The Open Open Mic: We Hear You Loud and Queer
This week’s episode of the Comics Youth x Where are the Girlbands podcast is a jam-packed reflection on the Open Open Mic: We Hear You Loud and Queer event that took place as part of the Comics Youth Safe Spaces Reclaiming Community Spaces project funded by the I Will Fund. This event was an all-day safe space event celebrating local LGBTQ* creatives, giving space for community, platforming voices and Queer joy.
Full Episode Transcription:
Hello and welcome to the Comics Youth x Where are the Girlbands Safe Spaces podcast, a space for discussions with organisations and individuals who are creating safe spaces within the North West, with a focus on Merseyside.
Today we are revisiting the Comics Youth Safe Spaces Reclaiming Community Spaces project, a project in which young people were invited to reclaim local spaces by putting on their own safe space events. The project ran from May 2021 and is finishing up at the start of 2022, meaning that months of workshops, weekly sessions, planning and care have gone into the exciting creative safe spaces that our young people created].
The Safe Spaces Reclaiming Community Spaces project was funded by the I Will Fund. Their funding helps to create high quality opportunities that connect young people authentically to causes they can address, focussing on reaching young people from less socio-economically affluent communities. They prioritise sustainable solutions that can be scaled cost effectively by embedding social action opportunities where young people are and connecting young people to solve key challenges across society
The event we are going to be talking about today is the Open Open Mic: We Hear You Loud and Queer, an all-day safe-space event platforming Queer artist across disciplines. After months of planning, sessions, workshops, making and lots of care and consideration from our young people, this event was one of the most beautiful I have attended. With a mixture of music, poetry and visual art, this event was filled to the brim with Queer joy and community.
To start us off with remembering this beautiful event, I have one of the young people who worked with us on this event here with me today to chat about the day itself as well as reflecting on the project as a whole!
Interview with Kayleigh Darlington
Ella:
So I’m with the amazing Kayleigh Darlington who’s been part of our Open Open Mic project group. Would you like to tell us a bit about yourself Kayleigh?
Kayleigh:
I’m Kayleigh (laughing) I do a bit of like organising gigs just as a hobby as like a side thing. Yeah! Also I just love live music, I work at Manchester arena behind the scenes, just very involved in it all.
Ella:
I guess as someone who works in music safe spaces in general are quite prominent for you, especially as an organiser. What would you say for you is maybe like your personal definition of a safe space.
Kayleigh:
Probably personal definition of a safe space would be somewhere where everyone feels that they can be themselves and they’re not at threat so they can just go and have a good time without anything putting them off.
Ella:
That’s great and I feel like you definitely achieved that with your event like a lot of the feedback from people was that they felt very comfortable in the space, and I know one of the loveliest parts was when people were getting up during the open mic section and were performing for the first time because you’d created such like a comfortable space that people felt that they could get up and like share their work with an audience even though they’d never sort of made that step before.
Kayleigh:
Yeah it was nice sort of like because we did two open mic sections, and the people who maybe weren’t up for it the first time around, by the end of it, the second one, most of the people who wanted to get up did get up and they enjoyed it too.
Ella:
Yeah it was great, and even the people who were sort of commissioned to perform on the line-up, there was a lot of people there who were performing for the first time or who were still new to performing as well. I know you had like a nice little anecdote about Matria as well I think?
Kayleigh:
Oh yeah. (laughing) So I knew a few people going, but I knew Matria. So we met doing a Sound City course earlier in the year but it was all online obviously because of lockdown, so that event was actually the first time we met in person so that was yeah a little nice add on.
Ella:
It was super sweet and there were periods of time during the event where all of the performers were just sort of sat together chatting. It was almost a bit of a musical chairs like I’d see people go between groups and introducing themselves to each other and stuff so it ended up being almost a bit of a networking space as well like I know everyone was saying that people had complimented their stuff and given them feedback and everyone was saying how much they’d enjoyed their work which is so important I think when you’re starting out to have that like welcome into the space, to feel like people enjoy your stuff and that was definitely the vibe, everyone was super supportive. Could you maybe like tell us a bit about how you made that space? Like what went into the organising of it do you think that made it feel so positive and supportive?
