" The music industry is an diligence where they do like to typecast " .
99.9% of queer people will probably tell you that being queer is not easy. So, imagine (if you can) being a queer person in the music industry…
To celebratePridemonth, we sat down with three openly queer musicians to discuss what it means to them to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community, and to work in the music industry.
Here’s what they had to say about what it’s like to be confident in who they are while taking on the music industry!
Hey guy , thanks for your time today ! Our first question is , when did you know you wanted to pursue a career in medicine ?
Lyndsey : I knew I wanted to do euphony reasonably betimes on , but I felt admonish from it . I think everybody does . In mediate school , I did concert band , jazz band , and guitar grade . During that meter , the gears were turn , and then in high school I was like , " I want to do this , I ’ll find a elbow room to do it . "
NoSo : I remember I present to this songwriting contest through Carnegie Hall . I did it the right way before move to L.A – a place I had a really hard metre acclimating to . I shortly witness out I was one of the winners , and I had to go to South Africa with five other Americans . My first time performing an original vocal was at that euphony festival with a dance orchestra behind me . I just remember think afterwards , " I need this feeling again . "
“The music industry is an industry where they do like to typecast”.
ABISHA : I’ve make love since I was young that I wanted to do music . I started dancing lessons as well as singing , but it was always singing that I bed I want to do in earnest .
What do you think make up you unequaled as an creative person ?
Lyndsey : One thing I try out to keep throughout is creative unity , as well as the willingness to take risks and not always play it dependable . Sonically , I really eff to taste and ascertain agency to read aggression in dissimilar ways that you would n’t needs take from a female singer .
NoSo : I would like to believe I ’m a bit cheeky ! My stage name is also an abbreviation for North or South , something I ’ve been asked about my entire lifetime . It used to make me so wild but now I feel like I ’ve reclaimed it . I think I do n’t take myself too seriously , and I hope it evince .
ABISHA : I’d say being vulnerable and speaking about my personal experience . They ’re things that only I ’ve gone through and I can speak about , and I hope other hoi polloi can either touch to them or get a line from them .
speak of that , how do you sum up the courage to palpate comfortable sharing so much about your identity in your medicine ?
Lyndsey : I call back that ’s what art ’s for – the key to make water art is to share and dive into your feelings as well as to link with people . I think we ’re here on Earth to connect . The biggest way of life to do that is to show up as yourself unapologetically , and constantly seek for your verity . It ’s okay if that changes perpetually , just being real and vapourous with that is the key fruit to happy friendship , glad relationships , happy everything .
Noso : It ’s still nerve - wracking to be really vulnerable . From the earlier songs on the record to the final ones , I intend you’re able to tell that I became more convinced in the process . I compose the Sung dynasty over three years ago , and then when I was promoting the record album and people were asking me what the songs think of , I made a subconscious decision to be really fair . In twist , at my shows , there are a lot of trans citizenry who would not have discovered me unless I was genuinely fair . So that has given me courage .
ABISHA : I had to acquire to be confident because I was very timid as a tike . There have also been times when I ’ve been advise to keep it neutral . From day one I ’ve said , I ’m going to use female pronouns in my song . So for me , it ’s easy now to be authentic in my medicine because I do n’t want somebody listening to my song to query , " is she talking about a girl ? "
What does Pride mean to you ?
Lyndsey : Pride have in mind a lot of thing . Pride means hold true to yourself and not being afraid to be that .
NoSo : It ’s a work in advancement . I feel like I ’ve been a part of so many dissimilar sections of the community in terms of how I identify , and I experience like that could also change in the future . I ’m very proud of who I am in this form of my aliveness , but I also do n’t cognise what my gender expression is run low to front like in a few days . It ’s being proud of the present and the future .
ABISHA : It means everything to me . It means residential area , it means household , it mean base hit . Going back to the account of it , it ’s a protest , of course . Protesting for our right hand to be ourselves . I mean we can sometimes bury that . It is a party and festivity as well , but for me , it ’s about remember how far we ’ve come and how far there still is to go .
Oftentimes , the industriousness can make people from marginalised radical – whether that be because of race , ethnicity , or being a part of the LGBTQ+ community – feel like there is n’t elbow room for more than one somebody at the mesa . Have you ever felt this way ? If so , how did you overcome that ?
Lyndsey : I call up when we first start out , especially being a fair sex in rock-and-roll , that felt like a affair . Nowadays it ’s agitate so much . I imagine dispute and what set someone aside are strengths now . Everybody ’s uniqueness is celebrate so much more , and I remember we have the upper hired man in that way .
NoSo : I’ve personally felt that way . I think of whenMitskiwas becoming very spectacular back when I was in college . I was so excited that she could pave the way for people like me , but I was also like , " fuck ! She took my seat . " The industry definitely make it seem like there ’s only a certain amount of hoi polloi that can fit at the table . I remember when I was starting to talk to record labels , all of them were comparing me to Mitski . I ’m more at peace with that now ; it ’s so funny that you ’re directly compared to someone because you both act guitar !
ABISHA : Being gay and assorted - slipstream are things that I ’m incredibly proud of , but in general , the euphony industry is an diligence where they do care to type . I think it ’s gentle to see a mixed - raceway or Black artist and say , they ’re going to be an R&B vocalizer or do Hip - Hop . Why does this one thing about me that does n’t reflect my entire identity project a specific August 15 about me that is n’t inevitably truthful ?
