Though it’s been almost five years since Scissor Sisters announced an indefinite hiatus, the band’s legacy in advancing the art of ass-shaking remains unrivaled. Whether electroclash freakouts, jockstrap jams, lighters-in-the-air ballads, Muppetcore or Berlin sex-club slot-shakers, Scissor Sisters were an indelible part of the soundtrack to nightlife in the Aughts.
Jake Shears, who shared lead vocal and songwriting duties in the band, is readying his first tour as a solo artist, hitting five cities across the South. If ever there was a time for a call to liberation, it’s certainly now: Shears, resplendently queer and a winner of an Ivor Novello Award in 2007 for Scissor Sisters’ Elton John co-write “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’,” is a distinctive voice and persona in the world of pop and rock, and the mysteries of this tour are delicious uncertainties.
Shears graciously spoke with the Scene during preparations for the upcoming tour.
Now that you’re getting ready to embark on your first solo tour, what should the audience do to prepare themselves? Let’s just say it’s going to be a really exciting and special moment for me, and hopefully for them. I haven’t been onstage in a long time, so people should be prepared for a lot of joy going on. It’s going to be a celebration.
What made you decide to focus on the South for the tour? It’s an intriguing choice. I’ve been living in New Orleans for the last year-and-a-half, part time, and it’s become a really big part of my life — a great place to find inspiration. Also I’ve been in Louisville, Ky., creating and diving in. I really wanted to start in the area that has been such a part of my life these past couple years. It’s been a big part of my story.
There was a low-key internet to-do after you posted a picture of yourself on your Instagram where you wore a shirt that said “Faggot Power.” How do you define Faggot Power? Faggot Power comes through community, supporting each other, being ourselves, and not making enemies out of each other. Faggot Power strengthens when we put down our phones for five minutes, go out to queer bars or take to the streets, and connect with people of other generations.
I know that “Invisible Light” was influenced by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, but how does it feel to have made a better FGTH track than they ever did? I will never agree with that statement! [Laughs] That’s the good stuff you’re talking about. It’s funny how you can look at your influences and inspirations, and you know you will never be as good as them. Other people might think so, but from my perspective, I’m always striving to get there.
Who would you most like to write or record with whom you haven’t been able to already? Beck has always been one of those people for me. There’s a producer named Dave Fridmann [Mercury Rev, Steve Burns, The Flaming Lips] I’ve always really loved.
Speaking of Beck, what’s your favorite mash-up that uses one of your songs? My personal fave is the one that puts the vocals from Beck’s “Loser” over “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’.” There’s a Lauryn Hill mashup with “Transistor,” one of the B-sides on [Scissor Sisters’ 2006 album] Ta-Dah. It makes me very happy.
Will we ever get to hear the as-yet-unreleased Kylie Minogue album you’ve mentioned before? Gay Earth needs this. “I Believe In You” is seriously still the best Kylie single since “Better the Devil You Know.” There’s a bunch of that stuff hanging around. There is a recent thing that — when the time is right, eventually, for the both of us — I think people will flip out over.
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