Out Loud! is a collection of music, sounds and voices gathered for the second issue of I Don’t Do Boxes magazine. Through an open call for submissions our editorial team invited queer-identifying musicians and youth to submit original recordings to compliment stories and artworks featured in this latest issue. We received everything from raucous punk anthems, to ambient noise experiments, queer oral histories, and queer-hop beats. Listen closely and you may hear yourself in the intimate stories shared.
Out Loud! Playlist
1. We Don’t Do Boxes was created during a vocal improv workshop led by Quilla (Anna Luisa Daigneault) a Canadian-Peruvian vocalist, keyboardist, and composer on April 30, 2014. http://www.quillamusic.com
2. The Tomboys are Nego Crosson, Larkin Carroll and Gigi Burkhalter. Their music is described as “sexy queer nostalgia drenched in the revolution.” www.facebook.com/thetomboys/
3. My Gay Banjo is Owen Taylor and Julia Steele Allen on guitar, banjo, uke and vocals. Singing homespun gay-themed duets and occasional queered-up mash-ups, My Gay Banjo plays songs for you and your kind. www.mygaybanjo.com
4. Jeremy Lee Harris (aka Miah Luz) makes optimistic doom and gloom combining piano balladry manipulated ambient noise, and looped beats chiseled from found objects to create a dark, electric, lo-fi soundscape. www.miahluz.bandcamp.com
5. The Homewreckers are a queer-core, pop-punk outfit from the salty depths of Brooklyn, NY. They were founded in 2008 when Cristy Road and Jackie O. got together to write emotionally-distraught pop-punk songs about queer problems and manic depression. www.the-homewreckers.com/info.htm
6, 17. Track 6 brings together a medley of experimental sounds created during a QueerLab workshop led by interdisciplinary and multimedia artist Peter Pendergrass on May 14, 2014. And track 17 is an original song titled Ghost Hand. peterpendergrass.com
7. Maya Songbird is a flamboyant songstress born in the historic Castro district of San Francisco who sings of sex, love and living the life in the bay. Creating music that takes you on a journey through whimsical ambient sounds, across hints of house beats and trippy synthesized tunes. www.mayasongbird.com
8. Half-Breed started in 2012 between roommates, Micaila Hopkins and Ashley Nieves. This two piece band keeps it simple and upbeat. There are no big pedal boards or synth tracks to fill in for lack of members; they are just two POC queers making music. www.half-breed.bandcamp.com
9. In an age where female emcees (MC) are near extinct, TreZure is determined to change the landscape of a male dominated industry. A staple of North Carolina’s underground hip hop scene, TreZure’s music envelopes the listener in a world filled with pulsing basslines, chest pounding drum laden tracks, incredible metaphors, witty vernacular and down right honest, in your face lyricism. www.reverbnation.com/trezureakawidow
10. Les Tresvinos (aka Megan Denton and friends) is a lover of all things kind and pure.
11. “Tip of the Problem” is written from the viewpoint of a gay teenager struggling to survive. Lyrics by Janet Cooling and music composed by María DeGuzmán. Janet Cooling is a professor of Art at San Diego State University and María DeGuzmán is Professor of English & Comparative Literature at UNC-Chapel Hill.
12. Jimmi Pancakes is DIY queer musician who learned to play guitar via a “How to Play Guitar” video, happily recorded a few original songs in her bedroom, and went on tour once during the worst economic recession since The Great Depression. www.jimmipancakes.bandcamp.com
13. Hyster Majesty (aka Kaitlin Froom) is a genderfuck Goddess and queer riot grrrl making art and music out of astrophysics and archaeology, depression and anxiety disorders, glitter, trash, stickers, and teenage girls’ diary writings.
14. Formed in 2011, Potpourri of Pearls explores the sexy and strange currents of synth pop, drawing from visual/performance art, mainstream pop/r&b, house, new wave, and a perversion of 90s easy listening music. www.potpourriofpearls.com
15. I am Samuel. When I sing and play guitar I am Bowsprit. This song was inspired by the novel Another Country by James Baldwin. It is a long, winding story of love in New York City that explores same-sex relationships, interracial love, and the intricacies of social expectations. I found it very moving, so I wrote a love song to Mr. Baldwin and discovered more about my own relationship with my sexuality in the process.
16. Schmekel was a prominent force in the Brooklyn, NY transcore scene of the early 2010s. Mixing traditional klezmer motifs with punk sensibilities, Schmekel (which means “little penis” in Yiddish), challenged listeners to think critically about Judaism, queerness, and the sounds that accompany both. www.transjews.com
18. An original song written for a graduate school class at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Meg Scott and Rob Phipps. It was put together with the help of her son Rob who composed the music, sang, and recorded the song in his bedroom.
19. Hear about the often heartbreaking yet inspiring story of Raven Ridley Hilferty Ducamp – growing up intersexed, queer, bipolar and as a foster child. This podcast was produced by writer and multimedia artist Deonna Kelli Sayed.
Also Included:
Humble Tripe: Pushing the boundaries of folk-Americana, North Carolina based Humble Tripe joins forces with producer Melissa York (Amy Ray, The Butchies) on their most recent offering. Moving from songwriter to symphony, resulting in a haunting landscape of beautiful swells, dramatic tension and space, Humble Tripe shines on their latest album, The Giving. “A joy to behold, a collection of lovely, sublime melodies that shimmer and sparkle with a radiance all their own.”– No Depression
Special Thanks all the contributing artists and to Homoground for sharing this wonderful collection of music from queer-identifying musicians, allies and youth!