Gould’s record company said ‘aren’t we done with the gay equality thing yet?’ and this video shows not by a long shot
In only a few short hours a powerful music video telling true LGBTI stories has racked up millions of views.
Australian singer Greg Gould released the short film music video of his cover of En Vogue’s 90s classic Don’t Let Go and within hours had one million views.
Released last week the video features harrowing scenes based on Gould’s own real life experiences and those of his LGBTI friends.
One scene shows a man kicked out of his partner’s hospital room, family rejection, assault and in Gould’s case public harassment at a bus stop.
‘The inspiration for the video was seeing these events unfold in my own personal life – I was standing at that bus stop, my friend was kicked out of his partner’s hospital room,’ he told Gay Star News.
‘I hoped that by sharing these stories, it would shine light on these issues and help.’
This confronting video about the LGBTI community brings new depth to the lyrics – ‘I won’t be satisfied till we’re taking those vows, together we can make it right!’
‘It was extremely emotional both for myself, the crew filming and the actors,’ Gould said.
‘Many of the actors in fact really struggled on set because it was so far from their beliefs to play these aggressively homophobic characters.
‘I had to pause filming in the hospital at one point because I was so affected. Knowing it was real, made it so much more difficult.’
Gould, 28, a runner-up on Australia’s Got Talent in 2013 recently left his record label after they told him he was ‘too gay’ and went independent.
‘They rejected my ideas, but it wasn’t the first time. I felt to them and I quote ‘the gay thing’ was PR just for them, but for me, it’s my life,’ he said.
‘It’s my friends. My family. They went as far as to say ‘Greg aren’t we done with the gay equality thing?’ I felt bullied.
‘They told me that the reason they were struggling to book me gigs was because my Instagram was ‘too gay’.
‘When I asked them what they even meant they screen shot a photo of me posting a picture of me having a drink with a mate.
It was ridiculous.
‘This was a big part of me leaving but now independent, I am free to make the music and the art I believe in.’
Gould’s social media has been swamped with messages of thanks from people who were touched by the video. At the time of publishing the video has notched up more than 4 million views.
‘Well I was hopeful it would connect but I didn’t expect so many views, let alone so quickly,’ he said.
‘I guess you don’t see that many music videos that go to the places we took it – I’m really proud of the EP and the video so I’m pretty darn chuffed.’
