INTERVIEW: Doug Locke
Doug Locke
The Photo Ladies Interview
Love. It's a universal theme that encompasses the latest track entitled "Why?" from LA musician, actor and activist Doug Locke. Taken from his latest release Why? (Lunar II) EP, the angelic voices of a gospel choir sing the word love throughout the song as a way to offer a beacon of hope as a contrast against the ugly times we are living in. He says, “When I heard the news of the George Floyd murder on the heels of the murders of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, and the Christian Cooper incident in Central Park, I knew I had to release the song. It is my response to the feelings that have been rising in me ever since my heart broke in 2012 with the murder of Trayvon Martin". The Pulse Nightclub tragedy in Orlando was also a pivotal moment in his life, himself a member of the LGBTQ community, and he pays homage to the victims of the shooting in the song, as well. “I remember how my heart broke as I watched Anderson Cooper read the names of all of the victims of the shooting,” he recalls. “When I think about the moments throughout my life that changed me at my core, that was one of them. I had no idea there was so much evil in the world. I was absolutely gutted and afraid. When writing this song, I wanted to include a reference to honor the victims as they will never be forgotten. I also wanted to draw that parallel that violence against any group is a crime against humanity.” Locke's parents were involved in the fight for social justice and civil rights growing up, with his father, Gene Locke, a prominent civil rights activist in the 60s, having been one of the fist black students admitted to the University of Houston following desegregation in 1963. Locke was born and raised in Houston and was surrounded by this fight growing up, growing up to be an activist himself, not just for racial equality but for LGBTQ rights. As a member of both the black and LGBTQ communities, he sees the intersectionality of the movements for him and how racism and homophobia reside in the respective movements. Having been severely bullied as a child, Locke found his way to spirituality and self-love and embraces that part of himself by getting out into nature, as well as practicing a deep meditation and reflection with each full moon, with each one bringing out different aspects of his personality. It's these personality traits that are reflected in his 'Lunar Series' of 4 EPs. He released the first EP Black Travolta (Lunar I) in May and the second EP Why? (Lunar II) last month, with two more EPs on the horizon that will ultimately lead to a full length album entitled Full Moon. Aside from his music career, Locke is also an actor, having started out in theater, eventually moving into film and television, having played Jimi Hendrix in the short film 'A Technicolor Dream' and acted in several tv shows. As an activist who is passionate about fighting for the struggles faced by the black and LGBTQ community, Locke has found himself protesting in the streets with the BLM Movement and using his music as a way to address the issues affecting these communities. Although he grew up with a clear understanding that we live in an imperfect world, his parents also taught him that we as a people have the power to fix it. With a responsibility to leave this planet better than we found it, Locke uses his art as a way to start conversations. You can connect with Doug Locke via the following links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | iTunes/Apple Music | YouTube | Deezer | Google Play
You recently released your latest EP Why? (Lunar II), which followed your previous EPBlack Travolta (Lunar I). You are doing a Lunar series of EPs that each revolve around different phases of the moon and have talked about how the full moon brings about different parts of your personality. What led you to want to do the Lunar series of EPs.
For me, in recent years, I have been observing the full moon. Call me an Aries spiritual hippie child, but for me, what I have found is I tend to do what I call a gratitude meditation with every full moon. For me it helps me stay accountable and I know that at least once a month, I'll do a deep gratitude meditation and will set intentions for the next month. It's something that's sort of been a figure in my life and I've also seen how the full moon can bring out different sides to my personality. I kind of felt that creatively that was a great visual representation of what the music for this next project is. Initially, at the top of the year, I was in the studio working on music and the plan was to put out a full length album titled Full Moon, which is still what I'm working towards, using this lunar energy. Then I realized, when COVID-19 first hit, all of my plans for this traditional roll out that I had, of doing music videos and all of that, kind of went out the window because we have no idea what the other side of this looks like. This was an opportunity to be creative, so I talked to my producer and was like "What if we release the music in bits as mini EPs?", so the Lunar concept was born. Lunar I is the first phase of the moon and has "Black Travolta" and "Temptation", and it's very poppy and has a dance element to it and is super light. Then we moved to Why? (Lunar II), which has a completely different vibe. Lunar III, which will be coming out, is called Beautiful Love and will be exploring love from all aspects. I like the idea of tying this visual motif into the work.
Do you feel like you have always been a spiritual person? What led you down a spiritual path of doing deep meditations and reflections with each full moon?
