TORONTO – Australian singer and YouTube personality Troye Sivan is learning that he’s a pretty big fan of Canadian pop stars.
“I’ll start talking about artists I know and then I’m like, oh … they’re Canadian,” the 21-year-old musician says, pointing to Drake and Carly Rae Jepsen as favourites.
All flattery aside, Sivan knows a thing or two about picking a hit.
At only 12 years old he took the Internet by storm with covers of famous pop tracks by performers like Jason Mraz, Foster the People and Katy Perry.
And before long, he’d amassed a major fanbase, which now sits at nearly 4.4 million YouTube followers, and grabbed the attention of record executives.
So it was a surprise when Sivan chose that pivotal career moment, at 18 years old, to publicly come out as gay through a video he posted online.
It set his career on a pathway that even he didn’t expect, launching him into the mainstream as one of the few LGBTQ teen heartthrobs before the release of his 2015 album “Blue Neighbourhood.”
Sivan, who plays a show in Montreal on Thursday, talked to The Canadian Press about being openly gay, the lessons of fame and his friendship with Toronto-raised pop singer Alessia Cara.
CP: So I heard you dropped Alessia’s name with Canadian border security guards several days ago while trying to get into the country.
Sivan: I did — I didn’t think they were going to let me in otherwise. I was at customs and the guy was asking me what I do. I said, “I’m a singer,” and he said, “Do you have any songs I’d know?” I said, “Maybe, a song called ‘Youth’?” He was blank, no expression. So I said, “I had a song with Alessia Cara,” and he just stamped me in.
CP: You guys are both social media pros, first with YouTube, and now all over Instagram and Twitter, so it wasn’t surprising when she appeared on a remix of your single “Wild.” How did that duet come about?
Sivan: We had met at a couple of events. I covered (Cara’s single) “Here” on the radio, and she covered “Youth.” I was texting her making jokes like, “I’m going to one-up you and cover ‘Scars to Your Beautiful.'” She told me “Wild” was her favourite song (of mine) so she went into the studio in Europe, wrote this verse, recorded and sent it to me. And I was like, “This is so good we have to put it out.”
CP: You’ve been pretty upfront about your sexuality, particularly in music videos where you’ve portrayed yourself in gay relationships — sometimes even making them the arc of a video’s storyline. What fuelled that approach?
Sivan: I realized the importance really early on. Being a gay guy myself, I have such vivid memories of the few times I saw any type of LGBTQ relationship on TV or in music videos. I also didn’t really have a choice because it’s like, I’m out and I’m not going to put a girl in my video — it’s a love song. But that’s sort of underplaying it a little (too). I did see an opportunity to try and make change.
CP: Your fanbase is unique in that many openly identify as LGBTQ or at least support the community — even though they’re still teenagers. A few years ago that would’ve been unheard of and many of them probably would’ve been closeted. Can you talk about your fans?
Sivan: (They) tend to be anywhere from like 15 to 22 and they’re the coolest most open-minded, smart, funny people. I’m so lucky to have them in my life. We did a show in Oklahoma City and went out afterwards to the one “gay-ish” bar there. A bunch of people came from the show and we all just hung out. I felt like I was with a bunch of friends.
CP: Now that you’ve come out do you feel a responsibility to keep talking about your sexuality or does it feel like people are harping on a single dimension of your life?
Sivan: I don’t really feel pressure. As long as people are asking me about my sexuality I think that in itself is a sign we probably need to keep talking about it still. It’s not blase enough that people aren’t bringing it up.
CP: But you’ve drawn a line on what you’ll share. Even on social media you don’t really get into your dating life, for example. What’s the limit for you?
Sivan: I definitely value my privacy and sharing things on my own terms. I have nothing in my life that I’m ashamed of, but (I like) to keep some element of privacy. It’s a learning curve. The thing that’s weird about the situation is there’s no one to teach you how to do all this stuff. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to do this. So I’m just feeling it out.
— This interview has been edited and condensed.
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