GenQ - For the not so straight individual

Almost everything you hear on a track by Brad Walsh is written, performed, produced, recorded, by himself, with the occasional guest vocalist or instrumentalist. He has also remixed other artists for single releases and remix albums. His 2005 electro-rock cover of the 1986 dancepop hit "Two of Hearts," (originally by Stacey Q) was regarded as "just as fun as the original" and is a setlist favorite for popular New York DJ trio The MisShapes. He DJs in New York City clubs and regularly contributes photos to JUNK Magazine.

This month, queerplanet caught up with our good friend Brad Walsh for an interesting interview concerning his new music, his recent club success with "Two Of Hearts", the music scene, and his life in general...

queerplanet: Hello Brad! How are things with you these days? How is Lenny, the dog doing?
Brad Walsh: Lenny is actually my friend's dog, and he's a snob. But he's doing well. He gets spoiled.

Tell us a bit more about yourself....Did you grow up in the New York Area?
I grew up in and around Cleveland. Ohio is a crazy place. I defend it all the time. When people here in New York find out I'm from there, they go wild with the cornfield questions. I try to explain that Cleveland is a city, with high buildings and businesses and people who dress nicely. There's even a sort of hipster niche and all kinds of amazing concerts and venues. But people would rather hear about the bloody deer that hang from trees in hunters? back yards. Namely, my uncle Nick.

What's a day in the life of Brad Walsh like?
I eat everything in sight and watch Lifetime like my mother's life depends on it. Maybe it will, someday. There's always someone out there trying to shoot someone's mom. Shannen Doherty has taught me nothing if not that.

What originally inspired you to make music and when did you start?
My cousin Nicole and I used to make songs on my keyboard when we were little kids in the early 90s. We'd record them with a handheld tape recorder and play them for the family. One of them sounded very much like a song we heard on "Saved By the Bell." My grandfather once yelled out in the middle of a playback, ?What the hell is this??

I didn't really start making the sort of music I do now until I was halfway through college. I got home from work on a summer night and started playing with some computer programs that I had only used before to cut and splice audio bits for fun. Pre-existing songs. I had a microphone that came with my computer. A few hours later I had created my first original song. It was really bad. Really bad. But I played it for my mom, and she loved it. She wouldn't stop saying how amazing it was that someone could fake an entire band with a computer. I've since procured myself a sort of bedroom studio. It's nothing impressive, but it's nice to be able to do it all whenever I want.

What instruments do you play altogether?
All kinds of keyboards. The kind you play notes on, and the kind you type with. When I need something done quickly I'll play parts of my body. Claps and slaps and all that. I ?play guitar,? which means I can't really play guitar at all. I do have a guitar, though, and I play some long notes on it and then cut them up later into what sounds like someone who knows what they're doing.

What made you choose the song "Two of Hearts" as a cover?
Oh my God, I have loved that song forever. I had a tape when I was little that I got by mailing in proofs of purchase from the backs of "Cocoa Puffs" cereal boxes, and it was called ?Sonny's Top Tunes.? We were supposed to believe that Sunny the "Cocoa Puffs" bird really rocked out to The KLF. Anyway, Stacey Q was on that tape. ?Two of Hearts.? God, I loved that song. So, years later I had it on my computer and it came up on shuffle, and I thought ?I have to cover this brilliant song.? And I did it in a few hours and put it up on the internet. People liked my version, I guess. It's been downloaded a billion times from my website and I've been out often in New York and heard my song played. That was the most surreal thing? hearing myself for the first time in a packed club. The DJ didn't even know I was there! Crazy.

Tell us about JUNK Magazine and the evolution to its current form...
JUNK started off in 2003 as a sort of webzine that Kathy Cacace and I and some of our friends updated monthly. There was ?Stuff? Magazine for tit lovers, and we named ours ?Junk? because we were interested in other things. Over the course of a year we got thirty or so of our friends and friends of friends to take off their clothes in front of my camera, all guys. All of us were Oberlin College students. Those guys became campus celebrities. It got bigger and bigger and when we graduated we didn't want to stop it, so we made it what it is today. It's always had entertainment reviews, and now it's a music and photo blog. Still has models, but also music reviews and advice and nightlife photos, we even do a podcast. Pretty much whatever we like goes into it. Lots of hits to the website, and ads are coming in. It's still growing. We're excited about it.

Let's talk about some of the guest artists that appear in your music...
Well the stuff I'm working on now, that hasn't been released, has some guest spots. There's Vicky Marie, who's been a friend of mine since seventh grade. She and I did a song on my first demo CD. We did a new one called ?Boom? that's absolutely insane. I'm not even sure that will make it onto my next CD. But it will come out sometime. Then there's one with Di$h and ShiQuana, who are a female electro hip-hop duo from New York. They make me so happy. So much energy. One song has my mom singing the chorus, which is appropriate because it's sort of about her. Who else? Kathy and I have done a lot of stuff together, mostly covers. We did a rock cover of Crystal Waters? ?100% Pure Love? late at night last year. I have too much in the works. I'm working on some stuff for Matthew Duffy and I've given Sophia Lamar a CD of tracks that might work for her, so we'll see if she likes anything. And Spencer Vea is a genius guitar player. He's worked magic on some of my stuff.

Do you enjoy collaborating or doing solo work more?
I have to say I enjoy solo more. I'm so weird and such a control freak. I love working with other people, but I never really know what to say.

What are your future plans? Are you seeking major label assistance to release future works, or do you wish to stay independent? Has the internet been effective in helping you promote your music?
I suppose I am looking for a label, major or minor. I had some things going on last year and earlier this year, but it didn't work out quite right. This whole ?indie cred? racket is just ridiculous. I'm guilty of bringing it up all the time, though. And everyone knows it's all about the internet, anyway. But I do what I do, and I wouldn't make any changes I didn't agree with. If someone with a billion dollars behind them wanted to help produce my stuff more and I liked the way it sounded, I would absolutely do that. And if someone with fifty dollars behind them, based out of their basement, wanted to release it as-is, I would be there also. I mean, I had fifty dollars and I was based out of a basement. I bought myself dinner and then transmitted 30,000 mp3s via my website.

Where do you see Brad Walsh, musically or otherwise, in 5-10 years?
I will be happy if I'm safe and able to give lots of presents to the people I love.

You are a DJ as well?
Yep!

I ask all DJs this: Dance Music. Why do you think it has stayed so popular in the GLBT community? and, has it transcended the 1970s / 80s stereotype of being "for the gay crowd"?
I don't know why dance music is popular among the gays. I do know that the typical house remix makes me want to throw up all over the place. I'm glad that other types of music are becoming more and more palatable to dance crowds.

Do you think Dance music gets the respect it deserves?
I think dance music definitely gets respect, often more than it deserves, probably. Ten minute tracks and stock remixes are often so incredibly boring, and I don't know why the forerunners in such crap are so famous. Though, people like Junior Sanchez and Larry Tee remix things right. And they pick good projects. I can get into Felix Da Housecat. But when I think ?dance music? I think of Le Tigre, Stellastarr, We Are Scientists, Metric, Interpol, Ratatat? even Nightmare of You. Those are the ones I want to move to.

Thanks to Brad for this interview, and keep an eye out for his new music!