Katie Stewart | Sad Mag

Sad Mag sits down with the ever-so-pretty Boy Funk before their opening performance for Zebra Katz. Remember that time you smoked heaps of weed in your early twenties and made some mind-blowing music videos with elaborate costume changes and slow-mo dancing in front of flocks of birds?

Where are you from, and how long have you been playing?
I am from Portland, OR. I have been creating music and writing songs for as long as my stoner mind can recall. Being an only child–I was always the star of the show and the entire cast. I’ve been rapping since I was 12. Performing as Boy Funk for 3 years.

What draws you to ‘Mo-Wave?
An opportunity to unite (queer) musicians, artists, and people from all walks of life to come together and get it on!

What do you think can be done to make more stages for queer artists?
Not listening to some heterosexual guy talk to you about “Same Love”–follow your own heart and find your own love. Also if more people in the industry would come out of the closet it would show how many of us there actually are. If you have a problem, don’t find a solution–start a revolution.

Life or Daily Mantra: Don’t Cry, Get High

I never leave home without: Marijuana

If I weren’t a musician/performer I would be: in jail

A good show means: that I made people laugh, dance, and horny. You know: celebrate life!

Your backing band is: my best friend in the universe, Rap Girl. She’s my co-MC. Charley Sharp who is THE go-go bear superstar diva dancer H.B.I.C. in the world. And Saffron… who just simply is.

Boy Funk be playing Vancouver’s Main Stage Pride as well as other parties this year. Check out their sweet beats at http://theboyfunk.com/

There is something distinctively charming about listening to a bearded, glasses-clad, hipster cowboy singing songs about ponies–in a venue also called Pony. Sad Mag caught up with Tenderfoot before his afternoon ‘salon’ show at Seattle’s most geometrically acute gay bar.

How long have you been playing as your current project and where are you from?
I’ve been making music under the name Tenderfoot for 5 years now, with different iterations of bands and accompaniment. I was born in Valdosta, GA and grew up in the South until I was 21, then made my way up north to the Detroit, MI area where I Iived for 6 years. After living on the road for a year with a partner in a vintage travel trailer, I spent some time in San Francisco, then finally settled in the PNW.

What draws you to ‘Mo-Wave?
I love the artistic diversity Mo-Wave represents in their line-ups and events. There are so many ways to be a queer artist, and the festival crew really tries to cover the spectrum of the more underground and above-ground queer movements. Mixing in internationally recognized headliners with local queer bands and artists helps elevate everyone involved, and pollinates our scene creatively.

What do you think can be done to make more stages for queer artists?
I think queer artists need to make their own stages. I just finished a small tour in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and met with a lot of movers-and-shakers in the queer creative community. I’ve noticed a cultural trend: people are thinking smaller and bigger at the same time. Small, well-curated art & music shows are popping up in backyards, homes and dive bars, and these smaller shows resonate on larger levels through word-of-mouth and online. As has been the historical norm for queer artists, we can’t really wait for people to be ready for us and what we have to offer, we just have to do it ourselves.

To read more about Tenderfoot and his Whitmanesque ways, check out his website here: http://tenderfootmusic.com/

We have to admit we were warned. The chatter around Mo Wave’s main venue, Chop Suey, was awash with promises of filth and butt-holes from Headliner, Christeene. Hailing from Austin, Texas, Christeene is equal parts musician and performance artist with a penchant for mixing precise choreography with sloppy raunch. Even before Christeene was paraded onstage draped over the shoulders of her masked back-up dancers, the stage set-up (consisting of 6 tiny water bottles and toilet paper rolls) was a fairly accurate indication that shit was gonna get filthy.

And while photos of Christeene display a striking trans woman with long black locks matted together with sweat, smeared mascara, and a random application of lipstick across her lips and chin, it didn’t quite prepare us for our first sight of the artist: ass-first, with a cluster of helium balloons tied to a butt plug graciously wedged in her asshole.

Think Bambibot meets Bloody Betty plus more butt-holes than the House of Commons.

