24/7 LIVE, a 'pop gig with extras' will be heading to C Royale at the Fringe Festival between August 7-11th 2018.
24/7 LIVE is an energetic pop extravaganza that explores bad romances, closeted gay-straight guys, and how we are packaged up 24/7 in our relationships and culture.
Stylistically, the show sits somewhere between the styles of Christeene’s drag punk, Kylie’s Showgirl and Beyonce’s Lemonade - a perfect dose of queer subversive pop and twisted autobiography for all cross-arts fans who love a pop concert full of juicy gossip with
some gender politics.
Would you identify your show as 'gay' or 'queer'? What makes you define the show with this label?
I would identify my show as ‘queer’ as it celebrates a subversion of the status quo when it comes to attitudes and iconography usually associated with commercial mainstream pop within the music industry. I try to unpack the sexualisation of the industry and twist it to fit my analytical perspective of identity and gender.
I think as society and vocabulary has shifted, the term ‘gay’ has been strengthened to describe a sexuality of a person as a really a positive thing - so that therefore it’s almost not possible to call an object or something inanimate ‘gay’ without it sounding almost like a schoolyard insult.
What differences do you see between the labels 'gay' and 'queer’?
Personally I find if you label a programme or a book as ‘gay’ i find it really reduces that particular subject to it’s gayness, its sexuality - whereas my show extends beyond that. There’s a lot of gay culture now which is quite heteronormative, which is totally great - but that’s not me. I still feel like ’the other’.
I still feel like I have to challenge ideals within the gay community - how a ‘man’ should be, how camp we should act etc - and that's why queer is an important term for me. For me, ‘queer' is a state of mind about rejecting a status quo. It could stem from gayness but it actually extends beyond any sexuality.
For example, I wouldn’t call my show a gay pop show because its focus isn’t about being gay or gay issues. Yes I’m gay, but the show's views are specific in subverting universal gender issues that extend far from being gay, to a point where it represents straight people too. And if you called it a gay show, it would have limited that understanding.
Why do you think I am asking this question, particularly of your show?
Because I call myself a queer pop artist? I guess I call myself a queer pop artist because queer is my state of mind towards sex, identity and towards my music.
When I first performed at Duckie in Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Simon who runs it came up to me and said “I love it because you’re like these all singing all dancing popstar, but you're subversive - it’s subversive pop!” And I love that term, and it stuck, so I have him to thank for it.
24/7 LIVE is touring and visited London’s Hackney Showroom and Brighton’s Marlborough Theatre. With each venue, the show evolves into a different type of pop gig ranging from something more intimate and acoustic, to an arena sized pop show with a full live band - so it is always a new experience for each audience.
No comments :
Post a Comment