“Our music would still sound the same if I wasn’t gay. Our song about The L Word would probably just be about Sex And The City instead”
WORDS BY ELEANOR NOYCE, PHOTO CREDIT JAMES BAKER
Navigating the music scene as a woman is hard. Navigating it as a queer woman is even harder. Misogyny is still endemic, as the industry remains incredibly male-dominated. But these days, many indie bands are fronted by women.
Wolf Alice and Black Honey are prime examples. All-female bands are on the rise too, with the likes of Goat Girl and Dream Wife having arrived on the scene in an explosion of feminist rage, which we’re totally here for.
Bloxx, a four-piece band from Uxbridge, West London, formed in 2016. The release of gay bops such as Your Boyfriend and Novocaine set off alerts on our radars (or gaydars, if you will). Signed to Chess Club Records, the quartet supported The Wombats last year, which is pretty wild. We spoke to lead singer Fee about being queer in a male-dominated, largely heteronormative industry.
DIVA: What’s your experience been like fronting an indie band as a woman, and as a queer woman?
FEE: It’s cool. I think a lot of people are quite surprised sometimes when I play guitar. I’ve had comments like, “You play guitar well for a girl”, and it’s really annoying. It’s empowering at the same time, because you’re showing the world what you can do. Fans will send me the link to our songs like, “I played this song when I had my first kiss”. It’s cool to know that it’s helping people identify and helping them to come out and be proud, and to know that they’re not alone.
2018 was a really great year for queer artists, particularly queer women. Do you have any favourites?
Marika Hackman, The Japanese House, Pale Waves, Hayley Kiyoko. Everyone calls her Lesbian Jesus, so I’m sad that someone else has got that title. The more queer artists there are, I think the more likely people are to accept it.
Sexual misconduct at gigs, particularly against women, is common. Are women and non-binary people safe in the music industry?
People don’t see a line. They see someone having fun and they take advantage of their happiness. It makes me sad. I’m hearing less about it now than we did last year, as Girls Against are raising the awareness for it.
If you could give your baby queer self a few words of advice, what would you say?
Don’t let someone tell you that you can’t be yourself. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you have to act a certain way. It’s so freeing and wonderful when you finally just accept who you are. In terms of the music industry, it’s much more appealing to see people happy and acting as they would in real life onstage. Our first song is a straight-up gay tune. That song was probably the point where I just thought, “I’m going to write stuff about girls.” Our music would still sound the same if I wasn’t gay. Our song about The L Word would probably just be about Sex And The City instead.”
Tracks are being laid down for Bloxx’s debut album as we speak, so keep your eyes peeled. Fancy killing two birds with one stone? They’ve been confirmed for the infamous Reading and Leeds fests, so you can catch Bloxx AND Hayley Kiyoko in the same space. See you there, DIVAs.
Find out more @bloxxband.
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