The singer behind tracks like “Gaga” and “Pillbx” recently came out as non-binary: “I want this song to set you free and give you the courage to be exactly who you are.”
Gaustad wanted to write a song like “Boy Behind the Mask,” one that he's been discussing coming to terms with his gender identity for years. Now, the musician is ready to share the track — as well as the emotional video, which premieres Thursday Rolling rock.
“I just recently found all the words to explain what I've been feeling my whole life,” says Gaustad, who recently came out as non-binary and uses their/them pronouns. “For a long time, I kept my male identity buried because I felt like there was something wrong with me. We live in a world of boxes and suffocating gender stereotypes, and more often than not, people in the LGBTQ+ community don't fit into those boxes that society desperately tries to put us into.”
“'Boy Behind the Mask' is a song about living your truth,” adds Gaustad. “It took me 22 years to find mine and I can only hope that this record gives other people the courage to find theirs.”
In the video, the singer is seen singing the ballad while wearing one the Phantom of the Opera-style mask and tuxedo as they sing about their complicated feelings from a stage. They call “Boy Behind the Mask” a “triumphant return” to their authenticity and finding self-acceptance.
“I've never had anything wrong with me, but maybe there's something wrong with society in the way it dehumanizes people who don't fit into the boxes we consider 'normal.' There is no such thing as normal and there never will be,” they say. “There is simply each of our individual truths and expressions of ourselves. I want this song to set you free and give you the courage to be exactly who you are.”
Gaustad released the EPalbum/6ZZyrOqtOk8iIda3PNv779?si=z0NskoZ6R5Slk7t_dzuvxA” rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank”> Welcome to Jupiter 2.0 earlier this year after the launch of its deluxe edition Pillbx last year. This LP included tracks such as “Gaga”, which referenced Lady Gaga's greatest hits and was celebrated by the singer herself, along with songs such as “Beauty & the Beast” and “Everybody's Friend”.
They said Rolling rock In 2022, 'Beauty' took aim at how 'young people compare their own identity and beauty to those disguised by smoke, mirrors, filters and plastic surgery' online.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/gaustad-finds-truth-masculine-identity-boy-behind-the-mask-1235046552/
