Singer/songwriter Eric Alán said that music has always served as an escape for him, so that is what he is hoping to provide for others through the music he is now creating.
"I just want them to be able to escape and have fun and identify with it on whatever level," he said.
Alán has always loved club music and dancing. He lived in Southern California and then Houston while growing up and music was always part of his life.
"I grew up with a lot of bossa nova, Latin music, Donna Summer and the Bee Gees in my house," he explained. "It was always some kind of percussion, some kind of beat as opposed to more mellow type of music. My love for dance, that's what I gravitated towards."
Alán has one single under his belt, "Pornstar," a track that has made its way to the dance floor and earned a few remixes. DJ Gomi did the remix for the song and there's a white label mix by Jeff P.
"It's funny, the germ of the idea of that song, it wasn't meant to be anything overtly sexual or anything," he explained. "It was just playing with the fact that porn is kind of mainstream in both gay and straight culture. It was supposed to be more intimate, like 'hey, I want to be your pornstar, I want to be the one that makes you feel good, that you are attracted to,' so that is where that came from."
Alán has heard the song played at the clubs and is still looking around to see how people are reacting.
"It never clears [the floor] so that's a good sign," he said.
Alán's two biggest musical influences are Madonna and Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode, and he describes his current sound, including his newest single "L.O.V. & E.," as the offspring of the two plus Ricky Martin.
"It's a little minimal, a little Latin, but cocky and fun," he said.
The video for the single was just released in New York and there will be another release party in Philadelphia.
"The video is a departure from 'Pornstar,'" he said. "It's a lot more in your face, a little more sexual. I got the help of a couple of more commonly known people in the gay community."
Recently deceased gay porn star Arpad Miklos (real name: Peter Kozma) appears in the video, as well as Latin pinup model Gio Dell.
As an out gay artist Alán is facing the question of how he wants his music and his membership in the LGBT community to converge.
"I don't mind it at all," he stated, adding, "I grew up in a very Jehovah's Witness household where I wasn't allowed to be me for years and years and years, and it affected me very badly. So right now, I'm just being me. I don't want to be anybody else other than me.
"With that said, doing music and doing the videos and having the public profile, being gay is just a part of me. It doesn't define me, it doesn't make me who I am, 'Oh, he's a gay artist,' no, I'm an artist who happens to be gay. I embrace everything gay culture, I love it, I love the community. So it's just a part of me, it's not anything I would hide or am ashamed of. I welcome it. I support it. I'm part of it."
He is also glad for the support he's receiving from the gay community, whom he called very welcoming and tremendously supportive. He also notes that he has played Pride as well as gay clubs and plans to do much more of that in the coming year.
Alán is currently working as an independent artist.
"I've found that there's a lot of things that I can do myself," he said. "With technology and social networking and just being out and meeting people, that does wonders.
"I don't find the need to necessarily be with a label. If I have a good distributer, if I have good people with me, working on projects, than its okay. Independent artists are on the rise right now. It's just a matter of being out there to prove yourself, which I am working hard to do."
During the rest of 2013 Alán plans to finish his EP, put out a few more videos and perform as much as possible.
To keep up with Eric Alán, visit www.ericalanonline.com .