N0t Listed
The up-and-coming band, N0t Listed, consisting of members Leo, Kayvon, and Josh, is in one of the most exciting stages of a music career, that is debuting their first EP. The band came together in celebration of individuality as they come from various ethnic backgrounds: Mexican American, Iranian American, and African American and are all part of the LGBTQIA+ community. The EP is named “BopShop'' after their nickname for their studio, where the EP was created and touches on all territories of love with the prevailing message that love wins. The music has an upbeat feel, dabbling in the dance, pop, and R&B genres. Additionally, they have singles “Ridin’ This Wave” and “Close My Eyes” out, giving listeners a taste of what is to come.
Did all of you always know that you wanted to pursue a career in music? If not, what made you decide to take the chance? All three of us have been musical since childhood. Leo started singing in church and Josh started pursuing a music career in his early teens. He doesn't know this, but I found his first music video when he was like 15 lol (Kayvon). I'll save that for another day, ha-ha. Kayvon started playing piano at 3 and started pursuing a music career through queer nightlife. I think having had moved to New York City for all of us really made us feel we had a change to make this passion into something legit, with all three of us being queer. Knowing we could collaborate with like minds is really what has given us the environment to be able to let our musical endeavors grow. We all have such a strong love and passion for dancing and dance music is what brings people together in nightlife, especially queer nightlife.
Do you guys listen to the same genre you make? We definitely all have such eclectic tastes in music and then have like identical agreements of what a Bop is. If we were to summarize our music tastes by our queens Kayvon's queen is Madonna, Josh's queen is Gaga and Leo's queen is Beyonce! We definitely listen to our own tracks over and over. I think it might be a tie between Leo and Kayvon though who listens to n0tlisted tracks the most, but in all fairness Josh produces the music so he may actually take the crown own that.
What does the name “N0t Listed” mean to you guys? The name comes from growing up and having to fill out multiple choice questions for gender, sexuality, and race. For example, we didn't have options like non-binary, pansexual, or today even accurate racial/cultural questions. We all come from different cultures and background amongst the LGBT culture. Josh is a gay Mexican American guy from Texas, Leo is a bi African American queer guy from North Carolina, and Kayvon is a nonbinary Iranian American pansexual from North Carolina.
What is your writing process like? Did the process of writing the EP differ from those of your singles? We've written songs different ways. If Kayvon or Leo have a melody or song we get together with Josh and bring it to life as Josh produces all the music for the project. Usually when Josh has a track, he will have a chorus or a verse and we'll right the song together. We have written most of our own vocal parts for the songs in the EP.
The EP’s prevailing message is that love wins, did this happen organically or did you guys set from the start the intention of translating this? We have recorded more than 15 tracks and we definitely wanted to bring our bops to the first EP and the message generally in our writing has been based on this.
Have you guys done anything personally to prepare for the big release? We love lewks, we love fashion, hair, makeup so you know where this is going, lol. We are dropping our music video conceptualized and directed by Mike Ruiz for Close My Eyes with the EP release.
How do you guys feel when listening to the EP? We feel accomplished. We were able to record during a pandemic, with some tracks we recorded over zoom and when we were able to get together in person we did So. No apocalypse was going to stop us from getting out there.
How do you guys want your listeners to feel when listening to the EP? We want our queer listeners to feel represented, proud while feeling joy, sexiness, fabulousness, and fun. We want to build a community with our listeners where we can create music and visuals that will make people have fun and feel, most importantly, represented.
What do you hope this EP tells the world about not only the direction of your music in the future but as yourselves as people? We want the EP to be the start of our journey as a musical family and band. We want to share our journey and expression as queer artists of minority backgrounds. Last, we want the world to recognize more queer musical artists; we don't have an all-queer boy or girl group of color.
What do you guys see in the band’s future? We just want to keep outdoing ourselves; we are our own competition. Each video we want to be bigger than the last, each song we want to be more elevated than the last. See more collabs, see more live performances, more pride shows, maybe a nightlife tour. Obviously, we want to "make it," meaning have the opportunity to share this project with more people, so definitely you will see more content.
Does anyone have a dream venue to play one day? Josh wants to play Webster Hall and one day MSG, Kayvon would love to travel and tour more (with his partner and kids in tow as well, lol) and Leo would love to do awards shows. Dreams cost nothing so why not dream it all!
What are your socials? Instagram: @n0tlisted and www.n0tlisted.com
Creative Director, Photographer + Producer: Mike Ruiz
DP: Mike Vernazza
Talent: Kayvon Zand, Josh Lumsden, Leo Henry
Assistant To Talent: Kyle Reid
Fashion Stylist: Jonzu
Hair: Lorenzo Diaz
Makeup: Nick Lujan
Makeup: Niohuru
Set Design: Scott Prio
Photo Studio at Yourspace Studio
Tearsheets: Daniel López, Junior Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
Interview: Bridget McDonald, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
