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Music

Perfume Genius

PERFUME GENIUS at the Drake Underground (1150 Queen West), Sunday (April 8), 8:30 pm. $11.50. RT, SS. See listing.


Given his trademark openness in his fragile piano ballads and in the press, it’s no surprise that an interview with Perfume Genius (aka Mike Hadreas) turns confessional pretty quickly.

What I didn’t expect was to be the one over-sharing, which is what happened when our mutual struggles with nicotine came up. Suddenly, he was asking as many questions as I was, and the interview became a conversation.

“Smoking is how I take a break from whatever I’m doing, mainly just to process,” Hadreas explains from an Austin hotel room. “When I’m quitting [smoking], I have no idea what to do. I used to walk to Walgreens and stare at the skin care products. Fuck, I’m getting nervous even talking about it and I haven’t even started yet.”

He’s planning on kicking his nicotine habit before recording the follow-up to his recent album, Put Your Back N 2 It (Matador), in part to become a stronger vocalist. If successful, his vocals will likely creep higher in the mix than they were on his home-recorded 2010 debut. He can’t say much beyond that, though, since he changes his mind about the album’s direction daily.

In the meantime, he’s enjoying what constant touring has added to his life.

“I like that I have something to do every day, and if I’m going to be nervous, at least I have something specific to be nervous about. I’m generally anxious in my life, so it’s nice to have a focus.”

That might sound depressing, but he laughs when he says it. His music and interviews deal with his struggles with substance abuse and his sexuality, yet he comes across on the phone as cheerful and funny (though he does like his humour dark).

“Any tragic memory I have I also think is really funny. On any given day, I can think about how horrible something is and also how ridiculous and over-the-top it is.”

His willingness and need to confront his demons are central to his art. While reading an epic Q&A that REM’s Michael Stipe recently did with Hadreas, I couldn’t help but think about how many queer kids from an earlier generation felt let down by musicians like Stipe who kept their sexuality private. Does Hadreas feel like contemporary gay musicians have a duty to be out?

“I don’t know. I feel like I have a duty to be out. It certainly wouldn’t be the same if I were mysterious about that part of me and not mysterious about everything else. Fuck, I guess I do feel they have a duty, but I know it’s not easy. I wish it were.”

Social media are supposedly responsible for the age of over-sharing and the end of privacy, but Hadreas thinks the internet has little to do with those tendencies in himself.

“I’m pretty sure I would have managed to over-share no matter what time period I was born in. It’s a family thing, too. I’ll go out with my mom and some friends to dinner and end up talking about sexual abuse while eating a burger, and then we’re fine to talk about, you know, TV or whatever.”

benjaminb@nowtoronto.com

twitter.com/nowtorontomusic

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