Electro queer music, from Le Tigre’s feminist sounds to PC Music‘s bass-heavy bangers, is reclaiming genre-bending club sounds for LGBTQ communities. Though cis-white straight males continue to dominate pop music charts, artists such as Lady Gaga and Janelle Monae (of Janelle Monae & the Boygenius Supergroup fame) are coming out and proud.
Alice Longyu Gao
Alice Longyu Gao is creating her own world. On her latest EP ‘She’s Calling,’ the Brooklyn-based transgender artist explores the intricate relationship between music and nature rituals. Singing songs that sound as if channeled from beneath the ocean floor, Alice combines sounds from Chinese heritage studies at Harvard University with Asian religious studies alongside indie pop and electronic music to craft an emotional yet spiritual sensual journey of self-discovery for queer women.
Recent attention may be focused on queer club culture’s revival, but LGBTQ artists have long been part of electronic music. Quer artists have helped define this genre – whether with beat-heavy anthems of idm or futuristic house of Arca; their music exudes power and emotion.
As much as the dance scene may be dominated by straight and cisgender men, LGBTQ communities are making waves in music with their own style of hyperpop. One prominent example is Alice Longyu Gao of Bengbu-born New York multihyphenate Alice Longyu Gao is making waves in hyperpop with her debut EP being released today. Alice is at the helm of her own world as CEO championing artistic vision and diversity while at party starter through her splashy hyperpop beats (“Come 2 Brazil” features hip hop beats about being clouted while “Hello Kitty” goes beyond genre boundaries while often working alongside Dylan Brady of 100 gecs for collaborations!
KAYTRANADA, an Haitian-Canadian producer who released their debut album ‘BUBBA’ late 2019 as another leading queer DJ. Working closely with numerous LGBTQ artists and hosting an immersive pop-up to pay homage to Harajuku culture. Utilizing trap drums and bass as his musical foundations, he employs emotive yet hard-hitting vocals from singer KAYTRANADA that hit hard despite her dark lyrics about love which will never die while inspiring her audience with stunning dance moves on stage despite her dark themes.
Florian Bertonnier
Queerness in music might feel expected today, but that wasn’t always the case. Club nights with policies stating no racism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia or violence weren’t always standard practice and major music festivals that expressly forbade any form of harassment–be it sexual, physical or verbal–were rare even a decade ago.
Queer artists in electronic music are making waves. Through their own distinct brand of dance music, these rising stars are pushing forward into a more inclusive, welcoming, and vibrant future. We spoke to some of them about how queering affects their work today.
Kiyoko is best known for her heart-pounding bangers that have attracted the likes of Charli XCX, Vince Staples and Madonna dancing their hearts out. With early disco, house and rave synth influences–but pushed forward into rave synths–Kiyoko has taken familiar sound familiar to them and expanded upon it for new audiences. She is truly a force of nature who’s breaking down gender and fluidity barriers through music with each sound of her voice.
She expresses how belonging to the LGBTQ community in electronic music has made her feel less alone on stage and dancefloor, providing a sense of acceptance and belonging that she hopes others can feel too.
Wreckno, a DJ, producer, and dancer based out of Detroit, seamlessly fuses techno with hip-hop to produce an exhilarating dancefloor sound that resonates both evocatively and fresh. Furthermore, he has long championed LGBTQ+ voices in electronic music culture; something which has profoundly affected both his own work and inspired peers alike to do more to uphold these issues.
Thx4Crying
Hoshi (Mathilde Gerner), is one of France’s foremost queer icons and uses her music to emote the melancholy of queer love. From its hypnotic synth intricacies of “Zygote” to its otherworldly electro-pop romance of “Amour censure”, School Daze exudes queer romance.
One refreshing aspect was the presence of transgendered content within songs and pairings; since women* and nonbinary people’s radar is sensitive to even subtle instances of queer coded subtext written underneath straightwashing, this was truly welcoming sight.
The second show provided a delightful respite from Oxford stress, showing how art can address queer narratives while drawing attention to issues of erasure and discrimination experienced by different sections of the LGBTQ+ community. Using Holywell Music Room – one of Europe’s first ever custom-built music halls built during 1700 – as the venue made the performance especially poignant; showing that LGBTQ+ art can take place everywhere and anytime; additionally it demonstrated that including queer narratives in classic musical theatre songs (such as Company’s ‘Being Alive’ or Tangled’s ‘I See The Light’) also added significance.
Discwoman
Electronic music’s origins lie firmly within marginalized communities; yet its impact in queer spaces often goes underappreciated. Although the connection may not always be clear-cut, its influence is evident when listening to the music produced by LGBTQ members from groups like Discwoman (a collective that promotes femme DJs and hosts festivals featuring all-female lineups in New York).
Discwoman members aren’t just celebrating women; they’re using their platform to raise funds for pro-woman and LGBTQ initiatives like Sadie Nash Leadership Project and Callen-Lorde community health centers, hosting queer dance parties in NYC, SF and Portland that draw in crowds, while helping rewrite techno history for listeners.
Female and nonbinary artists in an industry dominated by men face an uphill battle just to establish their presence on stages around the globe. Documentaries such as Underplayed demonstrate this struggle against discrimination; all-female collectives such as Discwoman, female:pressure and NOTT have also arisen to combat its sexist atmosphere.
There is increased pressure for LGBTQ musicians to use music as a vehicle for change in our increasingly divisive culture, particularly as more are coming forward and taking on the challenges presented by a highly competitive field that may or may not always welcome them with open arms.
Though much work remains, there are signs that things are shifting for the cause of women in music. At Moogfest this weekend, several Discwoman affiliates such as Umfang and NYC’s Stud1nt were chosen to perform at the Pinhook and moderate panels about navigating DIY and professional music circles respectively; additionally stud1nt will lead a technical Introduction to Synth Patching workshop on Friday and Saturday afternoons.
Produced music can range from hypnotic bass lines and euphoric riffs, to angry noise-punk aggression – whatever their style, these artists strive to imagine an open future free from instrumental boundaries of other genres. As part of an emerging movement called queer techno, these artists envision an alternative future that defies instrumental limitations.