Hailing from Chicago, singer-songwriter [Seb Torgus](https://www.instagram.com/sebtorgus/?hl=en) toes the line between alternative rock, dreamy pop, and dance. The now Los Angeles-based artist embodies a 80’s glam rock/punk style depicted in his new video “RUSH,” out now on all streaming platforms. The sultry moody visual features Seb in head to toe Chrome Hearts, styled by fashion darling and musician Jesse Jo Stark.
With his sophomore project on the near horizon, Seb talks to _Flaunt_ about his love of David Bowie and Billy Idol, the ultimate dinner party guest list and how MTV’s unplugged series inspired him.
**Seb, tell us more about the inspiration behind your 90’s inspired video for “Rush”?**
Growing up watching the MTV unplugged series, with all different bands, I really wanted to capture the feeling of seeing that for the first time. I wanted to create a story for kids who didn’t get to grow up with an experience like that. “Rush” captures the 90’s alternative world, but as a twist to my 80’s inspiration.
**Who are your idols in both music and fashion?**
Billy Idol, David Bowie, David Byrne, Keith Flynn, Robert Smith, Morrissey... all these music idols inspired my fashion. I feel both are so intrinsically related.
**How was it working with Jesse on styling and how did it happen?**
I was so grateful to have someone that I look up to play a role in making this come to life. Jesse was able to provide life to the video making it fit the image that I wanted. As a long time friend, it’s always so great when you’re able to merge friendship with making something beautiful.
**You have a new project in the works, can you give us more insight on the theme/process of this upcoming body of work?**
The sophomore EP stems from a version of myself that I’ve been wanting to expose to the world. I’m finally at a point now where I know my message. It stems from growing up in the inner city feeling like I was never going to be able to leave it. I was able to pull inspiration for my younger upbringing within a Croatian Catholic strict hard-core environment and able to twist that into a modern day feel like Billy Idol and Madonna did in the 80’s. It’s very gaudy, it’s dark, but also beautiful. It has character and is very emotional. It’s the first time that my audience gets to really know who Sebastijan is. I also need to thank my talented friend and producer Jarrad, Sweetsound, who executive produced the entire project along with Thomas Hunter who played an integral part in “Rush.”
**Tell us more about your comic book series. Will you continue with this new project? What’s your all time favorite comic book series?**
The comic books were something we created after moving to LA. It felt really fresh and new at the time. To be honest, I was one of the first artists who started doing that. \[laughs\] As far as future projects, we’ll have to see but I’ve definitely thought about making something really creative for the upcoming EP.
**What’s the one thing you’re most looking forward to doing now that COVID’s easing up?**
Playing live shows!
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