It's definitely something that has grown in me over the years. I grew up in Houston, TX in the church. It wasn't really the right fit for me. I guess it was around my teenage years, as I was going to college, I started to just explore other forms of spirituality because I really liked being in my body, so a yoga practice was very important to me. I also really enjoy spending time outside. From there, I very much believe in the rule of three. There are so many great books that have come to me because they've maybe been referred to me three times. If I hear the title of a book three times, I'm like "Ok! I need to read this!". 'The Alchemist' was one of those books. Kahlil Gibran's 'The Prophet' was another one. It's been this beautiful journey and I have had amazing people who have come into my life, but I have felt more connected through it. It's led into self-care and self-discovery and I feel really empowered through it.
Going back to the theme of love, in your track "Why?" from the new EP you have a gospel choir that keeps singing the word love throughout the song as a beacon of hope to contrast the darkness. With all of the ugliness going on right now, where and how do you find hope and what led you to want to spread the message of love?
It really ties back to a lot of the self work that I've been doing, because my heart is broken by the current state of the world. In many ways, I feel like my heart has been breaking since 2012 and the Trayvon Martin case. That was the first one in my lifetime where I was old enough to really be aware of how sinister racism, unconscious bias, hate and all of that is. I'll be honest-I've gone through a plethora of emotions and have definitely been enraged by what's going on. With the song "Why?", I actually started writing it about a year ago and that's the heartbreaking thing, that I had gone into the studio that day with the intention of doing a dance song. I love my pop music. I had just received news of another attack and my heart was broken and I broke down in tears with my producer. The question that kept coming up was why? Why is this still happening? We started writing the song and it was very cathartic to get my emotions first on paper and then recorded. For me, I still wanted...while I wanted to speak truth to power and really come from the heart, my way of dealing and coping is that I have to believe in the power of love. I have to believe that through conversation, understanding and really starting to see each other and the humanity in each other, that's the only way through this. I felt that sonically, I really wanted to represent that. It's a pretty loaded hook, the hook that says "Why do you hate me so much?". It is honestly how I felt, but I felt that by having the counterbalance of love in there with these beautiful voices singing it would sort of be that other side of it that shows the direction I hope we can lean into through conversation, education and continued discussion.
At the end of the lyric video for "Why?", you pay homage to the victims of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy. As a member of the LGBTQ community, you have talked about how that was a moment on your life that changed you to your core. As an activist for that community, in what ways do you feel that event was such a pivotal moment and changed things for you? Do you feel that it changed the way you approached your activism?
I think in many ways it did. It was a call to action. My dad was a civil rights activist, so I grew up having conversations about the injustices of the world and how we can stand up for each other and use our voice. That's something I've tried to do in my music for many years, but I think that after the shooting at Pulse Nightclub and after the cycle that was Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the Christian Cooper incident, I do feel like it has spiked me up even more in terms of just really being unapologetic in using my voice. I feel like one of the by-products of our society, as it's set up with the status quo, and these are sweeping broad statements, with the way the structure is set up, they try to silence us. They try to silence people of color and women and queer people. One of the things I feel is one of the most sinister ways you can take away someone's power is by silencing them. We often do that through language. Calling someone "angry", calling a woman "emotional", calling someone "crazy". If you call someone "angry", or "the angry black man" or "the angry black woman"...just because someone is passionate...once you throw these labels out there, it makes it easier for people to dismiss what they're saying. I hate it when someone's like "She's so emotional". How dare you dismiss someone. I've been emboldened to speak up even more and just to take it back to Pulse Nightclub, the reason why I really wanted to include that was that I also wanted to draw the parallel. As a member of both the LGBTQ community and of the black community, something that has been heartbreaking is that I have seen a lot of homophobia in the black community and I have seen a lot of racism in LGBTQ community. I wanted to draw the parallel that oppression is oppression and wanted to let these two journeys and struggles exist in the same song.
A term that I have read a lot about in recent months is that of 'intersectionality'. What has your experience been like, and what have you seen as well, as a black man in America who is also a part of the LGBTQ community? Do you feel that it is important for people to view, not only this movement but history in general, through an intersectional lens and realize there are so many different connections between different movements?
Absolutely!! I think that is something that, and maybe it's a byproduct of the age of the internet and of great documentaries and more people having access to a microphone, we are now learning that there were queer leaders in the black community in the civil rights movement who, because of other pressures, perhaps of Christianity or of other things that were centralized because the black church was big part of that movement as well, got pushed aside and erased. On the flip side, a lot of people until recently forgot that Stonewall, which is cited as the start of the queer rights movement, was started by Marsha P Johnson and Silvia Rivera, who were both queer, trans and gender non-conforming women of color. I think it used to be that we were so divided. It was like "oh well this is this and this sits in this corner". Also, if you go back to the Black Panther Movement, it was led by women and their voices have often times been erased from history. I think that one of the beautiful things that we are now doing is this sort of turning back the pages of the history books and really looking at it and seeing how it's been recorded and honoring and recognizing every voice that was a part of that movement. I think that is the only way we are going to move forward because I think it also really affects people's self image, if you look at how they've been represented in history and in media. When their contributions have been erased, you are robbing people of their history and something to inspire and help them see themselves reflected in the fabric of this world.
