Rage Monthly Magazine

“I started off in acting doing the musicals in elementary school. I was in the choir and they were doing Bye Bye Birdie and in-between scene changes, they would have the chorus stand up and sing a few songs. I thought, ‘I actually want to be in the show!’ So I started acting, if that’s what you would call it…but it was so stupid, elementary school plays,” says Chris Salvatore.

 

That was his introduction and a fateful beginning to his career aspirations as a singer and actor. Our cover boy is in full bloom for spring and in a recent in-person interview, Chris speaks of his acting debut in the film Eating Out 3, the excitement over finishing and releasing his second CD titled Dirty Love and his dedication and time to an organization recognizing those lost to hate crimes called Gay American Heroes.

 

It’s hard to believe he considered himself a nerd as a child but The Rage Monthly lets him explain and why he is now the spokesperson for Gay American Heroes. “I was the biggest nerd! I was really shy and all my friends were all girls. I was really made fun of a lot. I was really bullied. That’s one of the reasons why I’m doing the whole Gay American Heroes thing is because it comes from a place that I’m passionate about.

 

I know first hand what it’s like to be made fun of because you’re gay. I can’t stand it. Even when I hear my little sister…when she tells me stories that some kid has picked on her, it really hits home with me. I really want to use that platform to help end the bullying in school and end people being murdered for being gay.”

 

The founder of Gay American Heroes, Scott Hall, contacted Chris Salvatore about representing the organization. Chris explains, “I guess he saw some of my YouTube videos actually and some of my music. He asked me if I would do a public service announcement. I said, ‘sure.’

 

He told me a little about his organization and I went to the website [gayamericanheroes.com]. I was looking at some of the other PSAs and I just kind of knew that I had to help this cause because it hits home to me. Being put down for just being who you are…that shouldn’t happen. I did my PSA and it ended up getting pushed out to all the gay blogs. I think it’s up to 25,000 views on YouTube right now. So it helped get Scott’s foundation a lot of exposure I think.”

 

Chris’s work with Gay American Heroes doesn’t end there. He continues, “Scott decided to bring me out to Florida to do a ‘Hearts for Heroes’ tour, where we went to 11 different clubs and bars where I performed and talked about the cause. We raised $5,000 over a span of nine days or something.”

 

The primary goal of Gay American Heroes Foundation is to build a memorial to honor the people who have lost their life for being who they are. This would be a traveling memorial. On gayamericanheroes.com, visitors to the site can take a virtual tour of what the organization is attempting to create as a memorial.

 

Another thing that people might not know about Chris Salvatore is not only is he a strikingly handsome man, Chris also loves to sing and is releasing his second CD on April 27.

 

He describes the overall vibe of the new material, “It’s a little more pop with a dance-type feel to it. On my last album, I wrote and recorded everything myself on my laptop…(laughter) actually. This definitely has a different feel recording it in a studio.

 

The quality is better for one and the songs…I feel like I’ve finally found my niche in music. It’s a Top 40 kind of a sound that is basically radio-friendly. The title track, “Dirty Love” is the first single.”

 

Chris was only in Hollywood two weeks when he auditioned for the role of Zack in Eating Out: All You Can Eat. He landed it and made his feature film debut in 2009. Although it is not official yet, word is that he will be in the upcoming fourth edition of this gay comedy series. Chris still is honing his acting skills and says, “Definitely. I still take acting classes.

 

I feel like you can never know everything in acting because a lot of it comes from knowing yourself. In class you are always learning and in life you are always learning and it kind of reflects your acting. I’m still growing and hopefully I book more roles!” 

 

There is someone Chris has a crush on and it’s not who you think. Laughing, he replies, “Britney Spears. Just a little crush, she’s definitely one of my inspirations for music. I don’t think I’m going to be the next male Britney Spears by any means (laughter). Like some people think that I think.

