CE 2022 MADE BY CURATOR PH 0
Ever since the birth of the genre, electronica* has been shaped by trans people. In the late 1960’s, Wendy Carlos was a key adviser + designer of the Moog synthesizer, the first commercially available synthesizer that made leaps + bounds for the field of electronic music. She composed the scores for famous films such as The Shining (1980) + Tron (1982), unapologetically establishing herself as a trans musical visionary. Following in Carlos’s footsteps are artists like SOPHIE, Lust$ickPuppy, Nero’s Day at Disneyland, AhMer-Ah-Su, + Dorian Electra, all sonic pioneers of their own right. The malleability and scope of possible sounds within electronica music is far greater than in acoustic genres; unheard by acoustic critics, trans artists can turn to the hand-crafted, inhumanly fast, perfectly timed, + pitch-altered world of electronica. Electronic music is meant to be played fast + loud—it is interruptive + expansive, just like transness. Spaces for the genre are colored by affectionate + intoxicated ravers, flashing lights, + bone-rattling volume, each element combining to form a screaming genderqueer mass that cannot be ignored. This zine explores transness in electronica through historical, sonic, + theoretical lenses, as well as why the genre is uniquely predisposed towards radical trans self-representation. *Electronica encompasses all genres made up of the sounds of samplers, synthesizers, + drum machines-- it is post-acoustic
* 1. SOPHIE - It’s Okay to Cry - 3:50
2. Mykki Blanco, Princess Nokia - Wish You Would - 2:52 3. SuperKnova - Splendor Dysphoria - 3:57 4. Dorian Electra - Flamboyant - 3:16 5. LUSTSICKPUPPY - THIRST - 2:06 6. 100 gecs - xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx - 4:31
7. food house, Gupi, Fraxiom - mos thoser 4:08 8. Renard - PIZZZZZZZZ - 1:20 9. Chase Icon - SRS - 2:42 10. Tunde Olaniran - Jean Grey - 3:33 11. Lady Gaga - 1000 Doves, Planningtorock remix - 5:05 12. Ah-Mer-Ah-Su - Perfect - 3:50 13. Juliana Huxtable - Recognise - 1:12:22 14. Arca -
Bruja - 3:50
15. Nero’s Day At Disneyland - The Glass Ceiling Cabaret - 1:57 *For this zine, << trans >> captures all whose gender identity is either non-cis AND/OR non-conforming; i.e. trans men, trans women, genderqueer, two-spirit, intersex (depending), genderless, etc.
1964 Wendy Carlos & Robert Moog release Moog synthesizer to the public
1970’s Hip-hop, disco, & funk lay groundwork 4 future electronica in 4/4 time & on
1980’s Explosion of electronica music in clubs, major spread in US & Europe
1990’s Mass genre boom; jungle, IDM, prog house, hardcore, breakcore; cheap computers!
2000-2010’s Synths compact, widely available; expansion of hardcore, dubstep, trap, & EDM!!
NOW Trans artists reigning electric genres, SOPHIE regarded as master musician
Wendy Carlos’s impact on electronic music as a whole cannot be overstated. As a lead designer of Robert Moog’s Moog Syn-
thesizer, Wendy was able to bring electric music production to the public. Using her newfangled synth, she scored the iconic 1982 film TRON, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and UCLA Chorus parts being added later; the acoustics followed the electronica, never before seen in such a large project. Wen-
dy’s ear for the future of music distinguished her from her contemporaries-- though relatively simple from a compositional perspective, especially while the synth was still new, her work on the scores of A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and TRON set her apart as a musician crafting her own instruments, opening the door to a yet undiscovered soundscape.
L L
auren Bousfield’s
2005-2011 project, Nero’s Day at Disneyland, made leaps and bounds for glitch, breakcore, & experimental music, screaming her theory against a soundscape of haunting drum kicks, headspin-inspiring bug swarms, + salviatic beats that put you in a world far beyond our own. The subjects of her songs are many, inviting interpretation.
THE GLASS CEILING CABARET 01:28
Just look at your hands You can take it all back They made you a man They made you a woman Only our culture holds us back from living our
Lauren is beloved by the gaming community particularly for the second album under this alias, called “From Rotting Fantasylands.” The 4th track, “Child Protective Services Theme Song,” was popularized by PewDiePie during the height of his YouTube career, when he used the song as his outro (interestingly, the let’s play community circulated a lot of trans electro artists this way!). She is still making music—check out her recent work with In-House Pharmacy, “Stochastic Violence.”