Kayleigh:
One of the things we really focussed on was like setting out exactly what we wanted the event to be. Making sure the venue we picked and everyone we were working with was on the same page so they knew from the start what we were trying to create – a safe space for LGBT and Queer creatives. We also did a lot on protocols in place as well just to ensure if something did happen, god forbid it didn’t and it didn’t, that we all knew what to do and that the staff were already trained in all that as well. So yeah!
Ella:
You definitely did a great job with it all and I think everyone felt quite prepared going in and things like having timings prepared in advance so that all of the performers knew sort of like where they stood and how long they’d have and all of this sort of stuff was really nice, it felt a very comfortable day on the day. There was nothing left to set up on the day which was nice and is always nice when you don’t have any last minute panics, and that is definitely all down to all of the months of planning and hard work that went into it so big well done to everyone involved. Maybe if we chat about that, about all of the preparation that went into it because I know it’s been like a project that’s been worked on for months now. What are some of the most rewarding parts of the project for you? It could be the day itself or just like something you’ve learned maybe or being part of the group?
Kayleigh:
I think because it, the planning went on for so long, one of the most nicest things was people who’d never met before to then you know coming on to the day and by the end of it we were all sort of like quite good friends, we all got along, and to me that was probably like the nicest part.
Ella:
Something which I like really observed within the group which was nice was that everyone is of different backgrounds, different ages, all that sort of stuff and you came in with the position of having some experience with events organising and of safe spaces with having you know Down to Earth which you can find on this podcast, we have a whole interview with Kayleigh under her Down to Earth persona (laughing) but erm how was that do you think coming into the space with experience that you could share with others?
Kayleigh:
It was actually really nice erm well one just sort of to work with others on something as well (laughing) because most of the time it’s just me doing it by myself. I found it the most kind of relaxing I’ve ever put on in my life (laughing) I just like I don’t know if you remember but on the day I constantly kept saying like I just feel so relaxed I’m not doing anything but it was really nice to like, I didn’t overpower anyone because I wanted to obviously it’s their event as well, but if you know they knew that I had a bit of experience and some of them did ask a few questions which I thought was, it made me feel nice because it’s not often people ask me you know what about this or what do you think about this? And so yeah it was nice.
Ella:
Yeah it was a lovely thing to watch facilitating the sessions to see like knowledge sharing between you. There was always a lot of like brainstorming across the group and giving each other feedback on your ideas and everything so it was lovely to see that, those different levels of experience coming together and making something very sweet and very lovely and like you said by the end of the months of work it felt like closure to finally meet each other in person after spending so much time over Teams for literally months at 7-8pm on a Thursday. Fantastic vibes. So on that note obviously you have experience anyway, was there anything sort of new for you or anything you felt that you learned from the project?
Kayleigh:
Well something I’ve not really done before was like erm the poetry side of it, so having like poets there or like storytellers was really nice because I’ve never really dealt with that before so that was a totally new thing for me.
Ella:
It was lovely how cross-discipline it was as well because obviously there were artists there as well? It was great that you platformed so many different voices and like you said, some of them, especially like Benjamina just had this incredible storytelling presence and having that alongside quite a traditional like gig feel when the musicians were playing but then also having the community side when people were gathered around like the tables where the art was laid out as well and people were chatting to each other about them and yeah. It was really sweet. You had an amazing line-up in the end.
Kayleigh:
Yeah. It was really good and like you said it was really good sort of like that we crossed between the two like poetry and sort of like erm live music as well, it really like split it up and just made it like dead nice.
Ella:
Definitely. So going on from that obviously you’ve finished the project now, and I know that you do your own work anyway you know in your full time job and in your Down To Earth work that you do. Thinking about Safe Spaces and the stuff you knew already what do you think maybe could be done in Liverpool or Merseyside to make it a safe space, especially for the Queer community as a whole seeing as that’s the audience that you catered to for this event.
Kayleigh:
I just think creating more spaces for them. I don’t think there is that many spaces in sort of like Liverpool area that not just solely cater for them but even sort of include them as much as they should. I think that’s something that really needs to get worked on even just sort of like introducing them more into creative spaces.