 

I remember when I was 15; I had a big collage or poster of her over my bed. So, if my parents didn’t know I was gay with that…I’m not sure what else I could have done. I really respect her. I think that she is just…Britney Spears, what can you say? She was the first artist I ever saw live in concert.”

 

Before we finished talking, I asked about that tattoo on his right hip, thinking it looked like a pegasus in flight. Correcting me and laughing Chris says, “That would be a tree. I got that with my best friend Cherisse. She got the same one. We got it to stand for being strong and grounded because roots of trees are strong and grounded. It also represents change because trees are always growing and changing.

 

I think change is good. If nothing ever changed in life, I would be really bored so I feel like I’m constantly changing things. But never forget where you came from. I think is the motto for it.”

 

Wine me, dine me, sixty…hmmm, how does that old phrase go? For about a decade, fans of food, wine and out-of-the-closet celebs have been wishing for Ted Allen to use his “queer eye” talents on them.

 

Since his days as the gastronomic genius of the “Fab Five” on Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Ted has been keeping busy heading trends, not only in food creativity but also supporting the nationwide HIV/AIDS fundraiser Dining Out for Life (DOFL).

 

Ted has had a penchant for the kitchen skills since his early years, but the bulk of his pre-TV career has actually manifested itself through journalism.

 

“[Culinary school] is something I’d actually love to do, preferably in Southern Italy,” admitted Allen. “I’ve always been into cooking and food, but I didn’t really get into anything serious until I got a job at Chicago Magazine.

 

I was a senior editor there—I edited short stories and I wrote features and dining reviews. Like most city magazines, that was pretty much the restaurant bible for Chicago. It was the first place to have dining listings that were very honest and serious.

 

Food was just part of the culture at the magazine. I was getting sent out to interview chefs when restaurants would launch a new seasonal menu or something. I was in love with the culture of it all. I ended up becoming a member of the Dining Critic Team at the magazine. That got me exposed to more serious food, different types of cuisines and wine. One thing led to another.”

 

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by bill biss

 

Neon Trees is a breaking new band with a tremendous amount of talent. Their music is infused with tough guitars by Chris Allen and Branden Campbell, slamming drums by Elaine Bradley and the amazing vocals of lead singer Tyler Glenn. Their debut CD was just released on March 16 and this band is one to watch out for.

 

The band is a fresh dose of rock and pop fusion that is already got a strong following for their live shows. The Rage Monthly spoke to Tyler Glenn from his tour bus smack dab in the middle of Kansas on the day their CD hit stores.

 

For such a charismatic singer with a strong case of animal magnetism, Glenn is thoughtful, sensitive and truly thrilled about their new CD called Habits.

 

In an industry such as music where lately the ratio of female artists outnumber the males four to one…it is exciting to discover a new male rock star worth talking about. Telling Tyler this, he responds, “Oh! That’s a huge compliment. Look at you. Thank you man.”

 

Tyler’s voice is distinctively his own yet upon first listen one is reminded of the vocal talent’s of artists such as Bono, Billy Idol and Michael Hutchinson from INXS.

 

In one song in particular on the release called “Love and Affection” he really lets loose and his voice just soars with rock majesty. Curious to find out just what he meant in the closing lyrics of that song being, “I just don’t understand/why my blood is/why my love is not.”

 

Tyler gets to the heart of the lyrics as he explains, “Like my blood is good enough in the shock…the violence is good enough but just the simple notion of love just doesn’t seem like it’s good enough. The whole song is about that and that love and affection can heal but I think the last shocking thing in the world is the actual idea of love. Just saying, ‘I love you.’ I know I’ve said that so some of my best friends and they don’t know how to handle it. People are shocked by love because we are all kind of in a weird spot. How love is probably the last thing that people think about but the thing that people need the most.”

 

Tyler Glenn is originally from Temecula, California. He moved to Utah in his early twenties. He followed his friend and guitarist of Neon Trees, Chris Allen, Tyler adds, “Just to play music, he was living there to go to school and I just wanted to continue to make music with him so that brought me out there and that’s where we started and formed the band.”

