Energetic. Dynamic. Impressive. These are just a few words to explain LGBT dance/pop musician Joey Suarez. A resident of San Antonio, Texas, Suarez spends most of his period juggling his multiple endeavors which range from a brand new fashion collection, Ravers Fantasy, to operating and of course his music.
Even though his future is shiny, the road he traveled experienced some dark moments. Children of 12 siblings, Suarez was an object of continuous sexual abuse by his grandfather for 6 years in the own home.
This occurred soon after his biological father was convicted of raping his two older sisters. “It’s sad to think about it, not merely myself, but also the majority of my siblings have observed or experienced some sort of sexual abuse in our previous, ” Suarez states. “You’d think a family so good sized would grow distant with this type of situation, but we are actually closer than the majority of families because of it. It is no mystery what has taken my abnormally large family members so close together. ”
Suarez was 15 years old if he first opened up about getting abused and how it influenced him during his child years. “To my surprise, having the ability to speak out about this severe issue has helped cure my relationship with my personal mother, who at first would not agree with my gay way of life, believing it was residual of my abuse. It offered us a common ground of experience to build off of. Within my mom’s words, she feels “God gave us the opportunity to heal one another. ”
These types of experiences would be enough to derail anyone’s dreams and ambitions, but instead, Suarez recalls more highs than lows in his childhood. “I was very fixated around the Arts, and as a child it had been the rehearsals and shows that gave me refuge. This gave me the feeling of being ‘high’ on life or ‘high’ on music. In hindsight, I know it was the couple of times I felt secure. ”
It was about that period that Suarez began to dabble in acting and specialist modeling in Texas, La and New York. “By time I was 18, I had an attractive portfolio which I was able to value to book modeling gigs in Los Angeles and New York. ” Due to the social media success of those photoshoots Joey went on to do business with Major clients like Volvo, Marvel, Dreamworks, The Next Homosexual Thing, HorniUnderwear And TaniUSA.
Although modeling and performing play an important role in Suarez’s life, his center lies in creating music. “I wrote my first track when I was 6 and also have not heard the last from it from my family who even today can still recite it. ”
The first real music that Suarez remembers composing was composed shortly after your loss of his beloved grandma, who passed away from belly cancer. “The experience of viewing such a beautiful, strong, Asian woman just crumble less than her cancer was… tragic. So I felt inspired to create a song called “Memories”. It talks about how we ought to remember each other for his passion and memories we’ve produced together. I know it’s just how she would have wanted me personally to remember her rather than within a hospital. That’s truly once i began writing music. ”
Today, he draws impact from his family, all whom are blessed with a music gift. As with most huge families, they are very competitive, so each family member performs a different instrument as a means of limiting that rivalry. “By the time it fell in my experience to choose an instrument, the only thing remaining was singing. Which, to get a Mormon child means performing in the Mormon Tabernacle Charger. Unfortunately for the chapel my voice wasn’t designed to blend with others. ”
To the surprise of his fans, Suarez is a classically-trained opera/choir singer. By the time having been 16, he had over 10+ years of classical vocal teaching. “I was so tired of getting criticized in finirs for being ‘too loud’ or perhaps ‘not blending’ that I chose to try musical theatre. We fell in love. Suddenly all the constrictions and criticisms went out the window and I could openly explore my inner desires and talents. ”
Suarez didn’t begin to explore put music until he was twenty one years old. Drawing from an array of musical influences including Linkin Park, Miley Cyrus and Daft Punk, he offers crafted a style of music truly unique to what we listen to currently on the radio. “Personally I think I learned to work in crisis for too much time. My music was powered by the secrecy of my own abuse. Since I could not talk to anyone about what I had been experiencing, I bottled up and expressed myself through music. More often than not I would disregard my school work, and concentrate solely on my music. I am certain it seemed impulsive and slightly odd to some persons, but for me this was existence. It was relief, and this fueled the person and designer I am today. ”
And while most musicians often hide their sexuality at the start of their career for anxiety about rejection, Suarez consciously made a decision to flaunt it. “I resided a life of secrecy from an extremely young age. I was about 16 when I decided secrets were not worth it. From then on, I promised never to lie and never to cover who I was from any person and most of all myself. ”
His first two public, “High in the Sky” and “Love Me Back” possess generated almost 130, 500 streams collectively on Spotify. A feat not easy to get an independent LGBT musician. He could be currently in the studio composing and recording more tunes that may become part of a bigger project. However , Suarez brings up that the songwriting process will not be easy. “It’s nothing short of self-mutilation and torture to types emotions. ” Once this individual finds a beat which makes him want to party, he inserts whatever terms that come to mind until this individual stumbles on a theme. “Themes are the toughest part, since it’s a moment where you have to become real about where the music is coming from. More often than not, I actually find myself in a darker place where repressed feelings exist. So I will use this kind of chance to take the music’s beat and use it to help myself reshape those images, or perhaps memories. As the music involves life, the lyrics tend to change from a negative perspective into a more positive one. For me this really is a part of my healing process because an artist. By the time the song is done, I no more feel pain and those remembrances now have a new meaning. Some thing positive or even inspiring. ”
In recent months, Suarez has performed at New York City Pride and also San Antonio Pride in the home state of Tx. He is scheduled to perform in Coming Out with Pride in Orlando, florida this October. “Performing in NYC Pride for two years in a row was a truly dream come true. As a member of the LGBTQ community, I find it crucial to stand up and speak out about what it means to be happy with who you are. I actually do this through my music. PRIDE has given lifestyle to my career by simply supporting and introducing me personally to a community that gives myself confidence in who We are. ”
For more info, check out www.joeysuarez.com.