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'Everything and nothing at the same time': Troye Sivan on fame, sexuality and pushing pop forward

Troye Sivan dropped by the q studio to talk about his new album Bloom.
CBC Radio ·

If you're not familiar with the name Troye Sivan, chances are you're about to be. Sivan is one of the most interesting people making pop music right now, and he got his start the way a lot of people his age do: by making YouTube videos. Before he was signed to a label, his videos would range in everything from silly challenges with his friends to more confessional style videos that helped earn him millions of fans.

Off camera, there were certain parts of Sivan's life that he kept secret. So at 17, he decided to tell his fans the truth about his sexuality, in a YouTube video titled Coming Out.     

When he posted that video, his life changed. "It's everything I wanted it to be and so much more. It's almost everything and nothing at the same time," he says in an interview with Tom Power. Up until that point, Sivan had only told his family and a few friends that he was gay. So instead of talking out his problems, he often found solace in the music by Robyn and Amy Winehouse, two artists he cites as major inspirations musically, and in helping him come to terms with his sexuality. "I would love to be that for someone," he says.

Fast-forward six years, and that's exactly the kind of inspiration the now 23-year-old pop superstar provides for his own fans. His music explicitly references gay culture and sexuality without holding anything back, and it's something that has helped fans who have struggled with their sexuality.

But with new fame comes a sense of pressure to be a role model, something that Sivan deals with in stride. "I take comfort in the fact that I am on a journey," he says. "No one is fully self-actualized. I really like reminding people of that because I think it takes some of the pressure off of me."

When asked what's next for him, Sivan says for now he's got one goal: "I just want to keep people interested. That's it." 

— Produced by Vanessa Greco

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