 

Commenting on his unique hairstyle, which is similar to Annabella from the 1980s band Bow Wow Wow, Tyler laughs and says, “Yes. Somebody recently said that. I don’t know. It raises eyebrows but I think I’ve done it for so long that sometimes I forget that I have a traditional Mohawk and people remind me in one way or another that I do which is fine. I’m just comfortable with it.”

 

Who are some of the musical artists that shaped his musical tastes growing up? “At a young age it was Michael Jackson definitely and Morrissey and Bruce Springsteen. Those are probably the trifecta of singers. I love the drama that Morrissey brings to his songs, I love the epicness of Jackson and I love the storytelling of Bruce. I’m just a sucker for old R&B and old pop. I sang a lot in church before I knew I wanted to be in a band.”

 

One of the band members Elaine Bradley on drums is a sweet choice. She smokes on the drums and adds an important element to Neon Tree’s sound. Tyler couldn’t agree more and says, “Elaine brings a lot of fire. I think our rhythm section is incredibly one of our large strong points. I think for her being in a more pop/rock band is different for her because she’s used to a lot more complicated drumming.

 

Her being able to explore the pop/rock world and add her own complicated way of playing to it makes for a good sound. I think it’s really spotlighted on the song, “Love and Affection” and songs like that. She also brings femininity to the band and it’s cool because I never wanted a woman in the band to be a novelty. The fact that she’s on the drums adds uniqueness to it. She’s a sexless drummer…I’ve said it before. Guys like her, girls like her. So it’s a combo.”

 

Why the name Neon Trees for the band? Tyler explains, “The name goes back to my friends in high school. We would dine at this restaurant and they had neon palm trees there. We just joked that that would be a cool band name and pretended to be in a band for five minutes. Later, when we really needed a band name, we thought Neon Trees would be cool and then it sort of fit the type of music we were playing.

 

This sort of organic rock mixed with dance elements. Ironically enough, when Branden joined the band, his dad was the one who actually made the neon palm tree lights that I named like a decade before. Before I even knew Branden or his father. Branden is from Vegas so it was weird that his dad had that job down in Southern California to make those lights. We believe in spirituality for sure so I think it was one of those ‘written in the stars’ vibe.

 

The standard issue story is that Neon Trees was signed to Mercury Records after being brought there by the band, The Killers. Tyler elaborates a bit more on that, “It totally was. I think the story has been packaged up in a nice bow that they brought us to Mercury. With all gratefulness and thankfulness to The Killers but I think it was a combination of things.

 

There were labels interested in us simultaneously at the time that Ronnie from The Killers asked us to open a couple of shows. Then Ronnie really followed up and put his two cents in. At the end of the day, they signed us because they saw potential. I think our live shows are the strong point and I think the record is finally an extension of that. We want to bring excitement back to good pop music and bring credibility back to it too.”

Exploring the relationship between a father and his son has been created countless times in the history of cinema. Yet, when that son is both Latino and gay, it’s an experience that hasn’t been told as a feature film until now.

 

La Mission stars Benjamin Bratt as the father and Jeremy Ray Valdez as his teenage son. When Bratt’s character realizes his son is gay the reverberations hit hard for both of them and their community of family and friends in San Francisco’s diverse Mission district.

 

With poignant and realistic direction by Peter Bratt, who also wrote the screenplay, La Mission is a groundbreaking journey of family and a culture that quite frankly for the most part, is not accepting of homosexuality. Jeremy Ray Valdez spoke with The Rage Monthly about the impact of making the film, working and becoming great friends with both Peter and Benjamin Bratt and his approach to portraying his character of Jess Rivera.

 

Jeremy Ray Valdez: This kind of film has never been approached from the Latin point of view or Hispanic point of view. But, you know…I don’t view this film as a purely Latino film. It kind of resonates with white people, brown people, black people etc. I think it kind of goes beyond that…it’s not a classic coming out story but the angle has never been done from a Latino side.