“I kill loads of people!” Oliver Sim laughs. The guitarist slash vocalist of indie-electronic trio The xx is discussing his deliciously queer horror film Hideous – not his real-life activities, just FYI – a camp-as-tits, blood-soaked homage to some of the star’s favourite horror flicks and “closeted, repressed queens” from Buffalo Bill to Hannibal Lecter and Patrick Bateman. Accompanying the release of his genre-defying debut album, Hideous Bastard, both projects explore “shame and fear” surrounding Sim’s queerness and HIV status while taking fans on an adventure filled with “fantasy and humour”. 

“The past three years of making this record, I’ve noticed differences from where I was to where I am now,” Sim, who publicly came out as HIV positive earlier this year, explains. “Being on this Zoom and we’ve just met, and being able to talk about these things and even being able to mention my HIV, that would’ve been impossible three years ago. Making music hasn’t been where the change has happened.” While Sim admits that his debut era – “Oh my god, you just called it an ‘era’ and I died! I love that,” he laughs – was a cathartic experience for him, sharing his status with his loved ones is where he found true liberation. “Music can sometimes be a bit of a copout for me to share stuff.”

Here, Sim speaks with GAY TIMES about Hideous/Hideous Bastard, the LGBTQ+ community’s strong connection to the horror genre and why it was important for him to not “shy away” from his queerness as a solo artist. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer stan also settles the ‘Team Angel or Team Spike?’ debate. Very important. 

So Oliver, this is your debut solo era…

Oh my god, you just called it an ‘era’ and I died! I love that. 

I sound like one of the stans in Pop Crave’s mentions, don’t I?

That has made my day.

Hideous, the album and film, takes inspiration from a lot of classic horror movies and tropes. You’ve spoken about the genre quite  a bit throughout this campaign, so I have to ask: who is your ultimate final girl?

I’m probably going to say Sigourney Weaver in Alien, Ripley. She’s an interesting one for me because she was the most conflicting. I was still trying to figure out what my relationship to her was. I was like, ‘Do I wanna be that?’ so she’s probably my fave. Honourable mentions: Neve Campbell in Scream and Jamie Lee [Curtis] in the Halloween franchise, but Sigourney has my heart. 

Did you always intend to create a film alongside the album?

Yeah. Well, I started the process of making the film when I barely had an album. I only had a handful of songs, but I knew what the record was going to be about from those few songs. It allowed me to do a few things. All of my favourite artists are people that kind of create a world, they interact with more than just music, whether that’s fashion or art or film. When they do that, that ignites the real fan boy in me. Also, I knew what the themes were shaping up to me, it was confessional and about shame and fear, but making the film allowed me to bring some fantasy to it. I really didn’t want to present it in an overly earnest way. Especially coming out of lockdown, people don’t need to see me performing in my bedroom stripped back all raw and real. That’s boring and two-dimensional to me. Making a film allowed me to bring some of the adventure and fantasy and humour.