post.
“We received the unfortunate news at the beginning of the afternoon and members of the team have come to support his family and relatives in this dark and difficult moment.
“We want to present our deepest condolences… Thank you zb for these beautiful moments in your company and for your radiant smile.”
If you are in the UK, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 if you are struggling with mental health issues.
So with less than a week away from the US election where either Clinton or Trump will become America’s Next Top President… we’re wondering where some LGBT celebs stand politically speaking…
So which way are the world’s most popular LGBT celebrities voting? We’ve been checking what they’ve been saying and the hints they’ve been dropping.
For some time I have been of the opinion that any old celeb is declared a gay icon these days. It appears that all people have to do now is pander to the gay community, remove their clothes, camp it up and/or say they love the gays in order to be awarded gay icon status.
Then there are those who declare their interest in being gay icons (yes, I’m talking about you Katie Hopkins). No. Just no.
The world appears to be saturated with ‘gay icons’ in these modern times. I’ve heard people proclaiming the likes of Nick Jonas, Gemma Collins (who I had to Google because I had no idea who she was) and Dan Osborne as gay icons. While I have great, and purely shallow, admiration for Nick Jonas and Dan Osborne, they are not gay icons. They may frequently take their clothes off to the rabid cheers of gay men, but what have they actually done for the gay community other than cash in on us?
Then we have our beloved Kylie Minogue. Let me put it out there that I’m a bit of a stereotype in that I’m a huge Kylie fan. However, in my opinion she isn’t a gay icon. As fabulous as Kylie is, what has she actually done to help further gay rights? I can get on board with her campness and her words of wisdom, such as “When in doubt, add more glitter”, but for all Kylie’s fabulousness, she is not a true gay icon. This is because my idea of a gay icon is someone who has contributed significantly to LGBT causes and issues. People who have broken down stereotypes and challenged perception are also gay icons to me. So here is my list of people who I believe are genuinely gay icons.
Madonna
This is a totally obvious one, but the truth is that Madonna really is a gay icon. She has long stood up for gay rights and was an active champion of our cause in the days when it wasn’t really cool. Even in recent years, Madonna has stood up for gay rights by turning up at a GLAAD event dressed as a boy scout in protest at the scouts in America not allowing gay people to join and protesting against Russia’s treatment of gay people whilst touring in the country. This led to a court summons for Madonna and she was branded an “ex-whore” by someone in the Russian government. What I like about Madonna is that she knows exactly what she is doing. She knows that her profile as one of the most famous people on the planet will draw attention to the issues that she chooses to highlight. Then there’s Madonna’s video for her song Justify My Love, which features man on man action and lesbian cross-dressing sexual games. Nobody else was doing things like that in the early 90s. We have a lot to thank Madonna for.
Skin
Skin is the lead singer of Skunk Anansie, who are one of my favourite bands. Skin is a bald headed black bisexual female who makes heavy rock music. At the time Skunk Anansie rose to fame, black women were put into boxes as RnB singers and the idea that a black female would make hard rock music was absurd to the music industry. But Skin stuck to who she is and carried on, eventually becoming massively successful with her band. Over twenty years since Skunk Anansie released their first album, Skin remains one of a kind. Never one to flaunt her sexuality or claim to be any kind of gay icon, she has simply remained true to herself throughout an amazing career. So for me Skin is not only a gay icon, but an icon for black people and more simply, an icon full stop.
Stephen Fry
While being delightfully entertaining, Stephen Fry has also actively campaigned for many years on things such as HIV/AIDS, mental health and gay rights. He also championed a number of LGBT causes, often using Twitter to tell his 11 million followers about the important work of certain LGBT charities.
Lady Gaga
Although another obvious choice, Gaga has done a lot in terms of raising awareness of LGBT issues and speaking out against discrimination. It’s well documented what Gaga has done for LGBT people, from speaking out about the suicides of gay teens in America to marching on the White House to get the controversial Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell rule abolished. If you forget about the circus act that surrounds Lady Gaga, it’s plain to see that she is an example of an amazing human being.
