Vienna Vienna is always waiting for his next chance to take the stage, to electrify the audience with glimmer rock: performance is an essential part of the equation. J, a multi-instrumentalist who plays as Vienna Vienna, says performing is “a chance at vulnerability without all the pressure, because there's the expectation that I'm going to be vulnerable — in fact, the hope that I'm going to be vulnerable.” It also helps him relay his message — be unafraid, express yourself, be honest and excited — and forge community. He aims to create a space, in every show, of shared catharsis so fans leave feeling overwhelming joy and relief. That space is something he’s sought after growing up deeply at odds with his queerness, a clear focus on debut EP Wonderland: its songs comprise his perspective before and after coming out, and the journey he’s traveled between. As he came out to different people, including his parents, he was surprised to learn that “the thing you're trying to hide the most is the thing you're showing.” As he’s accepted his identity and reevaluated his relationship with faith, he’s broken through to forthright, crucial, truthful work. As a kid, he was anxious. He didn’t know who he was, and it affected how he walked through the world. But in middle school, Vienna Vienna decided to take some action: he went into local restaurants, guitar in hand, offering to play the room for free or a drink or a slice of pizza. He was seeking the stage he’d first stood on at age 5: “I've always been maybe a little more reserved and a little more nervous in regular interaction, but being on stage, I can be anything.” At the time, he acknowledged his queerness, and that it “wasn't going to be something that I could write off” — but he was “also equally deeply Christian and very devout,” very serious about leading the worship team. He struggled with that dichotomy until college; he tried to water himself down, held back by shame, confusion, and self-hatred. It wasn’t until he started down a path of self-discovery that he felt truly free. Music transformed from a coping tool — in early days, “I didn't really have another way that I felt safe to express my feelings” — into a throughway for self-expression, and then self-love. It was armor, too, that let him be brave, just like the platform of the stage. He's now signed to PULSE and found a champion in Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz; they’re working together closely, with Wentz’s label DCD2 co-releasing the project. “Truly, the whole experience has been very affirming; I knew early on that they totally saw the vision and it felt very natural to team up. It’s saying it plain, but — Pete and PULSE, they just get it. I’m grateful to be surrounded by unique and whole hearted creativity everyday. Strangeness is celebrated here, which is all I’ve ever asked for. PULSE is definitely the right home for me. “ Wonderland holds all Vienna Vienna’s highs and lows, imbued with the smiling snark of ‘00s pop-punk, glamor and glitter of queer pop, and earnest, soft-rock ballads. Tracks like “Everything’s Fine,” “God Save the Queen,” and “Make a Man Out of You,” are made for stomping through West Hollywood, feeling “empowered and unstoppable.” Other tracks are trained more toward lying on your bed, staring at the ceiling. EP track “Everything’s Fine” is “an ego check, cold sweat and realization, a bit of a bummer,” he said. “I approach this like I approach everything, facetiously and lathered in distortion. Must be generational. Accepting that people care about you hurts like hell, but, could you learn to be more like them? If you poke around inside yourself for long enough, you might see love underneath the rubble; It might be worth digging for.” A diligent and cerebral artist — yes, with a track called “Fuck Me” — he starts songs as small as possible: a single riff or line. He tries not to force them, because that means the song’s likely not right. He thinks, “Maybe I'm not ready for it yet. Maybe it's not right yet.” His favorite songs are those that emerge almost in a trance, traceless. “This is maybe my only really spiritual belief — that really, things are already written; I'm just uncovering the puzzle pieces and making everything fit together,” he said. The name “Vienna Vienna” came to him with that sort of instinct. He found himself repeating the place out loud, and admiring the sound. “It has this feeling to me of running away from yourself, like reaching for something that's beyond you — it's a city in Europe, but to me, it was the idea of running away from everything, so you could just be free,” he said. “There's no pressure or expectation on who or how you should be from anybody, because it's just you. You left; it's just you.”