Ex-Mormon puts faith in rock debut.
By Brandon Voss
Before coming out and excommunicating himself from the Mormon church, singer-songwriter Justin Utley, a featured performer at the 2002 Winter Olympics in his hometown of Salt Lake City, was a prince of Christian pop. But these latter days, the hunk has been raising a little hell at local gay venues such as Splash, Starlight, therapy, and xl to promote his new album, Runaway.
Just back from his Utah home (recording his first dance remix for the upcoming single “Hold You”), Utley, muscles busting out of his cheeky “I Can’t. I’m Mormon” T-shirt, sat down with me at HX headquarters to spread the good word.
HX: Once you get out of Utah, why would you ever go back?
Justin Utley: [Laughs] That’s a good question! Most of my recording projects are there, but I’m in the process of moving it all here to New York. My place is actually in downtown Salt Lake, which is more diverse than the rest of the state. You can actually see other races of people instead of white Wonder Bread everywhere.
How has New York responded to you?
At every gay club I have someone come up to me and say, “Are you sure you’re gay?” Because the gay rocker thing really hasn’t been done before — except for Melissa Etheridge, who’s about the closest thing we have to a mainstream gay male rocker. I performed at the Gay Erotic Expo and a couple of guys from Utah came over and said, “I’m so glad you’re doing what you’re doing. It’s totally different.” I could walk around with my shirt off in Daisy Dukes, but that’s been done. A pretty face lasts 15 minutes in this town; I want to leave something that lasts longer.
Why are the songs on Runaway gender-nonspecific?
I try not to give away too much of the story so that anyone listening can find something to relate to. I also wrote some of those songs before I was out. I’ve only been out for three years, so I still have a lot of ground to cover.
How was your coming out?
My first gay relationship was with someone who passed away. That was a pivotal point for me to decide, Okay, do I include my family in my life or do I keep all of this in? When I told them, it was the complete opposite of what I’d expect from a devout Mormon family; they were very supportive. I’ll be going into all that on the next album.
Judging from your lyrics, you’ve had many rocky romances.
This album has been called my “break free” album, but I like to call it my breakup album, too. Most find reference in it after ending a relationship.
Are you currently seeing anyone?
Just my guitar. It brings me happiness, and I get to play with it and break its g-string once in a while. [Laughs] I’m really passionate about my music right now; I know it’s going places and I don’t want to slow it down with a relationship.
How did you feel about Larry Miller’s decision to ban Brokeback Mountain from his Utah theater?
I wrote a letter to Larry and told him that I appreciated his attempt to save Utah from the hell fire, destruction and gay marriages that surely would’ve followed the film’s release. And I told him that I also appreciated his alternatives at the theater, including Hostel — because those values are much more suitable for Utah!
HX, February 2006.