Sir Ian McKellan
Not only is Ian McKellan one of the most well-known actors in the world; he is also probably the most high profile out gay actor. With a large pull at the box office, on stage and on television, Ian McKellan has still got it. However, it’s not just being an out actor that’s got him onto this list. He has also been active in the campaign for gay rights since the 1980s and even helped to found Stonewall.
Other people I view as gay icons include Ben Cohen, Jimmy Somerville, Ellen DeGeneres, Peter Tatchell and Tony Blair. Perhaps my list is predictable and there are not many people on it who differ from the typical roll call of gay icons. However, I see everyone listed as a true gay icon. They have actually done something significant to help further gay rights and break down stereotypes. That’s what a gay icon is, right?
Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.
In 2013 we announced our first LGBT Rich list, the top 10 of the world’s richest gay men. This year for the first time we’ve included trans, bisexual and lesbians in the list.
THEGAYUK UK Rich List
Welcome to THEGAYUK LGBT Rich List 2015. For 2015 we’ve included people from the entire LGBT spectrum. People who made the list are from the fashion, entertainment and technology industries.
The fashion industry holds 5 of the highest paid gay or bisexual men in the world, with one topping the list as the richest in the world.
The entertainments also home to a number of people, and includes one billionaire.
The average age of our rich list is 57.7 years old and most likely to be male with 15 of the 20 male.
It is worth noting that someone’s placement on the list doesn’t mean that they have liquid assets amounting to their reported worth. It may include the reported worth of royalities, stocks or other investments.
#20 (joint) Rosie O’Donnell
Industry: Entertainment
Made her money in: Entertainment
Relationship: Single
Age: 53
Nationality: US
Reported worth: $100,000,000
According to Celebrity Net Worth Rosie enjoys a $5 million annual salary, which she earns because of her TV appearances and co-hosting The View.
#20 Megan Ellison
Industry: Entertainment
Made her money from:Film producing
Relationship:Co Habiting with partner
Age: 29
Reportedly worth: $100,000,000
Film producer Megan is the daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison and youngest millionaire on our list. She has gone on to produce critically acclaimed films such as American Hustle, and Zero Dark Thirty
#20 Anderson Cooper
Industry: Entertainment/News
Made his money: Entertainment, inheritance
Relationship:Co-habiting
Age: 48
Nationality: US
Reported Worth: $100,000,000
With an estimated yearly salary of $11m the newly self-outed Cooper is also the son heiress of Gloria Vanderbilt. He has been dating his partner since 2009. He currently hosts Anderson Live. He is joint 18-20th with Rosie O’Donell and Megan Ellison.
#17 George Michael
Industry:Entertainment
Made his music from:Songwriter, singer
Relationship status: Single
Age: 52
Nationality: UK
Reported worth:$175,000,000
According to celebritynetworth.com Mr Michaels, former Wham Man turned super solo star of the 80s and 90s is reportedly worth $175m. He’s sold 100 million records since Wham’s debut single Young Guns (Go For It!)which went to number 3.
George had been in a long term relationship with Kenny Goss, but the couple announced their split in 2011.
The singer and songwriter is reportedly worth $230 from her music royalties and touring. She claimed to be bisexual in an interview with Barbara Walters in 2009. She is in a relationship with Taylor Kinney.
#15 Ellen DeGeneres
Industry: Entertainment
Made her money through: Rights ownership, Television,
Relationship status: Married
Age: 57
Nationality: US
Reported wealth: $330,000,000
The comedian stars in her very own popular chat show and owns her very own version of YouTube, called Ellen Tube. She married Arrested Development‘s Portia De Rossi in 2008.