Ella:
Yeah I think definitely creative spaces as well because we have nightlife I guess but nightlife can be quite an unsafe space I guess for a lot of people or spaces with alcohol so yeah I think that’s a really great point. Just like not even having separate spaces but just generally being more welcoming within creative spaces and encouraging of LGBT people to feel sort of safe and welcomed in that environment.
Kayleigh:
Yeah like you said I think obviously the biggest step would be to just include them in the current spaces that we have and that would be sort of the best option, but of course also making sure it’s also a safe space for them as well.
Ella:
Definitely. What was your sort of intention with building this space in the start in terms of having your focus around like Queer and LGBT creatives?
Kayleigh:
I mean it was mainly to sort of uplift the Queer creatives in the local area. Especially sort of I think it was either towards the start or the middle of when we were planning, all the sort of attacks in the Liverpool area that sort of drove us a bit more and gave us a bit of a this is a really important thing that we’re doing. So that was a drive for us and an influence on it.
Ella:
Yeah and that was really felt on the day as well. Not only was it like a celebration based space where everyone was sharing, it was a very like loving space where everyone was giving each other lots of love and support and there was a lot of sort of friendship in the space as well, but it did feel important to have that space where people could share you know they knew that there wasn’t going to be any set backs or any negative experiences if they got up and spoke about being Queer or being Trans which is so important especially when there has been such an increase in violence and homophobia in general and transphobia in the city so it was definitely a really important thing as well as a lovely thing to have done.
Kayleigh:
Yeah it is yeah like you said because of just all of what was happening, to hear everyone just speaking about it as well sort of put a really nice touch on the night and uplifted everyone I thought.
Ella:
Yeah, it was a really nice platform for everyone to share their experiences and what I thought was nice was that there was so much joy in what everyone was sharing? Like there was so much joy around people’s experiences of being Queer, and obviously some of it did touch on like people’s experiences of like hate crimes and sort of prejudice that people experience but there was also just a lot of Queer joy in the space and people celebrating like romance and self-acceptance in the space and really positive things.
Kayleigh:
Yeah and everyone had their own sort of different style that they sort of sang or spoke about but all of it was really touching on the same basis of celebrating being Queer, literally the whole night was just celebrating everyone really.
Ella:
Definitely. It was gorgeous and it felt like an absolute pleasure to be there you know I think even to just be in the audience. It was really touching to hear people share such personal experiences in such a beautiful way and in such varied ways too like you were saying with all of the cross-discipline stuff. Well thank you for sharing that with me! Is there any words of advice or sort of last thoughts around safe spaces in general that you would like to share?
Kayleigh:
I think really, just as a follow on from that event that we did, maybe we all need to look at doing more events like that. You know everyone enjoyed it so much, you know we enjoyed organising it, but, that sort of needs to carry on as such, not just sort of one event that’s amazing and stop there. I think we just need to push to keep doing things like that.
Ella:
Definitely, and set a precedent so that other venues and promoters in Liverpool start doing the same.
Kayleigh:
Yes, definitely.
That was then fantastic Kayleigh Darlington who was one of the young people working on our events! You can check out the events organising work that Kayleigh does as Down to Earth Promotions at @downtoearthpromo on Instagram.
Now that we have had a wonderful overview of the event and it’s organisation as a whole, let’s get properly introduced to all of the amazing performers from the event! Starting with Dee Rae, our opening act.
Dee is an up and coming musician based in the North west who explore topics from mental health, feminism and sexuality. With a sound inspired by shoegaze and indie, Matria filled the Liverpool Arts Bar with their music, setting the day off in the most exciting way. I have the pleasure of chatting with Dee!
Interview with Dee
Ella:
I’m very excited to be here with Dee today from Matria! How are you doing?
Dee:
I’m good, apart from my Covid.
Ella:
An absolute tragedy.
Dee:
It’s a tragic situation but we’re still, we’re still surviving you know.
Ella:
Well maybe we take you back to some happier times. Something we always like to do is start our interviews off with a bit of an origin story so I’d love to hear a bit about you and your music journey and how your project Matria sort of got started?
