PROVO — Everyone knows what it’s like to be afraid of what people would think if they really knew the true version of who you are.

Masks are worn and walls are built all in effort to protect the image of what others see. While lying to yourself is temporary salve, everyone yearns to be authentic and share who they are with the world.

After finding success with their initial album "Animal" and a follow-up hit "Everybody Talks" — Elaine Bradley, drummer for the Neon Trees, explains how this has made "Pop Psychology" the most authentic Neon Trees experience to date.

“This album is our best and our most Neon Trees sounding album. We’ve got to a place production-wise that is what we’ve been trying for and we are very happy with how it turned out,” she said. “Having a couple successful albums has given this one an air of confidence, because we are really happy and just want people to hear it. With ‘Everybody Talks’ being even bigger than ‘Animal’ we knew we weren’t one hit wonders and that helped us. We just set out to make the album we wanted to make and we did it and we are confident ‘If you listen, they will come’ – we know people will like it and buy the album.”

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Neon Trees singer is 1 of few gay celeb Mormons

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“It’s even been more comfortable socially. With Tyler coming out, he’s more comfortable in his own skin, he’s not lying about who he is and I think that’s a celebratory example of coming through dark times and trying to feel at peace with yourself in your own skin. I think each of us is a little happier now with the second album than we were on the first album and we all know each other better, so we are in a much more comfortable place with this album in a lot of ways.”

The Neon Trees are a social experiment in several ways. While each were Mormon at some point, they are all in different places now. With a frontman who just recently came out and a devout Mormon drummer, they are an example of how to put differences aside and still have love for each other.

“When we came together we all knew we were in different places. We are all on different rungs of the ladder, some of us aren’t even Mormon anymore and we knew that if we hung on to that it would just breed resentment,” Bradley said. “So very early on we made a business decision that we weren’t going to judge each other on our personal lives, but Neon Trees doesn’t party. So when we do Neon Trees events or functions there are no drugs and no drinking."

The drummer explained how the reaction to Glenn’s announcement has been received among Mormons and shared what she has come to understand. Despite a strong stance against homosexuality within the Mormon faith, Bradley feels there is still room to love and accept those who are gay.

“People being gay is not something you can hide or pretend it doesn’t exist, or shunning even, because these are our brothers or our sisters or our best friends. People in the church are becoming more accepting because they have to take these faces head-on, it’s not just a general concept anymore," Bradley said. "The more acceptable it is to come out, the more people will have to face it personally and realize they love that person. The less judgmental and the more human we can be, both on the religious and social side, the more considerate and kind humans we can be. The doctrine doesn’t change but it’s not an excuse to be hateful or stubborn or cold. The church is changing in how they handle this because they know they are going to face a lot of it and it shows what kind of Christians we really are."

Different lifestyles aside, the Utah/Mormon culture and the Provo music scene were a breeding ground for success and an interesting petri dish to cultivate their style.

“One thing about the Provo music scene that is underappreciated is just how competitive it is. It’s a really healthy competition and makes you want to be better. If you see a band doing something and the crowd is responding to them better than they are to you, you have to ask yourself ‘What are they doing better than me and what do I have to do to step up my game?’ So I think that’s the real culture of the Provo music scene.

“The religious aspect of Provo kind of helps us I think. Because the main venues you play at aren’t bars, there’s no loud, drunk conversations and clinking bottles – it’s very music-centric. That plays into the competition side of it too. You aren’t the background noise, the people are there to hear you play. You have that responsibility to be your best, because there’s no beer to soften you so you really have to be on your game,” Bradley said.

Being comfortable with who they are and having confidence in the blood, sweat and tears they’ve put into this album will only benefit their fans as they have revamped their stage show.

“We concertedly stepped up our live show for this album,” Bradley said. “And some people might say it’s a little premature even. We’ve added a bunch of stage pieces and lighting and outfit changes because it’s almost what this album requires. It’s kind of like we are jamming these giant arena shows into tiny clubs. That’s who we are right now, we play smaller clubs but we wanted to make it how we wanted to make it and it’s another one of those ‘If you build it, they will come’ kind of things. We didn’t want to compromise in the slightest for this album and the live show is a big part of this.”

"Pop Psychology" will be in session live Monday June 16 at the Complex in Salt Lake City.

Jonathan Boldt is the Deseret Connect Preps Editor generating content for both DeseretNews.com and KSL.com. He can be reached at boldt@1791.com and you can buy his new book at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EYMOF9W/ref=cm\_sw\_r\_fa\_dp\_mv6jsb19 AG2

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