Talia Keys’ Pride Anthem is a Reminder to Be Loud and Proud

Lesbian rocker Talia Keys is celebrating Pride Month with the release of a new music video that calls for today’s queer generation to be loud and proud in who they are.

Written and produced by Keys, “We’re Here” is a reggae-inspired, feel good anthem broken into three parts. The first verse is about the internal struggles many LGBTQ youth face when their outward appearance doesn’t quite fit the societal mold, while the second verse challenges them to smash the patriarchy of society’s expectations around gender binaries. The outro encourages all to own who they are because by simply existing, they are making the world a better place.

“We’re Here” also features several queer, trans, nonbinary artists and drag queens including Madazon Can-Can.

Based in Salt Lake City, Keys has enjoyed a local following and has made a name for herself on national tours and jam festivals from coast to coast. Her trademark fire and brimstone stage presence is an amalgam of her journey, identity, and musical influences. Her music presents a modern twist on the rock ‘n’ roll troubadour singing songs of struggle and ultimately, triumph.

OFM caught up with the musical artist to talk more about “We’re Here,” celebrating Pride, and being unapologetically authentic.

We are living for your Pride anthem, “We’re Here!” Can you begin by telling us more about the concept and inspiration behind the track?

“We’re Here” came to me out of nowhere. I was sitting down at the piano, and this kind of creepy clown riff, that’s what I like to call it, just came to me, and I started playing it. Then the outro came almost immediately afterwards. “We’re here to fuck shit up.” I just started to repeat it and play it, and I was like, “Oh, this is something! I’ve got this.” So, I grabbed my book, sat down, and the lyrics kind of poured out of me.

When I had written the song, I was going through a lot of turmoil here in the local music scene, so it was kind of my answer to, I’m not going to change who I am; I’m not going to be less gay on stage; I’m not going to not talk about legal marriage. All these things are going on in the world, and I was using my music to share my heart and feelings about it.

Ultimately, what do you hope listeners take away from the song?

That whether you’re straight, gay, however you identify, I want you to realize that you’re here. You were put on this planet, and hopefully, you’re not going anywhere. This is your opportunity to take up space, be loud, and be proud. For me and most of my fans, it is an anthem of being gay and being out and not forgetting that we are here to fuck shit up.

How has “We’re Here” been received by listeners?

The song actually came out in 2018, and it has been the closing song to my shows every single time. Audiences love it and they all sing along. It’s kind of my anthem, my theme song you could say. Then during the pandemic, we finally had enough time to create this music video for it. So, to revisit this old song was important because, once again, it’s one of my most powerful songs. It’s a fan favorite, and we finally had time to sit down, come up with a conception of what we wanted to create, and do it.

There are several Pride anthems and singles out there. What makes “We’re Here” unique and stand out from the others?

I feel like it’s a powerful message wrapped up in a very nice sounding song (laughs). I intentionally played it in C major, one of the happiest keys, and it’s kind of like, yeah, a little sugar helps the medicine go down because the content isn’t necessarily happy. The content is kind of dark and challenging the status quo, and for me, that’s how I’ve always been. I have always used my music to stand up for what I believe in and served medicine in a nice way.

So, I feel like it’s different just because it’s unique. It’s live instrumentation with my band The Love, and I have an amazing backup singer, Lisa G, who’s an amazing ally and advocate. We met through one of our local queer organizations. This is a special song to our crew here.

I love that the video features several queer, trans, and enby artists and drag queens. What was it like collaborating with everyone, and what were you feeling once the final product came to fruition?

To answer the second question first, I cried. Every time I saw a draft of the video, it was just an overwhelming feeling for me that we are putting out something special, and I truly feel that. I feel like representation matters now more than it ever has, and being able to film inside the Capitol Theatre, it’s a legendary, haunted, historic theater here in Salt Lake where I went with my grandmother to see musicals while growing up, it’s something I hold very dear to my heart. We all know that theaters have always been a beacon of queer art, so just to have all these pieces come together was amazing.

Then the actors: Madazon Can-Can is an incredible gender nonbinary burlesque performer, drag king, and clown, and I had seen Madazon perform at our local Pride. They were an emcee, and I could just see how they could command the crowd. They could perform with their entire heart, soul, and being, and I fell in love with what they did on stage. My fiancé, Melahn, and I were just talking about how we wanted “We’re Here” to have three parts to it. We felt like the first verse was a character, the second verse was a character, and then the outro was going to be an addition of the other characters.

