Music of the L Bright Light x2 is celebrating the LGBTQ community through his newest songs, one thrilling track at a time. Interview by Doug Rule
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T'S WILD, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT I'VE MET on my career path that have worldwide fame,” says Rod Thomas. “It's mind-blowing.” It all started with Elton John, whom Thomas met while living in London, before he adopted the moniker Bright Light Bright Light — often stylized as Bright Light x2. “I met Elton in 2009 when I was with his management company, which didn't go very well,” Thomas says. “We met at one of his shows and got to talking. But then I left his management company and set up as Bright Light Bright Light, and felt like, ‘Oh well, that's my chance, and now I'm gone.’” Fast forward to 2012, when Thomas released his Bright Light x2 debut, Make Me Believe in Hope. John called to congratulate him on garnering a four-star review in the U.K.’s popular music magazine Q, and waved away Thomas’ plea to send him a copy of the album. “‘I've ordered it, don't worry,’” Thomas recalls John saying. “Then he rang the next week and said, ‘I love it. Come to lunch.’” John would go on to collaborate on several of Thomas’ songs and to take him on multiple tours as his opening act. The two remain friends and in touch. Beyond Elton John, Thomas has gone on to meet everyone from Ellie Goulding to Erasure to, most recently, Cher. And it was while serving as Cher’s opening act on a tour through Europe last year that Thomas solidified plans for Fun City, his forthcoming fourth album. “I got a bit tongue-tied one night on stage, and I just kind of off-the-cuff said, ‘Well, as you can see, we're really gay,’ and the whole room erupted,” says Thomas, recounting a moment on stage at a stadium in Cologne, Germany. “It was just such a flippant comment, just something that I say all the time, but people kept messaging me saying how important it was to hear somebody on a stage saying something like that. And that really struck a chord. Even in places as forward-thinking as Cologne, it's still rare to have a young, gay man say that to that size of a crowd. So that was when I thought, ‘Okay, I'm definitely going to focus this album around the queer community and visibility.’” Fun City, set for release this fall, is a tribute to the LGBTQ community, particularly the LGBTQ community as Thomas has found it in New York City, which the Wales native has called home for years now. Fun City is also a tribute to the many out musicians that New York has inspired before Thomas — including Scissor Sisters and the band’s frontman, Jake Shears, who sings a duet on the newest Bright Light x2 single, “Sensation.” “Scissor Sisters are one of my biggest inspirations, so it's really
cool to have a proper duet with Jake. It's a big, uplifting anthem about just being your gay self,” he says. “It’s about celebrating and meeting people who are like-minded and who lift you up. It was meant to be the kind of like, ‘let's go out and get together’ song, which, obviously, we're not doing now, unfortunately.” The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on Thomas and his career as an independent musical artist and DJ, keeping him isolated at home alone, away from the clubs and the concert halls that his career depends on. It has also upended some of his plans with Fun City, including performances at now-cancelled pride events the world over. And it further threatens to curtail plans for a proper fall tour to promote the new set. Thomas kicked off his initial promotional plans last month with the release of the album’s first single, “This Used To Be My House.” The song’s video features many of the characters that make Thomas’ East Village neighborhood tick. There’s Colt Adam Weiss, a bartender from Club Cumming, home to his retro music-themed DJ event “Romy and Michele’s Saturday Afternoon Tea Party.” (“Colt is a big part of why the party’s a success, basically,” Thomas says.) Also featured dancing in one scene is Bill Coleman, a behind-the-scenes powerhouse “who has been making the city what it was and what it is and what it will be in terms of its musical output.” The video was shot in and around New York in February, before the pandemic hit. “It’s taken on new meaning as a reminder of what nightlife was like before COVID,” he says. “The tone of it has shifted a little bit, but the message is still that these are the people that make up the wonderful day-to-day life that we have. And we should appreciate them even more now that we don't have that.” Thomas worries about the pandemic’s impact on his future as well as all of those celebrated on Fun City. But he’s been heartened by the outpouring of support from fans, and hopes they’ll continue to support him — chiefly, and simply, by sharing his music. “Honestly, just share the music, that's the biggest support at the moment,” he says. “Helping get the message out. Don't give me your money — or don't donate, if you can't afford to. Just share the songs with a friend, make a playlist. Do something that is free for you and helps me get the message out to more people. That's more important things than giving a dollar or $10 or whatever. Just help me reach the people I can't reach. That's the best thing anyone could do right now.”
METRO WEEKLY: Let's talk about where you’re from and how you
And I had been on tour with Scissor Sisters, who were based in New York. And then I got my visa to work in America, which meant that I could stay for a year. And I thought, "Well, I'll just move there for three months and I'll see how it goes and just have a different experience." And after the first few days I was like, "Oh, god, this is amazing." So I just decided to relocate, and it's been so marvelous. MW: Did the Scissor Sisters help motivate you to make the move? THOMAS: Yeah. We talked about doing some stuff together, at
got to New York. How long have you been in America, and what prompted the move? ROB THOMAS: I just had my seventh year anniversary in March, so it's been a while now. Before that, I had been in London for nine years, and I felt like I had learned as much as I possibly could from being in the same place for that length of time. I played a show or two in New York, and I really loved the city. I thought it was amazing, and I met some really good people here. 26
APRIL 30, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM
