“Speaking of the heart, there’s been a lot of rumors going around online. I think our viewers and our audience here want to know: how have you been holding up?”
“It depends on what you’re talking about.” Reno smiled gently, looking almost shy. “I feel differently about different topics. Please be straightforward with me.”
“Oh, so direct.” The man laughed. “Okay, who is Joy?”
“Starting off strong, I see.” Reno’s smile didn’t break. “Joy is a woman I dated for a while when the band was very new. I have never publicly spoken of her before to respect her privacy, but she has recently broken my privacy, so I no longer see the need to afford her that grace.”
“Is it true you haven’t dated since then?”
“I did not date for ten years, correct.”
“Was it due to this woman, or something else?”
Reno’s smile grew slightly, “Both. She violated my trust to the extent that the label’s legal team had to protect me, putting stalking and restraining orders in place after a long court case. The records are public and have recently been distributed online. You can read about my case there; I do not think it’s appropriate for me to waste the audience or viewers’ time repeating my past for them.”
“Fair enough," the interviewer said, then urged Reno on, “The ‘something else’?”
“Ah, I was strongly advised not to date after those events.”
“By who?”
“Sterling Records.” Reno cocked his head to the side a little and Luka’s gut squirmed. Luka knew that look; Reno was up to no good. “The label wanted me to maintain the appearance of a single man to keep my ratings high.”
“That's a very bold claim.” The interviewer laughed a little, sounding nervous. The studio audience chuckled along with him.
“I recently had a long discussion with the public relations team of Sterling; it was time. As I’ve been saying through this interview, things are changing. For years, musicians, actors, and even public figures like yourself have had to keep their private lives hidden away, to keep a sort of mystery to us. To make us seem larger than life, like we aren’t real people and are some kind of spectacle. It’s dehumanizing. It creates this rift between us and the audience that is unhealthy in a multitude of different ways.
“For one, it makes it seem like it is impossible for everyday people to do the things we do. I firmly believe everyone is capable of learning to play the guitar; they just have to want to learn. They just have to want it so badly that it drives them to pick it up all the time and keep learning. I do think there is a big amount of luck that comes with gettingpopularin the music industry, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about demystifying the act of creating. You can write a song. It will be a different song than my song, and people might like one over the other more, but you can still do it.
“That’s a pretty encouraging viewpoint to have.”
Reno nodded. “I like to encourage people to try. I know I am lucky to be with Voltage, to have met Zana, to be able to play for an audience. But what I do isn’t something unattainable for people. Please." Reno turned to the camera and tilted his head forward. “Do not give up on your dream because the industry has made it hard to be seen. I see you.”
He turned back to the host. “Secondly, it creates a big problem for us—the people who did get lucky enough to be on stage or camera. Because our lives have been presented as something so… magical, our privacy is invaded constantly. Everypopular musician I know has faced stalking and harassment. I believe that while it would not fix this problem in its entirety, it would help if artists were shown, were allowed to be, just people like they are.”
“What do you mean, allowed?”
Reno’s hands folded in his lap. “It is not just me that is not allowed to date, it is many of my peers. It is especially difficult when the relationship may be one that could be controversial. It is not just me who cannot openly be themself, but I think if I was allowed to say who I am then maybe it could change some minds.”
Luka’s gut dropped and he glanced at August sitting next to him. There was no way Reno was about to throw away his entire career like this, especially not after pushing back so much when Luka suggested they be public.
The interviewer, who looked confused, said, “Claiming your label won’t allow you to be who you are is a pretty big accusation.”
“I threatened to quit.” Reno’s smile was serene and the audience burst into hushed chatter. “I would go solo if Sterling did not allow me to pursue a meaningful, romantic relationship with another man.”
“Holy fuck.” August swore and they both watched as the camera panned out to the audience, whose reaction was stronger than August’s subdued cursing. Several people in the audience were applauding, and soon the bulk of the studio crowd was cheering.
The interviewer was laughing, and Luka couldn’t tell if it was from the commotion, Reno’s flustered expression, or if he was genuinely happy for the turn of events. Either way, it didn’t look unkind or mocking, and the relief Luka felt was like balm on a burn.
Reno waved his hands in front of him, looking somewhere between wanting to laugh and cry, as he tried to calm the crowd down. The interviewer reached over and took Reno’s hand, pulling him in close and saying something to him that the camera and microphones didn’t pick up. Reno beamed at whatever the host said.
When the interviewer settled back in his seat and the audience was at an acceptable noise level, he asked, “So just who are you, then?”
Reno let out a laugh, blotting below his eyes with the backs of his fingers. “I’m just Reno. It’s the name I picked for myself that I love, and that I live by. It is written with the characters forbeautyorbrightness, andat lastorachievement after a long time. It means a lot to me, and I kindly ask that you all refer to me by this name.
“I’m the guitarist and writer for Voltage, my band that I love very much. And, I am a bisexual person who is completely and deeply in love with a man. I regret that he is not here, now, to stand by my side in this moment.” Reno blinked a few times, his cheeks ruddy even through the stage makeup.
“I hope you will accept me.”
