INTERVIEW – A Bright Light in the Dark: Out musician Rod Thomas centers LGBTQ culture with his disco-laden third album

The name Rod Thomas might not be instantly recognizable, but it’s likely you’ve come across the one he uses on stage. As Bright Light Bright Light, Thomas has been a staple of the international LGBTQ music scene for the last 10 years, performing for Cher on the European leg of her 2019 tour and collaborating on a song with Elton John.
The independent Welsh singer-songwriter’s latest album, Fun City, is awash in the queer make-up of disco culture, fittingly corralling a roster of LGBTQ notables including Andy Bell of Erasure, Jake Shears, Justin Vivian Bond and Sam Sparro.
GayCalgary: Leading up to its release, what’s been the day-to-day of getting this album out?
Rod Thomas: It’s been trying to rethink the whole presentation of it because it’s very LGBTQ+ focused. What I’ve been working on with my agent this last year-and-a-half is touring with other queer artists and going to smaller spaces in different cities and working with LGBTQ+ local artists and drag performers. We wanted to make it like "Soul Train circus comes to town" and also highlight local LGBTQ+ businesses, organizations and charities and really use it to expand on the story of the record, which is respect for queer culture.
Not being able to do that this year has been kind of depressing because it really was meant to be much more than this album, like before it...