FYC Zine - Issue 3

We are so excited to be a part of the Chicago Zinefest 2015! We took a short break to decompress and now we’re back with our third issue of FYC Zine: For Your Consideration. Neither of us know exactly what we’re doing, but we know that it’s important to keep doing it. There are so many voices in Chicago that aren’t being heard. We’re poor, we’re brown, we’re female, we’re white, we’re black, we’re Asian, we’re Latino: we’ve got a lot to say.

Rae Bees & Piya Willwerth May 2015

© 2015 FYCzine

HIGHNESS IS RED, ora, schenay, loona dae, and gem tree (from left to right)

FYC chats with Highness: all-girl, mostly black, Highness is a truly original band and absolutely worth seeing. Their new single is called “Have a Nice Day.” What genre do you consider Highness to be? Where do you all take inspiration from?

RED: We kind of made up our own genre, we call it omnisoul. There is a blend of hiphop, funk, reggae, soul, and rock in our music. As far as inspiration for my drumming I’m an old head. George Clinton, James Brown, neo soul, gospel, and Fela Kuti had influenced me.

GEM: Also Bob Marley, Erykah Badu, Bobby McFerrin, India Arie, and…. Beyonce!

ORA: Music has evolved so much and I think music created today derives from more influences than ever. If you mention a genre like punk music to people that can conjure up 20 different sounds in their head of what that can be. Omnisoul just fits us.

How long have you known each other and what inspired you to make music together?

RED: In 2010 I met Jaz at Columbia College and our friend suggested we work together and start a band. So we started going around listening and jamming with people who were in the practice rooms at Columbia.We all got to know each other really well and started to make music together.

GEM: Yeah we’ve felt from the beginning that we had a divine connection as if we were brought together for reason.

How have your music and relationships evolved since your start in 2010?

GEM: Recently Loona and I started rapping on tracks. Our music has gotten a bit more grimy and down tempo. We went from funky and carefree to almost pre-revolutionary. SHE was our first band name but in the past year it has changed to HIGHNESS. The name has transformed kind of like our music.

ORA: When we first met we all really clicked but as time we went on we’ve really grown together as friends and musicians.

What has been the biggest challenge as a band so far?

GEM: Definitely dealing with members coming and going.

RED: Also incorporating everyone’s style into one song. Sometimes people are very sensitive to what they contribute and there is always lots of compromising to be done. It’s kind of like majority rules and we vote on everything.

What is the ultimate direction of the band?

RED: I would love to go on a big tour. I believe we can go really far. I just want a lot of people to experience our music.

GEM: Yes! We want to reach the masses because I feel like we have some important things to say.

ORA: Taking over the world! Or you know continuing to grow and evolve our sounds.

Do you remember the first time you were treated differently because you were a female musician?

RED: I can remember the last time! We were at Metro setting up and the sound guy asked me, “Hey, are you going to hit all the drums?”. Uh … yeah?!

I told him to mic them all and shrugged it off but it bothered me. No one would ever ask a guy drummer if he was going to use all his drums. I think as a female drummer I do get a lot of strange comments and backhanded compliments.

ORA: If I’m walking down the street with my guitar and amp I get stopped by random people all the time who ask if I play guitar. It never fails. When I’m with my gear and walking with a guy, sometimes people will make comments about me holding this dudes equipment. Nope, this is actually my guitar! I just don’t think guys get questioned on their legitimacy as musicians.

We’ve borrowed amps from bands before and when I returned their gear after our set they would be genuinely shocked we sounded good. We like proving people wrong.

What suggestions do you have for people who want to form their own bands?

RED: Don’t quit. No matter how many people quit on you. I’ve seen so many acts on stage playing multiple instruments and using a looper. Even if you have to be on stage by yourself; Find a way to follow your vision and make it happen.

GEM: Find people that are on the same page as you and are striving for the same goals. We’ve been calling ourselves the divine 5 because we’ve fluctuated on how many members we’ve had. The entire time we knew the five of would stick together because we shared the same dream. I guess what I’m saying is have faith in each other.

ORA: Be open to grow, willing to take criticism, and listen to feedback.

Can you recommend some local artists that folks need to check out?

Kiara Lanier, Murph Watkins, NESS, & Earth St. James - Rae Bees Visit Highness on Facebook: facebook.com/SheFemaleBand

ARTISTS OSCAR ARRIOLA

Street art & urban photographer, curator, and zine collector Visit him at flickr.com/photos/fotoflow/ instagram.com/oscararriola/

KELSEY CHOO Comic illustrator “Bambzy” (2012) Visit her at kelseychoo.com

FROM LEFT: ROSS TASCH, SHANNON CANDY, NIKITA WORD, AND DEVON PRESS

Credit: Collage by Kelly Schmader @ kelly-schmader.tumblr.com

Lucy Stoole is the most dressed up, messed up, bearded, fishy, genderfuck, queen that is best known for her over-the-top performances at music venues in Chicago. Lucy’s specialty is hosting drag nights that feature punk bands and underground performers at her event FABITAT. You have achieved renown as one of the most recognizable and industrious drag queens in Chicago. But it must have been quite different when you were starting out. Tell us about your beginning in drag?

