Doug Locke’s New EP Honors Victims of Hate and Violence

In late June, actor and musician Doug Locke released a new EP titled Lunar II, the second installment of a series of mini EPs. Featuring singles “Why?” and “#SayTheirNames,” the tracks focus on the unnecessarily violence towards Black and LGBTQ people and honors those who have senselessly lost their lives. Fifty percent of the proceeds went towards the L.A. chapter of Black Lives Matter.

Hailing from Houston, Texas, Locke has been entertaining audiences for over 10 years. As a musician, some of his major influences include Prince, Lenny Kravitz, and Madonna. He has over one million streams on Spotify, and is prepping to launch his music and acting career even farther.

Locke set aside some time from his busy schedule to answer some questions for OUT FRONT.Hi, Doug! Thank you for taking some time to chat with me about Lunar II, the second mini EP from your Lunar Series which features the songs “Why?” and “#SayTheirNames.” Can you tell us more about them?
It has been very exciting to have new music out. It has been a journey releasing music in the midst of a pandemic to say the least, but it’s interesting because the main thing that I have learned throughout this is that you can have the best laid plans and put forth energy towards a vision, but a curveball can be thrown in at any time. So, how do we keep moving forward? This EP series has been a lesson in adapting.

Initially, when the year started, my plan was to drop a full-length EP. As soon as the pandemic hit and as soon as I recognized that there was no real end in sight, I talked with my producers and said, ‘what if we just break it up and drop it as a series of mini EPs?’ I am someone who is deeply into astrology. I am an Aries, I love meditation, and I like to meditate during a full moon. So, I decided to take this lunar theme and broke up the piece into a series of three. Lunar I has “Black Travolta,” “Temptation,” and Roll Dem Windows,” Lunar II has “Why?” and “#SayTheirNames,” and the forthcoming Lunar III will have “Beautiful Love.” Within doing this, it sort of enabled me to tackle different genres and feelings. Each EP is like a different side of my personality, and we play into different soundscapes.

“Why?” is very exciting because it’s a song that is very close to my heart, and we actually started writing the song about a year ago. I got into the studio with the intention to write a dance song, but I just received more news about the violence against Black Americans, and my heart was broken. I broke down in tears talking to my long-time friend and collaborator Eric Lee McNeely about why is there so much hatred. Why is this still happening? That was the question that kept coming up. Therefore, the song was born. We took our time really perfecting it, and I wanted to add another energy to it. I wanted to be very vulnerable with the lyrics, but I also wanted a message of love to be in there. We actually hired a gospel choir to sing the word “love,” and I thought it was important to put that life energy into the song.

As we progressed with the pandemic, I knew that this song was special, but when I received the news of the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd – my heart was so broken. I felt like I couldn’t hold the song in anymore. So, I thought that this was now the time. This is my response as an artist.

So, the concept and inspiration behind the EP is the recent violence against African Americans and police brutality?
Yes, but also, something that’s been very important for me in my life, as someone who in terms of identity politics, I am a queer man, I am a black man, and I have always seen the parallels between these experiences. Also, even though I am not of the female experience, I am a feminist because I see the commonalities and the struggles. So, with these songs, while it was born out of a response to the anti-black racism that exists in the world, I also want to draw the parallels. The bridge of the song is dedicated to the victims of the Pulse Nightclub massacre because I think about the moments in my life when my heart just broke and something changed in me. I remember hearing the news and feeling the terror that I felt. I just wanted to honor them. I don’t want them to be forgotten, and I wanted to show that unfortunately, hatred knows many forms. We have to recognize and honor those who have lost their lives senselessly.

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How has “Why?” and “#SayTheirNames” been received by audiences?
I have been very overwhelmed with the beauty and the response. People are ready to hear the message. Something that’s been interesting, we as a nation, and the world, are expanding this conversation about racism, particularly post, the murder of George Floyd. I think that more people are all ears. Prior to that and prior to the pandemic, so many people were caught up in their lives. Like, yes, conversations were being hard, but oftentimes, I felt like some of these conversations would kind of fall on deaf ears. It’s sort of like, oh, that’s horrible, and then we would move onto the next thing. So, now I feel like audiences are in a place to really receive the heart and soul of the songs. I have been very touched with the way that the lyrics resonate with a lot of people, and I look forward to continuing to promote them and get the songs out.

You touched on this earlier, but can you elaborate more as to why you decided to break this EP into three parts and roll with the lunar theme?
It was really a response to the new landscape of releasing music during a pandemic. I knew that the traditional rollout that I had planned with shooting music videos and all of that sort of went out the window because safety has to be the priority. I just don’t know when we will be able to be in a place where we can congregate again. Music videos are such a collaborative effort. So, I had two choices. I could either wait until this all passed with no end date in sight, or I could be active. Ultimately, the album will be called Full Moon, so these three EPs, The Lunar Series, are sort of the teasers that are leading into the full project. I thought it was really fun, it gives a visual element to latch onto. Even for me spiritually, full moons hold a lot of significance, so I very much enjoyed making that visual connection. Any hints as to what we can expect from Lunar III?
Yes. “Beautiful Love.” I am very excited about it because we are exploring themes of love. Not just romantic love, but love for humanity, love for your fellow man and woman, love for yourself. I started writing the songs during quarantine, so I would do FaceTime sessions with my producer. In this new perspective that we are in, we are in a completely different landscape, so I am excited to see what’s going to come out.

