"When Boy Meets Boy" is a song written and performed by British recording artist

Matt Fishel Matt Fishel is a British singer, songwriter, music producer and record label owner. He plays guitar, piano, bass and keyboards. He grew up in Nottingham in the East Midlands in the late 1990s, going on to study Music and Performing Arts at Paul ...

. It was released as a single on 3 June 2013"This week's new releases 03-06-2013"
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Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...

'', UK, 3 June 2013. Retrieved on 7 December 2013."iTunes-Music-Matt Fishel-When Boy Meets Boy-Single"
Retrieved on 7 December 2013. and appears as the closing track on Fishel's 2013 debut album '' Not Thinking Straight''."iTunes-Music-Matt Fishel-Not-Thinking-Straight"
Retrieved on 7 December 2013.

Style, themes and lyrics

"When Boy Meets Boy" is a fun, quirky and up-tempo song.
''Queer Music Heritage - JD Doyle'', United States, April 2013. Retrieved on 7 December 2013. The song also incorporates various sound effects, including

wolf-whistling A wolf whistle is a distinctive two-note glissando whistled sound made to show high interest in or approval of something or someone, especially at someone viewed as physically or sexually attractive. Today, a wolf whistle directed at a person is ...

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and a cell phone ringing, each punctuating certain lyrics. Lyrically, the song tells the story of a relationship between Fishel and 'Marcus', a "Ska Punk-loving""When Boy Meets Boy Official Lyrics"
7 September 2013. Retrieved on 7 December 2013. skateboarder who Fishel meets in a bar. They end up going back to Marcus' apartment where Fishel spends the night and they fall in love. In an interview with JD Doyle of Queer Music Heritage in April 2013, Fishel said "When Boy Meets Boy" was a "celebratory song about meeting another guy, and having a fun relationship. The guy in this song...is a hot skater guy ho'sinto punk rock. For me this song is positive and jubilant and it's just putting it out there and saying, you know, it's great when two guys fall in love...it's wonderful and exciting and we should celebrate."

Release and B-sides

"When Boy Meets Boy" was released on 3 June 2013 as Fishel's sixth single, taken from his debut album '' Not Thinking Straight''. The single was released worldwide on iTunes and

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via Fishel's own record label Young Lust Records, as a three-track digital download. The digital bundle includes the original album version of "When Boy Meets Boy", the "Matt Pop Cartoon Club Mix" (a reworking of the song by

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

remixer/producer Matt Pop which incorporates Pop's signature 1980s

hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

throwback dance-pop sound)"Various Artists: We Love Matt Pop: 3 Disc Set Including the Limited Edition 12" Mixes"

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. Retrieved on 7 December 2013. and an acoustic version of the song, featuring the stripped-back production of piano and vocals only.

Artwork

The artwork for the "When Boy Meets Boy" single is an illustration by

Joe Phillips Joe Phillips is an American artist, known for his gay-themed illustration, erotic animation, and his earlier work on superhero comic books. Early life Phillips was born in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1960s. He attended Northside School of the Arts ...

and features the two cartoon characters from the accompanying music video, standing side by side. The Matt Fishel character has a guitar on his back and the 'Marcus' character is carrying a skateboard.

Music video

The official music video for "When Boy Meets Boy" is an animation video, directed and animated by

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

comic artist and illustrator

."Watch: Matt Fishel's When Boy Meets Boy"
''

Out Magazine ''Out'' is an American LGBTQ news, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any LGBTQ monthly publication in the United States. It presents itself in an editorial manner similar to '' Details'', ''Esquire' ...

'', United States, 03 June 2013. Retrieved on 7 December 2013. In an interview with Nicola Migliore for

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

magazine Pianeta Gay in May 2013, Fishel spoke about the upcoming music video for "When Boy Meets Boy", saying: "the lyrics are very narrative so it seemed like the perfect choice for an animation

ideo IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, enviro ...

The song is a celebration of being gay, so we have created a fun, joyful, colourful cartoon which tells the story of the song’s lyrics and includes some surprises too."Fishel, Matt (from interview with Migliore, Nicola)
"Intervista esclusiva al promettente cantante Matt Fishel"
''Pianeta Gay'', Italy, 06 May 2013. Retrieved on 7 December 2013. The official music video was released on Fishel's

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channel on 2 June 2013, a day before the single was released.. 02 June 2013. Retrieved on 7 December 2013. Described by

as a "cute (and sexy)" love story "with a superhero twist", it shows an animated version of Fishel meeting mysterious skater boy 'Marcus' in a bar. They go back to Marcus' apartment, where they spend the night together. The video includes scenes of gay sex, but all the while the characters' genitals are obscured by yellow stars."New Music: Matt Fishel’s “When Boy Meets Boy” Superbly Animated Music Video"
''Accidental Bear'', USA, 3 June 2013. Retrieved on 7 December 2013. The video also includes chibi character versions of Fishel and 'Marcus'. The video concludes with a superhero fight and rescue sequence as Fishel's character is attacked in an alleyway by a gang of villains and the 'Marcus' character emerges as a skateboard-carrying superhero to rescue him. The video ends with the two characters kissing and the image becomes a still frame of a comic book titled 'Superfishel Comics'. British magazine The Gay UK said "When Boy Meets Boy" was "one of the best music videos we've seen in a long time.""Matt Fishel Releases When Boy Meets Boy Single"
''The Gay Uk Magazine'', UK, 19 July 2013. Retrieved on 7 December 2013. Accidental Bear called it "superbly animated" and "super cute!" Crew magazine said "the animated music video for Matt Fishel’s “When Boy Meets Boy” hits all the right notes. It's romantic, irreverent, and just the perfect amount of sexy. Also, the fact that the tune is catchy and sweet helps too.""Watch Matt Fishel's Adorable "Boy" Video"
''Crew Magazine'', USA, 7 June 2013. Retrieved on 7 December 2013.

Awards and nominations

"When Boy Meets Boy" won the 2013 Best Pop/Rock Video award at the 2013 RightOutTV Music & Video Awards. It was also nominated for Best Video (Pro)."RightOutTV Music & Video Awards Winners"
''RightOut TV Awards'', Canada, Retrieved on 7 December 2013.

RightOutTV Music & Video Awards

, - , rowspan="2", 2013 , , rowspan=2, "When Boy Meets Boy" , , Best Pop/Rock Video , , , - , Best Video (Pro) , ,

Studio personnel

According to the album sleeve notes, "When Boy Meets Boy" was written and arranged by

, produced and engineered by Matt Fishel and

Mark Crew Mark Crew (born 21 February 1985) is a songwriter, record producer, and mix engineer based in London, known for his work with Bastille, Rag'n'Bone Man, and the Wombats. Production and songwriting Crew produced the albums '' Bad Blood'' (UK #1 ...

at both Superfishel Studios and Unit 24,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

UK and mixed by Mark Crew. Fishel performs all lead and background vocals, guitars, synths and programming on the song, with additional guitars and bass by Jonas Jalhay and additional programming by Mark Crew.

Track listing

* Digital download #"When Boy Meets Boy" – 3:45 #"When Boy Meets Boy (Matt Pop Cartoon Club Mix)" – 5:27 #"When Boy Meets Boy (Acoustic Version)" – 3:45

References

External links

* {{Official website 2013 singles 2013 songs Matt Fishel songs Songs written by Matt Fishel LGBT-related songs Gay-related songs