Tallan, M.D.

“I want lots of scantily clad women, blood and strobe lights,” says
burgeoning musical talent Tallan, MD of an upcoming live performance.
“That’s all I know so far.” Throw in a Percocet and it sounds like a party.
The 21-year-old Toronto-born singer/songwriter has been musically
inclined most of his life and has written songs since he was young. “I
was in a grunge-rock band in high school, and I was always accused of
writing songs that were too poppy.” It is only in the past year, however,
that Tallan, MD emerged as a performer. “I had a very good friend who
died, and she was one of the most absurd, wonderful and theatrical people,
and I was not especially,” he says. “When she left, I felt this need to keep
something absurd or theatrical or ridiculous going. That was the fuel that
got this project going.” From this inspiration grew an absurdist electropop
persona — and now, the doctor is in. One of the young gay artist’s greatest
infl uences is Dadaism, the early 20th-century European art movement;
he’s also informed by the aesthetics of English interior designer David
Hicks, director Stanley Kubrick, the Pixies, T Rex and Nina Simone. All
of this will be cosmetically grafted into his fi rst album, Tea Room Trade,
which will be released on Sept 20. He assures that gay audiences
will fi nd something to connect with in his work. “I think there’s
a great sense of fun and theatricality and the sorts of tragedy in
glamour going on. If they’re into that.” And where does the MD
come from, exactly? In other words, is he certifi ed? “Everyone in
my family is a psychiatrist, and I’m still at U of T, with everyone
believing I’m going to be one,” he says. “I thought that if I put MD
after my name, then at least I could have that!” - Fab Magazine