HEADER
munity,” Hastings says. “I was looking for some
ways to meet some people, and the band showed
up early on my radar. I started hanging out with
them, and they were just incredibly warm and
gracious. They were really glad to have me and I
was really glad to be with them.”
“The swing band is very small, so it’s much more
like family,” he says. “They’ve been so welcoming
to me and such an encouragement.”
While the decision to come out was difficult,
Hastings says, it was the best decision he ever
made. He says the feeling he has now is a feeling
of lightness. He compares it to a beach ball being
submerged beneath the water and being released
to float to the surface.
“I love being able to be me,” he says. “I love being
able to be who I am. I had a friend, who said ‘I
knew straight Dave the liar, and now I know gay
Dave the truth teller – and he’s a lot more fun to
be around.’”
To Hastings, being in the band is not about be-
ing gay (the band is not exclusively for gays and
lesbians) but is about being able to do music with
people who understand who he is.
“There’s a freedom to be honest with each other
that I really enjoy,” he says. “We enjoy making
music together, and we have a lot of fun with
that.”
Today, when Hastings sits at his piano and looks
out his window to Southeast Hawthorne Boule-
vard, the view reminds him of his recent journey.
“The view out my window is always entertaining,”
he says. “There’s so much light here in my studio
space, so many windows. It’s a good metaphor for
me being out of the closet and living in the light,
how my life has changed in the past year.”
June 2012
JustOut.com
35