Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
photos on this page courtesy of Dee Torrell<br />
history on the radio, and I love the educational aspect of it<br />
and mixing it in with whatever's new. Of course, I have to<br />
find some sort of easy transition between a song from 1937<br />
and <strong>2023</strong>. But with this music coming out, let's broadcast.<br />
Let's give it a place.<br />
You are a musician as well as a DJ. What bands are you<br />
currently working with?<br />
I moved to Memphis in 1995 and probably started in<br />
bands here in 2004, and lately it's just snowballed into<br />
multiple bands. I do have a solo project that I am currently<br />
writing and will be releasing. I am also in Screamer;<br />
Thalamus; J Robot; Obscured, a Cure cover band; and<br />
Blood, Graffiti, and Spit. I’m filling in for Joy Bomb and<br />
Mama Honey, and I also sometimes play with Kathy Zhou.<br />
Could you talk more about Blood, Graffiti, and Spit?<br />
It was a project started by Holly Walnuts covering<br />
Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It's a wonderful tribute, and<br />
I am very honored to have joined the band in May 2022.<br />
We have performed a few times, and then this year we<br />
performed on the big stage at Memphis Pride. It was<br />
probably the most exhilarating experience. To be with<br />
queerness, with everybody around me.<br />
How has living in Memphis affected your show?<br />
I never expected this, coming out years ago. I<br />
never thought that I would amount to anything. We<br />
have progressed. Memphis has been wonderful. The<br />
community has been wonderful. Memphis also has quite<br />
a strong ally community. Which is surprising, being in<br />
the US <strong>South</strong>. It's a diamond in the rough. And I've had<br />
positive reactions with people who are conservative.<br />
They've been very loving and it's not something you'd<br />
find everywhere else in the United States. Or around the<br />
world.<br />
I think a big part of that too, is education and exposure.<br />
Yeah, and just being around somebody, whether or<br />
not somebody shares your beliefs. But if they know<br />
you, they have a stronger understanding. Maybe<br />
even stepping back on pushing any actual belief. Just<br />
because we're feeling positive. We're happier and they<br />
notice we're happier.<br />
And we belong.<br />
And we belong.<br />
14 Music | <strong>Nov</strong>+<strong>Dec</strong> <strong>2023</strong> | focuslgbt.com
Change language