When I first started no one paid attention to me. At first a lot of the people I work with now wouldn’t even talk to me. It was a pretty shady affair. To this day it’s something I don’t forget. Not because I am holding a grudge but it’s a reminder of how hard I need to work, how much I need to focus on doing

my own thing, and not to rely on anyone else to be successful. Two years ago I couldn’t even get into any shows and now I’m hosting a show nearly every night.

Does Lucy have a backstory?

Lucy was born to two loving parents who didn’t like her. She lived in Tijuana for a while doing some shady things and moved back to Chicago to be a star!

A lot of people don’t know all the crazy things she’s done in the past but she has a hard time remembering those Tijuana days herself.

How long does it take you to prepare to perform? What goes into your preparation?

There are some performances that I’ve spent three months perfecting and

some days I hear a song for the first time and I make it happen that night. My background is in improv, musical theater, and communications so that has prepared me for the stage. My makeup can take anywhere from two to four hours. Like most drag queens, makeup started with my drag mom. A drag mom is a queen who ushers you into it and shows you the way. My mom was the Joan Crawford type and kicked me in the ass and told me to figure it out.

She was also the one who looked at me when I started wearing my beard in drag and was like, “I don’t get this but whatever, do what you’re gonna do.”

What famous personalities do you admire and where do you get your inspiration?

Grace Jones of course! She has been an icon to me for so many reasons. She is powerful, black, badass artist, that stands up for what she believes in, and one of the most stylish motherfuckers that has walked the earth. Divine is my kinda drag. If John Waters approached me, I’d be Divine in a heartbeat.

One of my favorite Divine quotes is “Filth is my politics. Filth is my life.” I feel the same way.

I feel like there is a small nod with Lucy to the housewives of the 50’s who were disenfranchised and put down. They weren’t given the ability to speak out. That’s another part of my drag I want to promote is women’s rights. I don’t just try to be a pretty girl in a dress.

How does your family react to Lucy?

There was a bigger reaction to me coming out as a homosexual than my focus on becoming a drag queen. They were just like, “Oh okay …” I think almost because they thought, “You’re a drag queen, that makes sense because that’s what gays do.” At least at first they thought it made sense. My mom and grandma are obsessed with Lucy now and ask me for makeup tips.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions about drag queens?

The biggest misconception would be that we are all irresponsible, drunks, and drug addicts.I can understand where that idea stems from, but that is not all queens. There isn’t a night that goes by where someone doesn’t walk up to me and ask where they can get some blow and I’m like, “I’m pretty sure I’m the host not the drug dealer! I’ll see what I can pull outta this rice in my tits!” It also comes with being part of the nightlife. Everyone assumes you know everyone, have big connections, and open doors for people.

Another misconception is that all queens are bottoms. Excuse me?! A lot of us are tops, thank you very much! Stop trying to judge someone’s sexuality based on what they look like. It’s a really big thing in the drag community.

Just because we are comfortable showing a feminine side there are assumptions that we are subservient in a way. What does that say about how some gay men think of women too? We’ve all thought about it. We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it — even the girls that don’t get into the politics of gender and identity.

What advice would you give to anyone who’s interested in doing drag?

Do exactly what you want to do. Don’t listen when someone else tells you something won’t work because no one else is doing it. Don’t listen when someone tells you that you can’t get your own night started. Be the most authentic you. Being yourself is going to set you apart from everyone else.

There are so many beautiful girls that pop up out of nowhere all the time.

One of my best friends told me, “There are 100 new drag queens born every day. 10 of ‘em are worth shit and only half of one can host.” One of the biggest things about drag is the fantasy and illusion. Name yourself, have your character, and live it to the fullest. If you’re a fucked up disgusting abortion, I want you to look like that! If you’re the prettiest girl on Halsted, be it. If you can dance the hardest, I want you to fucking do it. Always do you to the most extreme.

- Rae Bees

FABITAT is the 2nd & last Wednesday of every month at Door #3, the underground bar below the Double Door.