Dee:
Yeah so I’ve been playing music since I was quite young. Always just kind of playing with different people you know in school and that, never really taking it that seriously you know just doing it for fun. And then I came to uni and I thought Manchester, big city, going to meet some cool people and make some cool music and then sort of got a bit carried away with you know freshers and everything and then the pandemic hit and I realised I hadn’t met anyone (laughing) at all who played music and so to be honest I started to panic a bit (laughing) and so I decided to just try and find people online and then I started to realise that the only way I’d be able to do that is by making my own project and getting people involved in it. So yeah I guess that’s sort of how I got started with it, with the project and I found my guitarist and my bassist through a BBC introducing post it literally wrote you know musicians who need people to work with comment down below and I commented and Eden commented and we just started messaging and then once the pandemic eased which was like six months later we had a jam and yeah, so yeah, now she’s been helping me out and it’s been good.
Ella
How has it been sort of getting started with gigging and all of that especially like in the midst of the pandemic years?
Dee:
Honestly it’s been so hard. It really has like I’m not even going to pretend it hasn’t. Like I think especially because I’m surrounded by so many music schools like you know BIMM and RNCM in Manchester and I don’t know I guess I kind of see a lot of the people meeting each other through that and I don’t go to music school or study music so It’s just like meeting people and networking, that’s how you get the gigs, so I had to just do it all online and just be a bit odd and just message people I don’t know like just be a bit strange like heyyy (laughing) so yeah, that’s been hard. I’ve just been doing like little open mics and trying to have fun with it and you know that’s the best you can do really isn’t it.
Ella:
Yeah. I guess on the topic of open mics we were privileged enough to have you open for us at our Open Open Mic: We Hear You Loud and Queer event in November. It was so lovely having you for that and you know the group who put it together were absolutely thrilled to have you. We did open call submissions for that and when we played your music the group were like absolutely, just like you know fist banging on table we have to have it, we have to have it in the show! So it’s fantastic and I couldn’t really believe that it was one of your first gigs because your sound was sort of so established, especially from what you’re saying that it’s something that’s come together online during the pandemic with just sort of sporadic jam sessions and stuff. So it’s quite amazing that you feel like such a, such a well-formed project given your circumstances. But yeah I’d love to talk a bit about that and how you found the experience of that event.
Dee:
Yeah it was lush. It was sort of my second or third gig as Matria and yeah it was great, it was so cool to go to Liverpool and do it because obviously we’d just been around in Manchester. But yeah it was great it was nice to meet you know everyone that I’d been talking to online like me and Kayleigh from Down To Earth Promo, we met through Liverpool Sound City course and had been doing zooms for however long, so it was really nice to meet her and obviously you and then all the other artists as well so yeah that was really lush. And yeah it was just a lovely event like it was very you know I didn’t feel nervous and it was so lush to see everyone else and what they did and it just felt very nice you know.
Ella:
Yeah. It was such a wholesome event and what was also extremely wholesome is that you and Kayleigh have told the same tale of your meeting over Sound City in your interviews.
Dee:
(Laughing) love you Kayleigh!
Ella:
I’m sure Kayleigh will be thrilled to know that you’ve recited the same tale.
Yeah you were a really fitting act on the line-up especially because of some of the topics that you speak about in your music – mental health, feminism, all that sort of stuff. These are the sort of topics that can maybe be difficult to find the space to discuss in day to day life so I was wondering if maybe you find music to be a safe space to have these sort of conversations?