E
llie Kim, known musically as SuperKnova, is a multiinstrumentalist + writer, recorder, mixer, master, + producer of all of her work; on top of that, she is a researching physician noted for her activism at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, where she spearheaded the movement to cease genital alteration surgeries on intersex children as young as 2. On July 19, 2020, Lurie’s was the first hospital in the US to stop all medically unnecessary, nonconsensual surgeries on intersex bodies, thanks to Ellie!! Between her activism + getting her MD, she was still able to find time to craft a dazzling discography with synth-soothed jazz + electro pop bops, at first inspired by her transition + now so much more.
Star Amerasu, Ah-Mer-Ah-Su the name of her musical project, is an up-andcoming, teddy-bear-hearted, & fun-loving musicienne electronique; Amerasu is her own force within the Bay Area queer music scene, and her influence is only expanding. Her thematic range is great, with songs about addiction to prescription medication, to songs about white privilege, to songs about formlessness and transcending the body. Her voice winds and wavers around her hard-hitting lyrics, layered over more and more synth-heavy backgrounds as the project continues. She is a spiritual person, believing in everyday ritual and communal living to heal the lonely heart; she surrounds herself with love + dispenses it at once. Her softness + beauty permeate all she touches.
FLAMBOYANT, 00:40
Genderfluid cringelord Dorian Electra is on a quest to reclaim all that has been dubbed too queer, too loud, too radical. They have been hyper-masculine, hyperfeminine, and categories of their very own; their gender expression is expansive, imaginative, and LOUD. They can play any role they choose, and they will laugh at themselves + everyone else as they do. Dorian sees absurdity in everything & invites you to laugh + dance with them about it. They are chaste, they are horny; they are hot flesh, they are purely digital; they are charming, they are disrespectful; they play, they mock.
NO TASTE FOR SUBTLETY, & NO TIME FOR RESTRAINT
I GO ALL THE WAY!!! I’M
FLAMBOYANT
What could be said of Sophie Xeon that has not been said already? Beloved Scottish record producer, DJ, & singer SOPHIE changed electronic music forever by translating her hyper-futuristic visions into .mp3 format, every sound lovingly hand-crafted and assembled to make every song a rich, pulsing world of its own. There is no music like SOPHIE’s music; her grand discography continues to enchant, + her influence can still be heard across the lines of genre. As an artist, she loved to collaborate; some of her best-known work is that where she produced for other artists or had them on her tracks. She resisted the “conservative notion of ‘the album,’” and dreamt of a cyberscape where musicians could upload every stem, plugin, + revision for all to see; open access to the soundscapes of the wisest in music...
♥ September 17, 1986 - January 30, 2021 ♥
Tomasyn Hayes, known on stage as LustSickPuppy, is an unstoppable hardcore thrasher who is done with fitting themself into the boxes of genre, gender, and style. They scream, shout, and rap about the weakness of men, the depths of their sex drive, and not giving a fuck about being acceptable. At shows, they are known to throw fake blood at the crowd, start moshes, and wear outrageous, enchanting outfits that catch the eye and refuse to let it go. They recently came out as being herpes positive, a fact that had previously been a great source of shame for them; now that they have taken over their narrative, though, they are much happier and eager to create more music celebrating their sexuality. Their music is for everyone, but they particularly want to empower queer + STD-positive people, and people of color.
Selection from Gender Acceleration: A Blackpaper, hosted by Vast Abrupt, written by user n1x
This blackpaper does an excellent job of exploring the history of transness and trans people (particularly
trans women) as majorly influencing the field of hacking, exploring the “genderification” of digital symbols down to the yonic 0 and phallic 1. Hormone therapy is discussed as a beautiful way to chemically “hack” the trans body, materially realizing the digital, internal vision of self; this is the genius of transness, that we can imagine our forms as greater than and beyond what can be seen at one moment. Transness in the body extends across time and space, truly being a countless number of bodies distilled into one recognizable form, the consistencies among each eclipsing the multiplicity
of expressions. Look to the future, embrace transness.
What about electronica as a medium makes it ideal for trans/GNC expression? When stepping outside of the limited sound potential of acoustic music, one discovers many ways to alter their sound to give a different sense of gender, sonically; between voice pitching, tempo alteration, vocal layering, extreme volume, and more, trans artists can relieve the dysphoria they may have while creating an even more polished, digitally enhanced product. Digital effects have taken much criticism by acoustic artists for the fact of “cheating” one’s way to another sound; this argument is highly analogous to those against medically transitioning...