Touching back on your father, he was a civil rights leader and was one of the first black students admitted to the University of Houston after it was desegregated in 1963. In what ways did having parents committed to social change and justice shape your life and make you who you are today and what progress does your father feel has been made since the 1960s? Do you have conversations about it?
Yeah. I think one of the things that has been instilled in us, from the time we were young, was the power of voice and the power of action. I think that one of the great illusions is that as individuals we don't have power. I think that is one of the reasons that some of the power structures that have been in place for a long time have gone unchecked, because people feel disempowered. Just to give an example, one of my sister's names is actually Attica. My dad named her after the uprising at the Attica prisons because he wanted to instill in her the fact that sometimes it's important to break the rules when human rights are at stake. The prisoners were treated so inhumanely. That was something that's sort of been in the fabric of our family for a long time and has inspired me to really use my voice and my art. We've spoken a lot throughout this next wave of protests and this new movement that we are going through, and one of the things I thought was interesting was that my brother and I had gone to some of the protests and we called our dad afterwards. We were talking to him and he was saying how proud of us he was for standing up for what we believed in and he remembers when he was protesting 50 years ago. The next day, he woke up and he was like, and my dad never swears, but he was like "I am fucking angry!", because what he realized was "Why the hell are my two sons, 50 years later, protesting the same thing that I was protesting 50 years ago?" and that really sat with me. I was like wow! But, the takeaway and glimmer of hope is that, in talking about it, the thing that we've all realized and that my dad was saying as someone who has been committed to this movement, is that there have of course been allies for a long time, but never before has he seen so many non-black voices stepping up and really speaking out against racism and doing the anti-racism work. Again, as I said, there have been allies all along, but never has it been so many people saying "Enough is enough!". That is, I think, a big beacon of hope.
Along those lines, you have said that you feel that the world is finally listening to what black and brown people have been saying for decades. What do you feel is the main catalyst for people really listening now? I've heard a lot of people talking about technology playing a role, because things can be videoed and filmed now and have seen the phrase "Racism isn't new. It's just being filmed". What role do you feel that has played?
I think that plays a huge role in it. I think that with something like Twitter, everyone has a microphone. It used to be that the way we would consume information, nine times out of ten, had been filtered and a narrative had already been assigned to it by the time we received it through the news or through the paper, so it was not very subjective. And also just what voices get to be amplified and also what can run. One of the things that I was really disgusted by in this recent waves of protests was the insane amounts of gross police brutality. Of course, it's something we've been aware of for a long time, but with something like Instagram and Twitter, users can post their videos, even stuff that maybe the news can't run because of conflict of interest or whatever the reason is. I think that now there is enough evidence that it becomes irrefutable. I think that, again, one of the trends that we're now seeing disrupted his that it used to be that someone essentially had to be the perfect victim in order to be worthy of life. It used to be that if someone was killed by the police, there was always that "Well, I'm just playing the devil's advocate", "What did they do?" or "They had a criminal record". I don't give a damn if they had a criminal record. Did they deserve to die? I think that now we are having this shift where people are really starting to recognize the humanity. People don't have to be the perfect martyr to be worthy of life.
As you are currently living in LA, what has the atmosphere been like there with the protests and the Black Lives Matter Movement?
One of the things that struck me the most was that the protests I have gone to have not had a police presence. The first week, I was not on the ground. I had actually driven up to Malibu to have a little time in nature just to re-center because, I'll be honest, my mental health was not well. I was on the verge. I remember calling my family and just saying "I'm not ok". I was so overwhelmed and needed to re-connect before I could step in and take action. But one of the things that was interesting for me was the amount of love I saw on the streets. Now of course, I have seen the footage of violence, but I thought it was interesting that, at the protests I went to, there wasn't a police presence and there was no violence or property destruction. There were beautiful people of all backgrounds standing in solidarity saying "We're not going to take this" and for me that was affirming. I felt like this is the LA I live in and the America I want to live in. That was actually really important to see because, again, the first week I was really just seeing it through news clips and things online, and I saw some peaceful protests online, as well. But the stories that were getting more traction were the ones with violence and brutality. For me, what I saw was a lot of love and that was actually exactly what I needed.
You have said that there is nothing more courageous than living a life of authenticity and that you hope to inspire others to live their truth through your music. Would you say you have always lived your life authentically and what has your journey been like to do so?