That’s how Madazon came to mind. I’m not a clown. I would not have done what Madazon does because that’s not what I do. So, it was very cool for me to empower and lift them up. I wanted to get their talent seen by my audience, and Madazon was also our queen wrangler. They helped me assemble the cast. We had talked about some local performers that I loved seeing perform, and I’ve worked with a couple of them, but a couple were brand new to me. It was so fun. It was a bright light that we needed, and we felt like kids in a big ol’ gay candy store (laughs).

What does Pride personally mean to you?

I’ve been gay since I was little, but I’ve only been out since I was around 26. For a long time, I had to hide who I was and denied myself my trueness, which caused me down a road of addiction and self-destruction. Then I finally saw a therapist, cleaned up my act, came out of the closet, met the love of my life, and the rest is history. So, for me, Pride was our first date. Pride was where I could go and hold her hand, be out, and be surrounded by people. The visibility alone, seeing queer people of all ages, our elders down to our littles, it really is one of the most powerful things that I think we need to continue to do.

I also want us all to remember that Pride is not just a party. Yes, we need to celebrate; yes, we need to have dance parties, wear awesome clothes, and grind up on one another, but we need to remember that Pride is a protest. It always has been a protest. Our existence is still being attacked from every angle. Trans youth in Utah—They just passed the sports ban here. We must realize that this is still a protest, so I just want people to remember that your existence is a resistance.

Will you be performing at any Pride festivals this year?

I’m not performing at the local Pride festival this year. I took a little hiatus for some reasons I don’t necessarily want to speak too much on, but our local Pride Center is going through some things, and they’re in a lawsuit right now with some former employees. So, to take a stand with those former employees, I decided to not apply, but it also breaks my heart because that’s my biggest show of the year. That’s where I get to play for thousands of people that look like me or don’t look like me, but I get to play for my people.

It is a little bit heartbreaking, but I think these are important conversations that people need to be having. When you do work with local organizations, are you truly uplifting every queer person in the community or are you only uplifting white gay men? However, we did do our own Pride show at the Urban Lounge that has all queer, trans, and nonbinary bands playing. I will be going out to other people’s parties as well. I love underground parties sometimes more than the big corporate festival.

Have you always had a passion for singing and songwriting?

Yes, I’ve always had a passion for playing music. I used to bang on pots and pans when I was little, and my mom’s friend was like, “Hey, come over and let’s see if she can play my drum set,” and I could. He was like, “Let’s get her a kit,” so Santa Claus brought me a kit when I was 9, and then I just loved music. I loved listening to Bob Marley, The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin, and I would sing along to them.

I can’t remember exactly when I decided I wanted to sing, but I do remember going to a show and seeing Michael Franti perform. He was very political back then. He was putting his heart on the pavement and talking about some important stuff, so that is where I was like, “Hey, I can talk about things that I care about on a stage too.” I started going to open mics and open jams, and the rest is history. I love singing. I’ve recently picked up vocal lessons again, so I can continue to grow my craft.

What are some future goals you would like to achieve as an artist?

I would love to tour the world, and we were growing towards that pre-COVID. I have played in Paris and Switzerland; I’ve played across the United States for six years; we toured 90 days out of the year, and then the pandemic hit. It was horrid. Everybody was screwed, but the music and entertainment industry, which a lot of queer people belong to, shut down the hardest. We’re still struggling. We’re still trying to come back and come up for air, but then it seems like there’s another variant. When it’s safe, my goal is to get back out there. I’m going to keep doing this. I want to play music, make people happy, and make people dance for the rest of my life.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects you’d like to mention or plug?

We’re just going to keep pushing this video. We want people to see and share it because it’s such a magical piece of art. All the performers, all the drag queens, and all the artists that were a part of it, and we also had a fully queer filming crew as well. So, see it, share it, and send it to someone who might need to be reminded that you were put on this planet to fuck shit up. Then upcoming projects, we’re going to make three more music videos from my latest record.

Stay up-to-date and connect with Keys by following her on Instagram @taliakeys, or visit her official website, taliakeys.com. “We’re Here” is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and all other digital streaming platforms.

Photos courtesy of Stefan Poulos