#14 Elton John
Industry: Entertainment
Made his money from: Songwriter, singer
Relationship status: Married
Age: 68
Nationality: UK
Reported wealth: $370,000,000
The Tiara and Tantrums legendary Rock Star Sir Elton John is pretty much the godfather of the gay world. Is well known for his charity work and for his Elton John Aids Foundation.
#13 Tim Gill
Industry: Technology
Made his money through: Quark
Relationship status: Married
Age: 61
Nationality: US
Reported wealth: $400,000,000
Tim was the founder of Quark, which he started with a $2000 loan from his parents. In 2009 He married his banker partner Scott Miller in Massachusetts. They now live in Denver.
#12 Jann Wenner
Industry: Publishing
Made his money from:Magazine Publisher
Relationship status:Co Habiting with partner
Age: 69
Nationality:US
Reported worth: $700,000,000
In 1967 Wenner started Rolling Stone magazine, today Wenner Media titles include Men’s Journal and US Weekly. He now lives with his model / designer partner Matt Nye raising son Noah and twins Jude and India Rose.
#11 Calvin Klein
CREDIT: bigstock-miromiro
Industry:Fashion
Made is money from:Designer
Relationship status:Single
Age:72
Nationality: US
Reported wealth:$700,000,000
The New York native is famous for his underwear and jeans.
#10 Tim Cook
Industry:Technology
Made his money from:Apple
Relationship status:Single
Age: 54
Nationality:US
Reported wealth:$785,000,000
After becoming the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook’s personal wealth skyrocketed. He came out officially in 2014.
#9 Chris Hughes
Industry:Technology
How he made his money: Facebook
Relationship status:Married
Age:31
Reported wealth: $850,000,000 (2013)
Nationality:US
All the way back in 2003 Chris teamed up with fellow Harvard undergraduate Mark Zuckerberg and the rest as they say is history. He lives with his husband Sean Eldridge. TheRichList.org reports that Chris is worth $850m. However he is reported to have 22 million shares in Facebook, which today are worth $87.95 per share putting his worth at: $1.9 billion
#8 Michael Kors
Industry:Fashion
What made him is money: Designer, Retail
Relationship Status:Married
Age:55
Nationality: US
Reported worth:$1 billion
The fashion king started his career when he was just 19, three years later he launched a womenswear line at Bloomingdales, Saks and Neiman Collins just to name a few.
#7 Domenico Dolce
CREDIT: maxoidos/Bigstock
Industry: Fashion
How he made his money:Designer
Relationship Status:Single
Age: 56
Nationality: Italian
Reported wealth: $1,550,000,000
Forbes puts Domenico Dolce’s worth at $1.55 billion along with his business partner Stefano Gabanna. The pair come joint fifth on THEGAYUK Rich List 2015. The pair have caused some controversy over the years with their out spoken comments on gay parenting.
# 7 Stefano Gabbana
CREDIT: maxoidos / BigStock
Industry:Fashion
How he made his money:Designer
Relationship status:Single
Age:52
Nationality:Italian
Reported worth:$1.55 Billion
Forbes puts Stefano Gabbana’s worth at $1.5 billion along with his business partner Domenico Dolce. The self made billionaire made headlines earlier this year when they upset Elton John (also on this list) and thousands of same-sex couples and couples who have children through IVF when he said, “the only family is the traditional one” and that children born through in vitro fertilization were “synthetic”. “The family is not a fad,” Gabbana explained ,”No chemical off springs and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed.
#5 Jennifer Pritzker
Industry:Hospitality
How she made her money:Investments
Relationship Status:Single
Age:63
Nationality:US
Reported worth: $1,78 Billion
The world’s only transgender billionaire. In August2013 she announced to the world that she was a woman. She is one of 11 billionaires in the Pritzker Family.
#4 Jon Stryker
Industry: Medicak
What made him his money:Family business
Relationship Status:unknown
Age:
Nationality:US
Reported worth: $1.8
#3 Peter Thiel
Industry: Technology
What made him his money:Paypal, Facebook, Investing
German born Peter Thiel made the bulk of his huge wealth through two well-chosen angel investments namely PayPal of which he was a co-founder and Facebook. He is also a key investor in AIRBNB and online payment company Stripe.
