Showing posts with label Matt Zarley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Zarley. Show all posts

Monday, February 16, 2015

Matt Zarley - Back To You

Matt Zarley's hopefulROMANTIC is available in two versions: a pop album featuring original versions of each song, and a soundtrack to his short film of the same name with new arrangements of each track re-imagined specifically for the film. The short film - a universal story about loving, letting go, and holding onto faith that there's somebody for everybody - is now playing the film festival circuit. Watch the video for "Back To You" featuring George Takei below.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Colorado Crooner Eugene Ebner Makes the Yuletide Gay

By Drew Wilson

Colorado crooner Eugene Ebner gorgeously gay, remarkably retro-styled new holiday video for 'Let It Snow' is a Christmas card to the gay community. 

But this energetic entertainer is also known as the host of internet radio show DiversityNow, and for his former, larger than life, drag queen superhero persona.


Drew: So tell me about the new video. Its got the look and feel of a classic Christmas movie, but with gay guys.

Eugene: Thank you. Well, you know, the song is a remake of the classic Let It Snow and it’s not only a tribute to the holidays, but a message of holiday cheer, love and equality. I wanted a platform to show everyone that the gay community has the right to love, not only during the holidays, but throughout the entire year and that we’re not any different from anybody else.

Spoken like a man in love. Is that your significant other in the video?
I am actually a single man. The gentleman in the video with me is a good friend of mine and a member of the Denver Gay Mens Chorus. Actually, I hate to say it, but we're like sisters. But we definitely have a connection and I’ve had a lot of people ask how long we’ve been together. Even people who know us thought we were really an item after watching the video. 

I see. So is music your full-time gig these days?
It’s a mixture of things. I perform and do other things but I'm really focused on my music at the moment. In addition to 'Let It Snow', I've got a couple of other songs out as well. I’ve got 'Let The Girl Out' which was remixed by Denny Tate and 'Always Meant to Be' and I've also got a ballad called 'You Are My Angel' which is actually in honor of my mother who transitioned from cancer about 16 years ago. I find that a lot of the music I write is inspired by love. 

When I first saw the 'Let It Snow' video, your name and face seemed very familiar to me. It took me a minute but then I realized that we know each other from years and years ago when I was the editor of Out Front Colorado and we had you on the cover ...
(Laughs) Yes, as Wonder Woman.

Do you still perform as Wonder Woman?
No, not in a long time, although I did recently put the video back up on YouTube. It’s 10 years old – actually 10 years ago in November. We filmed it at Foxhole. 

She'll probably kill me for saying this but Aurora Sexton is in it and it's just amazing to me to see how she has transformed over the years. She is so fabulous and beautiful. It's just so many memories. 

But I love Wonder Woman and she's one of my heroes. I love her message but I haven't done her in a while. I did do her in front of the Capitol building at Gay Pride in Washington, D.C. in front of like 10,000 people though, it was great


I know you like to keep busy and you're always doing something new, so what's next for Mr. Eugene Ebner?
Oh, I have a lot planned for 2013. It’s so exciting. I have a lot of momentum around this video and I'm going to make the most of it. It really presents who I am as an entertainer - the energy, the dancing and the style, and showing myself in that kind of classy, classic way. There are going to be two more videos coming out in the new year and two new CDs. Because the response to 'Let It Snow' has been so great, one of them will be a holiday CD.  

Overall, my intention is just to make a difference and embrace difference and diversity. I’ve done a lot of internet radio, along with the gentleman who co-produced and directed the video, Pat Bowler, and we have our own website, DiversityNow. We did the show for an entire year and had Chris Parente, Olivia Newton John, openly gay artist Matt Zarley and all of these different individuals on. Now we're looking to expand that and maybe do some internet TV. There's just really a lot going on and it all goes to the message of just embracing who you are.

Tell me more about that message.
It's something I feel very strongly about as part of the LGBT community. I believe very strongly in our civil rights and having the right to marry just like everyone else. I’m very strongly into advocating that and spreading that message

I don’t necessarily come from a place of, like, I’m not a picketer and I don’t march or hold up signs. But I see myself as accomplishing the same thing with what I do. Like, the video for 'Let It Snow'. 

People might think "Oh, that’s cute" but what my intention was with the video was to show how gay people love and interact with each other the same way everybody else does. Some straight people don't understand it and I wanted to show it to them in kind of a subtle way, in the format of a movie or TV show they might have seen growing up.  

I’m very invested in doing whatever I can to make sure we have equality and our rights. And I'm very proud of Denver and Colorado and I love our gay community here because we have worked so hard and come so far and there’s no other place I’d rather live.

That's awesome. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?

Just that I appreciate you and everything you do as MileHighGayGuy. We’re all in this together, you know. We just have to keep believing in ourselves and keep being the incredible people that we are. Embrace each other and spread that message of love and equality.