Sad Mag had a chance to sit down with Christeene before the show (and before—in what seemed to be a moment of sincere connection between performer and audience member—bitch spat in our face).

Where are you from, and how long have you been playing together?
WE FRUM AUSTIN TEXAS AN WE BEEN KICKIN DIZ NAY NAY ALL OVER DA WORLD FER 4 YEARZ NOW.

What draws you to ‘Mo-Wave?
MO WAVE IS UH MAJIIKAL FUGGIN LIVIN ROOM DAT CALLED TO US. JODI ECKLUND DUG US UP WHEN SHE WUZ IN AUSTIN FER SXSW AN WE BEEN TRYIN TOO GIT IT TOO IT EVER SINCE. DIZ WURLD NEEDS MO MO WAVE.

What do you think can be done to make more stages for queer artists?
IZ GUNNA TAKE DA QUEER ARTISTS AN COMMUNITIES CUMMIN TOGETHER TOO MAKE SOUNDING BOARDS OFF OF EACH OTHER SO DAT OUR SOUND GITS FUGGIN LOUDER AN LOUDER AN WE ALLLL KEEP EACH OTHER INFORMED UH DEEZ STAGES AN WHERE DEY ARE. WE NEED MESSENGER PIGEONS TOOO.

Christeene will be performing on April 26^th in Austin,TX as part of the FUSEBOX FESTIVAL. You can read more about Christeene Vale here: http://christeenemusic.com/

WATER includes professional and emerging artists with or without developmental, physical, or mental health issues, gender or language challenges.

Directed by Susanna Uchatius & James Coomber with puppetry by Tim Gosley (Puppeteer Master of The Muppets fame). WATER tells the story of one river-the gods that fought, the fish that swam, the fishermen that fished, the water-carriers that fetched and water buyers who bought; all deeply affecting the very life and soul of the river’s flow. With songs, dance, celebrations, large puppetry, raging passions, and live music- the rivers journey in WATER is a microcosm of civilization’s greatest and most precious element on this planet.

Katie Stewart: What is your involvement in WATER?

James Coomber: I’m a co-director, composer, and musician. Over the past year, Susanna and I have incorporated mythological, environmental, and theatrical ideas and facts and woven them together to create the play.

KS: As a site-specific play in East Van, WATER intentionally extends open invitation for people just walking by to come into the audience to observe the play. What has been the response so far to the production?

JC: We definitely have people who come specifically for the show… some who have been with Theatre Terrific for a good while, and others who are new to knowing the company. But we also have a wide range of people who wander through the park, or hear the music nearby, and just stop by to see what exactly is going on. Some of my favourite moments have been when a stranger stumbles into the audience, sees the big fish puppet, and has a great big smile on their face.

KS: It what ways is it different from anything you’ve ever done before?

JC: Susanna and I have been honing in on our collaborative process, so much so that the music and the action become tangled in a beautiful web of action and reaction. There are characters and scenes that have been developed from one specific sound, and other scenes where dialogue was formed from a person’s unique challenge with their voice.

KS: Tell us a bit about the exciting projects you have on the horizon?

JC: One project that is coming up in September is a 10 minute opera that I’ve been working on with Dave Deveau. It’s called Unnatural, and it focuses on differences in LGBT rights for two strangers from different contenants. It’s part of Tom Cone’s Opera Project, where Tom has paired 5 composers and 5 librettists to create 5 10-minute operas. It’s going to be a great night! I’ll also be working on Theatre Terrific’s Fringe show, titled Pantaloon’s Pawn Shop. Expect something strange, quirky, surprising, and full of some more great music.

Water
2PM, July 7th & 8th
Andy Livingston Park (89 Expo Blvd @ Carrall St).
Wheelchair accessible. Bring a chair or blanket, and perhaps a picnic.
Suggested donation $10

Author Archives: Katie Stewart

‘Mo Wave Interview / Boy Funk

‘Mo Wave Interview / Tenderfoot

‘Mo Wave Interview / Christeene

Water