ANTIBOY, the musical personae of the late Harry Hains debut album _A_ _Glitch in Paradise_ was released posthumously in December 2020. There’s often a stigma behind posthumous albums; the release could be considered ingenuine and insensitive. However, _A_ _Glitch in Paradise_, and the legacy that ANTIBOY delivers, is a beautiful homage to the talented artist in the wake of his passing. As is the video for _Glitch_’s lead single, Dream, which stars trans supermodel Andreaj Pejic. ANTIBOY, for those unfamiliar, is a musical character, much like Ziggy Stardust, created by Hains; a genderless transhuman who is free of labels, prejudice , and preconceptions. Before his untimely passing of a drug overdose in January of 2020, Hains spoke of his album, “Many of us are living in this loop of heartbreak. ANTIBOY represents the idea that all the things we’re taught to believe in are an illusion.”
Hains’ family initially struggled with the decision to release the album after his passing, but ultimately decided its powerful message of acceptance was needed in the world today. _Flaunt_ caught up on Zoom with Hains’ Mother, actress and eighties sci-fi icon, Jane Badler, to better understand ANTIBOY’s music, its release and what _A Glitch In Paradise_ can teach us about love.
**What are your fondest memories of Harry?**
He’s such a chaotic, extraordinary human being. He was his own creation. Harry was a creator, he was his own art piece. He was always creating poetry, films, music, imaginary worlds. A very extraordinary, poetic person. He knew at a very young age that he wasn’t a typical boy. He didn’t know what he was because in those days when he was 10, which was 17 years ago, people weren’t talking about gender fluid and trans. This is a very recent phenomenon that people are so much more open, it’s in our television.
At a young age, he didn’t understand why he was so different. He felt different. He went to private schools, he dressed differently. There was no one really that understood, which is why I’m so passionate about the idea of people who feel different to feel like they belong. That was part of the struggle he had, he didn’t know where to fit himself in. But he was also quite fearless. At his prom, he wore a dress which is pretty outrageous. He was a fantastic, crazy, fearless kid who added excitement to all of our lives. That’s for sure, he really did.
**Can you describe the ANTIBOY persona?**
Hold on, I want to read you something he wrote in his own words. “_This character called Antiboy, which is a genderless robot from the distant future, trapped in a virtual simulation of the past.”_ Which I never could’ve repeated, I have to look at that. He initially created ANTIBOY as a boy band that went against all the normal boy bands. A boy band that had different looks, that was challenging the stereotype. Now we have BTS which is kind of androgynous, but Harry was looking at this 10 years ago. He evolved it into a character that existed where there were no labels, people were completely free to express themselves the way they wanted to. He’d written his album, _Glitch In Paradise_, which is about love, addiction. He found it hard to live in his body so he created this alternate character name. I love the title ANTIBOY because it’s not a boy or a girl, it’s against labeling.
**Talk about how Harry lived in this place between beauty and darkness, and how ANTIBOY’s music reflects this.**
The deepest, most extraordinary artists battle perfectionism. That was true of Harry, he couldn’t help but write. He was an extraordinary poet. I read his poetry and I’m amazed at how much of an extraordinary talent he had at a young age. It was his way of expressing the darkness inside of him. In darkness, there’s light. In darkness, there’s beauty. The beautiful thing about _A_ _Glitch In Paradise_ is the words are like listening to poetry. He really had an extraordinary talent, but he also had a very profound sleeping disorder from a very young age. Sadly, that creates craziness in your head. Imagine never being able to sleep, I can’t imagine what that’d be like to hardly ever be able to sleep. ANTIBOY is what the world needs right now because we more and more need to stop judging people on their gender, their race, and that’s Harry. It all came out of Harry. I’m trying to oversee his legacy through his music, through his poetry. We’re about to film a short film that he wrote with Andreja Pejic, who stars in the “Dream” video.
**How was it shooting “Dream”?**
Andreja is a pretty incredible person. She was the first trans model to walk the runway as a girl when she was 17, that’s how she became famous. She’s an incredible artist, she’s moving to acting. She’s one of the most famed models. She reminds me of Harry. She was the most inspired choice to play the lead character in “Dream,” where she’s a genderless, bored, housewife/robot from the future. The video encompasses all of the most extraordinary characters from the LGBTQ community. Movement is this glitch rock that Harry invented with his music. It was directed by Charlie Chops who’s an extraordinary young talent, a photographer who photographed Rihanna and so many incredible artists. He has a hyper-real fantasy sensibility. It’s extraordinary.
**Why did you decide to release the album _A_ _Glitch In Paradise_ now?**
When Harry was alive, it was certainly the thing that gave him great pleasure. It’s something I had an extraordinary need to release, there are so many young people with so much to offer who feel like they’re not good enough in how they feel, and who they love. Harry struggled a lot with love addiction as well as drug addiction. I want people to see someone as beautiful and talented as Harry could have the same profound struggles. It’s a genius album. It’s a glitch rock album, it’s beautiful. Of course I wanted to get it out.
**Style was so important to the vibe of ANTIBOY. Harry said, “I dress for myself and because of my attitude and how I feel rather than what someone else feels dictates my actions.” What do you think ANTIBOY is saying with fashion?**
ANTIBOY is another creative outlet for Harry and the way he dressed was a very huge part of who he was. He wore whatever made him feel empowered, whether it was a skirt or dress. He’d often wear dresses and skirts out with a cap or boy shoes, it was his expression of himself. No boundaries, he had a very eclectic look that challenged the idea of masculine versus feminine and modern day appropriateness. That’s all part of ANTIBOY.
**If ANTIBOY became a fashion label what would the premise of the label be?**
If you look at photos of Harry, his fashion sense was pretty extraordinary. He put colors together that nobody would put together, wear see-through plastic coats with crazy jumpsuits. He was one-of-a-kind with his fashion sense and there’s a freedom to that. He’s an inspiration for clothes that weren’t boy clothes or girl clothes, make people feel glamorous, gorgeous, and beautiful.
**Harry said “never think your ideas are too big. Reach for beyond what we know and then go further.” What would you like ANTIBOY’s music to do to reach further?**
The inspiration always comes from Harry and his huge vision that sadly he could not carry out. If we could use that as a starting point to celebrate difference, to celebrate—right now is the time when people are divisive in comments about what they think or what they feel. If we can use this as a way of uniting people through a celebration of beauty in the arts through music, poetry, film, because now we’re about to shoot a feature film. It’s a wonderful thing. I’m very committed to it and we have an amazing team of people. For now, it’s very exciting to carry on his work.
**Because of the tragic circumstances of the last year, is _A Glitch In Paradise_ the last we’ll hear from ANTIBOY?**
No, I just finished working with a very renowned producer who produced Lady Gaga’s album and has one of the #1 hits with Ava Max. He worked with Harry and produced 8 demos which we finished with Fernando Garibay, also a very renowned producer. We’re sitting on about 8 more tracks of music. In the next month, we’re releasing “One Love,” which is the idea that we’re all part of the same consciousness and the same love. I sing on it with Harry, that will be releasing in the next month with a video.
**Any last words?**
Harry did a spread on _Flaunt_ quite a few years ago when he was alive. It’s exciting to revisit the magazine. It’s wonderful to be able to get the word out about what we’re doing with his legacy.
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