This is an interesting point to raise when considering that there are far more trans and gender non-conforming acts in electronica than in acoustic music, and exactly for the reason of malleability of sound! In many ways, electronica is a more accessible medium to artists with dysphoria, disability, or other difficulties that keep them from unlocking their full audiovisual potential, both artistically and personally. Remember: digitally enhancing one’s music does not indicate lesser talent, laziness, or any creative lacking; rather, electronic artists should be celebrated for their hybrid art, a fresh, multidisciplinary form of music (acoustics + mixing + computing). ♫ ♥ ♫ ♥ ♫ ♥ ♫ ♥ ♫
Which groups of people have been the most influential on the culture surrounding electronic music? Obviously, trans people have done much to establish and continually redefine the greater genre of electronica; but besides us, who else makes the community what it is? People of color as well as queer, neurodivergent (especially autistic + ADHD), drug-using, and disabled people have all been critical to the formation of electronica. On the whole, electronic music requires more production than does acoustic music, with re/mixing, mastering, and the like all producing new ways for musicians to interact with and create music. Those who cannot sing or play an instrument are not at a disadvantage when creating digitally; those skills translate to the digital world but are not necessary to enter it.
These foundational groups tend to agree on several key points, those being: abolish the police, decriminalize + legalize all drugs, promote critical body positivity, redistribute wealth, gender acceleration, and a futuristic hedonism that promises pleasure for all bodies, not only privileged ones. Electronic music spaces have been taken over by cis white men in the past couple of decades, with increasing pushback from the marginalized parts of the community. There have been women-only and trans-only events and shows hosted with the intention to protect the safety + community for those more vulnerable groups, and we are seeing a return to the greatest popularity being accorded to trans + GNC artists.
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, better known as MDMA, ecstasy, or
molly, is a psychedelic and stimulant drug of the amphetamine family. Molly is very popular among ravers for its effects of empathogenesis, feelings of closeness to others, heightened senses, greater hand-eye coordination, and increased energy. In addition, some dysphoric trans individuals have reported experiencing a relinquishing of their dysphoria while “rolling” (experiencing the effects of MDMA) and after the experience. Molly is known to
make users feel more open to new experiences, ideas; this is exciting because anyone who uses MDMA could more easily empathize with trans and gender nonconforming people,
Ball-and-stick model of MDMA
even exploring transness and gender difference within themselves as they never thought to before. Lysergic acid diethylamide, also known as LSD or acid, is another psychedelic beloved by electronic music listeners. LSD’s effects include hallucinations, synesthesia, vivid color perception, time Ball-and-stick model of LSD
distortion, feelings of oneness with others and the world, and heightened energy. Like MDMA,
LSD is of high interest to both the rave scene and the field of scientific research; more and more research indicates good outcomes for those who use in controlled environments. The feelings of oneness with others produced by acid have the potential to change someone’s worldview in favor of marginalized
people, honoring our experiences and all our forms. *This zine does not encourage drug use, but it does encourage the exercise of critical judgment as to the therapeutic potential for these and other substances. Test your drugs, make good choices.
Transness is compatible with electronica because of the understanding between them;
as trans people, we modify
our appearances in a number of cosmetic, medical, and so-
cial ways, to present ourselves in a way that concurs with our internal sense of gender, and electronica artists take acoustic sounds and reassemble them, repitch them, and reorder them to create a new, exciting, futuristic sound. This is why trans people naturally excel within the broader genre of electronica-- the pre-transition body is akin
to the acoustic sound, yet to be altered by the union of human hand and computer, complete on its own but waiting to be injected w/
the sweet nectar of synth.
RISEN is a new music festival featuring only women, trans, and nonbinary acts. Sick of music festivals and raves with only cis men headlining, women organized this one-day festival as a well-needed break from the thematic and sonic drudgery of cis masculinity... at last, an oasis where women + trans artists can reclaim their rightful cyber domain.
POPGOTH BY A-SQUAD STREAM STREAM BROKEN HEARTS & BEAUTY SLEEP BY MYKKI BLANCO STREAM LIMINAL CRISIS BY ANALEMMA
STREAM THIRST BY LUSTSICKPUPPY
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“Electronica Music Guide: The History and Sound of Electronica,” written by MasterClass staff, last updated 2/24/2022; https:// www.masterclass.com/articles/electronica-musicguide#a-brief-history-of-electronica
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Gender Acceleration: A Blackpaper, written by user @n1x on Vast Abrupt, unknown upload date; https://vastabrupt.com/2018/10/31/genderacceleration/
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Mucus in my Pineal Gland, written by Juliana Huxtable, published 2017
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A Trans Historiography of Glitches and Errors, written by Whit Pow, published winter 2021 in Feminist Media Histories collection; https:// www.whitneypow.com/blog/trans-historiography-of -glitches-and-errors
Every word in this zine was written by a trans person, including quotes. Thanks for checking out my first zine. I hope you enjoyed this foray into the trans musical imaginary as much as I enjoyed presenting it! CELEBRATE TRANS ART! CELEBRATE TRANS MINDS! CELEBRATE TRANS BODIES!