.gay Music Monday Feature: Chris Youmans
It's Monday, and you know what that means - time for another .gay Music Monday Feature! This week we have something special for you - an interview with the talented Chris Youmans, dishing all about his epic EP, Electric Love Connection.
The groovy album is a product of Chris' lifelong musical explorations, combined with his raw and emotional experiences with love, sex, and gay nightlife. Such a deep and personal representation of his artistic journey.
Get the full scoop on this electrifying queer artist below.
What inspired you to start playing and making music?
I feel fortunate to have grown up in the musically diverse community of Santa Cruz. My parents must have sensed my musical proclivity because they placed a mini guitar in my hands at five years old. They exposed me to an eclectic spectrum of music- everything from the local Irish/folk/bluegrass bands to my dad's classic rock and jazz-fusion albums, classic songwriters like James Taylor and Joni Mitchell, soul singers like Donny Hathaway and Whitney Houston, and "freak dancing" to good 'ole early 2000s pop with my friends at school. At age 15, I rediscovered Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album and started writing my own songs. Lindsay Buckingham’s musicality was fascinating to witness.
With dedication, drive, and community support, I was able to study music at UC Berkeley and finally formed a band of my own that played jazz standards and pop covers at local clubs. Curiosity about the creative minds responsible for my musical influences led me to explore the careers of great producers like Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson, Quincy Jones, and Max Martin. After graduating, I moved to Los Angeles in search of a new creative and queer community and to develop my artist project.
I've spent the last year recording and releasing singles from my new EP, Electric Love Connection, an infusion of lifelong voyages through music and personal sagas with love, sex, and gay nightlife that have suffused my artist journey.
What do you like most about playing music?
Music is life, language, and community but also a living presence like a person who is one of your dearest loved ones. I am at home when singing and playing guitar, especially when playing together with other musicians. Music IS healing! When I need that deep therapy to help process powerful raw emotions, I write songs.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
The music that I'm currently releasing could be described as electro-organic funky pop bangers. One of my mottos for these song productions is “grit & glam” - glamorous diva energy, but not without the vibrant depth that darkness and edge can provide. I love the retro-futuristic energy and polished pop sensibilities, but with a dusky underbelly combined with raw, introspective songwriting.
Why do you think it’s important to be out and proud in the music industry?
One of my favorite artists, Amy Winehouse, one time said in a 2004 BBC interview:
"I was never part of a scene where I was the leader of a bunch of Jewish girls that sung Jazz... I don't know anyone like myself... but I know that if I'm honest about myself and honest about my time and what I do with my life, I know there are girls that will hear that in my album and be like, 'yeah I felt like that... and it's cool other people feel this.'"
This is how I feel about being out and proud in the music industry. It’s important and valuable to embody, explore and share who we are as queer artists. I began to feel more aligned and free in my life after I came out, although it took some considerable time after that to truly feel proud about it. Today, I am grateful to be me despite external challenges and battles within heteronormative societal structures. Being gay itself feels as natural and normal to me as breathing. Reflecting and artistically expressing my growing awareness of my authentic self has been a powerful experience that opens opportunities to connect more deeply with music and people.
As an LGBTQ+ artist, what do you want to convey with your music?
My songs are autobiographical, first as a way to heal myself and also to make something beautiful, and maybe even to be used and shared by others as a therapeutic tool.
