If you’ve had your eye, and ear, on an artist selling their music through Bandcamp, check out this initiative the distribution site is having this Friday, August 4 in support of Trans Rights. Do your part as a human being, and get some music. Sounds like a plan.
Bandcamp is a platform for artistic expression, and all manner of variance in experience and identity, including gender and sexuality, is welcome here. We support our LGBT+ users and staff, and we stand against any person or group that would see them further marginalized. This includes the current U.S. administration, and its recent capricious declaration that transgender troops will no longer be able to serve in the military. That this announcement was motivated in part to help fund the border wall exposes it as part of the administration’s cynical, discriminatory agenda.
In response, we will be donating 100% of our share of every sale on Friday, August 4th (from midnight to midnight Pacific Time) to the Transgender Law Center, a nonprofit organization that works tirelessly to change law, policy, and culture for the more equitable. TLC does critical policy advocacy and litigation on multiple fronts, fights for healthcare for trans veterans, defends incarcerated trans people from abuse in prisons and detention centers, supports trans immigrants, and helps trans youth tell their stories and build communities.
When an Executive Order was issued earlier this year barring immigrants and refugees from seven Middle Eastern countries from entering the United States, we held a wildly successful fundraiser for the ACLU. We hope you’ll join us in now doing the same in support of trans rights. To participate as a fan, simply purchase music through Bandcamp on Friday and we’ll donate our share of the sale to TLC. To participate as an artist or label, send some or all of your share of Friday’s sales directly to TLC here, and let us know your plan in the comments below so that we can help spread the word. Thank you!
—Bandcamp Staff
Below, you’ll find a sampling of some of the music made by trans and gender non-conforming artists on Bandcamp. We hope that as you listen to these albums, you’ll discover some great new artists from all walks of life, who share their experiences in song.
Pandemix’s Poetic Punk Politics
Vocalist Shannon Thompson explains how she uses the genre’s tropes as a jumping-off point for her struggle to understand the world.
Glasgow’s Poisonous Relationship is an Unlikely Dance Music Genius
Jamie Crewe is an artist and filmmaker who explores gender, sexuality, mental health, and politics through surprisingly personal and poetic dance music.
Tica Douglas’s Theology of Uncertainty
The Master of Divinity student talks about how theological studies informs their identity and their haunting new record.
How Oakland’s Experimental Scene Became Browner, Queerer, and More Femme
Conscious efforts to be more inclusive have opened up space in the Bay Area noise and experimental scene for artists like Kohinoorgasm, Spellling, and Beast Nest.
Popper Burns Preach to the Punk Rock Choir
The Austin queercore/no-wave group create a drag world “bigger than an idea” where their audience can feel empowered.
TRNSGNDR/VHS and the Art of Confrontation
The Baltimore artist uses harsh noise to question accepted norms.
Theda Hammel on Giving Sondheim the Synth Treatment
On her EP SondHamm, the self-described “major trans celeb” turns classic Broadway showtunes into synth odysseys.
Vocaloids: Our Friends Electric
Computer-generated vocalists are helping artists like transgender musician Jamie Paige discover their voice.
Mykki Blanco Rips Up the Rule Book
Her new record finds her pivoting from wistful longing to fire-breathing on a dime.
Art-Pop Genius Oblivia on Martyrdom, Sainthood, and Stripping to Cat Power
Armed with a voice modulator and a drum machine, Local Honey, the trans femme performance artist behind Oblivia, says that her music aims to weaponize femininity to heal the wounds of patriarchy.
Tyler Holmes, San Cha, and Vainhein Imagine Experimental Queer Utopias
Three performance artists and musicians found inspiration to survive—and thrive—in their own ways, together, by channeling their rage to build something beautiful.
Hi Bias: Interview With Forced into Femininity
The latest tape by Forced Into Femininity (Chicago-based musician and performance artist Jill Flanagan), is only 10 minutes long, but its five songs pack a ton of power.
Big Ups: HIRS’ Queer Thrash Fury is Taking Over America
The Trans Girl Take Over tour takes the Philly collective to some unexpected places. Meet some of the bands they’re excited to share the stage with.
Album of the Day: ANOHNI, Paradise
On Paradise, ANOHNI imagines a utopia free of violence and masculine authority.
Album of the Day: Sweeping Exits, Glitter and Blood
The Portland glam-rock group switch up the power dynamics of horror.
Album of the Day: Aye Nako, Silver Haze
On Silver Haze, Aye Nako lulls listeners into comfort before turning the room upside down.