It's been a journey. I grew up in Houston, TX in the 90's and 2000's, and Texas is a red state. It's quite conservative, even though I grew up in a home that had quite progressive views and was loving and open. But that wasn't the status quo and that wasn't the norm. I was severely bullied when I was in the 4th grade and I definitely shrank myself when I was younger, almost out of a sense of self-preservation at the time because I was young and scared and was trying to fight my way through. It was extremely painful and I still wear those scars to this day. It's been a journey because I think that self-love and self-acceptance is a journey. It doesn't happen overnight but it is something that's invaluable and has completely changed my outlook and has changed my experience on this planet. It's the one thing that I guess I want to encourage for everybody and to help foster that and help create community and conversations surrounding that. I look back at the scared little boy that I was and I look where my life could have gone had I not begun the journey of self-discovery and self-love. That's really how I found true happiness. For me, with my music, when I talk about authenticity, I guess it's one of the beautiful things about being an independent artist. At the end of the day I am the final voice. In terms of lyrical content and the themes in my visuals and my videos, I really try to lead with my heart. That's I guess the main message I want to weave into all of my work, because life is short. Life is short and life is hard and we shouldn't make it harder on ourselves by not loving and knowing ourselves. And I don't blame anyone for that because, again, I feel that the way our society is set up, through advertising and media with "Drink this tea and it will make you better" or "Use this product", we're made to feel bad about ourselves so they can sell things to us. When you start to love yourself, you realize you don't need all of that. It can seem radical but also super simple and I just encourage people to start that journey.
You are also an actor and have played Jimi Hendrix in the short film 'A Technicolor Dream' and have done several tv shows as well. When did your love for acting and film begin? I read that you started out in theater, so how would you compare acting in theater with tv and film?
Yeah, they are very different worlds! I was first inspired to go into tv and film by my older sister Tembi. My parents have a 12 year difference and my dad was married twice, so my sisters are a little older than I am. I grew up seeing my sister working in tv, which such an inspiration because not many people in my immediate sphere in Houston, TX were working in the arts, let alone working in tv. It planted that seed of being possible. One of the things I really applaud my parents for is that my dad is a lawyer, so I'm sure they wanted some little lawyers but we all wanted to be artists. When we told them that we wanted to be an actor, a writer, a musician, they never made us feel stupid or silly about it. They just told us we'd have to work our asses off and work hard and commit to it. That fostered it. I started acting in high school and for me, it's all come full circle. I did theater first and then ventured into tv and film and then later I really started to build my music. A big part of my music is the visual component. I'm a storyteller, so I love doing music videos and my training in theater and the live events where there are no retakes, where if you mess up you have to keep going, has served me so well in my stage performance. That's really what drew me to music was loving performing. Of course I love the writing and recording process, but I really come alive on a stage.
LA is considered the epicenter of the entertainment industry, so what are some of the effects you have witnessed of the pandemic on the industry and what do you see as the state of film and tv and music once things go back to "normal"?
You know, I have to be honest and say it's a really big question mark. I have a really great agent, Melanie Jane, who is also a dear friend of mine. She's been helping me. Everything has moved online for the time being. It's a lot of auditions through Zoom. I think a lot of artists and creatives are realizing how empowered we can be, in the sense of one of the first things I did when the COVID restrictions were starting was that I went on Amazon and bought a bunch of gear. I didn't spend too much money but got some lighting and microphones and have been creating a lot of content from home. A lot of performance videos and live-streaming concerts. I think that artists are learning to adapt and be more resourceful. In terms of industry, realistically with the way the numbers are, we're starting to actually roll back things in LA right now. I don't really see anyone being on set until 2021 at the earliest. With that said, something I've been doing is that I've had the pleasure of working with LiveXLive as a host for their music news show. I've found other talents and elements that I have that are still in the industry, but with hosting I have found platforms where I can do that from home. It's a sticky thing. The other bit I'll throw in there is amidst this all, where the industry is shut down and no one is really working, the Screen Actors Guild, of which I am a part of, has just tried to negotiate more rights. However, it's a really bad deal and I encourage all of my fellow actors to vote NO because we deserve better than what's being put out. It's horrible slashes that's going to take money out of our pockets essentially. I really hope the SAG does better, because they're there to help us.
What's next for you? What do you have coming up?
For me, right now, it's creating content from home. I just shot a little performance video for my song "Temptation" around my home. It is a lot of writing sessions virtually with my producer. Should we get to the place where it's safe for me to go over, because he has a home studio, if it's safe for me to go over, I would love to continue recording because it would be just the two of us, but safety first. Also, I've been reading a lot of good books. I have to be honest, reading a lot of good books and watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer (laughs).