What do you hope people take away from your music?
You know, for me, the thing that I hope people take away from my music is a sense of that they are enough. You are enough, I’m enough, and not only are we enough, but we’re damn good as we are. Self-love is such an important thing, and as someone who has overcome bullying and has overcome low self-image due to societal pressures, I am so grateful to be in a place now where I know and love myself. That is sort of the heat of everything I do. I truly want to encourage people to find that authenticity in themselves and celebrate that because it is a hard lesson learned, but life gets exponentially better when you can tap into that. I think for so many of us queer people all along the spectrum, our society had a lot of negative messages. There was covert messaging. Whether it was said explicitly or not, it said that you are a second-class citizen, and that is complete bullshit. It’s not true, and there is such a freedom in finding your truth and celebrating your life. I always want to weave that into my music.

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The Lunar Series is the first music you have put out since 2018. Why the pause?
I wanted to take a beat to just step back and figure out sonically what I wanted to do because we are in such an interesting time with music right now. There is so much genre blending which I find to be so exciting because I have a very eclectic taste. I am a Texas boy, so I love pop, rock, hip hop, country, so many different influences. People are always so surprised to find out that I am such a huge Lana Del Rey fan. I love that I can pull from so many different influences because in many ways, we have grown up in this era where we have the internet, so we are able to pull from so many different places, and I love celebrating that. So, with writing this music, Eric and I really wanted to take a beat and get a sense of what was happening and figure out how we can bring more elements of me but also be a part of the conversation of what’s happening in music today. I am very proud of what we have been able to weave.

Fifty percent of Lunar II’s proceeds went to the L.A. chapter of Black Lives Matter. Have you always had a passion for social justice and reform?
I have! My father was a civil rights activist in the 60s, so I grew up in a home where we openly spoke about injustice and all the ways we need to reform and grow as a society. So, that’s been something that was instilled in me from a very young age. How we can stand up against hatred and prejudice. I am an activist in many ways, so I am on the front lines. It was important for me to protest, donate, raise awareness, and use my platform in that way, but also in the fabric of my music. One of the songs that I wrote for my first EP, Blue Heart, is a song called “King” which tackles bullying and sort of what my experience was like growing up as a black queer kind in Texas. My music video for “This Could Be Us,” I thought it was important to tell this love story between two men in the 1960s. One black, one white, and follow their journey. So, it has always been important for me.And have you always had a passion for music and entertainment? You have been in the industry for over 10 years.
Yes. I feel very fortunate that I come from a family of artists. One of my older sisters is an actress, the other is a writer, my brother is a dancer – the arts were encouraged in our home. My first love was actually visual arts. Drawing, painting, but then acting came along. I always had a love for music, but to be honest, I was afraid of it in the beginning. Simply because a part of me thought, ‘who am I?’ We always music in our home. Every birthday, party, family function, there was music and dancing. So, I always loved it, but I think I was intimidated because I didn’t know the industry in that way. It was kind of like the Wild Wild West, but it was also such a great adventure for me to be able to dive into. I may not know everything, but I am going to work my ass off and figure out how to get into it. When I moved to L.A., I was an actor, but through that, I started exploring and doing open mic talent competitions. I love being on stage so much, and that sort of inspired me to start writing.

Do you have any acting projects in the works?
Yes, but let’s see what will happen post COVID [laughs]. I was working on an exciting film just as we started lockdown. I play this voodoo inspired character, and it was very exciting to go into character work. One of my first roles was playing Jimi Hendrix, so I really love doing character work. I have been auditioning for roles via FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom throughout the quarantine, but we’ll see. This time has also inspired me to create more of my own content.

What more would you like to accomplish with your platform as a black queer entertainer?
Visibility is such an important thing. Representation matters, and I look forward to continuing to create authentically from the heart. If I have to boil it down with my art, I would love to be the representation that I didn’t have growing up. I want to do that in a way that is completely authentic to me. I think that because of my background in acting, and also just coming from Texas, earlier one there was a pressure to conform to fit into a certain lane. The rules are also made to be broken, and I think that is the beauty of authenticity.

Is there anything else you would like to add before we wrap up?
Be safe and wash your damn hands!

To stay up to date with Locke, follow him on social media or visit douglockemusic.com. Lunar I and Lunar II are available on all digital streaming platforms.

Photos Courtesy of Ryan Pfluger