SYDNEY, N.S. — There was a time when Chris O’Neil feared his sexuality would affect his career in the music industry, both locally and internationally.
The Whitney Pier music producer and deejay was already involved in the music business when he came out as a gay male when he was 20-years-old.
“My fear was that I was part of the music industry and I came out, especially around here, that it was going to affect my business, being portrayed in the community as something else,” said O’Neil. “I was definitely scared.”
Despite the fear, O’Neil felt the timing of the decision to come out was right. And much to his surprise, it didn’t have any effects on his future in music.
“It didn’t affect me whatsoever when it came to me writing music or performing,” said O’Neil. “It seems to be very accepting now.”
Growing up, O’Neil, who produces electronic music, said he always knew he was gay, however, never came out because he didn’t feel his sexuality would be accepted by his friends at the time.
“I knew I was gay from a young age – from what I remember I was eight-or-nine-years-old,” said O’Neil. “Some of the friends that I hung around with, it wasn’t really a thing that we talked about.
“Growing up and seeing kids being bullied for being gay and everything else, and when you turn out to be like that, you don’t want that to happen to you.”
O’Neil, 30, has been part of the music industry for the past 15 years. He’s travelled and performed across Canada and the United States and for the past three years has been a headline performer for the Las Vegas Pride celebrations.
“If you would have asked me, maybe five years ago, if I would be part of Las Vegas Pride and perform with such and such, I would have probably laughed,” said O’Neil, noting the celebrates attract upwards of 25,000 people each year.
“We’re talking about some of the biggest gay performers in the world at these events – it was absolutely insane.”
O’Neil has performed with many in the music industry over his career including Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist Kiesa Rae Ellestad, known professionally as Kiesza.
Pride Cape Breton will take place from July 30 to Aug. 5. Because of COVID-19, the not-for-profit organization was forced to move its events online, like many celebrations across the country.
O’Neil believes pride celebrations are very important in Cape Breton for many reasons, including the island’s older population.
“It’s good for people who grew up not as accepting of it to see that it’s OK and it’s normal for people to be gay or transgender,” said O’Neil, who has taken part in Pride Cape Breton events in previous years.
“It’s totally normal and it’s good to see the community get together and accept it – it’s definitely something we need here and it’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger as every year goes on.”
O’Neil, who graduated from Sydney Academy in 2008, recently returned to Cape Breton after spending nine months in the Las Vegas area. During his recent time in the U.S., O’Neil had the opportunity to perform in shows in California.
He had a number of performances booked between March and July, however, those events were cancelled because of COVID-19. While in quarantine, O’Neil took advantage of the time to continue writing music.
O’Neil is working on a new release and expects it to be made available on all majoring streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and iTunes in the near future.
“It should be out in the next month or so,” said O’Neil. “I will have the release date on my social media, so probably within the next week, I’ll have an announcement.”
To follow O’Neil’s career on social media, search Khris O’Neil, with a K, on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