Visit FABITAT on Facebook: facebook.com/doorno3fabitat

That one time Bruno found out he was a fake

I

was applying for a loan for school, college scholarships, grants, and shit, not too many scholarships because I knew I was a terrible student, but had turned it around by trying to try and ended up doing okay. But no way would people be impressed with my eventual okay GPA and lack of extracurricular activities. Unless you counted getting fucked up and walking around as extracurricular activities, which many people don’t, despite the wealth of knowledge that one gleams from hitting the pavement, which is why “Man on the Streets” is one of my theme songs. So the hammer came down and through some loan shark I found out I couldn’t get any money because I had lied on my application and claimed to be a citizen of these United States of America when I actually wasn’t. What the fuck.

I was 18 and unknowingly Un-American, a real surprise since I loved heavy metal, pro wrestling, horror movies, and cheeseburgers (ok, I still like those things); I had been to monster truck rallies and cheered, cheered at trucks and a fucking metal dragon that breathed fire and ate cars; I had quit a job, because fuck this place, fuck your job, fuck your money, I’m going to go to Milwaukee. It had been at least a solid decade since my inner monologue had become 98% in English, I speak Spanish with an American accent, I was traumatized by 9/11, I had spray painted stuff on walls; I learned to drive in a Jimmy truck! I, not an official American, what a fucking disgrace! Luckily there was a law in place that let kids that had been in the USA for a few years automatically become citizens; of course it only applied to kids under 18. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. It gets sorta blurry here, but the point is that I could become a citizen in a short time: all I had to do was take some citizenship classes and take the citizenship test and wammo, American me.

Luckily my mom could also do the same thing, alas we had to go to the same class. The class was at Truman College, the same place I had taken Tae Kwon Do and piano classes (perfectly American-like!) when I was a little kid. The class had 20-some other people from various parts of the globe, who spoke/ wrote/understood varying levels of English, but overall everyone just blurred into the background of my apathy. I’m sure that they are decent people but I didn’t give a fuck because I already knew the stuff they were teaching, I was mostly there for moral support for my mom. Despite that, my mom still got a glimpse into my usual forays into scholarship as I would frequently space out, doodle in my notebook, read novels, comic books, and sometimes just straight up fall asleep in class. Fuck, I hated school, but I was trying to try.

The teacher was a 50-something lady whose hair looked exactly the same every time I saw her, I imagined her hair lowering on to her head a la Darth Vader’s helmet when he’s in his meditation chamber, hiss and everything.

Poofy in the front, smooth in the middle, poofy in the back. She would wear lots of stuff with flower patterns that reminded me of retro couches, sensible shoes, and always 3-button sweaters with only the middle button done.

Her eyebrows were black and thick as oil-based paint that’s been spilled on something expensive. She was very serious about her job and would despair when someone would get a question wrong, so I ended up getting called on a lot and answering lots of questions right despite my utter apathy and sleep deprivation, years of school finally paying off. Eventually, mercifully, the class ended and I could sleep in on Saturdays.

For the citizenship exam my mom and me had to go down the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office, which wasn’t so much a bastion of patriotism and pride but another office building that I had passed by a dozen times when I was ditching school and walking around. My mom was dressed up, but I was wearing some Dickies and a plaid shirt that had its entire buttons. I didn’t tie my long hair back, which came down to the middle of my back. We sat in the lobby along with a few other hopeful citizens, lots of drab green and old magazines on heavily worn tables that wobbled. My mom went first and came back pretty fast, we hugged. When my name was called one of the fluorescent lights flickered. Some drone sarcastically said, “Good luck.” I said, “I don’t need luck, I’m an American.” I ended up in a cubicle with gray carpeted walls, sitting in front of a beige metal desk, the guy in front of me had a white combover over a gleaming pink skull, and his shirt was the same color as the stains on the drop ceiling. He asked me a few basic American history questions, but the best question was whether I had been a member of the Communist party. I looked him in the eye and said no. Then he said congratulations and asked if I wanted a new name, I said nah and we

shook hands and I went back to the waiting room. I told my mom, loud as fuck, that my new name was Dracula Von Lucifer. An old lady crossed herself, and my mom believed me for 1.5 seconds before telling me to shut up, you scamp. A few weeks later we got officially sworn in at some other office building, this time I was wearing black jeans and a button-up shirt. One of the parts of the oath is that you forsake all other citizenships and loyalties to whatever country that had you yearning to breathe free. I didn’t feel anything because the only country I have known was the United States. With that I was free to go back to my usual routine of working my shitty job, listening to Motorhead, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest, eating tacos and falafel, wearing shoes made in China, and getting high whenever the chance came along — finally, as a true American.

Bruno Martinez spends his time working his shitty job, listening to Motorhead, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest, eating tacos and falafel, wearing shoes made in China, and getting high whenever the chance comes along.

Like his writing? You can find some of it at pasdeloup.tumblr.com

FYCzine is Rae Bees & Piya Willwerth.

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