New artists Jason Maek & Zaena are supporting the LGBT community in big ways for Pride month. Their tour has included the Chicago, Milwaukee and Motor City pride festivals.
As LBGT-rights advocates, they have released a track called "God Made All of Us" and started the Stop Hate Campaign.
Their visual album, called Fashion Week: The Visual Album, maintains their aesthetic with sleek transitions between each of the 17 videos.
On top of that, they're donating proceeds from their 40-city tour toward LGBT youth homelessness.
Windy City talked with Maek, Zaena and DJ Sky Rockit after a recent set at Pride Fest where the crowd went wild.
Windy City Times: First off, talk about where you are from and how you met.
Jason Maek: I'm from Chicago and so is Sky Rockit. Zaena is from Libya.
Zaena and I met because we were both in the ghostwriting circuit. I was working on a project and I asked her to come help me. We were also thinking about starting a record label. I asked her to be the cornerstone of the label we were thinking about building. She was pursued by many big labels. I laid out a plan for working on the label together. I knew she would say no because we had no money, office, or staff. A week later she called me back to do it. We have been working on it since then.
We met Sky Rockit through a mutual friend of ours. We really wanted to incorporate mixing songs into our set. He's one of the best DJs in the city. He showed us how to mix in our sound.
Zaena: It is DJ training.
JM: It's like we are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and he is Splinter! We started working on our album together so we started performing live. We brought Sky Rockit along for the ride.
WCT: Your group reminds me a little of City High.
Sky Rockit: "What would you do?"
WCT: Where is the gay connection to the group?
JM: I think it is so silly that people care and are prejudiced. I rather look at someone to see if they are a good person or not.
The first song we did together was called "God Made All of Us."
Zaena: Our record label for example has every type of person under the sun. We try to be inclusive to everyone in all of the projects that we do. We want people of all races, and all orientations. We try to incorporate that message as often as we can in whatever we do with projects or events.
WCT: I read that you are helping LGBT homeless youth.
JM: Yes, for the tour. When we started the tour we looked at what we wanted to donate money to and care about. That was a huge thing. People may not think about it often but it is real and so big.
Zaena: It is still a huge fight.
JM: We went to our team and said we wanted to donate money to it. We wanted to put a crack in a very real issue. We all agreed and the label agreed.
One time when we driving off Lakeshore Drive we saw a homeless camp and met a young boy from there who was gay. It inspired us to help the community.
Zaena: That was in San Diego. We had been reaching out to different Pride festivals to get ready for the tour. They liked what we were doing so let us play there.
WCT: So you can send them your videos on YouTube? You have several visual works just like Beyonce's Lemonade!
JM: We always think what the album should be about. Randomly we think what the album should be about and we record songs. It always leads to us wondering if we should do a visual album. We call a bunch of filmmakers to see if they want to work together and when they say yes then it works out.
WCT: Where does the hook "can't stop texting you" come from?
JM: One time at 2 a.m. I saw Sky Rockit text, "Hey, you up?" to a mass text to see who would answer. The next day we just wrote about it.
Sky Rockit: They know if I am texting a guy or a girl by the face I make. Even if it is someone on Tinder my face is like this [makes a sexy face]. They know what I am doing!
WCT: You are making a Barry White text.
Zaena: It is just like that! [laughs]
WCT: How do you decide on the samples?
Sky Rockit: It is a lot of nostalgia, anything '90s. When I DJ I bring that out all the time.
JM: I will tell you this, only about ten minutes of our set is really planned. Most of it is just up there improvising. We know kind of where we want to go but then we decide as a team when we are up there.
Sky Rockit: It is just like live DJ sets when we make it our own. You read the crowd and you can tell.
WCT: It was really smooth. I had a feeling you were from Chicago when you played "Percolator." What are you working on next?
JM: We have a lot more live shows. We are working on a new album so hopefully that will be out before the end of the year. We will be shooting more videos so don't be surprised if another visual album comes out. We would like to do some charity work in the LGBT community.
This is all very new for us and the first time going on tour. We are appreciate of everyone enjoying our music. We didn't know who was coming out for Pride Fest and it was a really great crowd.
For more on Jason Maek & Zaena, visit MaekMe.com .