Troye Sivan Won’t Rule Out Marrying a Fan

Last Thursday, the quiet corner where Mott and Broome street intersect buzzed with all the excitement of a poppers huff as Troye Sivan, the Australian pop star, actor, and interior design enthusiast, celebrated the New York City pop-up for his lifestyle brand, Tsu Lange Yor. Reunited with famous mates like Moses Sumney and Charli XCX at the tequila-fueled affair, we got on the phone with the Rush singer the next morning to unpack the party and talk trolling the internet, why Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” is the song of the summer, and if he’d ever marry one of his fans. Spoiler alert: yes, just don’t do anything that would cause him to take legal action. 

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TROYE SIVAN: How are you?

MITCHELL NUGENT: Hey, Troye. Great to see you yesterday.

SIVAN: Thanks so much for coming by. I really appreciate it.

NUGENT: Of course. Want to jump right into some questions?

SIVAN: Hell yeah.

NUGENT: Let’s talk about the party last night. What was the vibe?

SIVAN: The vibe was great. It was very chic and fab and fun and New York and kind of like everything I’ve ever wanted. I actually hate inviting people to things. It’s genuinely one of my least favorite things in life. I’ve never had a birthday party. My release parties were like, spooky to me. I end up having fun once I’m there, but the thought of it beforehand is quite nerve-wracking. And so I sort of just become quite avoidant about it. To my team I was like, “You guys know who my friends are. Please reach out to them because I’m too embarrassed to do it.” And everyone came and I’m so happy.

NUGENT: I love to hear it. I get the same way with parties. Social anxiety always wins.

SIVAN: It’s terrible.

NUGENT: The gays are always talking about occasion-wear these days. What do you think makes for a fab party look?

SIVAN: To me, it depends. I think it’s kind of chic when the party is centered around something that I’m doing. I like to try and disarm people by sometimes dressing a little bit more chilled than you might expect. But then also, I’ll show up in a dress or something. It just depends on my mood.

NUGENT: So what did you wear last night?

SIVAN: Ooh, so last night I wore this button-up shirt that has like, intentionally misaligned buttons so it looks like I’ve put the shirt on drastically wrong, but in a very cute way. I am just a casual girl by nature so I wore some good blue Rabanne jeans and my Adidas x Song for the Mute Sneakers. Song for the Mute is Australian, and I love these shoes so much and [wear them every day.

NUGENT: Casual girlie. Who were you most excited to see last night?

SIVAN: Oh wow, there were so many people that I was so happy to see.

NUGENT: Pick a favorite.

SIVAN: I mean, Charli XCX is my girl. And it was really nice to see Moses Sumney as well. I love him so much and haven’t seen him in a while.

NUGENT: Moses is so lovely and always has the best energy. What is the best gossip you heard last night? Names redacted, of course.

SIVAN: Oh my god. The best gossip. You know what? I had the opposite experience of someone being outed to me. They were outed to me as straight. Someone that I have been convinced was gay for many, many years. And yeah, they’re straight. And that was shocking to me.

NUGENT: You were gooped.

SIVAN: I was gagged and gooped by them being hetero.

NUGENT: The straights love to surprise. How did you and Flack Studio conceptualize the pop-up space? It’s gorgeous.

SIVAN: Thank you very much. It was very scary because we hadn’t seen the space in real life, so it was all done off of floor plans and photos. David Flack and I worked on it in Melbourne together. I wanted it to feel very warm and inviting and cozy and kind of serene. I also wanted to kind of like, step us up a little bit and elevate a retail space, so we designed these beautiful custom prints that have gorgeous materiality that really highlights some of the textures and colors that I love. 

NUGENT: The space is very tranquil.

SIVAN: Yeah, and we also have beautiful lighting from [the design studio] In Common With. I have a bunch of their stuff in my house in Australia and have been a big fan of them for a long time. And all of the art was Australian artists, I brought my personal art over. I think the idea was to just really kind of have an unquestionably Australian, unquestionably Flack, unquestionably me space that also nods to New York City and our introduction to the U.S.

NUGENT: What does it feel like to bring the pop-up to New York City?

SIVAN: Genuinely it is such an honor. New York, it’s like the epicenter of taste. So much of my design sensibility and my taste has been either formed here or informed by people who live here or have lived here. I am really, really humbled to be here and to walk down a Manhattan street and see “TSU LANGE YOR” written across a window on this gorgeous shop front. It was a really, really nice moment for both my brother and myself.

NUGENT: I love that. You have a date coming over, which of your candles are you going to burn?

SIVAN: Well, see, sometimes I’m freaky and I do a day date if it’s a nice day. If it’s a nice day, the windows are open and we’re burning Pool. And then, if it’s a nighttime thing, it’s a combination of Sassafras and TLY 5755. I feel like that combination is kind of what my house smells like all the time now.

NUGENT: I’m obsessed with the Pool scent. I got that one yesterday.

SIVAN: You got it at the right time because that [scent is] like summer for me. It’s tomato leaf and lychee and cucumber. I love that one.

NUGENT: What fragrance are you going to put on for your date?

SIVAN: See, I’m lucky because I made them. I have all of them so I can mix and match easily. I don’t expect everyone to mix and match all the time, but I do often. I’ll mix Luca with TLY 5755. I love that combo. To me, the Luca scent is just a very hot scent. I think it’s hot on everyone. Obviously all of our fragrances are totally gender whatever, totally gender-free. But that one specifically is just very, very enticing to me no matter who is wearing it.

