The Trans Music Podcast

Do you know that Robyn song, Call Your Girlfriend? Well for a long time, I thought it was written by this week’s guest, A.W. Weiss, because their cover of the song is just so great.

I’ve listened to A.W.’s music for a long time, so I was so excited that I had the opportunity to interview them when they stopped in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on their living room tour a couple months ago. We talked about their new sound, their new country music project, and transitioning as an already-famous person.

Read the transcript and see photos over on the website: https://transmusic.org/post/182176837817/aw-weiss-on-living-room-tours-their-dead-name

Audrey Ayers used to play lead guitar for emo rockers the Mineral Girls, and has a new solo project called Problem Addict. I got to talk with her recently when I was in Charlotte, NC visiting my dad.

The thing I liked most about this interview is that her whole deal as both an artist and person is facing your mistakes and your power head on. Read the transcript and see the pictures: https://durhambeat.com/2019/02/18/artist-profile-audrey-ayers/

Back in October, I went on a little road trip to Washington DC. Whenever I travel now, I reach out to local trans musicians and see if they want to be interviewed for the podcast. Sammy Gagnon, who plays under the band name Sammy Heck and runs the DIY label Deep Sea Records, drove all the way down from Baltimore to meet me for this interview. We talked about how she got into the DIY scene, what Guitar Center is like as a trans woman, and cracking eggs.

Read more on our website: https://transmusic.org/post/183206262037/sammy-heck-egg-cracker

More information about Kanautica:

Kanautica Zayre Brown is a Black trans woman who has been denied transfer to a women’s facility. You can read more about her story on The Root.

I know that most of the people reading this right now are trans, and trans people generally hate phone calls. It’s also scary if you don’t know who’s going to be on the other end. But we’ve gotta stand up for each other y’all. If we don’t, who will? And if you want to send her some money, she and her husband Dionne’s cash app is $007db.

Example script:

“I’m calling to demand that you transfer Kanautica Zayre-Brown (inmate number 0618705) to a women’s prison in accordance with her wishes, the Prison Rape Elimination Act, and The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons Transgender Offender Manual. Kanautica needs to be moved to a women’s facility to affirm her identity and ensure her rights and safety"

More numbers to call:

Harnett County Sherriff’s Office: (910) 893 8111

Harnett Correctional Institution: (910) 893 2751

NC Department of Corrections: (919) 838 4000

NC Department of Public Safety: (919) 733 2126

I went to visit Sinclair at their little cabin by a creek in Hillsboro, North Carolina. We talked about their bands, their post-graduation plans, and then got really, really deep into a conversation about cultural appropriation in music.

Read their profile on the Durham Beat: https://durhambeat.com/2019/02/12/artist-profile-sinclair-palmer/

If you’ve been to any of Raleigh, North Carolina's queer venues, or a local punk show with more than two women in it, or any Girls Rock NC event in the last three years, you’ve probably come across Kae Diaz. Kae is a singer, a drummer, a ukulele player, a bartender, a photographer, and in general a pillar of the local queer DIY scene. They play the electric ukulele and drums in an indie rock project called Fruit Snack, and as it happens, we are actually currently both in a punk country band called Severed Fingers. I recently went to visit Kae and talk about finding collaborators, what the music scene is like in the Mojave desert where they grew up, and the challenges of creating a space for the art you want to see.

Just a warning, we do mention alcohol and some other, mostly fun, adult topics.

This profile is a collaboration with the Durham Beat. Read the full interview transcript and see photos that I took of Kae at home over on their website: https://durhambeat.com/2019/01/13/artist-profile-kae-diaz/