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Music

The Queer Kids Aren’t Alright in the New Glass Vaults Video for ‘Life is the Show’

Glass Vaults' new video tackles high school homophobia in suburban New Zealand.

Wellington’s Richard Larsen and Rowan Pierce formed Glass Vaults in 2010, crafting their layered ambient pop songs with the help of an ever-growing list of collaborators and friends.

Six years later, the duo have just released ‘Life is the Show’, the atmospheric final single from their debut LP Sojourn. To accompany it, they’ve enlisted the help of close mate and occasional guest vocalist Ben Bro to direct a startling music video that draws attention to New Zealand’s current youth mental health crisis.

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Depicting the delicate traumas of gay adolescence, the video takes a heartbreaking look at the coming out story of a young man trapped by the prejudice of his suburban high school.

Bro was inspired by his own experiences. “Homophobia was rampant at my high school. The stigma, the constant ridicule, the social alienation, the chance to lose all your friends and family, the daily threats of violence.”

Growing up gay in suburban New Zealand was alienating and terrifying. “There wasn't a lot of positive representations of gay youth in film and television. The only role models I had were Marilyn Manson and David Bowie. Those dudes were like "Fuck you, watch me RAGE!" They didn't give a fuck and weren't afraid to be themselves.”

The sense of isolation that LGBTQI youth can feel so intensely can lead to serious mental health issues, which often go unacknowledged. “The video can be viewed as an attempt to raise awareness about suicide, in particular youth suicide in New Zealand. In high school, I would often day dream of jumping from the balcony of the school gymnasium or slitting my wrists with my mathematics compass,” says Bro.

“I didn't really have anyone to talk to, none of my family knew what was happening at school and my old friends were pushing me up against walls and calling me faggot.”

Bro is a while out of high school now, but it doesn’t seem like a whole lot has changed since he left. And as he points out, “New Zealand currently has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the OECD. And Wainuiomata has some of the highest rates of suicide in the country. Not to mention the cuts in mental-health funding. It’s the sign of larger problem.”

'Sojourn' is available here.

Follow Kat at @normcor3