The Scarlet Opera On Rejection, Coming Out, & Their Unlikely Heroes

The Scarlet Opera, in its current state, has only been around for a year but members Luka Bazulka (Lead Vocalist), Colin Kenrick (Pianist), Daniel Zuker (Bassist), Justin Siegal (Drummer), and Chance Taylor (Guitarist) have been making music together for seven years. In that time, which included a name change and a brief hiatus, the group of friends managed to create something larger than life but still powerfully human. Take their name, for example, which was inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and stands for the misunderstood and misrepresented. Their unapologetic approach to music and performance— in large part thanks to Bazulka's virtuosic vocals and flair for the dramatics— and life in general, is quickly gaining them a passionate and inspired fanbase.

For this year's GLAAD Spirit Day (October 19th), "the world’s most visible anti-bullying movement inspiring LGBTQ youth, especially transgender and nonbinary youth to live their lives in their truth and authenticity," iHeartRadio spoke with The Scarlet Opera about the journey to self-acceptance, handling rejection, leaning on your chosen family, and the people in their lives who have inspired them to live their truths, and finding joy in a complicated world. The band members even learned something new about each other during the conversation and talked about what fans can expect from their forthcoming new music.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What advice do you have for kids who are ready to live their lives authentically but are getting pushback at school or at home?

Luka: The most important thing is you know your situation best. As lovely as the idea of "Come out! Be proud!" sounds, it's not always the safest for every child. So you know your situation best and if it doesn't happen before you can get out of the house and start a life for yourself, that's okay. Come out on your own time! There is no pressure to live authentically. Do it safely and grandly however you choose.

Colin: And find tools to find your people. Our family isn't necessarily just the people who we're born into. I've seen that with Luca here in Los Angeles. In the beginning, it was just us, but I've seen him truly grow into himself with such an amazing group of friends. And it's kind of like this chosen family that we've all grown to love. I've seen the tools that [Luka has] used to do that. So if you're able to in a safe way, whether it be online or however you might do it, find your community because you can feel safe in numbers.

One daunting aspect of pursuing a creative career, and life in general, is being able to take rejection. How have you handled that aspect of your career and life? 

Daniel: When this band got started and the journey from that point till now, it never really felt like rejection to me. There have been challenges but it hasn't felt like rejection because there's a band of people with you that are holding you up throughout the process. I can't imagine doing it on your own. I think that would be a lot lonelier.

Luka: You need to live life in order to have something to write music about. So I'm equally obsessed, we all are, with enjoying and living life and not making the success, however you define it, of our musical career, the make or break of our spirit. So we go and we enjoy things. So if we face any sort of rejection, we look in other directions to pull joy from, that way we can continue to feed the music. So the next time we might not be rejected.

Colin: Maybe this is inside information, but one of the first meetings we had with someone we worked with said, "You got to work really hard. You got to get really lucky, and you're probably still not going to make it. Are you okay with that?" That was the first advice we got from a professional in the industry and we all said, "Yeah, sure."

A big part of Spirit Day is giving young kids role models to look up to and hear talk about their experiences. Who are some figures that served as role models for all of you growing up?

Colin: The question of role models is so... as I think about it, because I think of all the people that I would say and I'm also realizing how little I know of my heroes aside from their work. Like separating the art from the artist. Because there are people who I admire the work they've done or the writings they've done, but then if I think about them as a person, I'm like, "Oh, I don't know that I know that much about them as a human being."

Let's rephrase the question then. Who are role models, that are not famous, in your life? Just people that you've grown up around and made you say, "I like the way you live."

Luka: I would say my grandma and grandpa Bazulka. They were such a good team and I think mostly about how they enjoyed life while they were here. My grandpa was so funny and so quick-witted, and he knew how to make everybody feel welcome. And similar to Slim Aarons, this photographer I love who weaseled his way into rich people's lives and made them feel comfortable enough to let them photograph. My grandpa was similar in the way that he had politician friends and, you know, wealthy, wealthy friends, but grew up not very wealthy. And it was because of his charisma. My grandma knew how to throw a party, you know, so she could decorate the house beautifully. So I think, like the way that they really enjoyed people and stories that like, is how I'm trying to model my life is like, yeah, that I think that's beautiful.

Colin: I didn't know any of that! It makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it.

Luka: Whenever people asked the hero question, I'm like, you know, 1990s Britney Spears showmanship. I'm glad that we rephrased it because don't think about that. I've been reflecting a lot on what brings me the most joy in life and think it is genuinely having a dinner party and listening to people talk about the things that they've been through. That's my favorite thing.

Daniel: I think in that vein, my Dad came to this country with pretty much nothing. On a whim, didn't know that he was going to end up here and have a life and create a family and a business. I completely admire the strength and just total courage that he had to at 26, 27, to go from the Middle East and land in Alaska and be a salmon boat fisherman, and knew nothing about anything, no English, or anything, and work his way to LA and met my mom and I don't know, it just really huge risks and moves but he never doubted it for a second. I totally admire that.

It’s easy to assume that role models arrive on earth fully formed, but that’s just not the truth. The Scarlet Opera's lyrics are very cathartic and show the POV of someone who has clearly come a long way in feeling comfortable in their own skin. Growing up can be a rough time for everyone, but it can be especially harsh for queer kids. What was your journey to self-acceptance like?

Luka: We didn't really set out to write specifically my story coming to terms with identity and coming of age. As the boys were bringing in parts for us to play around with, I started feeling this childish joy from the music they were bringing to me. I was doing a lot of reflecting on my youth and silly times. Everything from my time in Pennsylvania, busing into New York City and trying my hat at auditioning and being in plays and then what that meant. And people I met along the way there who were maybe a bit flamboyant and psychotic and relatable. Also my time, like meeting the boys and the challenges that we've faced as a band together, in terms of figuring out our individual identities and a group identity as well. So again, as I said, it's not like we set out to do that, the music sort of asked that of us. Then as it was revealing itself, we were like, 'What a perfect way to introduce ourselves to the world.' To release these five songs of essentially the hardships of coming of age and having a big old laugh at it.

Can you tell us anything about the new music you're working on?

Luka: It looks like at the beginning of next year we're going to start releasing the new EP. The title is TBA, but the music is probably just as electrifying, a little bit more grounded, a little bit more honest, but just as hopeful. I think it very much complements Comedy without it sounding like B-sides. It's a bit brand new, a bit bigger actually, and we're really excited about it.