Former X Factor contestant, now a trans man, creates male-female duets with his past self using old voice recordings

A former X Factor contestant who uses old recordings to create duets with himself from before he came out as a transgender man has said it helped him “celebrate (his) old self”.

Dylan Holloway, 31, a full-time singer, from south-east London, knew he was trans from about the age of three, often wishing he could dress “like the other boys” and felt like a “caricature” as a teenager when trying “to be a girl”.

In 2012, then going by his “old name” Lots Holloway, he rose to fame on The X Factor in the double-act MK1, but after finishing in 11th place he felt “forced” to continue to be the female “character (he) created”.

After leaving the band in 2014 and going solo, he came out as trans in 2020, had top surgery and started taking testosterone, which initially meant he could not sing in lower or higher ranges and had to stop performing.

About eighteen months later his voice settled and he felt his new lower voice was better than ever, so decided to create “male and female” duets between his past and present selves under the name Dylan and the Moon.

One of his duets, Off My Brain, has gone viral on TikTok, with more than 700,000 views, and singer Natasha Bedingfield commented in support.

Dylan told PA Real Life: “I think my past self would be really proud of my duets, and I think they would be grateful that I didn’t let go of my past.

“During my transition, I was going to take all of my music offline and remove everything and start a new life as Dylan.

“But my mum being an absolute legend said it’s a beautiful part of your life, don’t throw everything away, you might regret it.

“I listened to her and I realised that version of me got me through my darkest times, so to put them in a box and hide them in the shadows would have been an utterly cruel decision to make.

“I started to celebrate my old self and being really compassionate to that version of myself.”

Dylan “knew (he) was trans” when he was about three years old, always wanting to wear “stereotypically boy clothes” and play with Hot Wheels.

He explained: “I used to say things to my parents like, ‘Why don’t you dress me like the other boys?’”

As a teenager he tried “really hard to be a girl” and did “difficult things” like wearing makeup and having his hair straightened by friends, but he soon realised he was “playing a caricature”.

At 17, then known by his former name, Lots, he moved to London to pursue music and join a band.

In 2012, he auditioned for The X Factor with friend Simeon Dixon as the duo MK1.

They were mentored by Louis Walsh but were eliminated in week three, finishing in 11th place.

“Because I was on TV screens I felt like I’d been forced to then continue to be this character that I created,” Dylan added.

In 2014, after touring and “shooting to fame”, Dylan left the band to pursue a solo career.

During this time, he began to question how he wanted to live the rest of his life.

“For such a long time I thought as long as I can just dress boyish, or marry a girl, then I’ll be happy enough,” he said.

“But I realised, why was I giving myself just enough?”

In 2020, lockdown forced him to reflect on this, and a few months later he came out as trans to family and friends, receiving “unconditional love”.

He also came out publicly on social media, receiving a “wonderful reception” from fans.

In November 2020, he had top surgery and began testosterone in June 2021 which causes a thickening of the vocal cords and a deeper voice.

“It was a very, very hard decision, music was the one place I always felt safe, but I decided to live a happy life, I would just need to put music on hold for a second,” Dylan added.

He spoke to a filmmaker friend and decided to document the process of his voice changing, because when researching trans singers on testosterone, he struggled to find others openly sharing their experiences.

In the first months, changes in his voice were “subtle”, but about a year in, he stopped performing altogether, feeling his singing sounded “horrendous” as he could not reach the lower or higher notes.

After about 18 months his voice settled and even “sounded much better” – this inspired Dylan to create duets with his past self, under the name Dylan and the Moon.

“I’d find an old recording, put that in my ear, then I would sing either a harmony or a duet part over the top,” he explained.

“Then I would cut them together so it looks like a male and female duet, but both of the people were me.”

Initially, revisiting old footage was “painful”, but over time he became grateful for his “old self”.

Dylan has also created duets of Make You Feel My Love by Adele, Don’t Speak by No Doubt and and Yellow by Coldplay, the latter featuring his voice pre-transition, during early transition, and now.

His favourite duets are of his own songs – the first was Off My Brain, and he reshot the video side by side, showing his past and current self.

He shared a video about the project on TikTok, under the handle @dylanandthemoon, which received more than 700,000 views.

Singer Natasha Bedingfield commented: “This is the coolest idea ever! I don’t know if anyone’s ever done that yet: wow.”

He has since been “inundated” with messages of support from trans people and their families.

On April 18, Dylan is releasing another duet, Between You and Me, a song he originally wrote in 2017 before transitioning.

He said: “Revisiting that one was actually quite painful, I knew that I was hiding this secret about myself.

“The music video is very moving as it’s my old self lying in bed singing to the camera, but now I’m lying on the other side of the bed talking back.

“It almost feels like it was always supposed to be a duet and it was written in the stars.”

Looking ahead, Dylan hopes his upcoming documentary, which does not have a release date yet, will “challenge people’s views” about trans people.

He also dreams of being on BBC’s Later…with Jools Holland to perform one of his songs with the “old version” of him being “projected on to the stage” while he is singing.