QueerSounds

CW: Suicide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Queerphobia

Festus has got the talent to talk about serious issues without ever losing the smile on his face. After his political awakening he had to reflect on his life so far and reconsider every bit of media he consumed. Movies, music, tv shows, everything faced a higher standard. Whether we like it or not, everything is political, and we should treat it as such. However, when everything has such a heavy weight, it is important to keep a safe space where you can drop it all and just have a rest.

Enter Q initiative. Although it originally started as a way for activists to fight for rights and legal issues, Festus is considering taking it more towards a safe space for queer people. In different local communities Q is an environment where queer folks in rural Kenya can be creative and me themselves. Potentially they might accidentally create a local scene of indie musicians in the process.

Consider supporting though https://Patreon.com/Queersounds

Flashback Track: Koffie Olomide – Andrada

Queer Artist Spotlight: Lil Nas X – Montero (Call me By Your Name)

Best Live Experience: Common – Glory feat. John Legend

Most Recent Discovery: Noel Nderitu – Your Name feat. Lisa Odour-Noah

Shownotes:

Q-initiative, https://www.galck.org/q-initiative/

Genderdeconstructing, https://www.instagram.com/genderdeconstructing/

Get in touch through https://QueerSounds.com/Contact

Also Available through Spotify and Apple Podcasts

CW: misogyny, queerphobia, and a lot of sexual content

Even though it’s not particularly gender affirming, Finch enjoys making their money though online sex work. Although different types of digital sex work bring different types of joy, it’s still a valid way of paying the bills. Hopefully, this episode will help destigmatise this brand of profession a little bit. Let’s get all doubts out of the way: when this podcast advocates for workers’ rights, that includes sex workers’ rights!

Camming comes with a more femme mask, during another of Finch’s favourite past times he wears a more masc mask. Larping might be closest to digital anonymity that’s available in the outside world. However, in Finch’s experience, it’s not nearly as toxic and horrible.

Consider Supporting though https://Patreon.com/QueerSounds

Flashback Track: 3 Daft Moneys – Paranoid Big Brother

Queer Artist Spotlight: Zand – Boys Like U

Best Live Experience: Gaz Brookfield – Black Dog Day

Most Recent Discovery: Watsky – Grass is Greener

Shownotes:

Onlyfans ban sex work rumour: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-16/onlyfans-is-said-to-seek-funding-at-valuation-above-1-billion

Discworld – Terry Pratchett: https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/book-series/discworld/

Get in touch though Queersounds.com/Contact

Also Available through Spotify and Apple Podcasts

CW: Queerphobia, Transphobia, Police violence, Self harm

This was a difficult episode to edit. As Yildiz from KAOS GL shares the highs and lows of Queer life in Turkey, on one hand there are some detailed descriptions of the way people mistreat queer folks I decided to cut. On the other hand, their energy is so optimistic and fun it’s been an absolute delight to talk to them. Check out the content warnings to see if this episode right for you.

KAOS GL is the oldest queer rights group in Turkey, founded in 1994. Their effort is only outdated by individuals who made it big and used their platform to advocate for queer rights. Now, there aren’t a lot of examples out there, but we’re gonna talk about one quite extensively.

Consider supporting through: http://Patreon.com/Queersounds

Flashback Track: Bülent Ersoy – Maazallah

Queer Artist Spotlight: Madonna – Material Girl

Best Live Experience: Vega – Iz Birakanlar Unutulmaz

Recent Discovery: Ankarali Yasemin – Motor Geliyor

Shownotes

KAOS main website: https://kaosgl.org/en/

Bülent Ersoy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BClent_Ersoy

Madonna as queer Icon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_as_a_gay_icon

Sarya was born in the United States. For a large part they grew up in Taiwan before they eventually moved to Edinburgh to go to uni there. In the meantime, they got to know a whole bunch of stereotypes. In the end they proudly became one. Spoken word, music, theatre, Sarya can do all the arts.

Let’s lean into our stereotypes, shall we? Sarya loved the arts and theatre and as a result they would regularly get cast into genderbending creative type roles. In hindsight though, it’s hard to tell how much of this was actually an act. We could spiral into how much of gender is performative but let’s leave that for another time. Are there any stereotypes you like to lean into? Reach out through the contact form below.

Flashback Track: John Denver – Take me Home, Country Roads

Queer Artist Spotlight: Tami T – Fourteen

Best Live Experience: múm – Slow Down

Episode Special: Sarya – Professional Woman

Consider supporting through: https://Patreon.com/Queersounds

Shownotes

https://Saryaisok.com

Get in touch through Queersounds.com/Contact

@PaulinaVo can tell you like no other how strongly the time and place can influence a person, including what music you listen to. Throughout her life she moved a lot and thus she experienced first-hand how the music she listens to has changed over the different locations and eras in her life.

While editing this show I noticed again how hesitant Paulina was talking about her queer experience. Of course, not everyone is as vocal about their own queerness. But then I noticed how much the conversation fired up when talking about race. In hindsight, I think some questions were left unanswered about whether she feels the need to choose between her queer identity or her Asian identity. I guess there’s a time and place for all those unanswered questions too.

Without reading into it too much, there might be parallels with her musical preferences. When she lived in a white environment she had to deal with some nasty remarks. Both because she’s Asian and because she listens to hip-hop. Now, where one is breaking out in an activist manner, Paulina pushes the other ever so slightly into the background. Is she conditioned to downplay her love for hip-hop? Am I reading too much into it? Let me know though the contact form below.

