If you watch a sensible 74 international franchises of Drag Race, eventually you start to rank everything in your life. The knock-off box of Guylian seashell chocs we devoured last night? Winner, winner, chicken dinner! The realisation of how far we will have to run this morning to even begin burning off those calories. Ufff, it’s a Boot, gurrrrl.
The current musical Top in our life is Boy Untitled who has been bringing bops every ball during his Losing Time era – with the entire EP being available to stream now. One thing Loverboy always appreciates in music is cohesion and throughout this project, Boy Untitled has clearly had this in mind because the whole EP flows beautifully. From the lewks, to the choreo, to the production, to those super-smooth layered BVs and the overall message of ‘Love will find a way’ across the EP, Losing Time is really the Total Package.
We speak to Boy Untitled about how the EP started as a message about being at your most powerful, how The Weeknd & Madonna’s Ray of Light were references and all his plans for 2022.
The Losing Time EP has great cohesion to it. What elements of the music or song-writing or the style did you focus on to give you this cohesion?
Thank you! I wrote Losing Time during a writing camp in 2020 (very grateful to the artists who were down to quarantine together for a week in the middle of the pandemic). Some time had passed since writing my first project and I was waiting for the spark of inspiration to come. One night while anxiously pacing around my home, I got a download. A poem called Zenith – which means the moment something is most powerful or potent. From there, the wheels started turning. I did a lot of preparation in sourcing references and putting together a deck about the project and the themes surrounding it. I also made a lot of mood boards. First, a sonic mood board about the sound I wanted to achieve. At the time, I was particularly inspired by the Weekend’s “After Hours” album and Iamnotshane’s self-titled EP, as well as, 90s pop sounds like Madonna’s “Ray of Light” and Dido’s “No Angel”. I then went to my favorite book store in LA, Arcana Books, and pulled a lot of visual references since imagery plays such a large role in my writing process. I found tons of inspiration from Mark Romanek’s music video retrospective (his take on 90s video culture is iconic imo) and Olafur Eliasson’s work. As always, James Turrell’s art made its way into the visual mix. I feel like these references really came through the music videos of this era (Imposter, Losing Time, Zenith). I then packaged all of this information up and gave it to the writing team as our backdrop for the writing camp – source material that we would keep referring back to.
I’ve really loved all the singles so far. How did you decide on the running order of the EP and the single release schedule?
Honestly, I decided to release them without much of a bigger picture of how it would all come together. I actually originally wanted to split it into two mini-EP’s called ‘Zenith’ and ‘Stay’ before landing on a single EP called Losing Time which felt like a much more relatable and tangible idea than Zenith. That said, I knew that ‘Lionsgate’ would be the first release. The sound and energy of it feels like the first song of a live set. It also sets the tone for the rest of EP, making references to this current moment in time and the feelings that are permeating our culture – the pandemic, separation, confusion, and being forced to face your shadows (read: the gift of facing your shadows). ‘Losing Time’, ‘Stay’ and ‘Quiet Time’ are all specifically about my relationship with my husband and how we’ve struggled through the pandemic. Thematically (and literally) they become the body of the project. ‘Zenith’ ended up being the last on the EP because it speaks the most broadly about how I envision us (meaning my husband and I, as well as, humanity) stepping through this moment of hardship. The hook of ‘Zenith’ perfectly summarizes my conclusion and thesis of the entire project: ‘Our love will find a way. Love will find a way.’
I’ve been living vicariously through your insta seeing you performing all over the place and this is all before the EP even drops. Which has been the most important gig for you so far and what Live plans do you have coming up, post-release?
I’ve honestly had so much fun performing all over the place the last several months. I’m grateful to have had so many opportunities, dancing with Brooke Pertain and Lucas Hive. They have really taught me so much about stage presence and being in my body in ways I haven’t experienced as a performer. As for which show has been the most important – I really loved performing at Desertopia Palm Springs Pride. I find myself getting bigger and bigger opportunities, and at this one, I was given space to put on a full show; a 30 minute set with full choreo and a really bomb Liberace Cowboy look designed by Love Bailey and Seth Pratt. It was a full fantasy! Another important show happened just a few days ago when I premiered the Losing Time EP at the Soho Warehouse in DTLA. I told the audience that that night felt like New Year’s Eve. I just made the big step of leaving my day job to pursue music full time, so this night held a lot of personal significance in marking the beginning of a new chapter with my friends, chosen family, and collaborators that I love. I’m calling a lot in for 2022 – focusing on more collaborations, a new side project called Boy2k with queer dance producer Boy Apocalypse and getting myself into the festival circuit. As for upcoming shows, I’m lining up a couple of tour opener spots (that I can’t disclose yet), as well plugging into the festival circuit, including Electrolux at SF Pride.
We look forward to the Europe dates! When you look back at the Losing Time era what is the thing you will think of most?
When I look back on this period of time, I will absolutely think first about the word “community.” Despite when this project was written – through the pandemic – I found myself connecting more deeply than ever to a rich network of friends, chosen family, artists, and musicians. In 2021, I really embraced my role as a community builder in Los Angeles. To me, all of the content around this project truly reflects this and a very real feeling of interconnectedness and mutual growth/support.
Obvs the last two years have been challenging for everyone. But some good things have come from this, things that perhaps would not have been possible otherwise. Is there anything good for you that has come about unexpectedly because of the circumstances of Covid?
Definitely! Like I said above, I think realizing my skill and passion for community building was one of the most beautiful bi-products of the pandemic experience. I also feel strongly that this moment in time created so much space for myself (and many with whom I’ve spoken to) to slow down and reflect on what I want with life and what I want this new world to look like. Yes, I do want my life fully “back” and I don’t ever want to wear a mask again … but I do not want the world to “go back to normal.” “Normal” hasn’t been working for a long time. It’s clear that many of the systems and social agreements we’ve made need to be removed and rebuilt. I’m a big proponent of that happening and believe that the new world will be forged on a more vulnerable, empathetic, equitable foundation. This is what I tried to convey in Losing Time – that the only way out is through, that we are at the helm of creating the world we want to see, and that love, above all, will guide our way home.
The Losing Time EP is out now.
