On Elizabeth Street in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan, Instincters in need of some retail therapy can find British shoemaker Barker Black. I've passed by the shop numerous times over the years, stopping to drool over the expertly crafted boots and shoes. A marriage of styles, Barker Black manages to straddle the line between the traditional and subversive—not an easy task.

You didn’t think our cover guy Adam Lambert was the only artist coming out with awesome music this month, did you? Actually, much to our delight, some of our favorite bands and singers are dropping albums—all this May! From Garbage and the Scissor Sisters to some seriously fierce females, we’re breaking down which albums to rock this month—and giving you some musical previews, too!

If you thought Courtney Love was the one with all the drama behind groundbreaking band Hole, then prepare to have your mind blown. Former Hole drummer (and out artist) Patty Schemel has taken her years of awesome home video footage and created a compelling and fascinating new doc, Hit So Hard. Now Patty is talking to Instinct about making it through years of addiction, breaking barriers for female musicians and what she sees as Kurt Cobain’s everlasting impact on the gay community.

Last December, photographer Vincent Dilio and I went to Instinct's motherland, sunny and beautiful Los Angeles, to shoot three of our Spring 2012 fashion editorials. It was a quick four-day trip but a welcome change to the chilly northeast weather of New York (at least New York then, not the summer-y N.Y. of late). My trip there was a comedy of errors that started with a cab ride to the wrong airport, then continued with an additional trip to the correct airport and a brisk shoeless sprint to my gate from security as they called my name over the loud speaker for final boarding. Once I finally sat back in my seat for the flight ahead, looking out the window enjoying my Bloody Mary, I wondered if my three giant duffle bags and rolling suitcase...

April cover guy Jason Mraz may be known for his musical talent (and now awesome LGBT activism!), but this superstar also has quite the green thumb. In this Instinct Web Exclusive, Jason talks about the inspiration behind his eco-consciousness, making changes on the most basic level and taking a little boat ride with a vice president.

Follow the jump for more Jason! 

Don’t get me wrong—I love a parade of hunks. Dressed. Undressed. Everything in between. Beauty pageants, however, have always struck me as a bit pointless. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all, making it a bit silly deciding if one adorable man looks better than another. In the ladies’ competitions they hit some bombshell with a tough question designed to test her personality, and she falls to pieces as we hear about how she's going to save the dolphins and establish world peace. How then, in a men's competition, would you justify choosing a muscle-bound hunk over a pretty twink who only ever uses the gym as a cruising venue?

Boys boys boys, summer is almost here! After a brief hibernation, gyms everywhere from the Castro to Chelsea are buzzing with testosterone again preparing for that annual parade of abs and cocktails that is P-Town, Mykonos, Palm Springs or wherever your Gaycation plans may take you this year. Oh the joys of being young and pretty.

Whatever your adventure, one thing is sure to be true: You need to be looking cute and you mustn't dare be caught in the same pair of Aussie Bums as the boys across the pool! How mortifying, right? In this day and age we are lucky enough to have a plethora of different brands gearing themselves our way (see Pistol Pete, Aussie Bum, Andrew Christian, etc.) which, while fantastic, they tend to lend themselves toward...

As purveyors of great (gay) taste, we try and sprinkle our recommendations across each issue about what we think is hot. But sometimes there’s just too much goodness to handle! That’s where our newest feature—“So Obsessed”—comes in handy, showcasing our exclusive picks of the stuff we love each month. What are we with obsessed with this April? From Belvedere’s newest flavor to the sexiest U.K. musical import in years—check out our choices this month.

Our models from our April fashion feature may be trying to "Escape From L.A." but lucky for us, not before we got our hands on some extra, sexy outtakes! Follow the jump to see more of Brandon and Will...

With marriage equality gaining momentum across the country, I've been thinking about getting married. Well, not exactly. I wouldn't say I'm ready to tie the knot just yet (I still need to find Mr. Right), but the thought that I might be able to do so legally one day excites me.  

As a gay man in the fashion industry, I've found myself helping more than a few brides and grooms plan for their big day, esecially as of late. Large or small, all weddings go hand-in-hand with a certain amount of pomp and circumstance. While some of these rules of etiquette may be archaic and arbitrary in this modern age, others are sweet, romantic ways to announce your love for your mate to the world. One such tradition is the exchange of engagement...