For Perfume Genius, music is rebellion

Perfume Genius is musician Mike Hadreas. His critically acclaimed fourth album, No Shape, finds Hadreas making music that he hopes will help young people going through the same things he did when he was young.

As a young gay man, Hadreas was bullied and physically and verbally assaulted in high school and the abuse drove him to drugs and alcohol. Through music, he exorcized his demons and with help, got sober.

Perfume Genius has drawn on these harrowing experiences for his creativity. He talks to Tom Power about how he did it and performs songs from No Shape in the q studio.

— Produced by Mitch Pollock