NUGENT: The Internet thinks that you’re trolling us with your bottomless bowl. First off, are you?

SIVAN: First of all, yes, I am. No, I’m just kidding. I mean, I kind am, of course [laughs]. I think it’s a good representative of the brand because it’s totally self-aware and a little bit tongue-in-cheek. And at the same time though, it’s absolutely not a joke. I think it’s a really beautiful object that I love having in my house and find surprisingly functional. I’m the type of person who goes and buys fresh flowers for the house once a week. I really enjoy caring for my space and in Melbourne, that takes up a large portion of my time. I really, really care for the house a lot, it almost feels like a child of mine. And so part of that for me is displaying beautiful things in beautiful ways for my friends and family who are coming over.

NUGENT: How did you and Joel come up with the bowl design?

SIVAN: For me, I love having the big bowl on my kitchen counter. I keep my eggs in the fridge, but if you are a person who keeps them out, it fits like, a dozen eggs perfectly. And it’s the chicest way to display eggs. I love lemons, limes, onions, garlic. I cook a lot so I keep it on my kitchen counter and pull from it kind of constantly. And then the little bowl, I keep on my bedside table and the first thing I do as I walk into my bedroom, it’s like wallet goes in there, AirPods, Aquaphor, keys. That’s a trick that I’ve been using for a really long time. I think if you ever want to just even appear to make a space feel cleaner or a surface feel cleaner, designate where things go. Grab yourself a little plate or a little bowl and put things into it. It’s like a catchall that makes everything feel just a little bit more intentional and it looks very, very, very, very, very cute.

NUGENT: Very cute, indeed. What was your childhood bedroom? Did you have a lot of say in it?

SIVAN: God, I awoke as a 13-year-old being like, “I’m going to redo my bedroom.” This is probably like 2007-2008. I painted it a sort of charcoal-y blue color. And I hung Edison bulbs from the ceiling in an industrial kind of way. And then I bought the Ikea print of London, I think it’s Big Ben in the background with one of the red buses driving by. And I put some fairy lights on my headboard. And to me, this was just heaven.

NUGENT: How many times have you listened to Espresso this week?

SIVAN: Wow, so, so many. I’m so, so happy about that song. From afar, I’ve been a really, really big fan of Sabrina [Carpenter] for a really long time. I’ve always thought she was an incredible songwriter. I think her voice is so cool. And one of my favorite things as someone in pop is when I watch someone perfectly executing this domino effect, where after years of hard work all the little dominoes line up. Each little step is there, perfectly placed, ready to go. They’re so developed as an artist, they know who they are, they have a great song in their back pocket with a great music video to boot and they go on this perfectly executed plan and it feels like the stars align for this person. And they deserve it. That’s exactly what’s happening to Sabrina Carpenter right now. I’m just so happy for her.

NUGENT: She’s so fab. Throughout my day I’m just always humming, “I’m working late ’cause I’m a singer…”

SIVAN: I remember when I was 12-years-old, I read this songwriting book and they used common phrases because when people say that phrase, they get your song stuck in their head, right? And I feel like for the rest of time, no one is going to be able to get an espresso without thinking about Sabrina and that song. It’s so smart.

NUGENT: Absolutely. You and Sabrina need to do a collab and make espresso cups for TSU LANGE YOR.

SIVAN: I would love to do that.

NUGENT: Changing gears, let’s do the Warhol rapid fire questionnaire.

SIVAN: I’m down. Let’s do it.

NUGENT: What do you love about New York City?

SIVAN: Oh my God. The pomodoro pasta at Corner Bar.

NUGENT: Have you ever trashed a hotel room?

SIVAN: No, I’m a nice boy.

NUGENT: Do you dream?

SIVAN: Yes. Vividly.

NUGENT: Showers or baths?

SIVAN: Baths.

NUGENT: Is there anything you regret not doing?

SIVAN: Not really, to be honest.

NUGENT: When do you get nervous?

SIVAN: A lot, but when I have to sing and then the social stuff and then also when I get nauseous. That’s my biggest fear for some reason.

NUGENT: What are you reading right now?

SIVAN: Right now I’m reading a Zadie Smith book, it’s called White Teeth.

NUGENT: That’s a good one. What’s the craziest thing a fan has sent you?

SIVAN: Oh my god, stuff that I have considered taking legal action.

NUGENT: You’ll love the next question then. Would you ever marry one of your fans?

SIVAN: I hope that my future husband is a fan of me. I care a lot about what I do and I put a lot of time and effort into it, so I hope he likes it.

NUGENT: Do you think Americans have good taste?

SIVAN: I do.

NUGENT: Do you keep a diary?

SIVAN: I don’t. I mean, on and off occasionally throughout the years. I love going back and reading my diary from when I was 15. It’s hilarious. But at the moment, not really.

NUGENT: Lastly, do you get eight hours a night?

SIVAN: Honestly, most of the time I do. I really prioritize sleep. I think it’s very important.

NUGENT: Sleepy boy. Well, that’s all I have for you. Now go get some before the Met Gala on Monday.

SIVAN: Thank you, bye bye!