Oprah and I step into the local tavern down Broadway from the edge of the strip in Boystown, Chicago called North End. She asks me why I chose it.
John: Well, it’s that kind of place located just at the edge of the main ‘drag’ which is always so busy, and I like it because I can be away from that element and yet still have a good time.
Oprah: How long have you been coming here?
John: Oh, about 3 or so years now maybe.
Oprah: You are only 26 though, so you must have started coming here pretty young- well, at least young enough to warrant a so-called “alarm” trigger to your parents, I’d imagine…
John: Yeah maybe to a certain extent, but it really is a low-key and friendly place. I mean yes I drink there, and yes I have friends there that I’ve met exclusively at that establishment-
Oprah: That alone, as as a mother, must have really scared her.
John: I mean I wasn’t raised in an extremely sheltered environment, especially forbeing a suburban to moderately-affluent kid in a nice neighborhood. I was almost the outcast, only on the reverse side.
(Continue to walk back by the myriad pool tables in the far room of the bar.)
Oprah: What’s with the popcorn here?
John: Fresh popcorn is almost daily at this place. You get it for free, it’s killer, and overall the staff and owners are very generous with food. It isn’t infrequent to find a banquet buffet here and be able to crash it.
Oprah: Do you and your friends come here to eat and not drink ever?
John: No, it is definitely not that kind of place. Beer, and billiards, and darts if you like that.
Oprah: Why is it known exclusively as a ‘gay’ bar? Does that label not constitute a false representation of this local business?
John: No not really, I mean when you think that the entire strip of gay bars is just down the street, it makes sense where this place is located to have a gay following. But I’ve seen just as many straight females and males here, and just general people that you don’t assume are gay just because it is near, or in, a gay neighborhood.
Oprah: Does it become difficult for you, struggling to pursue your musical interests beyond your collegiate degree, having a place like this to maybe, I don’t know, deter you from your life goals?
John: Well geez that’s a loaded question. I guess…….I don’t know..I guess if I had to say, I would say no. Life throws deterents at you all the time, and you can’t just move somewhere else to escape life, because it follows you anywhere. I’m sure when I move to New York I’ll enoucnter all sorts of new life challenges, but why would I escape New York just to avoid those challenges? They will follow me for the rest of my life, and I can conquer them with the right attitude.
Oprah: Well thanks for taking the time out to talk and share your perceptions. I just have one more burning question, and lots of my viewers really are wondering this as well I’m sure (clapping from the audience, mostly female), is that are you ever going to plan on marrying one day and doing the whole family thing?
John: We’ll see how time dictates that, but for now I’m just enjoying life and doing my thing, and if something comes up then cool, but otherwise my main focus is on my passion and living my pursuits to become realities.
