Here to Stay :: Tom Goss on Inspiration, Homophobia, and His New Video

Fans of out singer-songwriter Tom Goss know that his music is often sweet and poignant, its themes being relationships and all the tender and terrifying things that come with them. Such is the case with "More Than Temporary," a song from Goss' sixth album, last year's "What Doesn't Break."

Because Goss is an independent artist, and because he's meticulous about his work, it's not unusual for videos to his songs to appear months after his albums are released. Goss' schedule is further complicated with videos he creates apart from his album releases, such as was the case with his recent cover of "Son of a Preacher Man."

Goss' videos can be stripped down and simple, homing in on intense emotions like yearning ("All My Life," shot against a blank white background) or connection ("Breath and Sound," featuring a number of dancers performing pas de deux in various gender combinations in a bare studio against a black background). Often, Goss achieves pure happiness, as with the charming and sexy video to his bouncy pop hit "Bears," or his time lapse (and teasing) video for "Make Believe," which serves an both a centerfold and a fairy tale, with his own skin used as a canvas for an elaborate painting.

But his videos can also tell fairly involved stories. "Son of a Preacher Man" follows two young Christian guys as they discover the high cost of being in love with one another; it's a powerful anti-suicide video. "Illuminate the Dark" offers series of sketches as people of various genders and sexualities encounter one another. The video to the song "Lover," which Goss co-wrote with Matt Alber, tells the story of an American serviceman killed in Afghanistan and the man he leaves behind back home.

"More than Temporary" isn't overtly political, but its message -- especially in the current social and political climate -- has deeply resonant meaning that can't help but take on social overtones. It's a simple story: Boy meets boy; boy is afraid of commitment; boy starts to notice long term couples around him in his everyday life, and, drawing courage from their examples, he takes the step of entering into an actual relationship. (There's a little extra bite in the fact -- subtle, but a wonderful joke when you notice it -- that the boy question is named Adam, and his new lover is called Steve.)

It's always a pleasure to catch up with Tom Goss, and EDGE jumped at the chance to sound him out on the story behind his new video.

EDGE: I'm wondering why you chose "More Than Temporary" as the song you'd be making into a new video. Why that song? Why now?

Tom Goss: I feel like that song is a special song. It's so light an airy and dreamy, and I think it kind of allows you to settle into it and think bigger. You know what I'm saying? It's not a challenging song. It's a definitely a song that sits really closely to your heart, and I've always wanted to do something that honors LGBT seniors, and when I wrote this song - which was probably two or three years ago now - I immediately started churning up ideas about how we could use this song that's about forever love and use it honor LGBT seniors who have really been at the forefront of our fight for rights and equality for decades, if not centuries.

I had a lot of ideas, but it wasn't until I linked up with Christopher Turner, who directed this video, that the narrative piece really came together strongly. He's brilliant.

EDGE: Was it Christopher Turner who came up with the framing story about the young man who's falling in love, and kind of afraid of it, but then he sees older long-time couples around him and that gives him the courage to commit?

Tom Goss: It was a collaborative effort, but I would say that he definitely had that idea. For me, it was a little more... I don't know how to describe it, but yeah, that was his idea.

EDGE: It was really fun to see Christopher Turner appear in the video himself, together with his husband Armistead Maupin.

Tom Goss: It was really great! I had that idea and I called Christopher and he was like, 'I was thinking the same exact thing.' When he said that it almost made me weep, just because I thought it was such a perfect way to close the message - to say that this kid, this young man is looking for inspiration and he's kind of - to use a biblical term - hiding his light under a bushel basket, because he's afraid. He sees these obvious examples of light out in the world, and that inspires him to dive into [a committed relationship] - and once he dives into it, his light becomes so bright that the people he was looking to are now looking to him as inspiration [as is communicated in the scene where Turner and Maupin gaze admiringly at Adam and Steve in the park].

I just thought it was a really beautiful thing that came full circle. I think you could see a vibrant, long term, beautiful, inspiration couple like Christopher and Armistead -- who in many ways are two of the most inspirational people that our community even has. To say 'They are now seeing these two young men as an inspiration,' I think, simply because they are taking a chance on [a serious relationship] - you know what I mean? For me, it was just so powerful. I love it.

EDGE: The actor who plays Adam, Joey Hirsch, seems so perfect - he's so sweet and shy and he's literally buttoned up and repressed, but you can see him wanting to burst out of those fears that bind him up.

Tom Goss: I love Joey. Joey's a friend of mine. I found Joey on Craigslist when I was producing [the video for my cover of] 'Son of a Preacher Man,' and he produced [that video] with me. I hired him as a production assistant and I think you'll notice how on all of my videos [since then] he has an executive producer credit. He laughed and said it was the only job where he got promoted and didn't even know it!

