John Robert Constantine (born September 3, 1986), known professionally as The Hound is a
Los Angeles based singer, songwriter, and record producer.
Early life
Constantine was born in
Los Angeles and was raised by his mother in the suburb of
Santa Clarita. He studied voice and guitar at a young age and attended the
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, one of the top 5 art high schools in the U.S. studying voice, composition, and opera. While many of his peers went on to conservatory, Constantine went to Musicians Institute for Music Business, Audio Engineering and Production.
Career
Orchid and Hound
After college, Constantine moved to
San Francisco with his boyfriend Lawrence Alarcon. After their relationship ended, they formed the band
Orchid and Hound
Orchid and Hound is a pop duo composed of John Constantine and Lawrence Alarcon. Their music has been described as pop music paired with lush arrangements and strong vocal harmonies with influences of Björk, Jacques Brel and Queen.
Early histo ...
in 2009, releasing two studio albums and an E.P., and played at
South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
in 2012 with
One Little Indian Records. ''
SF Weekly'' described their music as "bouncy piano melodies over somber lyrics that focus mainly on relationships. One barely notices that the lyrical content expresses a dour mood, as the music does just the opposite."
Can't Let You Go
Constantine moved to
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
, and on August 4, 2017, released the single "Can't Let You Go," as The Hound. The electronic pop song was written, produced, and recorded by The Hound. It had a positive reception, with Paris Close of ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' calling it a "hot blooded hit," alongside other musicians from the LGBTQ community. The video was directed by Adrian Anchondo and stars gay
pornstar
A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts in video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of dist ...
Adam Ramzi. The video portrays Ramzi and The Hound as boyfriends who have broken up and is told through choreography by Andrew Pearson. The video was called "unashamedly queer and sensual" by Kevin James Thornton in
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hound, The
1986 births
Living people
Musicians from Los Angeles
American LGBT musicians