Guy B

Guy B has the whole package. Good looks, a warm open tenor that can deliver a simmering ballad or an up-tempo dance track with equal fervor, ambition (he writes and records his music in a studio that he build himself from the ground up) and pecs to die for. And he's not ashamed to show us what he's got. The shirtless photo on the back cover of Within Me, his debut CD, won't do anything to hurt his image.
"I stay in shape by working the fuck out," Guy says, laughing. "It's actually part of my way of life. Eat well, do fun things and work out. If I'm really going to be honest, Wilson Cruz (My So Called Life, Noah's Arc) is one of my best friends and we work out together. It's hard to slip up when you have someone so gorgeous around to help keep you pulled together.
"The photo on the album, where my pants come down very low, was not posed. It was taken on the set of the 'Within Me' video. I was kneeling on a bed, waiting for the lights to be set up for a take. My photographer, Marc Cartwright, took the shot. When my designer saw it, he was inspired to create the back cover of my album."
Within Me is a collection of pop R&B with an approach that blends old school attention to soul stirring lyrics, smooth hip hop influenced melodies and state of the art production and arranging. "So What," an implicit celebration of life as an out gay man, combines a swinging backbeat that brings to mind Motown in its heyday with a funky, driving rhythm track and a vocal that goes from an earthy growl to dizzying falsetto ornamentations. "Illusion of Form" is a mid tempo soul ballad with Middle Eastern accents; an oud (lute) dances through the mix, adding a sparkling counter melody. The song describes the delicious tension one feels in the throes of new love. Should I call him now and appear too eager, or should I deny my feelings and wait a few days and risk losing him? The title track appears in two versions -- a thumping Latin house remix by Manny Lehman that accents the high end of Guy's range, and the almost rock'n'roll take that opens the album with a bang, showcasing Guy's vocal and emotional range and featuring Middle Eastern flute, tabla and oud accents.
"I was born in Israel to Moroccan parents, and would have loved to incorporate more of the rare, authentic feel of the Middle East with the pop, R&B and hip hop that I love, but unfortunately my budget did not allow for it. I did hire one of my father's friends from Morocco to play on 'Within Me' and a couple of other tracks. Though the instrumentation is mostly in the background, it created the desired result."
Guy B. came to the U.S. with his parents when he was three, and grew up in North Hollywood, where he was exposed to people from all over the world. "I saw every race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, color and creed at my elementary, junior high and high school. That not only influenced my music but every part of my life, including my religious beliefs. As a child having friends of all colors and nationalities, I just could not understand or accept that what I was being taught as truth was somehow better than [their truth]. How could one religion be right and everyone else be wrong? Music was the language we could all communicate in. Pop, R&B and hip hop. Dancing was also a huge part of my schooldays. I was one of the two white boy dancers in a ten-man dance group called Mega Tribe. We got hired to hype up parties and get all the peeps onto the floor."
Guy says he always loved music and danced his way out of his crib, but seeing Whitney Houston live on TV sent him into orbit. He decided he was going to be an entertainer. "She touched the core of my soul in a way I still can't understand. It was the 'greatest love' I had ever felt at that young age. I know it's almost a cliché, but I remember feeling these amazing emotions and thinking -- I know someday I will make people feel the way she makes me feel. The first live concert I ever went to was New Edition at The Universal Amphitheatre. I was bitten by the performance bug and started pursuing my musical dreams. I knew I was on the right path in junior high school. I was approached to be the lead singer in a group called Up 'N' Comin'. We had people in the music industry interested in us, so I knew I had something."
Up 'N' Comin' came and went, but Guy's next group, Evolution, hit the big time. In Japan! "I'd been writing and recording my own music since I was in junior high, so I had contacts in the music industry. When the boy bands were hot, I was contacted by someone who said I could have everything I'd ever dreamed of. He knew three other guys who had been in various groups and felt I was the missing piece of the puzzle he was creating. He said he'd cover our development, studio time, imaging, marketing -- the whole nine yards. I was building my own studio at the time and working a day job, but when I met the other singers, there was something magical from the very beginning. We had the looks, the mov - gay.com (j. poet)