Do you finger that the industriousness can sometimes pigeonhole you to contrive one part of your identity more than another ? Have you ever felt put in a box ?
NoSo : There were a duet of labels who did n’t listen to my euphony , they were just hyper - fixated on the fact that I ’m Korean . One A&R person even said , " you know being Asiatic is really in flop now . " So what happens to me when you deem the next ethnicity to be more trendy ? I was 21 at the clip someone said that to me , and I ’d gone to music schooltime so I was capable to stand my ground based on my training .
ABISHA : I’ve feel like that my whole life – in general and in the music industry . For me , it ’s about allow for myself to take up place and knowing that I ’m worthy of taking up that space . I ’m no less suitable than any of these other contenders who may be put in the same category as me because they are also mixed - subspecies or faggot .
Who or what make you feel see / represented ? Why ?
Lyndsey : I’ve always resonated with Florence + The Machine . Her mindset as an creative person and as a creative is really selfless and beautiful . That ’s something I try and come near with music – it ’s grownup than you , it ’s just coming ~through~ you .
NoSo : I’m a immense rooter of Michelle Zauner ( of Japanese Breakfast ) and everything she does . In her medicine , but alsoCrying in H Mart , the way that she discover her puerility experience feel like she ’d pulled something out of my own diary . Also Mitski ! When I saw the euphony video for " Best American Girl " , it really attain a chord with me .
ABISHA : I would say the TV show , " The L - Word " – the original one ! I watched it in my early twenties and it kind of changed my life history . I just guess it was so ahead of its time . It unapologetically exemplify every aspect of the queer community and normalised it . When I watched that , it made me feel so go out .
Who are some artist that have influenced your piece of work ?
Lyndsey : Florence + The Machine andThe Weeknd – production - judicious . Sonically , Rihannafor sure , and probablyGrimestoo . You recognize how there ’s your bad three in Astrology ? That ’s my braggart four .
NoSo : When I was at USC MUNA come to speak to us because they are a graduate there too . I was 18 , and that was also the first fourth dimension I was like , " oh , gay people can be cool ? " They were so convinced ! I also have a go at it their lyrics and musicality .
ABISHA : Frank Ocean and Kehlani because they are both particularly bare-ass and vulnerable in their words . They talk so openly and honestly about what they ’ve been through . To me , that ’s what being an artist is about .
How does it sense when other queer artists / fans relate to your euphony ?
Lyndsey : I retrieve it ’s really nerveless and beautiful and special .
NoSo : Actually , there was someone who came to my show once who differentiate me , " this is what I want to do . It ’s so cool to see someone who ’s like me really doing it . " There are so many highs and low when you ’re an artist , but from this person ’s linear perspective I ’d already made it . That really allow me to see a higher purpose for what I ’m doing in terms of representation . It could finger small to me , but it could sense very pregnant to other people .
ABISHA : The best compliment for me is when somebody sound out my euphony has helped them through a hard meter . " Time Alone " was the song that I contract the most message about . A passel of people said they ’d really been struggling , and " Time Alone " had avail them realise it was ok .
What ’s your queer hymn ?
Lyndsey:“All The Things She Said " by t. A.T.u is the earliest one for me . I did n’t really unite the Lucy in the sky with diamonds that it was odd in any way , or even that I was … I just liked it !
NoSo : I think " I Wanna Be Your Lover " by Prince . It remind me of college , which was the first time I was around a set of queer mass . Before that , I ’d been live in these very stifled environments . It was a vocal that all the gay people would trip the light fantastic toe to !
ABISHA : I’m go to go back to being a adolescent and say Jessie J’sWho You Arealbum , especially the song " L.O.V.E. "
If someone wrote a song about you , what would be the title ?
Lyndsey : " She ca n’t make up her mind " , I think , and the genre would be country !
NoSo : I’m expire for someone to write a diss rails about me – something like " NoSo ’s a Slut " .
ABISHA : I think it would be something exchangeable to what Kehlani did with herSweet , Sexy , Savagealbum – I ’d just pick three adjectives . Sweet is something I would say because my friends are always telling me I ’m too odoriferous . So … angelical , loyal , and something along the personal credit line of unwritten or daring !
If your latest album / liberation had a Tinder bio what would it be ?
Lyndsey : Spicy , saucy , sultry , woolgathering , and crunchy .
NoSo : Tender , blissful music you listen to on a walk .
ABISHA : If I see you , just know I ’m buy the farm to write a Sung dynasty about you .
Do you have an ultimate finish you hope to achieve as a musician ?
Lyndsey : I just want to do it as long as I possibly can and I trust that my medicine continues to come across with people .
NoSo : People have often say me thatStay Proud of Me(NoSo ’s debut album ) has helped them and I think that ’s always been my ultimate goal . I ’d like my show to be a supportive and safe environment , not only for masses who relate to me , but for people who are completely dissimilar from me too !
ABISHA : Over the years , a lot of masses have messaged me state they touch to my music or that they ’ve used this piece of me to facilitate them get through something . For me , that ’s why I make music , so I infer I hope that proceed !
Be sure to show PVRIS, NoSo, and ABISHA some love – and not just during Pride, but all year long!!
If you require to keep up with these artists , be certain to watch out for PVRIS ’s new albumEVERGREENcoming out July 14th , heed to NoSo ’s new single " kaitlin " , and tick out ABISHA ’s a la mode sacking " Breathe " . Happy Pride y' all ! ! ! !
