A Twerk Anthem for Bears? Tom Goss Has Made One with 'Bear Soup'

Tom Goss has been making music that celebrates love, life, sexiness, and bears for two decades now. His songs reflect the arc of his life, from a young man just discovering himself to a more mature artist – now in his mid-forties – contemplating the evolution of his marriage and his understanding of his own sexuality.

Take his new single, "Bear Soup," release on May 26. Like his seminal anthem "Bears" from 2014, the video for the song takes place at a pool party that's well-stocked with hunky, heavyset men. In both videos, Goss arrives to the party fully dressed – comically so, in the new video – and he's speedily stripped down to revealing speedos before being smothered in ursine attention. Both videos are sunny, summery, and sexy – but there's more erotic heat on "Bear Soup," more tease – more stank, if you will.

Is the recurring theme of being stripped down by happy bears a reflection, EDGE asks, of the way Goss thought himself to be asexual until his twenties, when he made the discovery that it was larger men that turned him on?

"I think there's a truth to that," Goss muses in response. "I have an interview tomorrow, and I have the questions in advance. There's a question that's, like, 'It doesn't seem like you would be interested in a bear, why?' For me, there's always this freedom to be who you are and like what you like. In these videos we're just saying, 'Everybody's sexy. Everybody has attributes that are desirable. Enjoy those things.' That's it. We you don't need to put in boxes. You don't need to say, 'I only date twinks,' or, 'I only date bears,' or, you know, 'masc for masc,' or any of that stuff. We need to arrive as ourselves, in a place where we feel comfortable enough to just enjoy the beauty of the people around us."

Goss is walking along a street in Barcelona, chatting with EDGE on Facetime, when he makes these remarks. Suddenly, he interrupts himself to take note of a lesbian couple he spots strolling along, hand in hand – a pair of stunners. "Jesus Christ!" he exclaims. Then, laughing, "As a gay man, I noticed them. That's saying something!"

Read on to see what else Tom Goss had to say about his musical and personal evolution, his new single and upcoming album, the cosmic mystery of why, until now, there have been no twerk anthems for bears, and why he and his husband are contemplating a new life in a foreign land.

EDGE: "Bear Soup" reminded me a little of "Bears," because it's so happy and such a party.

Tom Goss: Yes, that's exactly what we were going for. We definitely wanted to capture that vibe but elevate it and refresh it and make it fun and different.

EDGE: This is a super-sexy video compared to "Bears," which felt more innocent.

Tom Goss: The whole point of the song was to create a twerk anthem, and twerking is innately sexual in nature. Also, the person that I am now is different than the person that I was then, and the way that I perceived myself and my community and my sexuality is different than it was then. I do think we push the boundaries a bit more.

EDGE: The style of the music in the new song is very different from what you've done before.

Tom Goss: The idea sometimes comes before the song. For "Bear Soup," the idea was, "Why is there not a twerk anthem for bears? Why is there not an opportunity for bears to twerk not only their asses, but their bellies? Why don't we have a dance on TikTok that is bears twerking their bellies?" I look for it, it's not there, and then I say, "Okay, now it's my responsibility to make this, because every time I think about this thing, it brings me joy, it makes me laugh, it makes me smile. That that is the energy I want to bring into the world." That's where it starts, and then from there it's, "What does it sound like?"

EDGE: "Bear Soup" features queer hip-hop artist Chris Conde. Did he influence the musical style? Did you seek him out for the video because you knew it would be a good fit (and an iconic moment) since you wanted to make a twerking anthem for bears?

Tom Goss: I've been working on this song for probably close to two years. I knew I wanted a rap feature, but I didn't want to rush it with just any feature, I wanted it to make sense. So, the song just was sitting there with the feature open. Then I met Chris, and it was obvious to me that he was perfect for this song. I sent it his way, and he loved it. A day later he sent me his idea, and I immediately was in love. He definitely was the missing link this song needed.

EDGE: You have a new album coming up later this year, and also several new videos. Are you planning to direct them yourself, or are you sticking with director Michael Serrato, who directed "Bear Soup" and is kind of your go-to guy these days?

Tom Goss: Yeah, me and Michael make a lot together. We have another one coming after this we also made together called "Gay Stuff," which is hilarious – that one's for Pride. I have another video for a song called "Lighthouses" that I directed here in Barcelona, and that will be the first one off the next record.

EDGE: You're more and more in demand as a video director, and you just directed a video for Ryan Cassata's single "i feel like throwing up."

Tom Goss: And before that, I directed Mike Maimone's music video. It's great to have my name out there in that way because I have done so much, and I do really enjoy doing it, especially with Ryan. I've known Ryan for so long, and it's crazy to think that Ryan's as young as Ryan is.

EDGE: When you were directing the video for Ryan, you were also getting directed in this new video for "Bear Soup." They're both upbeat and fun, and they both have parties going on – which, to me, is the essence of a Tom Goss video.

Tom Goss: I think it's funny that you say, "Well, of course, in a Tom Goss music video, it ends in a party," and I want to say, "No, that's where it begins. That's where life begins!" When I think of community, when I think of family, when I think of life, I think of gathering with the people that you love. We find people that we connect with, we build community, and then we go back out in the world. Now that we're energized, we make the change that we want to see in the world.

EDGE: Did the two videos cross-pollinate in some way?

Tom Goss: In a way, they did. We had our release parties together, full of bears and trans people and bi people, and everybody had the best fucking time. I remember calling Ryan and talking about it, and he said, "Bears have always been so nice to me." My heart blossoms with that.

EDGE: Are you getting to be something of an elder statesman for queer musicians?

Tom Goss: It's a really important time right now to be uplifting young queer people and people with different perspectives because these are the stories the world needs to see and hear, especially in a Trumpified America that's feeling stifled and afraid. We need to live our lives even more vibrantly to counteract what we are being fed every day.

My resistance in this moment to what America is going through is to not let it dim my light, to do everything I can to shine brighter and help others shine brighter. All my focus is, "Okay, make this. Have so much fun. Have more fun." Working with Ryan was a beautiful opportunity to do that, and making "Bear Soup" was an opportunity to do that.

EDGE: Is that why you and your husband are getting a place in Barcelona – to get away from America's Trumpification? Or were you doing that anyway?

Tom Goss: It's a little of both. I'm ready for a new adventure, and I've always wanted to learn Spanish. But, yeah, some days it feels like it's necessary [to be ready to relocate to Europe]. America is making a very clear and conscious choice that, "This is who we are." That's a hard thing to swallow as somebody who lived in a very vibrant and flourishing life in Washington, DC during the Obama years. But I also don't want to be someone who runs away. I'm just making sure options are available.

For more on Tom Goss, visit his website.

Ryan Cassata's new album "Greetings from Echo Park" drops June 6.

Have a look back at "Bears" from 2014: