Jake Shears: 'It Really Feels Like The World Might Need Scissor Sisters Again'

After a hiatus that lasted longer than a decade, Jake Shears reunited with his Scissor Sisters bandmates in 2024When Scissor Sisters quite literally burst onto the global stage in an unrelenting explosion of glitter, feathers and neon in 2004, they felt like an antidote to the rather more serious matters going on elsewhere in the world – a controversial right-wing administration in the White House, a soft-left government in Parliament and near-daily debates around the rights, and lives, of LGBTQ+ people just trying to get by like everyone else.Fast-forward more than two decades, and in a disconcertingly similar political climate, the band re-emerged for a hugely successful arena tour celebrating their glam pop back catalogue.“It’s times 10,” frontman Jake Shears says when HuffPost UK points out the similar political backdrops that the Scissor Sisters’ emergence and reunion share. “It is a really interesting mirror at the moment.“And the timing is really interesting, popping back out as Scissors, because with these last shows that we just did, I think it really felt like, ‘oh, I think the world might need us again right now’. It was definitely time [to reunite]. And I’m super proud of the fact that we were able to figure out how to do it.”Over the course of their initial run, Scissor Sisters racked up a string of top 10 hits between 2004 and 2012. These included Filthy/Gorgeous, Comfortably Numb (a thumping, club-friendly reimagining of the Pink Floyd classic) and the number one I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’, while the likes of Take Your Mama, Fire With Fire and Let’s Have A Kiki became fan-favourites, as well as expanding their already-eclectic back catalogue even further with more genre-defying gems.Jake Shears in the early years of Scissor Sisters with bandmates Paddy Boom, Ana Matronic, Del Marquis and BabydaddyAll four of their albums peaked within the top five in the UK albums chart, including their self-titled debut, which remains the 15th highest-selling album of the 21st century here in the UK.In short, Scissor Sisters were an absolutely massive deal, and despite their outrageous performances and music videos being somewhat at odds with some of the era’s more conservative political climate, Jake doesn’t remember there being much pushback from the group’s label at the time.He recalls of the band’s UK label: “Polydor was amazing, we had an incredible relationship with them.”Unfortunately, it seems the same could not be said when the group returned to their home turf across the pond.“It was just really interesting when we got into the States, and you had your like sister [label]… like, Republic had to take us on in the States. And I just felt like, internally, they would kind of be very dismissive of the band,” Jake says.“What was so ridiculous was when I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ came out, there was one week where it was the number one world song in the world – everywhere but the United States! And it made these guys look like fucking dipshits, where it’s like, ‘truly?! This song has taken over the world this week, and you guys literally have just dismissed us’.”“It was almost like our success would have emasculated them, if that makes any sense. They would rather bury it than make it look like they were supporting faggots,” he notes with a laugh. “It was so silly.”“I guess it was a bit frustrating,” Jake admits. “But we were just working hard, you know what I mean? In this business, it’s always one step forward, two steps back. Two steps forward, one step back. You’re just constantly making progress and doing what you can, I think it’s just all part of what a career is.”Ana Matronic and Jake Shears performing at Glastonbury with Scissor Sisters in 2010Reflecting on whether there’s anything from this time he’d do differently, Jake shares: “I was really, really hard on myself. Like, I really put myself through a lot, just with ambition and wanting to be the best I could be, and wanting the band to be the best it could be.“I was really tough on myself, and I feel like I did a lot of internal damage at the time, that took me years to kind of find my way out of it.”He says that, as a result, the opportunity to revisit the Scissor Sisters back catalogue all these years later was a “really liberating” experience, and one that allowed him to take stock of all the group managed to achieve during their initial run – without there being a new album or project attached that they needed to promote.When we talk, Jake is still riding high from the Scissor Sisters’ UK tour, which he describes as a “journey and a celebration”, with select festival shows (including a return to Glastonbury!) and a co-headlining US tour with Kesha still to come later in the summer.“The show to me just really felt like a theatrical trip. Not only were we bringing people joy, but bringing a bit of darkness, and just getting weird,” he enthuses. “I love layering those things on top of each other.“You know, I think people often think of Scissor Sisters as being this really fun, fruity thing – but there’s a lot of shadow play in Scissor Sisters as well, which I really felt like we were able to capture.”View this post on InstagramA post shared by Scissor Sisters (@scissorsisters)Conversations about whether the time was right to get the band back together had been going on a “long time” before the announcement finally came last year, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the Scissor Sisters’ debut album.Before that, the members of the group had been pursuing their own personal projects. Guitarist Del Marquis had turned his hand to interior design, bass player (and Jake’s co-songwriter) Babydaddy was exploring the world of graphic novels, while vocalist Ana Matronic was busy turning her love of history into a podcast series.Jake, meanwhile, has released two solo albums since Scissor Sisters’ hiatus (both reaching the top 20 in the UK), venturing into the world of theatre (he appeared on Broadway in Kinky Boots, the West End in Cabaret and even co-wrote a musical about the life of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker with former Scissor Sisters collaborator Sir Elton John) as well as hosting his own podcast, Queer The Music (a third season of which is coming this summer).“Everyone sort of needed to get through that, and decide whether it was something they wanted to do or not,” Jake explains. “And that was really important, it was like, ‘do you want to do this, or not?’.”Of course, it’s been well-documented that for one member of the band, Ana Matronic, the ultimate decision was “not”.Jake says Ana’s final decision not to join her bandmates on the road came some time before the eventual announcement. “It wasn’t up until the eleventh hour, it wasn’t right up to the end. It was all deeply discussed,” he clarifies.Scissor Sisters performing together in 2012, a year before they announced their hiatusAna wished the band “all the best” before the tour prep really got underway, and said she’d be “there in spirit to kiki with you”. Ultimately, Jake says that Ana never made it to any of the Scissor Sisters’ UK shows.However, asked if there’d been discussions about having her make a guest appearance (as singers like Olly Alexander, Self Esteem, Nicola Roberts and Claire Richards did during the Take Your Mama section of the show), he makes it clear that’s something he’d be up for in the future. “You never know!” he says. “That would be amazing. That would be really fun.”Babydaddy previously claimed that Ana’s absence from the tour meant that they could “get some people on stage and ask some friends to do fun things”. On the road, Jake was joined on vocals by two new additions, singers Amber Martin and Bridget Barkan, who each brought very different energy to a line-up already known for its “everything and the kitchen sink” approach to live performances.“That was the thing, you were never going to replace Ana Matronic, that’s impossible,” Jake says. “You’re never going to do that, and there’s no reason to even attempt to do it.“Amber is one of my oldest friends – she sings on my solo stuff, and she knows everybody from the band. And Amber’s been friends with Bridget forever, and Bridget used to be in Scissors [she performed backing vocals on the group’s past tours].“So, having them front the band with me in that way… it was still a family affair. I think that’s why it felt like Scissor Sisters, because it still is Scissor Sisters.”View this post on InstagramA post shared by Scissor Sisters (@scissorsisters)More than a decade on from the time they originally went on hiatus, the future looks bright for the Scissor Sisters, and Jake “absolutely” intends for the group to finally get on with recording new music, which he’s hopeful new recruits Amber and Bridget will also be part of.“The nice thing is, there is no record label, we’re able now to have the luxury of making whatever we want, and taking however long we want to do to make it,” he says. “There’s no rush. To me, the most important thing is creating something that we’re super proud of, and that we love and can have fun doing.”In fact, Jake says he “wanted to come back out with new music” before the tour, but his bandmates disagreed.“We decided not to, and that was the right choice, I think. I wouldn’t have said that it was the right thing eight months ago, or a year ago,” Jake admits. “But I’m saying it now. I said to Babydaddy the other day, we had a great phone conversation, and I was like, ‘you were right’.”He continues: “The reason why it was the right choice is because it was so great to hear the catalogue in one show. We’ve never done that before – I’ve never done that before! I’ve never put on a show that didn’t have new stuff that you’re sort of pushing into it.“So, it was actually so great to take what we’ve done, and to make that show out of it.”Outside of Scissor Sisters, Jake is gearing up for the next season of his podcast Queer The Music, which is coming next month.Jake Shears' podcast Queer The Music is returning for a third seasonThe show sees Jake reflecting on some of the biggest LGBTQ+ anthems in pop culture history, interviewing the artists who helped create them (including the likes of music legends Neil Tennant, Holly Johnson and Andy Bell, as well as Jake’s own contemporaries including Jessie Ware, Rufus Wainwright and his former Cabaret co-star Self Esteem).“Growing up queer – and listen, I’m from another generation, I can’t speak for younger people, but I know that for me, you’re growing up with this sense of isolation,” he says of the podcast’s origins. “Music is one of those things that makes memories. and music becomes your friend, you know?“Music becomes that companion when you are feeling isolated and you are feeling alone. So, I think that there is really a strong connection between queer folk and the connection that we have with music. [Music] inspires us and allows us to be who we are and to be ourselves.”“And that’s the magic of it,” he continues. “Music really embeds in our brain as a time and a place.”“Music is like a smell, you know what I mean? It’s like that olfactory… you can smell something that you haven’t smelled in 30 years, but the moment that you smell that smell, it brings you right back to whatever that smell is,” Jake adds with a laugh. “And I think music acts in the same way.”While Queer The Music celebrates some of Jake’s personal music icons and the anthems that have soundtracked queer culture, through his work with Scissor Sisters, he’s also inspired a generation of others.“I love it,” Jake shares of hearing how his music has helped people on their own coming out journeys. “Even back in the early days of Scissors and stuff, there were some hard times, just in regard to sexuality. Being who we were, and are, sometimes was not easy.“But I did think, you know, ’I know this is touching somebody out there. I know somebody’s antenna is picking this up, and I know whatever this is, it’s going to make it easier whether it’s another artist or whether it’s a person living their life, I know this is going to make it just a little bit easier for them’. And that’s why this is really worth doing.”Jake Shears’ Queer The Music returns for its third season from Tuesday 15 July.READ MORE:Sir Ian McKellen: 'When Society Disregards A Minority, That’s When It Is Going Off The Rails'Layton Williams: ‘Everyone Thinks They're A Critic Nowadays, But Girl Where Are Your Credentials?''I Was Never As Overwhelmed As I Was At Eurovision': Reigning Winner Nemo Reflects On Their 'Whirlwind' Experience

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