#2 Peter Geffen
Industry:Entertainment
Made his money from:Music and Film producttion
Relationship Status: Single
Age:72
Nationality:US
Reported worth: $6.9Bn
David created Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980 and DGC Records in 1990. He is also one of the three founders of DreamWorks SKG. Out Magazine ranked Geffen in its list of “Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America.” Forbes puts Geffen’s worth at $6.9 Billion, putting him in second place on TheGayUK’s Rich List 2015.
#1 Giorgio Arman
Industry:Fashion
How He Made His Money:Designer / Armani Brand
Relationship Status:Single
Age:80
Nationality: Italian
Reported worth:$780,000,000,000 ($7.8bn)
At a reported worth of $7.8 billion, Mr Armani is one of the richest men in the world. His wealth has come from building his Armani brand, one of the world’s most recognisable luxury fashion brands. He is one of three Italian nationals on this year’s GAYUK Rich List.
In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2004, Giorgio Armani talked about his love for men and women. Forbes puts his worth at $7.8billion
The music the world’s two biggest music divas both released new videos this week.
MADONNA with her dizzy frenetic mayhem in ‘Bitch I’m Madonna,’ and then LADY GAGA sitting at on overgrown floral strewn piano at the 2015 European Games Opening Ceremony held in Baku, Azerbaijan plaintively singing her version of John Lennon’s classic ‘Imagine’.
Madonna has racked up 3 million hits already, whilst Gaga’s video has been watched just under a million times.
They couldn’t be anymore different if they tried.
We know which one we love …. but which one do you prefer.
If I said the name Rob Fusari, most people might not know who that was, but he has worked with some of the biggest names in the music world (Beyonce, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston) behind some of the biggest hits (Destiny’s Child’s No No No and Bootylicious, Whitney Houston’s Love That Man, Will Smith’s Wild Wild West and Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi) and is the man credited with discovering shy and retiring pop star Lady Gaga.
Now going by the name 8Bit we had a little chat over the phone about the current music scene, the past music scene, Macy Gray, what he is up-to and what it was like to discover, work and fall out with Lady Gaga.
Hey 8, Can you give us a little bio about yourself?
Been making music for 15 yrs now, started as producer, songwriter, my first cut was with a group called Destiny’s Child, my first song I ever had published and recorded was No No No and that got to No.1
That’s a pretty amazing thing to happen for your first ever attempt, that obviously laid out your path for the next 15 years, but what made you take the leap from behind the scenes to in front of the cameras?
I guess the whole transition happened after Gaga in 2006/07, I did a bunch of songs for her 1st album, it was a blessing and a curse, it was definitely a pinnacle for me as a producer & song writer and as someone who developed artists. I had a lot of people all over the world reaching out to me looking for development who wanted to be the “next big thing” and I looked at a lot of artists but nobody really came to me and said “superstar” I didn’t get that feeling that I got with Gaga after meeting her for the first time.
So I went a good solid 2 years maybe more in this kind of limbo stage of where I was supposed to be with this, I was losing sense of the music, I wasn’t inspired, and one day I woke up and just thought I gotta do music just for the sake of doing music, I just need one day to myself. So I wrote a song, I sang it and it just hit me and the clouds had lifted, I could feel the music again and that moment I just knew, I was the artist I was looking for, It head me over the head like a tonne of bricks and it just kinda grew from there. I wanted to incorporate my sense of fashion with my sense of 80’s music, Depeche Mode, Bowie kind of thing.
I started playing a lot of shows, people were digging it and it turned into a bit more of a dance, EDM, pop kind of thing and it just keeps building and morphing from there.
Well, I was gonna ask you what your influences where for your sound, because it’s quite kind of rock, dance, glam and theatrical isn’t it?