Dee:
Yeah that’s an interesting question. I think to some extent it’s like writing an essay this, I think to some extent yes but to some extent no. I think I am so lucky that I have a very kind of Queer women filled friendship group and support system so in that sense it’s great and you know it’s praised and it’s really good to talk about these things and it’s what we talk about all the time and stuff like that and I guess I put a lot of energy into making sure me as an artist and the project as a whole I try and include as many femme presenting people/women as much as possible, hence putting a lot of energy into finding those people to work with. And yeah so in that sense it’s great and obviously with the, artists like Girl in Red you know and all artists like that, more mainstream Queer artists have made that I don’t know more acceptable and something that’s kind of seen as a bit cool sometimes, you know it’s not weird it’s that “oh do you listen to Girl in Red” that sort of thing. So in some ways that is, it’s kind of it helps you find the right audience right, you know singing about that, that’s the audience I was so I guess to sing about those things make sense. So yeah, And I also think like mental health is becoming something that’s a lot easier to talk about. Like artists like Arlo Parcs like the majority of their album, I love their album, and the majority of it focussed around you know quite dark themes of mental health and I think that has probably been a bigger inspiration than I really realise in talking about it. She’s so like, she doesn’t hold back you know and like even artists like Sam Fender have started talking about you know mental health and that sort of thing and just a lot of artists talking about stuff like that. And what was the other thing? Oh feminism! I do think about it a lot and I think a lot of people do so it makes sense that it’s a lot of what I write about. But yeah I think when I perform to audiences that aren’t like the open mic event, then I start to feel a bit worried about what I’m singing about you know like if I start singing about, like in one of my songs I start thinking about like wanting to wear a suit and sometimes I’m a little critical of society as a whole and I’m like oh my god I forget that sometimes my audience is like middle aged men like if I’m doing an open mic in a pub and I’m like ah! But you know, got to be brave.
Ella:
Yeah, and it’s great that you feel like it’s such like a normalised thing for you to do and talk about in your daily life and I know for a lot of like Queer people and a lot of women it just comes up, it is sort of what your life is so it’s natural that it comes up all the time especially in the space that we were in for the Open Mic event like pretty much everyone who was there was Queer, there were a lot of Queer women there, a lot of Queer femme presenting people so having that space where you’re all comfortable talking around those topics is really nice like you were saying and it definitely felt on the day like everyone had a lot understanding and a lot of shared experiences you know a lot of similar topics were coming up in people’s poetry and people’s music all that sort of stuff. But like you said I think when you start taking the music into spaces where maybe those conversations aren’t as natural or maybe even just like if your music reaches someone who wants to speak about those things but hasn’t yet found the environment where they can you coming from a position where discussing those topics is really natural for you and really normal is great. I had a conversation with an artist on the podcast called Amber Jay and we were talking about how when we were growing up hearing like women love women songs was really difficult to find and even things like when women do covers of songs they’d change the pronouns to be like he/him and that sort of thing and you’d be like no!! That was my chance and you made it straight again! And so having songs which maybe aren’t even overtly like this is a Queer song but just like have the pronouns in, It’s like having those everyday representation of Queerness is like really amazing sometimes.
Dee:
When you know I started listening and started finding out more about myself I remember listening to like Japanese House and like Marika Hackman and they’re, although they’re like Marika Hackman some of her stuff is quite explicitly gay they are just artists and are just singing and writing songs about love or whatever they’re writing about it just so happens that they’re gay and like that was really important to me, because although Girl in Red is just like so important and artists like that who explicitly talk about you know I want to be your girlfriend you know all that that’s so important and they’re such anthems and do you know what I mean. I mean that Japanese House album is one of my favourites and I remember just listening to that and being like ahh. I don’t know, it was just nice, it’s nice to me to know that an artist is Queer just even if they’re songs aren’t even related to it just makes me feel more related it you know?
Yeah and also I was going to say another really nice thing about the open mic is I actually met the person who’s producing my album through that, so Emily McChrystal posted a video of me and then I presume you know Tilly Louise? She followed me through that and we started chatting through that and then we’ve met up and we’re recording my first single together so that was really a good, a good moment.
Ella:
That makes me so happy to hear like I can’t tell you like as much as those events are for on the day and for like the experience of it so much of it is like building communities and stuff as well and I know for a lot of the artists who were there like even the visual artists had like conversations with people. Like you said sometimes writing about certain topics and entering certain spaces like that is a way to find your audience and find the people you want to work with too.
Dee:
Yeah yeah definitely I was so chuffed when me and Tilly started chatting because I have been like listening to some of her stuff and following her for a while and yeah and obviously she like fits the bill perfectly like she’s such a strong female presence in like the up and coming Liverpool music scene. So yeah I was buzzing, so it’s been really good so far.
