How the Trans Experience Intertwines with Experimental Music
Why do so many queer people resonate with music that is outside of the mainstream sphere?
By Philip Wong
After the release of Preacher’s Daughter in 2022, fans of Ethel Cain have built up massive anticipation for her new project, echoing the theme of gender identity and religion. The singer-songwriter's latest album released earlier this year, “Perverts” was a dark and claustrophobic experience that subverts listeners’ perspective of her. This new project has caused a divisive discourse on social media with some criticising it as “confusing and lengthy”.
And yet, her experimental soundscape and unique sentiment of sexual shame from this album attracted a cult following. Oftentimes, a project like this shakes up the music community with its boundary-breaking elements. Past examples like Arca’s kiCK Latin electronic pentalogy, Sophie’s bubblegum bass debut album Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-insides and Anohni’s critically acclaimed electropop album Hopelessness, became the blueprint for other artists in their respective genres.
In this new age of music, there seems to be a common thread between these experimental music projects – they are all created by transgender artists.
Self-proclaimed “Sadbish music” singer, Asher Fynn said, “(Gender identity) is something I can’t escape, whether I intend it or not.” She recalled a tutor from her music course stating “There's no gay music. There's just sound and how we interpret it,” however she felt indifferent, “But I am who I am making it, and how I'm accessing that expression is channelling my feelings.”
As a trans person, she felt that her voice inherently exposed her gender identity. Even though there is a history of masculine countertenor performers having high-pitched voices, she pointed out the likes of operatic countertenor Franco Fagioli who would often “go into the gorgeous feminine world.”
From a young age, Fynn always had a soft and effeminate voice and even picking up the phone would be embarrassing because the caller would think that was her mother. “It caused me a lot of shame,” she said, but that didn’t stop her from singing classical music in her bedroom. After being gifted an electric keyboard as a child, she became fixated on making sounds and plunking around, which later became her unique sound.
Similarly, music producer and DJ Tobre became interested in music when he got his first guitar at 10. He is always fascinated with the music people used to laugh at and find ‘cheesy’. “I love the fast food rockers, I love Venga Boys and I still bump Crazy Frog,” he said. It wasn’t until he went to university that he took music seriously, in his terms, music doesn’t have to be perfect or cool.
While Tobre claimed he is a ‘straight edge’, he found himself inspired by the London club scene. “I’m in those spaces because that’s where all the trans people are,” he said. Specifically, he pointed toward trans women in music as a source of inspiration, “they led me to explore what music sounds like when it is not cookie cutter because, by definition, I'm not cookie cutter either.”
The vibrant club scene and fun characters culminated in producing music he called ‘silly pop’, which sounded catchy and upbeat but also included a range of metal, punk and dance music. Tobre’s new song “BITTER (na na ooh)”, is an experience of feeling free on the dance floor. The hyper synths, heavy kicks and overtly autotune sounds like taking ecstasy on cloud nine.
Both artists take the ‘trans experience’ as a source of inspiration. “A lot of my music is about queer intimacy, the barriers that I have placed between it and how I've accessed intimacy and sex,” Fynn said. One recurring theme is the targeted violence against trans people.
Living in Brighton – the queer capital of the UK – she was physically assaulted and verbally abused more times than anywhere she has been in London. As retaliation, she uses her voice to express the unease and precarity of being seen out on the street. Her latest single, “SNOGZ” embodied the joy in self-expression despite the heinous attacks. The singer’s angelic voice is ambushed with grindcore beats creating an out-of-body experience.
Tobre feels that the experience of transitioning gives him a perspective on life that very few people have. The process of redefining oneself inherently challenges conventional norms, not just in gender, but in art, music, and self-expression.
“If we're already considered different, why would we not then put that back into the things we work on and the art we create?”