The funny thing about the casting is, [Joey] was supposed to be the producer on this - and he was the producer on this - and we cast another person in the role... [but] we decided the other person wasn't communicating as effectively as needed him to communicate. We started getting nervous about it; 'Whoa, this guy, I dunno - we love him, we love what he's doing, but he just isn't coming through in the way we need him to.' So I called Joey. Before we started shooting on a Saturday, I called Joey on Wednesday and said, 'Hey Joey! Look, this is your role now.' It was probably the best thing that ever happened. Joey just makes the piece! He's a great actor - that's what he's out in in L.A. for - and it was juts a great honor to work with him as a producer and as a friend, but also to see him work as an actor.

EDGE: I loved seeing the mix of couples that you brought in. There was a lesbian couple who actually got name checked at the beginning; there was a couple that included a transwoman; there was Christopher Turner and Armistead Maupin as one older male couple, but there was also another older male couple that, as we find out at the end of the video, have been together for a long, long time. It's just so nice to see all of those couples, and see them contrasted with these two young guys.

Tom Goss: Diverse casting is always important to what we do, and it's very intentional. We always want to make sure that people can see themselves in these videos. The reason I'm making these videos at all is because there isn't [enough] representation in the media or in art for who we are as people and what our community is. To make a video to reflect that within our community would be, I think, would be horrible. I'd be remiss to do that. We always go into out casting trying to find a wide swath of individuals - the people who, when they watch the video, they can say, 'Oh my god, that's me! I've never seen me reflected in a piece of art before.' I think that we manage to do that. I just got an email this morning from a friend of mine who said the same thing, and he was crying at work... that's why I do what I do. I want to touch people and reach people, and tell the story that nobody else is telling.

EDGE: I'd like to ask about another video you posted, 'The Silent Majority.' The video has you in a closet, and the text you put up with the video at YouTube explains that someone you had worked with before "declined to work" with you because of your "content." In other words, because you're gay. Do you want to talk about that a little?

Tom Goss: Yeah, I do, yeah... I'd written that song the day after Donald Trump got elected. You know, I write songs a lot, and a lot of them are just for me, just to process things. I wasn't' really planning on releasing it or anything; I spend a lot of time thinking about the world and trying to understand about the world so that I can then react to it in the most appropriate way.

Well... it was about my [2017] calendar. I went to print my calendar, and I went to the same place that printed my calendar last year, and they said they didn't like the content and it might be offensive to people in the office, and etcetera. It's the same company that I worked with previously, and it wasn't the only instance of something like that at the time. It really struck me... I'm really kind of struggling with this in general, because I feel like, in a lot of ways, I'm losing a big swath of people in my life who I believed were integral to my life and would never not be a part of my life, because of the polarization of our politics. I'm not even somebody who likes to talk about politics, but it's become very apparent to me since the election that a lot of the people who are my friends and my family, and who I know and who I love, and who I thought loved me unconditionally - they felt ways about me and - I'm gonna put this in air quotes - my "lifestyle" that they did not respect, or they looked down upon and judged me for. The election of Donald Trump as president has given them permission to vocalize these things to me unprompted. They feel that they are now protected in their judgment and/or hatred towards me.

That was kind of a really big 'Whoa!' to me, how that company didn't want to print my last calendar - which is 'cute sexy' at best. You know, a company printing that calendar [for a heterosexual audience] would make it racier than I do. So, the song is really about this 'silent majority,' and it's essentially saying, 'Yeah, you have the voice now, and what are you going to do with it?' Not even saying that their voice is wrong-just saying, 'People like me still exist. Whether you respect me or not, I am part of your community. Now that you have the voice and the power, how are you going to use this to facilitate good in the world?' And that's kind of what I've been sitting with for three months, now, and I don't really know if I've figured it out. I think I've probably just thought of more questions than answers. I feel like I'm, at a point in my life where I really need to rebuild those who are closest around me, because the ones I thought were closest around me... you know... just thought I was an 'uppity fag,' to use their words.

EDGE: 'To use their words?' Tom, that's shocking.

Tom Goss: Yeah. It was definitely shocking. I went home for Christmas, and essentially spent thirty-six hours curled up in a ball, crying.

EDGE: Oh, man...

Tom Goss: It's been a hard adjustment for me.

EDGE: It's been a hard adjustment for everyone in our community, and other communities as well, and not one we were expecting to have to deal with. In many ways it felt like we'd reached the top of the hill, and - we haven't.

Tom Goss: I think that's the interesting thing. We thought that we did, but there was a large proportion of people in our society who felt they had been beaten into submission; that they had to be silent. Inasmuch as we say, 'None of your rights are infringed upon if you have to be silent about your discrimination,' that's their experience, and that's their life's view. Silencing any life view, even if you're silencing the life view of - using an extreme example - a Nazi doesn't mean that the Nazi feels any less marginalized than if you're silencing the world view of an African-American lesbian handicapped transwoman. You know what I mean? The internalized feeling is the same. Whether they're right or not doesn't matter.

EDGE: Let the record show I have your 2017 calendar on the wall above my desk, and even now Tom Goss is looking down, wearing deer horns and a smile.

[Laughter]

Tom Goss: Yeah! You know, it's all very tongue in cheek. Thank you.

For more about Tom Goss, visit tomgossmusic.com