Ella:
Awww that is so nice, it’s so sweet! (Laughing) It felt like that on the day too when I was sort of hovering about it seems like there was a lot of musical chairs between people like everyone was like getting to know each other and stuff so it’s really nice to know that an actual collaborative relationship has come out of that for you.
Dee:
Working girl things (laughing) do you know what I mean like we’re having, we’re not joking around anymore (laughing).
Ella:
That is so nice I’m so happy for you.
Dee:
Yeah and that’s what it’s really about for me like this project as a whole. You can think about the big picture like releasing a single and getting as many streams as possible and don’t get me wrong I do think about that but I always have to remind myself and me and Tilly were talking about this the other day it is just all about having fun and the way you do that is by you know you kind of have to accept to some extent as horrible as it is that the world can be a bit grim for women and women in music and just as a whole but as long as you’ve got your close team like you know people that you really trust and have good values then you’re going to have a good time regardless of you know how hard it is to get in to or you know well I hope you have a good time anyway.
Ella:
Yeah! And like you’ll reach people and touch people too with the music that you do and like we were saying sometimes it’s just having artists who you feel like you connect with makes such a difference with how you listen to those artists. Even like my sister did like a little illustration of you like on the day.
Dee:
Like that! That, oh honestly that had me beaming for the whole day that was the coolest thing like her post, as soon as she sent it me I was like can you send that to me I want to post it everywhere! I was like making like ah! That was so cool! I couldn’t believe that she’s so talented.
Ella:
Yeah! But little things like that are so sweet do you know what I mean? Like for Fleur she really loved it and she really loved your music and I know like when your music’s released she’ll definitely listen to it and will probably come to other gigs of yours and it was just like a really nice thing for her to do because she was just sat there drawing and that meant that you got a piece of artwork from her and you shared her artwork and it’s just like little interactions like that can like blossom into something like communities later on do you know what I mean?
Dee:
Yeah and that’s the thing like I feel like sometimes I need to have to really zoom back in from looking at the bigger picture of where I lie. You know it’s so easy to compare yourself to other people but you also have to remember like you know some people, some people have had a much bigger start than you in these things and I ain’t saying that I’ve got it all bad but some people really have had a head start (laughing) you know? And so you’ve just got to be happy with what you can do and I think in order to be happy in music or any creative thing you really have to really work quite hard to be grateful for the present and the people you meet along the way rather than thinking about the big goal all the time you know?
Ella:
Definitely. Well to contradict you there (laughing) I’m going to ask you what your big goals are for 2022!
Dee:
Oh don’t worry I’ve definitely got some big goals. So I think the plan is to release some singles. I’ve already recorded my first one and it’s currently getting mixed by the big Tilly Louise so that hopefully will be around March time and then hopefully a few more singles and just keep, keep chipping away at gigs and stuff in between finishing my final year of my degree. So yeah just keep having fun I think! I’d love to support, play some support slots and yeah I think just keep, keep chipping away. Keep meeting nice people, keep having fun, keep putting stupid videos out and you know (laughing) things like that.
Ella:
Well thank you so much for coming on the show! It’s been lovely having you.
Dee:
Yeah thanks for having me!
Next up on the line-up we had the fantastic Meg DeMar. Meg DeMar is a multifaceted creative whose poetry and music speaks with honest passion and raw explorations of life and all the experiences it brings us. At the event Meg performed a mixture of sung and spoken word, which was so powerful in conveying different emotions through different creative disciplines. From poems that spoke of protest and anger to songs filled with the overpouring of love, Meg DeMar’s set was filled to the brim with passion and feeling. We are thrilled to share with you today a track by Meg DeMar titled ‘New Beginnings’, we hope you enjoy!
