Interview: David Hernandez Bares His (Very Naked) Soul

metroweekly.com:

American Idol finalist, and fully-exposed star of his own just-published book of nude photography — has entered that sweet stage of his career where he’s unafraid to do all the things that excite him artistically, regardless of what his critics might have to say about it.A prime reflection of the out performer’s take-me-as-I-am attitude is his latest EP, Don’t @ Me, a soul-baring collection of pop and R&B led by the saucy title track.Diving headfirst into the most notorious period of Hernandez’s past, the song opens with audio of local news anchors reporting on the revelation that, prior to competing on season 7 of Idol, then-24-year old Hernandez had worked as a dancer at Phoenix gay strip club, Dick’s Cabaret.“I remember when that news clip came out,” recalls Hernandez, on a Zoom call from his L.A.

home. “I’m surprised it was still online, because this happened 13 years ago. When it came out, I was so mad at [the news anchors], that girl and that guy.

Also, she’s a Latina and I’m Latin, too, and I’m like, ‘Yo, you couldn’t stand up?’ I was feeling a certain way at that time, but I’m so glad I found that clip because it set up the whole song.”On the track — produced, like the entire EP, by Hernandez’s creative partner Push Kahlon — he sings about the backlash he’s received in the years since being outed while on Idol, and subsequently voted out of the competition.“I’ve never really talked about how that made me feel,” says the singer, who previously released albums I Am Who I Am and KINGDOM: THE MIXTAPE. “I’ve been general in speaking about it, but I wanted to be more specific, and I think it was mainly for my fans, and the new fans, too, that didn’t really know how this journey has transpired, and how much it really.