Consider Supporting through https://Patreon.com/Queersounds

Flashback Track: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – The Crossroads

Queer Artist Spotlight: The Japanese House – Something has to Change

Best Live Experience: Phoenix – Lasso

Recent Discovery: Chika – Cinderella pt. 2

https://PaulinaVo.com

When a band consists of a couple, people usually expect things to go south, but Hey, King! is here to prove them wrong. They just released a wonderfully queer album which covers deeply personal subjects. This includes the meta subject of a couple being in a band together.

The band consists of Natalie and Taylor who, as far as I got to know them, show that having a healthy relationship comes with being open and honest with each other. However, they’re not here to give relationship advice. Instead they’ll sit us down and have us listen to pages from their diary. This brand of honesty does not just apply to their relationship, but more often than not it also forms the base for their lyrics. Throw in a tongue-in-cheek approach to these serious matters and a love for the french horn and you’ll get Hey, King!

Consider supporting through https://Patreon.com/QueerSounds

Flashback Track: Tori Amos – Take to the Sky

Queer Artist Spotlight: Tegan & Sara – Walking with a Ghost

Best Live Experience: The Front Bottoms – Twin Size Mattress

Episode Special: Hey, King! – Sorry

Shownotes:

- Hey, King! Official site, Including the Sorry Video: https://heykingofficial.com/

- Anti Records: https://www.anti.com/

Get in touch through Queersounds.com/Contact

Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Anyone who has ever read anything about pop music, knows that Swedish producers write the best songs. From Max Martin to ABBA, this country’s track record in pop history is unparalleled. So it makes absolute sense that the pop artist Jack O’Connor, otherwise known as SNKT, moved to Stockholm to chase his dream. His first album is coming out in may 2021

I’m not quite used to guests who bounce back some questions. Though I love talking about music as much as anybody else, if not more, it sometimes forces me to show my ignorance. Is there anything I need to know about Frank Ocean or Robyn? Let me know though the contact form below.

Consider supporting through https://Patreon.com/Queersounds

Flashback Track: Britney Spears – (You Drive Me) Crazy – The Stop! Remix

Queer Artist Spotlight: Frank Ocean – Thinkin Bout You

Best Live Experience: Robyn – Honey

Recent Discovery: SNKT – Lost in Love

Shownotes

SNKT Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snktmusic/

Wiki: Max Martin Production Discography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Martin_production_discography

An extensive guide to Robyn: https://gazettereview.com/2016/10/happened-robyn-news-updates/

Björn Ulveaus on Today’s pop music: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/apr/17/todays-pop-industry-cheats-songwriters-and-deters-the-risk-taking-that-made-abba

Get in touch through https://Queersounds.com/Contact

CW: Homophobia, Transphobia, Systematic Oppression, Violence and a brief mention of HIV-Aids

It's so wonderful to have a big ol' nerd as a guest. In this case Harits will run you through the past fifty years of Indonesian History from a queer point of view. As the main guy behind the Queer Indonesian Archive we could have gone much further, but in the best case it will be a reason to invite him, or one of his colleagues, again some time.

In recent Indonesian History Queer acceptance took a turn for the worse. However, a bunch of young activists are fighting for more acceptance. This is once again an example of how tolerance does not equal acceptance. If this seems broad and vague, listen to the episode to find out more.

Consider Supporting though: https://Patreon.com/QueerSounds

Flashback Track: Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood – Storybook Children

Queer Artist Spotlight: Guruh Soekarno Putra – Lagu Putih

Best Live Experience: Franz Ferdinand – Michael

Recent Discovery: Arthur Sharpe – My Only Worry

Shownotes:

Queer Indonesian Archive: https://www.qiarchive.org/

Queer Indonesia Zines and Images: https://seaqcf.net/program/echoes-our-past-3-digital-exhibitions-queer-indonesia-archive

“2016 Gay Panic”: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/feb/22/why-lgbt-hatred-suddenly-spiked-in-indonesia

Wiki: Post-Suharto Era: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Suharto_era_in_Indonesia

Get in touch through Queersounds.com/Contact

It’s obvious I’ve been out of the running for a bit. I thought i had my research done right, but Neel kept on proving me wrong. Isn’t it wonderful to have so many international connections who teach you something at every turn? In this case, Neel points out the trans discourse when it comes to cultural differences between trans women and Hijra people in India. And that’s just one example.

Anyway, every now and again we’re tired of the trans discourse ™, but we can miss out on it as well. Me as much as everybody else. This isn’t related to the episode perse, but it is something I wanted to share with you. The limited social interactions I’ve had recently have been disappointingly cis. I’m blessed with a lot of friends but I do miss hanging out with other Queer folks. Relatable? Drop me a line through @Queersoundspod on Twitter or Instagram.

CW: Transphobia

Consider Supporting through https://Patreon.com/Queersounds

Flashback Track: Imon Chakraborty – Ajo Sakhi

Queer Artist Spotlight: Janelle Monáe – Make Me Feel

Best Live Experience: When Chai Met Toast - Believe

Most Recent Discovery: Phoebe Bridgers – Motion Sickness

Shownotes

Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality – Ashoka University: http://csgs.ashoka.edu.in/our-team/

Womxn Discourse: https://www.insider.com/using-the-phrase-womxn-doesnt-mean-youre-trans-inclusive-2021-3

Hijra 101: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/a-brief-history-of-hijra-indias-third-gender/

India Trans Recourses 1: https://www.instagram.com/nazariya.qfrg/?hl=en

India Trans Recourses 2: https://www.instagram.com/trains_trans/?hl=en

Get in touch through https://QueerSounds.com/Contact

Hey y'all. I'm sorry, No full episode today. This is the first time I'm unable to stick to my self imposed release schedule since I've had one which, on one hand is weird but also puts this complete lack of an issue in perspective. No hard feelings, ok?