Play New Beginnings
After Meg DeMar we had our first open mic section of the day. This was a beautiful section of the event as members of the audience, our young people from behind the scenes of the event and performers alike stepped up on the stage and performed the most gorgeous poems. One of the people who stepped on stage to perform was Nadya Syplywczak, a poet who had not planned to perform at the event, and instead had a print of their beautiful poem ‘The Moon’, After seeing the feeling of the event Nadya felt encouraged to take those steps to get onto the stage to speak her poems to the audience and we were SO glad that she did! Here is the poem that Nadya performed during the open mic (recorded and performed by Nadya herself) titled ‘The Woman in the Sky’
Play ‘The Woman in the Sky’
How intensely gorgeous is that! I was so blown away when Nadya performed that piece as it was unlike any I had heard before. The confidence and stage presence with which Nadya delivered this poem was incredibly moving too, especially seeing as this was the first time Nadya had performed her work, and she had been driven to do so by the real feeling of safety present in the space. As I said before, Nadya had originally intended to only contribute a poetry print to the show, a gorgeous poem which I now have the pleasure of showing to you through Nadya’s voice! Here is ‘The Moon’
Play ‘The Moon’
Nadya is a 25 year old queer woman from Kent who has been writing poetry for around 3 years! She posts her poetry on her instagram account (@thewrongvows) and has also been published by two creative magazines. It was such a blessing to have her work included in this event, and to have been a part of her creative journey!
Next up we had the incredible Benjamina Albenese. Bea is a trans lesbian attempting to balance zero-waste living and creative work with a chronic illness. Harnessing a love of mythology and nature, she aims to use her queer words to guide people through the blurred places that lie between hope and fear, illness and health, imagination and reality. A regular at Liverpool’s A Lovely Word open mic night, her recent performances include The Secret Circus and The Freedom Exhibition at Kampus, Manchester.
The young people were particularly taken by Bea’s piece for the Freedom Exhibition and the way it spoke on chronic illness and Queerness through the most beautiful storytelling. This fairytale like quality to Bea’s work was felt on the day of the event as Bea had the audience tangled up in her words, leading us down a mossy path to her thoughts, feelings and experiences.
Next up we had a performance absolutely abundant in Queer joy by the fantastic Lydia Rowlands! Lydia is a performer who brings their entire self to the stage, bringing you in with laughter, reaching your heart with both smiles and the serious feelings that run through their lyrics. The room was alight throughout covers and originals alike, with a personal highlight for me being when Lydia gathered the crowd to sing an acapella version of ‘Mr Perfectly Fine’ by Taylor Swift. I am thrilled to share with you today Lydia’s song ‘You’, I hope you enjoy!
Play You - Lydia Rowlands
To find more of Lydia you can check out their social media @wake_up_lydia and their music is also available on Spotify!
Next up we had the ethereal Eddie and the Dead, a poet whose poetry is filled with romance and all the brilliance of language. When I read the poems Eddie submitted to the open call to the young people you best believe they were enamoured!! The way that Eddie winds words around you feels like it defines poetry, when reading these poems you can imagine each and every syllable being placed carefully and quietly onto parchment by the fragile weight of a feathered quill dipped in ink, with candlelight carrying your eye to the birth of each and every poignant phrase.
You can find Eddie on socials as @eddieandthedead. Eddie came to the stage with humour and light as well as all of the rich darkness of words that feel ebbing and flowing through time and feeling!
We then opened the floor again to anyone who felt that they wanted to take the stage and perform. In a gorgeous turn of events even more people took to the stage this time around, people who had not felt sure earlier on had now eased into the environment and took to the stage to perform.
This event was one that I’m sure you’ll agree was absolutely jam packed with talent, feeling and a multitude of Queer experiences! A massive thank you to the incredible hard work and compassion of the young people who dedicated months of their time to organise this event, and to the I Will Fund for funding this project and making this possible!
We are Ella and Eve from Where are the Girlbands working in collaboration with Comics Youth to bring you interviews with local organisations and individuals who create safe spaces. You can find us on Instagram as @wherearethegirlbands where we celebrate women in music and discuss how to make local music scenes more accessible for everyone through reviews, video series, interviews and events! You can find more about Comics Youth on Instagram at @comicsyouth or via the website comicsyouth.co.uk. Comics Youth is a youth led organisation that aims to empower youth across the Liverpool City Region to flourish from the margins of society, creating safe spaces where young people can harness their own narratives and find confidence within a creative community. Comics Youth provide a range of creative services designed to support and amplify the often diminished voices of young people, from zine creation to youth led publishing hubs and projects such as this podcast which highlights the voices of those working within our community to create safe spaces! Thanks for listening.