Tyler Glenn is the kickass lead singer and keyboardist for Neon Trees. He’s also a gay rock star, having come out publicly in April 2014. Tyler was kind enough to speak with Gay Vegas ahead of his band’s upcoming show.

It’s widely known that you’re a Mormon and you have this song called “Voices in the Hall”, which is just beautiful. Like tabernacle, choir-type. Were you in the Mormon choir? Did that influence you?

Yeah, I was in church choir all through growing up. I definitely participated in the music side of church. It was really cool.

What’s “Voices in the Hall” about for you? 

Growing up and being closeted until I was 30, there were a lot of relationships and there were two in particular in my twenties that I wasn’t able to really openly talk about. So that song’s about those two in particular. But it’s mostly just the pain of hiding yourself and the pain of carrying on a world inside of your head most of the time. Because for me that’s how it was. Since then obviously the song has taken on new meaning because I lead a more open life, but prior to that there were painful moments that I wasn’t even able to divulge to anyone.

Has The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reached out to you at all? Have you heard from the Mormon Church? Do you know if their views on the LGBT community are changing?

I’ve heard and worked with a lot of church members. I still live in Salt Lake City most of the time. When I’m home I’ve gotten more and more involved in local events and local meetings where we’re kind of trying to mend and trying to heal a lot of the wounds between the Mormon Church and the LGBT community here locally.

I’m the keynote speaker in October actually for Equality Utah and we’re going to try to bring more and more attention to the fact that there’s a lot of families that are being torn apart because of religious oppression. While I still have fond memories of being raised Mormon and still have a lot of ties to the Mormon Church, there’s obviously things that I want to see changed. And it’s been slow here just because it takes a little longer because of the prevalence of religion here, but I think the small steps that we’ve made are huge steps for Utah. I’m excited about it and I think it’s encouraging. More and more there’s been talk about welcoming LGBT members back to the Church and trying to mend some of that stuff that went on around Prop 8, which was obviously wrong and sort of devastating.

There are a lot of LGBT youth that struggle with acceptance, depression and even thoughts of suicide. Artists like you who choose to share their orientation with the world send a hopeful message to our generation. What message would you send to those in our LGBT community who are struggling?

On my worst days, I still think about the idea of how easy it would be to run away from everything. My biggest piece of advice is the adventure really starts when you accept the things about you that you cannot change. But finding a great guy or girl, or coming out or whatever you think will make you whole or things better, that won’t ultimately do that until it’s you that you love and you that you’re happy with. If it helps at all, I’m someone that’s accomplished so many of my dreams and been on such a wild adventure and even I feel those feelings of hopelessness. Surround yourself with great music and what moves you and inspires you, and people that will do that too. And drink water, and get on a bike or take a walk and get a new perspective. 

Have you seen an increase of LGBT support for Neon Trees since you’ve come out? 

Yes, and it’s very nice to see that. I didn’t come out, of course, for the audience attention, but to see the community backing my choice and also enjoying the music and the performances makes me happy. There’s definitely more of a gay audience at the meet and greets, which is fun.

Have you ever done drag before? Have you or would you ever let one of your band members, like Elaine Bradley, be in charge of your overall drag look?

I have done drag on three separate occasions, but they were all for Halloween events. I looked really hot and I was absolutely in shock because I did not consider the idea of me being a physically attractive woman. I don’t think I’d let Elaine be in charge of my look as a girl – we just have different taste.

What artist can you totally get down to that your fans may be surprised to hear?

I’m sure there’s a lot that people would be surprised I like, only because sometimes it seems we get pigeonholed for our look and style of our music. I’m sure people wouldn’t think I love heavier music like Glassjaw, At The Drive In, and Refused. Those are some of my favorite artists.

Who has been your biggest inspiration in life?

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That’s so difficult. Too many inspirations come to mind. I’ll answer it by saying anyone that’s pushed buttons, blurred lines and stuck to their guns while keeping their moral code intact. My mother comes to mind, Klaus Nomi comes to mind, Lady Gaga comes to mind, Morrissey comes to mind, etc.

You have a new single out now called, “Songs I can’t listen to.” Is there a particular song or artist that reminds you of one of your past relationships?

A lot of Ryan Adams.

You have a show coming up at The Cosmopolitan. Tell us a little bit about that.

The tour is going to be a lot of us playing songs from our first album that we kind of stopped playing, so that’s going to be fun for fans. I just think it’s going to be a more fan-centric show. Our tour last year was really heavy on theatrics and color, which is a very fun aspect of the band, but I think this tour is going to be more personal, which I think is a fun experience for fans that have been seeing us for the last six years. So I’m excited about it.

What is one of your favorite Vegas shows? 

I loved Michael Jackson ONE. I really enjoyed Evil Dead The Musical – I sat in the bloody spray zone too. And I saw Britney’s show and had a blast.

What is one of your favorite casinos / hotels?

MGM is a fun hotel with a group of friends – I like to be on the Stay Well floor. I really like The Cosmopolitan – the vegan shake at Holsteins is amazing and their buffet is quality and fun. And I love The Wynn – their suites are heavenly and their buffet is the only other one besides Cosmo that I’ll eat at. But I really enjoy staying at Vdara for a non-casino feel. It’s really comfortable and quiet, but in a great area with lots of luxe accommodations.

Where did you pick up  the copy of Gay Vegas Magazine you tweeted last year?

The Garage.

Would you ever do a Pride event, like Vegas Pride?

We did a Pride in Chicago, which was really fun. Yeah, I think we’re totally open to that. That would be awesome!

Tyler, what moment in your career did you say to yourself, “It happened”? 

I don’t think there was a specific moment. Getting signed was fine, but it was still a very long time before we put a record out. When we did, I think it was more just like getting to hold that first album in our hands. And then we went on a massive tour. We started playing on the TV shows, the late night shows. That was just one after another. That was the moment for me where it got a little overwhelming, and then I was going through a lot mentally to sort of stay balanced. 

The moment that’s felt the most proud I think is just being able to talk about my experience onstage last summer. At every show just getting to talk about coming out and getting to talk about feeling like myself for the first time onstage. Before there were times where it just kind of felt either like an act or like a version of myself but not maybe the whole part that I wanted to display. 

I think it’s all just been a culmination, and the fact that we can still do this, I know it sounds sort of cliché, I just enjoy it. That’s how I feel like I know we’ve made it. Just being able to still do it.

Neon Trees will be performing on June 12 at 8 p.m. at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. You can buy tickets at cosmopolitanlasvegas.com. Visit Neon Trees website fameisdead.com