Theatrical yeah and yeah that’s the right way to describe, I guess part of it came from growing up with a mother who was very glamorous, who was very Hollywood, she would take me to these shows, her home was decorated in a very Liberace way and she lived this glamorous, glamorous life, so I guess it has trickled down to me, and that’s kinda spilled over into the shows.
You don’t really get that style of music in pop anymore, it’s more sexual, it’s kind of nice to see that come back a little bit!
Totally, and part of that is what inspired me to take this role on, I was doing a session in New York about 2 years back and someone came in and we were talking, he said this one line and it hit me so hard, he goes “back when New York had a pulse” I went “Oh Shit.”
So New York is dead! (laughs) Do you really think that’s true?
I think from certain standpoints, creatively, music speaking it’s pretty dry, it’s all the same, it’s all very hipster, a lot of it feels similar and that’s not what New York ever was. You had your Rock on the Lower East Side, you had Studio 54 and all these different musical cultures.
America seems to really have caught onto the EDM trend, you seem to have finally caught up with dance music, is that a good thing?
I mean yeah, we’re just following you guys now (laughs) we follow now (laughs) but there (UK) everything is the same not many chances are taken, it’s like the record labels out here, they run, crunch the numbers and that’s it now. How many shows, how much did you sell, it’s a business now.
Speaking of shows, I hear you’re touring with Macy Gray?
Yeah man, it’s going to great, it’s going to be an interesting experience. (laughs).
Your sounds are quite different, how do you think the audiences are going to react?
I know! (laughs) It reminds me of when Prince opened for The Stones and yeah the reaction wasn’t great (laughs). He got booed off the stage, people were throwing cans of fruit at him. So yeah quite an odd pairing (laughs).
To be fair, she is quite “out there” her self as a personality, so it kinda matches?
Well she checked the project out, she’s a fan, she personally asked for us, so that’s cool.
Have you met her?
Yeah, she’s awesome, she’s the real deal man.
Onto your name, where did you get 8Bit from?
It came from the audio resolution when I was creating songs, it distorts it, it makes it grainy, it creates an analogue element, I started doing this early on, and kept doing it so it’s just one of my little tricks you know. So I feel like 8Bit, a bit grainy (laughs) Most people just call me 8 now anyway, which I love.
It also sounds like a 90s sitcom name
(Laughter) yeah yeah totally…
Out of everything you produced what is the one thing that you’re most proud of?
It’s something I did with Gaga, called Brown Eyes I just feel like we really captured the moment, when I listen to it, it puts me back into that place, the energy, the creativity and the excitement with her. It feels so 1970’s Beatles, I feel like I nailed it, It doesn’t feel like it was produced, felt like it just came from Gaga herself, which I love.
On the subject of Gaga, what happened?
You know it’s strange, I don’t know when the “breakdown” happened, I’m not ever sure I know, it’s kinda like two people were set on this path to go so far together, and I think in life when we try to fight that, it’s when (you) come into probs and conflict… I guess for me I didn’t want to face that. I wanted to be on that ride for as long as possible.
When she went to Interscope (record label, part of the Universal family), it’s like setting a bird free, and you can’t expect it to fly back, it’s free and it soars. (Gaga) It just happened so big, so fast, it was mayhem, you try to hold on and it just wasn’t meant to be. I feel like we were put on this earth for that brief moment, it was like I’m supposed to find her, find her sound to develop her as much as I could.
So now on the flipside, She was me, she, 8Bit and I was happy with that, but now I’m telling myself to do this for me, I want you eating this, I want you singing this – you know…
It’s good that you seem settled with it now, and it’s good you’ve both made peace.
It’s true, I’m glad I got to meet her, share the project with her, and she is a massive influence on me as an artist, I learned a lot from her, in terms of her personality, stage presence, how she writes and the way she thinks. I would never have gotten here to 8Bit if none of that took place. I would thank her today, I wouldn’t change a thing! 
